Community Leadership Nepal Foundation Ambassadors

The board of CLNF have appointed the following Ambassadors, each of whom possess valuable experience of Nepal and the Nepalese people both in Nepal and in Australia. The role of an Ambassador is to provide advice to the board as required, particularly in the areas of strategy development and promotion of our project work.

DAVID FRANCIS (BArch Melb 1971)

David is a practising architect. In 1983, he fell in love with Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries, and its people. For 35 years, He was involved in trekking and mountaineering. From 2016-2018, he joined a team of volunteer professionals rebuilding schools destroyed in the Lower Solu Khumbu after the 2015 earthquakes. In 2017, He was introduced to a fledgling CLNF.
He is committed to helping empower the poorest and most disadvantaged Nepalis, mostly in remote rural regions, to develop a safe and sustainable future, with improved opportunities for education, health, and community and economic development.

Niru Tripathi

Niru is a professional journalist and an author who has specialised in various realms such as; women and gender equality, social and community development, media and literature, and professional organisation communication. She has been associated with some community organisations in Australia and Nepal.
Currently, Ms Tripathi is working as Communication Officer-Multicultural Community at Moreland City Council. She worked as PR Officer and Executive Assistant to Hon. Consul General of Nepal to Victoria and an Editor at Nepali Times Melbourne (NTM), a Co-publication of Nepali Times Australia (NTA). She was appointed to the VMC Regional Advisory Council for the North and West Metropolitan Region for two years (2021-2023).
She has studied Master of Professional, and Organizational Communication (Journalism) from Victoria University, Melbourne and recently completed the Diploma in Counselling, Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (AIPC). She was awarded by the OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO POSTGRADUATE LIFE AWARD, awarded by Victoria University Postgraduate Association. She has been commended as CERTIFICATE OF MERIT in MEDIA at Victoria’s Multicultural Awards for Excellence.
Niru is serving as Vice-president at the Australian Nepalese Multicultural Centre (ANMC). She is a long-standing contributor and commentator to various newspapers, digital news services, and Print media outlets in Nepal and Australia. Her interests are in literature writing, community service, and traveling.

Bom Yonzon

Bom has an extensive range of community involvement and interests including Community Development, Training, Mentoring and Liaison. His positions in the community include –

• • Member of the South Asian Communities Ministerial Advisory Council (SACMAC) for Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Victoria State Government. 2018-2022
  • Vice President of Federation of Australian Nepalese Communities Council (FeNCAA) 2021-2023
  • President: The Royal Western Club (RWC) 2021-2023
  • Founding President & Patron: The Himalayan Club Inc
  • Founding President & Advisor: Tamang Society of Victoria Inc
  • Past President & Advisor: Nepalese Association of Victoria (NAV),
  • Public Relation Officer & Multicultural Community Liaison: Australian Nepalese Senior Citizen Society Inc (ANSCS) (2020-2022)
  • Advisor: Australian Nepalese Multicultural Community Centre- Victoria (ANMC) 2020-2021
  • Advisor: Oceania Sports Meet 2022- Australia (OCENA)

Bom is very Interested to work with other Community Volunteers by putting Nepalese Community First and continue work for South Asian Community development and Multicultural Community networks as directed by VMC objectives and SACMAC.
Bom has a wide interest in many sports and also interested in music and reading books of History, Cultures, Arts and Innovation

Jan Erftemeijer

• Jan Erftemeijer from the Netherlands is our tree advisor.

Jan has worked as an expert for the Dutch volunteer organization PUM in Nepal and for the Swiss organization SEC and the German Organization SES. Jan has worked for over 50 years in the fields of sustainable forest management, agroforestry and in recent years he has focused on nut cultivation.
We are happy to welcome him and are happy to make use of his knowledge.