Meet Our Founder
Avinash Sharma
Founder & CEo
On a mission to end child marriage
Dear Friends,
I’m Avinash Sharma, 32, a Solutions Architect with a comprehensive background in Data Science and Cloud Technologies. Ten years into my career, I have rendered my services to some of the top Fortune Global 500 companies internationally. I’m also a social worker and Founder of Far Too Young, Inc. a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization which serves the needy.
I migrated to the United States from Nepal when I was sixteen and became an American citizen. Until the people’s republic was established, my native country was ruled by an autocratic monarchy for decades where poverty, illiteracy, inequality was widespread which I witnessed first-hand. Over the years, I have observed that here in the United States as well. Thus from my early adolescent years, I have been involved in community service as I believe in restoring hopes and smiles (our organization’s motto) in the lives of the underprivileged and the marginalized. In any country where people are governed fairly, there will be peace, inclusiveness and harmony in society. When people are out of poverty, they have access to quality education, proper health care, clean water and energy and other social safety nets. And when women and girls are respected, given equal opportunities and power as men, they contribute to the health and productivity of their families and communities.
I have volunteered in wide ranging initiatives to assist people and communities in need in the United States and South Asia since my youth.
I have fundraised to support many initiatives, helped set up mobile health clinics for the needy, provide food, shelter and clothing to victims of man
made disasters and so on. I’m also actively involved with Media Alert and Relief Foundation, and international non-profit that champions cause on gender equality, human trafficking and children and women rights. There I have been involved in the production and dissemination of audio-visual materials on various social topics to educate and empower the naïve grassroots audiences worldwide. I have helped in the dissemination of many activism films. The Nepalese edutainment film Chameli against girl trafficking was widely screened in the United States when we were not aware of this issue and did not pay attention to it when trafficking was happening in our own backyards. The film told the world what human trafficking was all about thus making the desired impact in educating the masses.
For the past few years through my organization Far Too Young, I have been active on gender based violence issues – child marriage in particular. I have funded research activities in India, Bangladesh and Nepal and supported several community based organizations in their work to protect children and girls. I have produced a short film, also called Far Too Young, which addresses and highlights the issues of child brides and their tragic effects in our societies.
Child, underage and forced marriages, a manifestation of gender based violence has dangerous consequences. It not only robs children of their childhood but leaves them vulnerable to violence, physical and mental abuse. Child marriages lead to disruption in education and in pregnancies (mostly leading to higher risk and complications and death during childbirth) affecting the sexual health and development of the mother, a child herself.
Child marriage hampers efforts to end poverty and obstructs to achieve economic growth and equity. Climate change and related environmental crisis like drought, heat, landslides, brings reductions of household incomes, displacement, closure of school etc. making the child marriage situation even worse. With the well-being and future of the child bride and the lives and livelihood of her family at stake, eradication of this social injustice would have a direct impact on the welfare and prosperity of the wider population and nations.
Large organizations and governments are not doing enough and at the current rate of progress, child marriage will not end anytime soon unless individuals and charities come together. This is one of the main reasons I established Far Too Young.
Friends, I would like to take this opportunity and request you to please support our work and generously donate to Far Too Young.
Thank you very much.
“Love cannot remain by itself — it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service.” – Mother Teresa
OUR TEAM
Chief Advisor
Mr. Matthew S Friedman, the CEO of The Mekong Club, is a leading, internationally renowned global expert on modern slavery and human trafficking. As award winning public speaker, author, filmmaker, and philanthropist, Matthew regularly advises heads of governments and intelligence agencies. Each year he is cited at least 40 times in the news media (CNN, Bloomberg, Reuters, Associated Press, the Financial Times, the Economist, etc.) and invited to speak at major International conferences around the world. As an award winning inspirational and motivational speaker, Matthew has given more than 900 presentations including 129 keynote speeches. He has also authored 13 books.
Matthew has managed and directed tens of millions of dollars to major humanitarian portfolios impacting millions of people for the World Bank, the U.S. State Department, and the United Nations. His work over the last 30 years of pioneering and managing international anti-human trafficking projects from Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand and Hong Kong has given him access to many influential networks in different countries throughout the world.
A long-time supporter of film and the media arts, Matthew was an executive producer and advisor on four award-winning films, one of which was nominated for an Emmy and another executive produced by Emma Thompson.
SENIOR PARTNER
Mr. Ravi Baral is an award winning and critically acclaimed filmmaker based in Nepal with 30 years experience in the industry. He has led over three dozen film projects (writing, directing) in domains like public health communication, human trafficking, reproductive and child health and gender equality with partners like USAID, DFID, UNWOMEN, the World Bank and others. He has also produced a documentary on the tripartite (China-Japan-Nepal) expedition to Mount Everest.
Ravi Baral founded Media Alert and Relief Foundation in 1993, a non-profit that alerts the public through education, on areas of health, population, women empowerment, the environment and other social issues. He writes and directs infomercials, edutainment film projects, PSAs, documentaries and awareness campaigns. Ravi produced and directed Chameli, a full-length feature on anti-girl trafficking which was partly funded by UNIFEM and USAID which won four Nepal Motion Picture Awards. He also directed and produced Ramjham, a musical for peace. The motive of the film was to recover the lost peace of Nepal and its eroding democracy through a celluloid campaign. Ravi was also the co-producer of the internationally acclaimed documentary on child trafficking, The Day My God Died, which was nominated to the Emmys in 2005. Ravi has been a media consultant to many communications projects undertaken by INGOs and other private, government and donor organizations in Nepal and South Asia. He will be directing Far Too Young, a full length edutainment film which he also wrote after many years of joint research. The film project is currently in pre-production.
VP & Chief of Operations
Mr. Ashutosh Sharma, after completing his education in computer science joined NorFolk Southern. There he is a technical lead and senior full-stack engineer. He oversees multiple initiatives and is recognized as a leader in developing and managing large scope projects. He works closely with the executive team to understand and fine-tune the roadmap for overall direction and aims of the programs and company’s vision.
At Far Too Young, Ashutosh, with his vast knowledge and skills leads to guide the organizations mission. As VP and Chief of Operations he oversees the activities of Far Too Young in South Asia and the US. A value driven leader, he enables those around him to be relentless and curious in taking challenges head-on. Mr. Sharma believes in giving back to the community which he says brings joy and fulfillment in life. He has supported many charitable causes around the world from an early age.
DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS
Ms. Oshin Bista, MA in Anthropology from Columbia University, is based in New York . As a Nepali girl born during the decade-long civil war, she witnessed violence and discrimination against vulnerable populations like women and girls from an early age. Moving to Bosnia and Herzegovina at 16 and later to the US at 19, she saw even more nuanced ways conflict and inequality affected children’s well- being and life opportunities. She realized that violence against children, women and other vulnerable groups was not limited to developing economies but was inherent to many institutions worldwide. This realization motivated her to pursue sociocultural issues academically.
At Far Too Young, Oshin is currently leading the Tara Campaign against child marriage.
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
Mr. Soorya Baral has led several innovative campaigns against HIV/AIDS, Human Trafficking and Violence Against Women in South Asia. He has about a dozen short films to his credit on subjects like environment, sustainable tourism, nutrition, good governance and gender based violence. He has also worked as a consultant to private organizations in developing and implementing communications and marketing plans.
Soorya Baral has been involved in Far Too Young since its inception and is responsible in the development, production and dissemination of communications materials. He also liaisons with various community based organizations, target audiences as well as local governments in countries Far Too Young works with its partner NGOs. With an education in management, Soorya also received training at the New York based prestigious Stella Adler Studio of Acting. He finds happiness in spreading love and compassion to the greater community.