Sonika Manandhar

Sonika Manandhar (born 17 January 1990) is a computer engineer and a social entrepreneur from Nepal. She co-founded an award-winning fintech company Aeloi Technologies
, an organization powering last-mile impact finance for micro-entrepreneurs using digital tokens.
 She was named as the United Nations Environment Programme's Young Champion of the Earth in 2019
 
and National Geographic Society 2020 Emerging Explorer.
Manandhar was born in Kathmandu, Nepal. She graduated as a computer engineer from Kathmandu Engineering College, Tribhuvan University, and started working at Microsoft Innovation Center Nepal as a software engineer in 2011. Manandhar is a Singularity University Alumni and Korea Aerospace Research Institute Alumni. In 2017, she became the first Nepali who was offered a scholarship to go to the Silicon Valley-based program called Global Solutions Program 
 at NASA in California. During her time at Singularity University, she studied exponential technologies such as Robotics,Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, etc. Her company was selected among 3 companies to pitch at Singularity University Global Summit 
 
 in Silicon Valley. Manandhar was also offered a scholarship to attend the International Space Training at Korea Aerospace Research Institute in 2018.
In 2019, Manandhar was awarded the grand title of Young Champions of Earth 
 
 
 
 
 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The prestigious Young Champions of the Earth prize, powered by Covestro
, is awarded every year by UN Environment Programme to seven young environmentalists from around the world between the ages of 18 and 30, for their outstanding ideas to protect the environment. 
At United Nations General Assembly 2019, Manandhar was seen discussing pressing issues in numerous panels such as at Conversation with Climate Advocates – SDG Media Zone, High-Level Week, 74th session of the UN General Assembly
, and Private Sector Forum 
 alongside H.E. António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations and Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister, New Zealand. The same year, she discussed Smart Finance in the plenary forum with Laurent Fabius, President of COP21, and Kevin O’Leary, Chairman, O’Shares ETFs. 
The UN Environment Programme listed her as one of the six examples of climate leadership on Women’s Day
 alongside Christiana Figueres, Greta Thunberg, Anne Hidalgo, Carolina Schmidt, and Kibarisho Leintoi.
She also was the winner of the SDG 9: Infrastructure, industry, and innovation category award of the Lead 2030 Challenge
 by One Young World sponsored by Standard Chartered with seed funding of $50,000.
In 2020, Sonika Manandhar was named National Geographic Society’s Emerging Explorer 2020 
 
 
 
. National Geographic Society chooses eight global changemakers conducting groundbreaking work as the class of Emerging Explorers who will transform their fields and further our understanding of our world and all that’s in it.
Manandhar has also been an advocate for blind students and has worked to empower blind children with computer education.
 She established a computer lab in 2013 and was involved in finding new ways of teaching a computer to blind students.
==In the media==
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Category:Nepalese businesspeople
Category:Living people
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:People from Kathmandu