Ruby Shah from Bara has been awarded the Zonta International 2021 Jane M. Klausman (JMK) Women in Business Scholarship, a total of $10,000 award money. She was nominated by the Zonta Club of Kathmandu, District 25, Area 2, and the application for the award was sent to the Zonta International District selection where she is the recipient of $2000 among the 32 total award recipients. Additionally, she has also received $8000 from Zonta Headquarters (Illinois, USA), making her one of only six scholars worldwide to receive this international scholarship for the academic year 2021-2022.

Ruby Shah is a final-year undergraduate at The British College who is pursuing her BBA degree, concentrating in Finance and Accounting. Since the age of 19, Ruby has been working with several startups in different domains like business incubation, content creation, marketing, and consulting services. She served as the former Chief Operating Officer for Udhyami Nepali where she supervised the team of the company and was involved in curating strategies to create insightful content and events for aspiring entrepreneurs. Currently, she is leading the Rotaract Club of Kirtipur as its Charter President where she is working with 40+ youths of her locality to initiate various community projects and capacity development programs.

With a continuous zeal and effort to empower women in the economic sphere, Ruby has attended several fellowship and training seminars. In 2019, she represented Nepal at the International Youth Engagement Conference in Malaysia as the SDG presenter where she pitched a presentation on ‘ The contemporary condition of Youth Centers to empower females in Nepal’ and advocated for the role of youth centers in attaining SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth).

Ms. Seema Golcha, president of Zonta Club of Kathmandu expressed, “We congratulate her and we know that she will be a great role model for many girls who aspire to study business and be in a leadership position to empower other women”.

Every year, Zonta awards JMK scholarships to promising women to encourage them in pursuing professions in business management and seek leadership roles. The applicants should have a strong academic profile and demonstrate initiative, ambition, and commitment to pursuing a career in business.

Brief Bio of Ruby:

I am a final-year undergraduate at The British College, currently pursuing my BBA degree, concentrating in Finance and Accounting. Since the age of 19, I have been working with startups in different domains like business incubation, content creation, marketing, and consulting services. I served as the former Chief Operating Officer for Udhyami Nepali where I supervised the team of the company and was involved in curating strategies to create insightful content and events for aspiring entrepreneurs. At present, I am leading the Rotaract Club of Kirtipur as its Charter President where I am working with 40+ youths of my locality to initiate various capacity development programs and community projects like supporting underprivileged students with educational materials, donating essential food and sanitation supplies, and feeding the families of slum areas during the pandemic.

With a continuous zeal and effort to empower women for financial independence, I have got the opportunity to attend several fellowship and training seminars. In 2019, I represented Nepal at the International Youth Engagement Conference in Malaysia as the SDG presenter where she pitched a presentation on ‘ The contemporary condition of Youth Centres to empower females in Nepal’ and advocated for the role of youth centers in attaining SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth).

Since many promising women are rejected for funding to run their businesses due to gender inequality, I aspire to be the first female founder in the investment space of Nepal focusing primarily on gender smart investing.