Empower Girls and Women in Nepal!
Support Martha’s Challenge.

On June 7, Martha Newell, a long-time Conscious Connections Foundation (CCF) board member, will embark on the 2025 Dusty Bandita! Not for the faint of heart, this route will involve 3000’ of elevation gain on a 45-mile gravel course.

Martha is riding in support of all the work that CCF does in service of our mission: Through Nepali-North American partnership, CCF invests in the power of women and girls to be key participants in their society.

(Note “Martha’s Challenge” in donation form)

about the challenge

In October of 2020, Martha was diagnosed with early stage ovarian cancer. It is now coming up on five (!) years since her diagnosis. Her regular health monitoring shows her to still be free of cancer. She is celebrating her current cancer free status by training for and riding the Dusty Bandita, a day long 45 mile gravel ride on June 7. Sadly the week long Montana Ride she has done for many years is no longer happening. (She will also be welcoming her third grandchild to the world at the end of June and is grateful not to miss the early days of his/her life by being on a bike ride!!)

If you wish to support CCF in honor of Martha’s ride, all of CCF will be grateful, as will the many Nepalis who benefit from our support.

In mid-December, Conscious Connections Foundation (CCF) took an important step forward by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Conscious Connections Nepal (CCN), our new partner organization in Nepal. This collaboration isn’t just a formality—it’s a vibrant commitment to deepening our work on the ground. By joining forces, CCN now becomes an independent, registered non-profit in Nepal with the ability to receive funds directly from abroad, which means we can support community projects more efficiently and effectively.

At Conscious Connections Foundation, our mission is to invest in the power of women and girls to be key participants in their society. Partnering with CCN amplifies this mission, allowing us to work more directly with local partners and reduce administrative hurdles. In turn, CCN gains the flexibility to seek additional funding, ensuring that their programming can expand and evolve with the needs of Nepal’s diverse communities. Over the years, CCF has been dedicated to training women leaders, and we are thrilled to see several of them now stepping into influential roles at CCN—turning their skills into action and shaping a brighter future.

CCF also provides ongoing support of girls’ education from young girls to college age scholarships, maintains our relationship with the Baseri Clinic which we helped found, and we are poised to be effective in times of emergencies and disasters, always with the guidance of our longtime partners in Nepal.