It is where it all began. After its founding in 2018, Team Dayā’s first school building project was in Nepal in the fall of 2019 (see photos below). After five years, a global pandemic and completing schools in a series of countries around the world, we will return to Nepal this March (2024) for a school construction project. It will be the group’s sixth school and the second in Nepal.

Our Nepal ‘24 team is composed of ten individuals from across the world whose work will make a difference to girls and boys, their families and their community in a remote community in the Terai (the lowlands) of Nepal. While it continues to make progress, Nepal has a low Human Development Index, ranked 143 out of 191 countries in 2021, and a low level of education (5.1 years of schooling in 2021) with disparities between genders.

Please consider supporting  Team Dayā. We cannot build these schools without your support. Example investment opportunities:

• $100 Five shovels for excavating the school’s foundation
• $250 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school
• $500 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
• $1,000 Paint for a school
• $40,000 Builds a school

Meet our Nepal ‘24 team and please consider supporting them. All contributions go directly to the school building. Team members pay all their own travel costs.

Returning Team Members

BENEDEK. Mike “The Bricklayer” Benedek joined the team during the depths of the pandemic and immediately started fundraising. The Nepal project will be his third Team Dayā school. Beyond being an inveterate travel and supporter of our efforts, Benedek is president and CEO of the data marketplace Datonics. Read his first person account Mike Benedek on Building Change in Caserío Sector Los Castro. Donate.

KNUTSEN. Jaryd Knutsen, our head of recruiting who worked on building our first school in Dhayapur, Nepal in 2019, will be heading back to Nepal in March. In 2019, Jaryd was accompanied by his wife Winnie Yang (who wrote this first person account of her experience) and this time he will be with his brother in law Alex Yang. Beyond being a Founding Partner and Head of Recruiting at Team Dayā, Knutsen is the VP of Sales at programmatic marketplace TrustX. Donate.

SEARS. Team Dayā Founder Jay Sears will be headed to Nepal, his third time in the country. Before the team’s inaugural school in 2019, Sears was a student in Nepal back in 1988. In addition to running Team Dayā and the local community news site MyRye.com in his hometown, Jay has worked at Tentrr, Mastercard, Rubicon Project, Pulsepoint, ContextWeb, EDGAR Online and Wolff New Media. Donate.

New Team Members

BATAL. Laurie Batal is a nurse practitioner working in public health. She has volunteered in many places around the world including a two week health care mission in Nepal. She is friends with Team Dayā alum Lauren Rosen and founder Jay Sears. Donate.

DE RIJK. Michel de Rijk is an adtech “OG” living in Singapore. Many will know de Rijk from his time at WPP and Xaxis and more recently as CEO APAC for S4 Capital Group. He is a friend and former co-worker of Team Dayā alum Nicolle Pangis. De Rijk is actively recruiting more team members in the APAC region. Donate.

JAIN. Purwa Jain. “Growing up in a family of three daughters in India, my parents faced immense societal pressure that often discouraged girls’ education … They fought every battle to ensure that we received the best possible education. Their courage not only defied norms but also opened doors to countless opportunities for us.” Jain lives in Singapore and has logged time at ad tech companies including InMobi, Pokkt, Mobilewalla and Komli Media. She was introduced to the team via Michel de Rijk. Donate.

RAFALOVICH. Ruth Rafalovich is an inveterate traveler and adtech “OG”, having booked time at Rocketfuel, Google/DoubleClick and Omniture. “Raising money for Team Dayā for rural school building in Nepal allows me to bring awareness to the isolated, and often forgotten areas of the world.” Rafalovich now works for SecurityPal, a leader in customer assurance technology, based in California with a significant operations center in Kathmandu (the capital of Nepal). She is friends with  founder Jay Sears from their adtech days. Donate.

ROSE. Lauren Rose is an ad tech pro and currently leads the business team at Connatix. She taught English to students while studying abroad in Nanjing, China. “Equitable access to education is a cause I’ve always been passionate about and I couldn’t be more excited to join Team Dayā on a future build to and experience how impactful building a school can be in uplifting communities.” She was recruited to the team by a three time school building alum Team Dayā Founding Partner Jordan Mitchell. Donate.

TAN. Sean Tan is a native Singaporean entrenched in the tech industry, specializing in commercialization and aiding companies in their growth journey. He grew up in an underprivileged environment when putting food on the table for he and his siblings was a daily struggle. On why he is headed to Nepal, Sean says “It’s a personal commitment to making a difference and empowering those who might be facing challenges similar to what I once encountered.” Donate.

YANG. Alex Yang is a front end software developer and the brother-in-law to Team Dayā Founding Partner Jaryd Knutsen. “Through education, children can dream bigger, aspire to more, and ultimately contribute to the prosperity of their communities,” says Yang. “They can become future leaders, innovators, and agents of positive change. Building a school in Nepal is not just about constructing physical infrastructure; it’s about fostering a nurturing and inclusive environment.” Yang works in the financial sector for BNYM Pershing. Donate.

Please consider supporting  Team Dayā. We cannot build these schools without your support. Example investment opportunities:

• $100 Five shovels for excavating the school’s foundation
• $250 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school
• $500 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
• $1,000 Paint for a school
• $40,000 Builds a school

Team Dayā 2024 Plans

In 2024, we plan to build schools in Nepal (March), Senegal (June 2024) and Guatemala (December 2024). These ground breakings will be our second school in each of these countries.

The exact start dates are:

• Sunday, March 17, 2024 – Nepal (arrive Kathmandu)
• Sunday, June 23, 2024 – Senegal (arrive Dakar)
• Sunday, December 1, 2024 – Guatemala (arrive Guatemala City)

If you are curious to learn more about joining a build, please reach out to our Head of Recruiting Jaryd Knutsen.