Claire Naylor-Trein
Executive Director
Claire brings a decade of experience cultivating young women’s leadership in Asia, along with expertise in nonprofit management, resource mobilisation, and programme design and evaluation to Wedu. She has championed Wedu’s work since 2013 as a talent spotter and mentor and served as ED since 2021. Prior to running Wedu, Claire co-founded Women LEAD Nepal, and under her leadership, the organisation grew from a pilot project to an award-winning, girl-led, multi-national organisation. Claire earned an MSc in Impact Evaluation from the University of Sussex, a BSc in Gender and International Development from Georgetown University, and is a certified executive coach and divemaster. In partnership with the boards, Claire leads Wedu’s programmes, operations, and growth to usher in a world where half of all leaders are women.
Lida Minasyan
Mentorship Programme Manager
Lida is a women’s rights activist with around ten years of experience leading human rights programmes and mobilizing resources to empower women to reach their full potential through our signature mentorship programmes. Before Wedu, Lida worked with the Global Fund for Children, identifying and cultivating donor opportunities and designing new regional and global initiatives. She also worked with the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders and was a consultant to nonprofits developing training manuals and facilitating capacity development trainings. Earlier in her career, Lida led a nonprofit organization in Armenia and was engaged in coalition-building processes. Lida’s passion for feminist peace activism drove her to co-found Women’s Agenda, an Armenian organization uplifting women’s resilience and expertise to build peace. Lida earned an MA in Human Rights from the Central European University and an MSc in Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Creating New Ventures from Lund University.
Juliana Shrestha
Community Engagement Coordinator
Juliana is a storyteller and facilitator, passionate about issues related to gender, education and travel. She brings rich experience of working in diverse fields related to women’s empowerment including research, communications, community engagement, entrepreneurship and management. She graduated from the University of Sheffield with MA Intercultural Communication and International Development in 2021, as a Chevening Scholar.
Drawing from personal experience of leadership development through travel, Juliana co-founded Duluwa Outdoors, an experiential learning curator that offers travel and outdoor experiences for Nepali womxn.
She joined Wedu as a Rising Star in 2020 and now leads Wedu’s Community Engagement to facilitate conversations and inspire collaborations within the community and beyond.
Shagun Sethi
Programme Manager
Shagun has immense international experience as a consultant on social impact, environmental change, and development projects with national and international consultancies, policy think tanks, government bodies and non-profits. She has a Masters in Global Affairs from Columbia University, where she studied on a merit fellowship. Prior to that, she studied Political Science and Sociology at The University of Delhi.
Shagun serves as a Director For Global Leadership for One Shared World, and is on the Advisory Board of the Center for Career Development. Shagun is a passionate feminist, and has brought her expertise in research to Urban Design, and serves as a Research Fellow at Leading Cities, Boston USA. In 2018, Shagun started a non-profit initiative in India entitled ‘Be A Man’, which aims to provide original curricula on gender stereotypes and empower women with information. Shagun has been a featured speaker on many panels including for CNN International, NewsX, Doorsarshan and WARC where she shares her expertise on all things gender, inclusivity, environment, and development.
Than Zin
Mentorship Associate
Than Zin, who has become a Wedu Rising Star in 2021, is a final year student pursuing Bachelors of Arts (Honors) in International Relations at the University of Yangon. Believing that youth’s participation is critical and has positive impacts on social change, Than Zin as a young changemaker has led various community development projects and youth-led initiatives that provide innovative solutions for social problems. The social issues she is passionate about are environmental protection, poverty reduction, human rights advocacy, and youth empowerment, and she has dedicated to working on those issues for almost 5 years. Those experiences allowed her to be equipped with leadership, strategic planning, project management, and interpersonal skills. With her strong enthusiasm for breaking down the gender stereotypes and for women empowerment, she will work together with Wedu in paving the path for more women to dream big.
Naw Khine Thazin Ni Win (Dah)
Mentorship and FISA Coordinator
Dah brings three years of experience managing leadership programs for young women from diverse backgrounds in Myanmar to this role, along with lived experience as a refugee and a dedication to contributing to her community. She joined Wedu to embark on a rewarding journey of identifying young talent and supporting them to realize their full potential. Dah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human and Organizational Development and a minor in General Psychology from the Education University of Hong Kong and is passionate about personal growth and development, and organization development.
Jo Badong
Marketing & Communications Coordinator
Jo brings over three years of experience helping social enterprises and artists maximize their real-world impact through organic digital campaigns, market research, human-centred design, and community development. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman and is a certified digital marketer and impact analyst.
Believing in the power of digital and the arts to bring inclusive change, she is also an International Community Adviser for the INGO MakeSense, a volunteer teacher for displaced indigenous children, and a member of the first UNESCO Creative Economy cohort.
At Wedu, Jo leads marketing and communications to champion the organisation’s work and inspire people to action.
Babita Karmacharya
Finance & Admin Officer
Babita brings over four years of experience specialising in international development finance in Nepal along with a firm belief that once equal opportunities are provided to women, every sector will start experiencing incomparable growth and development. Babita holds a BBA in Management from Pokhara University and is completing an MBA in Finance at Purbanchal University. She leads Wedu’s accounting and finance functions and oversees global operations.