Meet the Author
Maggie Doyne’s story.
Maggie Doyne's story begins in Mendham Borough, New Jersey with parents Steve and Nancy Doyne and two sisters, Kate and Libby. After she was born, her father quit his job as the manager of a natural food store to be a stay-at-home dad, while her mother worked in real estate. Maggie attended West Morris Mendham High School.
In 2005, following her high school graduation, Maggie took a "gap year" to travel with the organization LeapNow. At age 18, Maggie set off with a backpack to see the world.
During that trip, she spent time volunteering at a children's home in northern India. While there, Maggie became friends with a refugee from Nepal and during a cease-fire in the Nepalese Civil War, went with her to visit her home village. After visiting Nepal’s poverty-stricken villages, her philanthropic work began.
In Nepal, Maggie met six-year-old Hima, who was barely surviving on the few rupees she earned by breaking stones in a dry riverbed and selling them. Maggie helped Hima go to school, paying for her tuition, uniform, and books, and expanded her efforts to help more children. Maggie used $5,000 she had saved from babysitting to help even more children and phoned her parents at home to send her the money.
With her money and more funds from supporters worldwide, Maggie purchased land in the Surkhet valley. Tope Malla, a Nepali that Maggie had met in India, joined her as a project partner.
Named CNN Hero of the Year in 2015, Maggie has been recognized globally for her school, children’s home, women’s center, and girls’ safe home projects in Surkhet, Nepal.
Working with Tope
A big part of Maggie’s story is crossing paths with Tope Malla. Tope and Maggie co-founded the Kopila Valley Children's Home together in 2007. After meeting at Ramana's Garden in India, a children's home primarily serving Nepali refugees, the two decided to enter into a partnership to serve the needs of Nepal's children back in Tope's home country.
Tope and Maggie have been a dynamic duo ever since, running the organization side by side.
Maggie’s Work in Nepal
A loving home for over 40 children. A school for over 400 young students. A program to prepare graduates for their futures. A big sister's home for 10 of the school’s most at-risk female students. A center for the women of Surkhet, Nepal to gather and learn. A new school campus made from the earth. A community that is strong both in health and in the environment that surrounds us. This is the world we want to see every day. Of course, the work is never done. After all, progress never stops.
