A letter from our founder
Hi, I'm Akshat.
A little paper.
A wider world.
It was my dream to come to the U.S. for an education. My mission is to open an international school in Nepal.
Between those two dreams is a story about math, a few folded sheets of paper, and people who believed in me.
Let me start at the beginning
01 / The first lesson
First, give them
a reason to wonder.
Eight years ago, I started tutoring at an orphanage next to my home in Nepal. Getting everyone to listen was another matter.
So we folded paper. Origami became a way into geometry: something to hold, try, and discover together. Before there was Nell & Key, there was that lesson.
02 / A door opens
From Nepal,
into the world.
I represented Nepal at United World Colleges, where education had a purpose beyond the classroom. The UWC movement has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Then a full scholarship brought me to Macalester College in Minnesota. The education I had dreamed of became my everyday life.
03 / Building the next door
Math opened doors.
People helped me through.
My foundation in math took me into a forward-deployed AI engineering internship at a Saint Paul startup, and into investment banking as an analyst.
Along the way, mentors challenged me, encouraged me, and helped me keep going. With their support and the Twin Cities ecosystem behind me, I began presenting Nell & Key.
None of those chapters happened all at once. Each began with something I could try, and someone who helped me take the next step.
The story we're writing now
There is a world
inside a small beginning.
I still think about those folded sheets of paper. A child's curiosity deserves somewhere to go. Nell & Key is the place I'm building for it.
Akshat