Kumudini Gurung Shrestha

Kumudini is passionate about the arts and education. 

A founding member of Shikshya Foundation Nepal, Kumudini’s experience as an educationist and her conviction in the regenerative ability of the arts have been integral to the Foundation’s extensive contribution towards the inclusion and expansion of the arts in public education programs. 

As a child, Kumudini often sought and found solace in fictional characters. In later decades, she rediscovered her love for stories as she spent her time obsessively reading to and with children in varied classrooms, including her own two children. 

Her long standing relationship with children’s literature endures as the foundation for much of Kumudini’s work today, and her personal experiences have fostered a particular interest in mentoring and facilitating voices that have often been relegated to the margins. She tries her best to practise the kind of care that is required to sensitively hold space for other people’s stories, including varied voices: especially of artists of different genres that she has been supporting for decades. 

Kumudini served as a Co-Producer of Elephants in the Fog that puts Nepal’s transgender Kinnar community at the centre of its narrative. It is the first Nepali feature film selected at the 2026 Festival de Cannes, winning the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize. Kumudini is also one of the Associate Producers of The Whole Timers, an upcoming feature based on the decade long civil war in Nepal.

 Kumudini leads the Hamro Ramailo Katha Project at Open Learning Exchange Nepal: a social benefit organization dedicated to enhancing education quality and access through the integration of technology in public schools. Her work at OLE Nepal brings her closer to stories and storytellers of many indigenous Nepali languages and experiences. 

Kumudini has played a pivotal role in the creation of over 50 children’s stories with an emphasis on celebrating diverse cultural narratives. Through her work with OLE Nepal, she not only contributed to but also co-authored several of those stories. 

Another notable collaboration was with The Asia Foundation’s Let’s Read Nepal platform, in partnership with Srijanalaya, where she served as the Managing Editor for a project that brought together different voices and cultural perspectives to create 20 Tamang children’s stories. 

After decades as an art collector and enthusiastic supporter of emerging artists, she is one of the founding members of Kalā Kulo, an initiative that nurtures the flows and frictions of creative labour.

 Kumudini also serves as Director for Education at Bright Horizon Children’s Home Foundation and is a board member at Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre Nepal.