442. Empowering Nepal: A Journey to Disrupt Poverty + Inspire Donor Engagement - Jehán Seirafi

CultivationMission StoryStewardship

Jun 28

Written By Andie Murphy

Listen to this episode

Meet Jehán. Her journey took her from editing travel guidebooks in San Francisco to founding a nonprofit that creates holistic programs for women and children in Nepal, empowering them to build their own pathways out of poverty. Tune in to hear a case study of what happened when Sunsar Maya committed to a year-long stewardship plan through personalized attention, Chai with Me events and leveraging technology to automate donor engagement. You won't want to miss Jehán’s inspiring story which we know will give you some pep in your step to make a difference in the world🌎

💡Learn

Overview of Sunsar Maya
Case Study: A Year of Stewardship
Lessons learned to use for your org’s donor stewardship

Today’s Guest
Jehán Seirafi, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Sunsar Maya

“The driving idea was to show up and be authentic. You have to find what is meaningful to you and your programs and your donors.”

— Jehán Seirafi, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Sunsar Maya

Download Full Episode Transcript

Episode Highlights

Jehán’s story and journey to where she is today (3:00)
4 Pillars of Sunsar Maya's work (9:00)
After School Program (9:00)
Women’s Literacy Program (13:00)
Teacher Training (14:00)
Case Study: A Year of Stewardship (17:50)
Outcomes from the year of stewardship (23:00)
What can nonprofits learn from this case study (27:00)
A powerful moment of question (30:00)
Jehán’s One Good Thing: Stay laser focused. (36:00)
How to connect (38:00)

Powerful QuoteS

"Our mission is to provide women and children what they need for them to build their own pathways.” -Jehán

"How do you best support children and communities? You educate and empower women, that's how you lift up entire communities." Jehán

"It's really about looking at the whole child and looking at the whole community and saying, 'What is it that's going to help them succeed?'" - Jehán

"One of the things that I'm really proud of is that we do not believe in a one-size-fits-all solution. We really want to work with the women and children in their communities to say, 'What is it that you need? What is it that's going to work for you?'" -Jehán

"We want them to be able to know that they can change their lives, that they have the power within them, and they have the skills within them to be able to do that." - Jehán

"We believe that the work that we do is really about changing lives and about helping people realize their potential." -Jehán

"We really focus on long-term sustainability. We're not just here to provide a one-time service or a one-time solution. We really want to build the capacity of the communities and the individuals that we work with." -Jehán

"We're constantly evaluating our programs, making sure that we're meeting the needs of the people that we serve, and really making sure that we're having the impact that we want to have." -Jehán

“The driving idea was to show up and be authentic. You have to find what is meaningful to you and your programs and your donors.” -Jehán

“Find what works for you and carve out the time. It is so well worth it.” -Jehán