International Community Feature: Manashi Pandit

It’s a pleasure to spotlight Manashi Pandit, a 2026 Master’s in International Business Quantitative Methods (MIB:QM) student at The Fletcher School for our next installment of the International Community Feature.  

A native of Kathmandu, Nepal, Manashi grew up with her parents and brother. Once in high school she selected the math and physics track with the ultimate goal of pursuing a career in Engineering. But as the time to enter university drew near, she realized this was not the field where she would thrive, so she shifted gears and landed in the world of Business. She continued to pursue her undergraduate education in Nepal and majored in Finance. After receiving her degree, she co-founded a startup called WePlay Nepal with classmates she met during her studies. The startup was founded with a goal to “connect players with recreational sports venues and like-minded athletes, making access to organized sports more inclusive and efficient.” It went on to support athletic curriculum development in schools and fielded both men’s and women’s sports teams whose players have gone to compete on the national level. Manashi credits this start-up experience with deepening her interest in the world of Finance and particularly investment management and private equity, which then led to seeking a degree at The Fletcher School.  

Since coming to Fletcher, Manashi has felt inspired by the multi-disciplinary work of its faculty and students and her perspectives have been greatly broadened in classes that exposed her to a variety of topics within the International Business world. Through the encouragement of her professors along with fellow seniors, she decided to concentrate in both Finance and Legal Studies, pursuing a summer internship as a Finance Intern at Insights4Equity . This past year Manashi has also served as a Mastercard Fellow with the Mastercard Policy Center for Digital Economy through Fletcher. In this role she “works closely on research initiatives that sit at the intersection of global policy, emerging technologies, and the evolving payments landscape, with a focus on understanding regulatory, and market forces shaping the future of financial systems.” Once completing her MIB:QM, Manashi is hopes to continue gaining experience in the field of Finance and maintain a strong connection to home while enabling more opportunities in Nepal.   

Coming to the US offered a wealth of opportunities for Manashi – as she sees it, the US has an advanced capital market and thriving entrepreneurship environment which makes it a great business hub. Boston, in particular, struck her as especially supportive, with its young population and many universities playing a key role in fostering a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. What she misses most about Nepal is the weather which may come as a surprise to some who are picturing snowy, Himalayan terrain. Although Manashi’s roots extend across different regions of Nepal, she has spent most of her time based in Kathmandu and grown accustomed to its climate which is relatively temperate and protected from harsh wind.  

As part of the small spring cohort, Manashi persevered through the Boston winter and managed periodic bouts of homesickness by connecting with the Boston and Tufts Nepalese communities – students on the Tufts, MIT and Harvard campuses gather to observe several Nepalese festivals each year. She also enjoys the tastes of home either cooking with her roommates or stopping into restaurants like Tasty Momo, Masala, and Aaila (the latter is the most authentic in her opinion). And though Manashi has connected with a robust Nepalese community here, she also stressed that you don’t just need people from your culture of origin to form connections in a foreign place – the diversity at Fletcher has helped her weave close friendships across many backgrounds. 

–by Julia Keith 

(photo courtesy of Manashi Pandit)