Leaders
Board members
Trevor Patzer
Trevor Patzer is co-founder and full-time executive director and Secretary of the Little Sisters Fund, Inc. He has received multiple honors for his work with the Fund.
Prior to launching the Little Sisters Fund, Trevor managed 5-Star spa projects in Bhutan, the Maldives and the Turks and in Caicos. He began his professional career at Andersen Consulting, and also worked for the teacher placement agency, Carney Sandoe & Associates. He has also worked in admissions and as head crew coach for Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA.
He loves the outdoors, is a sub-three hour marathoner, and is at home in any mountain range, from the Himalayas and the Rockies, to the Andes and the Alps. He is also passionate about travel and experiencing new cultures, including a trek to the base-camp of Mt. Everest. Trevor speaks French and has a working knowledge of Hindi and Nepali.
Born and raised in Sun Valley, Idaho, Trevor holds a Masters in Educational Administration from the University of Virginia and is a graduate of Brown University. He is a graduate of St. Paul’s School.
Saudamini Siegrist
Saudamini Siegrist joined the UNICEF Innocenti Research Center (IRC) in February 2004 as a Project Officer for Child Protection. Her previous experience includes two years in the Humanitarian Policy Unit of Emergency Operations at UNICEF Headquarters, where she worked on issues related to children and armed conflict, international criminal justice, monitoring and reporting of serious violations against children in conflict, and adolescent programming during emergencies and in transition.
Recent projects include preparation of the children’s version of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission report; UNICEF IRC publication Birth Registration and Armed Conflict; UNICEF publication Adolescent Programming in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations; and the upcoming publication, Children and Truth Commissions, that is being prepared by UNICEF IRC in partnership with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). She assisted in the writing and editing of the seminal study, The Impact of War on Children, authored by Graça Machel, and has provided key contributions to a number of publications, including the Child-Friendly UN Guidelines on Matters of Justice Involving Child Victims and Witnesses; International Criminal Justice and Children; Women War and Peace: The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building; and Children Affected by Armed Conflict: UNICEF Actions. She holds a Doctorate from New York University and a Masters Degree from Columbia University.
Saudamini has been a member of the Little Sisters Fund board of directors since its inception in 1998.
Quentin Koffey
Quentin Koffey is employed with Watershed Asset Management in San Francisco and has been a Little Sisters Fund board member since 2001.
He received his JD/MBA joint degree from Stanford in the spring of 2007. Prior to returning to school, Quentin was an economic analyst at the Congressional US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in Washington, DC. He has written and lectured about trade, investment and political issues concerning Sino-American relations.
Quentin lived in China for 2 years in the late 90’s after graduating from Yale University. He is fluent in Chinese.
Dana Remus Irwin
Dana Remus Irwin is an assistant professor at Drexel University's College of Law, where she teaches Property Law and Professional Responsibility. Prior to teaching, Dana clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and worked as a trusts and estates associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.
Dana has her law degree from Yale, her undergraduate degree from Harvard and attended St. Paul’s School. Dana speaks Chinese and is an accomplished athlete having won many honors in rowing and running. Dana joined the Little Sisters Fund board in 2003.
NEPALESE FUND ADMINiSTRATORS
Usha Acharya
Born in Tanahun, Nepal, Usha Acharya is co-founder of the Little Sisters Fund and oversees all Fund activities in Nepal.
Prior to her role with the Fund, Ms. Acharya lead Nepalese in-country efforts as a Senior Program Officer for Save the Children Fund (UK) on topics ranging from education, marginalized children, discrimination against women, and HIV/AIDS awareness. She also served as Program Office for The Asia Foundation in Nepal, focusing on Nepalese societal well-being.
Usha has a Masters of Arts from Delhi University in Delhi, India, and a Masters of Philosophy from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, India. She received her undergraduate degree from Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Usha’s book, Primary Education in Nepal: Policy, Problems and Prospects is widely circulated and referenced in Nepal. She has also written numerous articles on a multitude of Nepalese topics.
Usha is married to Dr. Jaya Raj Acharya, the former Nepalese ambassador to the United Nations (1991-1994). Together they have two sons, Avidit and Achal.
Jayaraj Acharya
Dr. Jaya Raj Acharya is a prominent expert on Nepal’s security and foreign relations. Jaya Raj served as a foreign policy adviser and speechwriter to Prime Minister G. P. Koirala from 1991–2005. In the early 1990s, he was Nepal’s permanent representative to the UN, vice chairman of the UN Disarmament Committee, and vice chairman of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid. Presently, Acharya is executive chairman of Kathmandu’s Center for Democracy and Development.
He has been a fellow at Harvard’s Center for International Affairs and the University of Leiden’s International Institute for Asian Studies, a recipient of a Fulbright grant, and has taught at the National Staff College of Nepal and at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan University.
Acharya received an M.S. from Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu and an M.S. and Ph.D. in linguistics from Georgetown University.
Ramesh Wagle
Ramesh Sharma Wagle has worked with the Little Sisters Fund since 2000, and is the Senior Program Officer in Kathmandu. Ramesh has a long history of commitment to social causes. Previously Ramesh was a prosthetic limb engineer/orthopedic technician.
Ramesh has his Bachelors of Arts degree from Ratna Rajya Laxmi College and is currently pursuing his B.Ed in Mathematics at Kathmandu Sikshya College. Ramesh speaks Nepali, Hindi and English. He is happily married and has one son, Namesh.
Nutan Thapa
Nutan Thapa has been working for the Little Sisters Fund since early 2006. Prior to her full-time position, Nutan taught elementary English and Social Studies for 10 years.
She has a Bachelors in Business Studies from Public Youth College and is working on her Masters in Sociology and Anthropology at Tri Chandra College. Nutan speaks Nepali, Hindi and impeccable English.