Soumya Nadabar

B.A. International Studies, North Carolina State University
B.A. Economics, North Carolina State University

Born in Japan, Soumya immigrated to the U.S. when she was five and grew up on traditional Lumbee land in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina. From an early age, Soumya danced between the cultures, languages, and belief systems of her Japanese-Argentinian-Indian heritage and “the American experience.”

Soumya went on to study at North Carolina State University, where she explored topics including ecofeminism, carbon neocolonialism, and gender-based violence. In college, she led campus gender equality efforts, interpersonal violence prevention, animal rights advocacy, environmental direct action, and outdoor education. Some of her greatest transformation in college came from leading a gender issues-focused trip to Guatemala; studying at Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador; and interning at a community development NGO in Gurgaon, India. Following graduation, Soumya taught English on a Fulbright fellowship in Dehradun, India and subsequently returned to the U.S. to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Portland, Oregon with Carpe Mundi.

Since then, Soumya has led wilderness courses with the National Outdoor Leadership School and semester programs in Central America, Southeast Asia, Oceania and South Asia with Carpe Diem Education. Soumya is passionate about the power of embodied learning and collective liberation and hopes to unite the two by making experiential education a catalyst for personal growth, cultivation of critical consciousness, and engagement & advocacy. In her free time, Soumya can be found playing outdoors, nursing a cup of tea and a good book, and pondering how to better cultivate beloved community, loving-kindness, and joy.