Our History

Timeline of events at Tewa

A brief overview of key events and milestones at Tewa over the years.
Tewa's Inception
Tewa was initiated by Rita Thapa. Rita, the Founder, coordinated and grounded Tewa.
1995
  • Tewa was formally registered in the  District Administration Office, Lalitpur, in April.
  • Locally fundraised 3 lakhs rupees.
  • Disbursed 9 grants equivalent to 2.46 lakhs rupees.
1996
Fundraising Volunteers Programme begun.
1997
  • First strategic plan conceptualized and owned by the entire Tewa team.
  • Meera Jyoti took over the board leadership.
1998
  • Founders’ Leadership transition initiated.
  • Invested the endowment fund of 1.72 crore rupees in a (Tewa land and building development project) TL&BDP conceptualized by Rita Thapa.
1999
  • Purchased 2 acres of land using the Endowment Fund.
  • Rita’s formal handing over in June.
  • Recruited Tewa’s first Executive Director.
2001
  • Meera Ariyal was officially elected as the 2nd President.
2002
  • Organized a one-year fundraising campaign to raise funds for the Tewa office building.
  • Instituted the Peace Grant during heightened armed conflict in Nepal (1996-2006).
  • Raised 80% of the necessary funds for the Tewa office building.
2004
  • Maggie Shah was officially elected as the 3rd President.
  • Santoshi, the cafeteria, was operationalized.
2005
  • Organizational Strategic Planning conducted.
2006
  • Celebrated Tewa’s 10th year anniversary with national and international partners.
  • Founder’s Fund instituted.
  • Tewa’s Children’s Programme started.
2007
  • Tewa Model Adaptation Initiative Project began as a pilot project in Kaski District.
2008
  • Draupadi Rokaya officially elected as the 4th President.
  • Tewa’s Strategic Plan for 5 years drawn.
2009
  • Impact assessment of Tewa conducted.
2010
  • Sadhana Shrestha elected as the 5th President.
  • Sampanna Campaign (2011-2014) was initiated with a goal to raise 9 crores rupees to complete the Tewa Centre (DeepYogini).
2011
  • Transition of leadership at the Executive level.
  • Organizational Strategic Plan conducted for 2013-2016.
  • First “Founder’s Fund” grant given to Mitini Nepal (LGBT group).
  • Aanandi, Tewa Centre building inaugurated.
2012
  • Sadhana Shrestha officially elected as the President for a 2nd term.
  • Founder’s Fund granted to Women Forum for Women Nepal (WOFOWON).
2013
  • Sadhana Shrestha became the new Executive Director.
  • Dr. Nirmala KC was officially elected as the 6th President.
  • Second phase of the Tewa Model Adaptation Initiative Project began in Dang District.
  • Fulfilled the Sampanna Campaign by raising over 10 crores rupees, and instituting the campaign monuments.
2014
  • On 19th May, under Rita Thapa’s leadership, Tewa & Nagarik Aawaz launched the Earthquake Relief and Recovery Program from Rita Thapa’s home.
  • Established Learning, Monitoring, and Evaluation unit to monitor and evaluate grants of Tewa.
2015
  • Closure of Shadow Barefoot Volunteer’s Program (Hamro Tewa Ghau Gharma): Earthquake Relief and Recovery Program.
  • Shadow Barefoot Volunteer’s Mentorship Program initiated.
  • Anandakuti building with one guestroom became operational.
  • Third residential building, Aanandi-3, was completed and formally inaugurated by donors Prof. Han Verschure & Marleen Iterbeke.
  • Purchased 1.5 ropani of land adjacent to Aanandi-3 for 16 million rupees.
2017
  • Locally fundraised more than 30 lakhs rupees, the highest amount raised in a year.
2018
  • Mentorship Program initiated in ten Districts (2019-2020).
  • Formation of the new Executive Board.
  • Chhing Lamu Sherpa was officially elected as the 7th President.
2019
  • Peer-to-peer fundraising campaign introduced 
  • Due to COVID, work from home was initiated.
2020
  • Community Safety Net  and Feminist Movement Building (CSN-FMB) initiated
  • Supported two networks (SANGAT and Inter-Generational Feminist Fund)
2021
  • Collective care research and research on Elected Women’s Access to Leadership in Local Governance.
2024
  • Tewa turns 30 years old. 
2025