One Million Leaders Asia (OMLAS) is a flagship program of NELIS – Next Leaders’ Initiative for Sustainability.
Vision
Our vision is to empower one million nexgen leaders and social innovators for a better and more sustainable Asia by 2030.
Mission
This mission is to connect, empower and inspire nextgen leaders in Asia by providing them with a platform and the necessary skills to make a positive impact in their communities and countries.
Team
Boon Liang Loh
Boon is one of the directors of the Singapore local chapter of NELIS. He was a former lecturer of English language from National University of Singapore and has published research in the Astrophysical Journal. Currently, he is the managing editor of a self-founded company, Boon Editing. He began his journey in sustainability in 2017, when he began making regular monthly donations to the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), a global charity for nature conservation. In 2018 he created 3 public groups on Facebook and meetup.com to regularly share events, articles and videos related to environmentalism and sustainability. The aim was to build local and global online communities that are interested in these topics, and spark discussions and connections among people who wish to build a better world. Since taking on his role at NELIS Singapore in 2021, he hopes to help inspire more people to start their own initiatives for sustainability. As part of the OMLAS organising team, Boon is keen to help the youth of Asia.
Harshana Shrestha
Harshana is a Civil Engineer, specializing in Water Engineering and Management. She has more than 15 years of experience in community projects in rural Nepal and also in Bhutan.
She is currently engaged in Engineering without Borders Australia in Vanuatu, where she is supporting the development of climate change and disaster resilient solutions to improve the livelihood of the communities. Apart from this, she is also a member of Women in Engineering Pacific and Timor-Leste group. She inspires young women to take up STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects in school and work.
She is dedicated to promote sustainable, nature-based solutions. She is one of the founding members of the Nepal local chapter of NELIS. She is a coordinator for OMLAS Fellowship Program.
Rashmi Kiran Shrestha
Rashmi Kiran Shrestha is a founder and an executive chairperson of NERICA Group Private Limited. Rashmi has 15 years of research experience in water, food and energy in Nepal and India. Rashmi aims to promote indigenous foods/knowledge, sustainable nature-based solutions and traditional agriculture. Through NERICA Group, she is dedicated to empower rural women farmers to improve their livelihoods.
Rashmi is also a founder of the Nepal local chapter of NELIS and a lead for the OMLAS Fellowship Program. She believes that if the youth of today are rightly empowered and inspired, there is a hope for the future of this planet.
Advisory Board Members
Anil Keshary Shah
After a career in banking spanning 31 years, during which he served as the Chief Executive Officer of two banks for 17 years, Anil Shah established Lead Nepal Inc., an organisation with the vision of 'Crafting Leaders'. In addition to his stellar banking career, Mr. Shah is also a youth icon, mentoring youth across Nepal by sharing his experiences and propagating value-based leadership. He was the first Nepali CEO of Nepal’s first joint venture bank, Nabil Bank, and successfully led the bank to become the no. 1 financial institution in Nepal, successfully realising its vision to be the nation’s ‘Bank of 1st Choice’. He then established and headed Mega Bank with the vision of establishing a bank for all strata of Nepali society with the vision of ‘Being the Bank for Every Nepali for Ploughing to Power’. Today the bank is one of the biggest financial institutions in the nation. Now Mr. Shah provides learning experiences to companies, political parties, bureaucrats, armed forces and students to enable them to be better leaders. He is an prominent figure in Nepal who is looked up to by people of all ages and across all strata of society for his vision, clarity of communication and value-based leadership.
Peter David Pedersen
Peter is a Co-founder and Executive Director of NELIS (Next Leaders' Initiative for Sustainability), and currently a Professor of Sustainability and Innovation at Shizenkan University, Tokyo. He was born in Denmark and has been a resident of Japan for 30+ years. Peter is dedicated to empowering the next generation of sustainability leaders, both in corporations and in the global NELIS community.
Shravan Shankar
Shravan is a Co-founder of Climake, a growth platform for early-stage climate tech startups in India to access markets and innovative financing options. He has over 13 years of experience working in sustainable development with organisations across Asia and Europe, and in developing national policies in India and Sri Lanka.
He is also a Co-founder of AtWorks, an impact entrepreneurship ecosystem builder that has worked with over 400 startups. AtWorks was recognised as a circular economy solution for India by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Shravan has also been recognized with a National Award on Smart City Solutions by the government of India.