Ms. Jaya Luintel, Co-founder & President, The Story Kitchen, Nepal

Ms. Jaya Luintel is a prominent, nationally acclaimed journalist and women’s rights activist. She is the founder & President of The Story Kitchen in Nepal, which aims to amplify women’s voices and their stories by utilizing both traditional and new media tools. She began her journalism career from Radio Sagarmatha in 1999- the first community radio station in South Asia.

At the Story Kitchen (TSK), she has been working with the women survivors of 10 years long armed conflict to create a safe space for them so that they can boost their confidence and share their lived experience to seek justice. Through this work she has trained women survivors of conflict related Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in Nepal to become Justice Reporters and gather the stories of women who faced violence during armed conflict. By applying the innovative approach of storytelling, TSK has documented the lived experiences of Nepali women who faced human rights violations during armed conflict including sexual violence, rape and torture. Jaya brings extensive knowledge and expertise in the areas of SGBV and armed conflict in the context of Nepal.

Jaya has received a number of fellowships and honors for her communications work in the areas of gender, gender-based violence women’s rights and documenting and in amplifying the voices of marginalized and excluded population in Nepal. She was a Global Change Leaders Program 2016 Fellow and had been enrolled as Coady Women’s & Leadership Research Fellows for 2016 at Coady International Institute in Nova Scotia, Canada. She was the Asia Foundation Development Fellow in 2014 and had been listed in BBC’s Hundred Influential Women in the same year. Internationally trained at Radio Netherland Training Center and Deutsche Welle Radio Training Center, she has earned her Master’s Degree in Gender Studies from Tribhuwan University, Nepal.