Apartment 203,
GRED Building, Near FITI, Gyenyen Lam, Thimphu
FOUNDERS
DR. TANDIN DORJI
Dr. Tandin Dorji completed his postgraduate studies (MPhil and PhD) in Anthropology from the University of Aix-Marseille in France. He is an Anthropologist with wide academic experience. He taught History in Sherubtse College and Paro College of Education. He has designed and written text books for History and Dzongkha and was also the Project Coordinator for the Bhutan Civics Textbook Development Team. Dr. Tandin has varied experience in anthropological research. He has co-authored seven books till date, 19 research articles and 17 consultancy reports. Additionally, he has also conducted six trainings while he was the Research Consultancy Coordinator for the Institute for Management Studies, a premier training institute in the country. Besides, he worked as a Research Advisor for the Bhutan Times, a Bhutanese newspaper. Presently, he heads the Norbu Rigter College in Paro as the Founder-President. Concurrently, he also is the Senior Researcher and Consultant for Ta-yang Education Consultancy. He is a co-Founder of the Centre for Research on Bhutanese Society.
MR ACHYUT BHANDARI
Mr. Achyut Bhandari completed his Master’s degree in Social Change and Development (with distinction) from the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Additionally, he has done postgraduate studies in International Relations from the esteemed Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. Mr. Bhandari has a long and illustrious career as a Diplomat in the Bhutanese Foreign Service for 16 years, and subsequently held senior positions in the Government as the first Director General of the Department of Trade in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and as the Joint Secretary of the Ministry’s Policy and Planning Division. He worked in the Bhutan Missions to the United Nations in New York and Geneva and as Director, SAARC Division, Ministry of Foreign Afairs. He also served as the Managing Director/CEO of the Bhutan Postal Corporation Ltd. He has been a consultant since 2008 working on several assignments for international agencies such as ADB, UNCTAD, WIPO and UNDP. He also served a short stint in 2017 as an Adjunct Lecturer teaching Development Economics at the College of Natural Resources, Lobesa and has until now authored five papers on topics as varied as trade, environment and Vaishnavism, a branch of Hinduism. He is a co-Founder of and the prime force behind the Centre for Research on Bhutanese Society.
MR. SAROJ K. NEPAL
Mr. Saroj K. Nepal has a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from Wye College, University of London, United Kingdom and a second Master’s degree in Sociology from the South Asian University, New Delhi. He started his career working as a civil servant as a Sociologist in the Ministry of Agriculture. Subsequently, he served the Liaison Office of Denmark as a Programme Officer. Since 2001, he has worked as a Consultant in social development through the firm - Gonefel Options Consult he founded. He has completed more than 80 consulting assignments in many sectors for as many donor agencies and the Government. He also has vast experience working with civil society in Bhutan often working pro bono to assist and support CSOs. He worked as the Project Analyst for the CSO Fund Facility between 2010 and 2014. He has authored two papers - on ethnic groups in Bhutan and on state of sociology and anthropology in Bhutan. He also taught Oral History Research for a year as Adjunct Assistant Professor at Royal Thimphu College and has delivered training on several topics for the Bhutan Media & Communication Institute. He is a co-Founder as well as the Executive Director (Interim) of the Centre for Research on Bhutanese Society