Pratima Gurung is an academic activist and the Founder of this organisation. She’s a global disability rights leader from indigneous community. Following the completion of a one-term leadership transition, she holds the role of President of NIDWAN, providing renewed strategic leadership to strengthen the organization’s institutional direction with provincial and local structure to embed intersectional, human rights-based work on disability inclusion, gender equality, Indigenous Peoples’ rights from the lens of indigeneity, disability and gender.

As a faculty member, she has been associated with Padmakanya Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University since 2005 and serves as an expert member of the National Direction Disability Committee under the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Government of Nepal. At the international level, she contributes as an Advisor to the Disability-Inclusive Climate Action Research Program at McGill University, Faculty of Law (Canada), as a Global Advisor to the World Economic Forum including various institutions through governance and coordination roles within global disability and human rights networks and structures.

Kamala Tamang is a founding member and current vice-president of the National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN) and has contributed significantly to shaping the organization’s early vision and institutional foundation. Her engagement has supported NIDWAN’s long-standing commitment to dignity, equality, and the economic empowerment of Indigenous women and girls with disabilities in Nepal.

Ms. Tamang is an Indigenous woman with a physical impairment and a wheelchair user, originating from Sindhupalchowk District. Drawing on her lived experience and community leadership, she has established an independent livelihood in Kathmandu and has re-engaged with NIDWAN to contribute to its mission, serving for ensuring economic empowerment ad livelihood for Indigenous women with disabilities within and beyond her community.

Shruti Kumal serves as the General Secretary of the National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN). She is an Indigenous woman with a physical disability from the Kumal community, one of the most marginalized Indigenous communities in Nepal. She brings several years of leadership experience through her engagement in community-based organization, including leadership within the Kumal community and representation at the national level through the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN).

Ms. Kumal brings strong grassroots experience, working closely with marginalized Indigenous women and girls with disabilities to amplify their voices, advance indigenous movement building, equality, and inclusion. Her leadership strengthens NIDWAN’s community-rooted, intersectional approach to advocacy and movement building.

Akriti Kumal is a young Indigenous Deaf girl serving as the Treasurer of the National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN). Originally from Gorkha District, she has completed her +2 level education and  is pursuing her bachelor’s degree. Ms. Kumal is motivated to engage with NIDWAN to further develop her leadership potential and to contribute to the realization of the rights of Indigenous Deaf women and girls and their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

She’s strengthening her role as a young leader within the Deaf and Indigenous rights movements. She is engaged in Deaf entrepreneurship and, is actively exploring skill development opportunities to strengthen her pathways toward meaningful employment and economic independence.

Anupa Pulami Balampaki is an Indigenous woman with an intellectual disability and a member of the National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN). She exercises her right to participation and expression through supported decision-making, with the assistance of her mother and family members who provide communication and facilitation support in accordance with her will and preferences. Through this approach, Ms. Balampaui’s lived experiences and perspectives are meaningfully represented within NIDWAN’s advocacy and programmatic work, ensuring the inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities and others who require support to exercise their legal capacity.

Through Ms. Balampaui’s engagement, NIDWAN advances an inclusive and rights-based environment that upholds reasonable accommodation, accessibility, and supported participation, consistent with the principles of the UNCRPD.

Sangita Baral Magar is an Indigenous woman with a physical impairment and an Executive Committee Member of the NIDWAN, representing Karnali Province. Through sustained engagement over more than a decade, she has strengthened her leadership to effectively connect provincial perspectives with NIDWAN’s central governance and decision-making structures, contributing to more inclusive and representative institutional processes.

Based in Surkhet District, the provincial headquarters of Karnali Province, Ms. Magar provides leadership at the provincial and local levels to advance the rights of Indigenous women and girls with disabilities. Her work focuses on identity, equal access to services, facilities, and opportunities, and empowerment. Through her role on the Executive Committee, she is motivated to amplify grassroots and local voices at the national level, ensuring they are recognized and meaningfully integrated into human rights and development frameworks.

Dipika Lama is a young Indigenous woman with a physical impairment and an Executive Committee Member of NIDWAN, representing Madhesh Province. She is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and has strengthened her leadership through NIDWAN’s capacity-building initiatives, translating learning into grassroots mobilization and collective action. She is the founder of the Madesh Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (MIDWAN).

She has played a key role in forming self-help groups that evolved into a formally registered organization, contributing to a strong provincial movement led by Indigenous women and girls with disabilities. Recognized as a young disability rights leader in Madhesh Province, she also serves as Youth member for the Asia-Pacific Indigenous Women and Girls with Disabilities Network, and is committed to advancing grassroots and provincial voices at national and regional levels.

Rashmi Gurung is an Indigenous woman with low vision and an Executive Committee Member of the National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN). Through self-driven leadership and sustained advocacy, she has contributed to advancing equality, dignity, and recognition for Indigenous women with disabilities. She is the founder of the Sudurpaschim Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (SIDWAN) and has played a key role in strengthening cross-movement collaboration across Sudurpaschim Province.

Ms. Gurung is engaged in a household-level enterprise, supporting her economic independence and community participation with dignity. Through her role on NIDWAN’s Executive Committee, she is motivated to connect provincial voices to national and regional platforms, ensuring the meaningful representation of Indigenous women with disabilities in policy, advocacy, and development processes.