Ramkaji Paudel is the Chairman of the Vajra Foundation Nepal (VFN) and the Chairman of Vajra Academy, Nepal’s first green and eco-friendly school - a change maker school as recognized by the Ashoka Foundation. The VFN is a non-government, non-profit making, non-political, and non-religious social organization established in 1998. Its vision is to help improve the education, health and socio-economic conditions of villagers and to enable them to become independent and self-reliant. VFN worked with Vajra Foundation Holland in the Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal since the mid-1990s, bringing solar cooking and heat retention cooking methods to the refugees. By 2013, approximately 85,000 refugees were cooking their meals using these methods.
The VFN works actively with solar cooking endeavors at the Vajra Academy and the Vajra Eco-Resort, including large scale kitchens using solar heated steam for cooking.
Mr. Paudel is the chairman of the Vajra Eco Resort and supports a broad array of solar cooking efforts in Nepal. Mr. Paudel has a master’s degree in Sociology from Tri-Chandra College.