Bal Krishna Joshi ’95

Bal Krishna Joshi is the founder of Thamel.com, a Web site and business that enables expatriate Nepali to purchase gifts and arrange for their delivery within Nepal. The employee-owned company, which employs 40 people, helps sustain the ties of far-flung friends and family and has contributed greatly to the economy of Joshi’s native country.

After graduating from Lewis & Clark College with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Joshi returned to Nepal where he spent seven months selling beverages from a pushcart. He soon focused his entrepreneurial efforts to establish the first computerized lottery endorsed by the state. When the lottery closed down for political reasons, he created a new opportunity by establishing the Web-based gift service that has become Thamel.com. Named for the street in Kathmandu that serves as the hub of local commerce, Thamel.com operates as an electronic conduit for business vendors in Nepal.

Joshi is married to Jessica A. Pisano ’95, and the couple resides in Lake Oswego.

In 2003, Bal Krishna Joshi received the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, which honors an alumnus/a for rendering superior performance in his or her chosen field and superior service to his or her chosen community within 15 years of graduation.

(Posted December 2004)