14th Rotaract District Conference
14th Rotaract District Conference was organized on April 15-16, 2022. The Conference was chaired by DRR Rtr. Summit Bajracharya and saw the presence of District Governor Rtn. Santosh Rijal as Chief Guest along with PDG Rtn. Sanjay Giri, DGE Rtn. Jeetendra Rajbhandary, DGN Rtn. Rajendra Dhoju, DRCC Rtn. Bishnu Hari Dahal and DIR Itr. Himal Acharya. This event aims to bring youth together who are working in different sectors. The Conference aims to promote ROTARACT in different ways and reach a broad audience. It is a fest that allows participants to enjoy the activities and events throughout the Conference. This Conference is trying to showcase what Rotaract is to the general audience and promote the goodwill of Rotary and Rotaract. For the Rota year 2021-22, the Rotaract District Committee underpins “Open Collaboration” as the theme for the Rotaract District Conference.
The concept of “Open Collaboration” had a smaller radius that used to be understood only within open-source software. It is now of more significance than that and can be found in many other ventures. Some of these products are web-based: for example, Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube, etc. Others are found offline in research, medicine, science, and everyday life. Such enterprises have been a boon in reforming contemporary product and service delivery.
To convincingly deliver the message of Open Collaboration, the Conference had a lineup of excellent speakers from different fields. The keynote speaker for the event was Andy Skidmore, who is the CEO and founder of the Australian Not For Profit organization Burn Bright, a social enterprise that delivers student leadership, wellbeing programs, and national camps to young people. Burn Bright’s vision is a world where all young people flourish, understand their influence, and impact the world selflessly.
The event also had a panel discussion on “Driving Shared Economy through collaboration,” featuring panelists from different sectors. The panel discussion featured Ms. Aayushi KC and Ms. Bini Bajracharya as the panelists. Ms. Aayushi KC is the Founder, and CEO of Khaalisisi Management Pvt. Ltd. This waste management platform currently connects waste workers in an industry with more than 13,000 waste workers to waste sellers. Bini Bajracharya, CEO of Abir DesignHub
Bini Bajracharya is a passionate fashion designer/entrepreneur. She Co- owns and is currently running ABiR Designers Hub, which is a relatively new ethical and sustainable Nepali Brand.
We had Ms. Bonita Sharma as the Insight speaker for Youth engagement in open innovation for health. Ms. Bonita Sharma is the Co-founder and CEO of Social Changemakers and Innovators (SOCHAI) – a youth-led non-profit organization. Her organization works to improve people’s health, hygiene, and nutrition status, particularly women, children, and girls in Nepal, through innovation, education, and entrepreneurship.
Mr. Saurabh Jyoti spoke on Crowdfunding your idea. Mr. Saurabh Jyoti is a leading businessman in Nepal. The Director of Jyoti Group of Companies and the Chairman of Syakar Trading Company (authorized distributors of Honda automobiles)
We had another panel discussion titled अध्याय: Disseminating intersectionality among women and queer people, where we had an ensemble of panelists like Sonika Baniya, Dibya Gurung, Rukshana Kapali, Prapoosa KC, and Pratikshya Rajopadhya. The panel discussion tried to bring out diverse individuals for a conversation that is solely attributed to promoting the holistic approach of securing a safe space for collaboration while intersecting women’s and queers’ space with health, technology, environment, politics, and economy.
