Jaya is a policy economist. At NIPoRe, besides leading the institute’s overall research and strategic efforts, he also heads the Centre for New Economy and Inequality (CNEI). In addition, he is the lead researcher for Nepal Competitiveness Index (NCI) and serves as the co-lead and strategic lead of Nepal Risk Outlook (NRO).

Prior to co-founding NIPoRe, he worked as an Editorial Assistant for HIMAL Southasian in Kathmandu, one of ten Global Youth Mobilizers for the Rio+20 Social Dialogues in Kathmandu and in Rio de Janeiro, as a Senior Editor for the Asian Journal of Public Affairs (the flagship journal of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore) in Singapore, as a visiting faculty at the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, as a Senior Research Fellow and Faculty at King’s College Kathmandu, and as a Columnist at The Kathmandu Post and Business 360 Magazine in Kathmandu among others. In total, he has over ten years of professional experience in the areas of youth, sustainable development, knowledge management, research, and policy advocacy across countries in Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

He has an MPP from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. In addition, he has received special training on evidence-based policymaking, sustainable development, research, and policy advocacy from universities and think-tanks in China, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United States of America. He was born and schooled in Jumla, Karnali Province, Nepal.

Research Areas:

- Policy analysis
- Poverty and inequality
- Technology and society
- Public finance

Language Skills:

Nepali (Mother Tongue), English (Fluent), French and Spanish (Conversational), Hindi (Fluent)