As a Director of Humanity United’s (HU) Forced Labor & Human Trafficking (FLHT) team, Mahendra provides strategic leadership and vision for movement building, and grassroots worker- and survivor-led initiatives. Mahendra also co-leads HU’s organizational level well-being and healing efforts, integrating cultural, Global South, and spiritual perspectives into these initiatives.
Before joining HU, Mahendra worked as a migrant worker in Saudi Arabia while searching for his father, who had been living there as a migrant worker for 14 years. During this period, he experienced first-hand the poor working conditions faced by many Nepali workers. While working in Saudi Arabia, Mahendra established a Nepali migrant rights network, which later evolved into the Pravasi Nepali Coordination Committee (PNCC), a leading Nepali NGO. Mahendra served as the Founding Chairperson of PNCC, where he established groups in destination countries to assist workers stranded in detention centers across the Arab Gulf region. Mahendra is the founder of several migrant workers networks, both in Nepal and globally.
Over the last fifteen years, Mahendra has dedicated his career to leading efforts to transform the lives of migrant workers and survivors and advancing the well-being of workers and marginalized populations, particularly in the Global South. He founded Shramik Sanjal, the largest network of Nepali migrant workers, and the Global Migrant Workers Network (GMWN), through which he provides mentorship and support for building the next generation of migrant worker leaders from Africa and Asia. As a former migrant worker, Mahendra channels his lived experience into advocacy and mastermind behind the first-ever advocacy association led by migrant workers. His journey from victim to advocate highlights the urgent need for systemic reforms in labor migration policies and practices, while also offering hope for a more just and equitable future for migrant workers globally.
Mahendra serves as Vice-Chair of the Freedom Fund, a global organization committed to ending modern slavery, where he brings his lived experience and perspectives as a former migrant worker from the Global South.
Additionally, he is also a member of the Advisory Council of Polaris, a leading organization addressing anti-trafficking issues. Mahendra is a member of the Lived Experience Panel for the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.
Mahendra holds a master’s degree in digital media and Storytelling from American University in Washington, D.C., and has completed Executive Education in Leadership, Organizing, and Action from the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University. In his free time, he practices meditation, mindfulness, wisdom, and joy.