Strategic communication and high level events
I help organisations communicate clearly, and run moments that matter.
I help teams tell their story with confidence, run high level events without the drama, and communicate clearly in difficult moments. Alongside that, I bring hands on experience testing AI systems for safety risks before they reach people.
Who I am
I am Mukunda Nepal. For more than 15 years, my work has centred on strategic communication, with a long thread through public health, child protection, and international development. I have written the message, built the campaign, briefed the leaders, and stayed for the event itself to make sure it landed.
Most of that career was with UNICEF, where I spent seven years as a Communications Officer, leading digital safety policy work, crisis communication, advocacy, fundraising, and high level events. Since then I have led health and policy communication for the International Rescue Committee and program work for Freedom House. Today I also red team AI systems at Meta, testing large language models for vulnerabilities and safety risks before they reach people.
One piece of work I am proudest of is the children's digital safety policy I helped co-design in Nepal. It was endorsed by the government and reached more than 5 million children through nationwide campaigns. That experience still shapes how I work. Good communication is not only about finding the right words. It is about earning trust, writing guidance people can actually follow, and staying with the work until it changes something real.
I have worked in Nepal, Bangladesh, and the United States. While working in those roles, my work has also covered South Asia, Africa, and other regions, including work done from the United States for teams and audiences elsewhere.
I speak English, Nepali, and Hindi, and I work comfortably across technical teams, policy teams, governments, donors, and communities.
My expertise
Communication first, events close behind, with tech policy and safety work supporting both.
Strategic and crisis communication
This is the core of my work. Communication strategy, health and risk communication, and crisis communication built for real audiences, including children and caregivers. I have run daily public briefings, built crisis media hubs, and written press, donor, and social content during floods, a pandemic, and refugee emergencies, and I know how to keep a message steady when the facts are still moving.
High level events and donor engagement
Events where the guest list, the protocol, and the message all have to be right. I have managed more than 15 high profile events, including World Children's Day, vaccine arrivals, and policy launches featuring national leaders and international dignitaries, plus more than 10 donor visits to the field. That means run of show, AV and vendor coordination, guest protocol, and visibility plans that respect branding and safeguarding rules.
Programs and partnerships
Programs that bring donors, governments, and communities together. My background includes donor proposals and intelligence that helped raise more than $2 million, teams of more than 10 people, and budgets over $500,000.
AI safety and tech policy
Adversarial testing and evaluation of AI systems, and policy guidance that holds up in practice. I focus on turning technical risks into clear, usable guidance for product, policy, and engineering teams.
Selected work
This is professional work from my career, not side projects. The through line is the same in each one. Clear communication, careful planning, and work that holds up when the audience is large and the stakes are real.
Children's digital safety policy, Nepal
Co-designed Nepal's landmark policy on children's digital safety and literacy, endorsed by the government and reaching more than 5 million children through nationwide campaigns.
COVID-19 crisis communication
Co-created Nepal's first COVID-19 crisis media hub, worked with the Ministry of Health on daily public briefings and vaccine communication, and built risk communication for floods, a pandemic, and refugee emergencies.
High level events
Managed more than 15 high profile events, including World Children's Day, COVAX vaccine arrivals, and policy launches featuring national leaders and international dignitaries, with run of show, AV and vendor coordination, and guest protocol.
Donor engagement and fundraising
Helped raise more than $2 million through donor proposals, intelligence reports, and concept notes, hosted more than 10 donor visits to refugee camps, and joined team based pitches that secured a five year, EUR 500,000 commitment from a European individual donor.
Health communication, International Rescue Committee
Led technical health communication with global teams, including media placements, press releases, briefs, and reports, plus talking points for senior leadership and advocacy events and campaigns aligned to evidence based health guidance.
AI safety red teaming, Meta
Tests large language models with adversarial prompts and multi-step scenarios for misinformation, harassment, self-harm content, sexual content, and unsafe guidance, and turns findings into reusable evaluations for Trust and Safety, policy, and engineering teams.
Governance media, BBC Media Action
Produced weekly governance debate television programs to BBC editorial standards and managed web and social content on civic issues, growing followers by 1,300 percent over four years.
Multimedia storytelling at scale
Produced VR films, photo stories, videos, and infographics on child nutrition, refugee crises, and COVID-19, designed to drive engagement and behaviour change, not just to look good.
On the side, as hobby projects only, I also build small tools like CryDecode, Mausam Nepal, and NepaliVani. They are fun to make, but they are not the portfolio above.
Hire me
I take on focused, deliverable based projects through my LLC, and I am also open to the right remote role. If you are deciding whether I am the right fit, this is the kind of work I do best.
- Strategic communication, risk communication, and crisis communication plans
- High level event production and donor engagement, from run of show to guest protocol
- Policy briefs, donor proposals, and program design, especially for South Asia and global health
- AI safety evaluation, red teaming, and trust and safety policy review
To start, send me a short note about what you need, your timeline, and what success would look like. I will reply honestly about fit, scope, and what I can deliver, and I will say so plainly if someone else would be a better fit.
Contact
The fastest way to reach me is email. LinkedIn is best if you want to see my full work history first.
Email: hellomuku@gmail.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mukundanepal