The Start of Our Story
golden eyes project didn’t begin in a boardroom. It started with a shared cause between friends and an artist who had the idea to put her brushes to work to complete a mission.
Chapter 1
In 2019, for an Interior Design capstone internship, most of Rebecca’s peers headed to prestigious firms, but she asked to go to Nepal.
For three months in Kathmandu she worked with a local nonprofit that built bicycles but wanted to explore furniture manufacturing.
Having no existing design infrastructure, she started from scratch: sourcing materials from local markets, creating designs from what was available in their warehouse, building 3D models and collaborating directly with welders on each piece.
After three months, the internship ended and Rebecca returned to the United States. The nonprofit in Kathmandu eventually closed, but the friendships she built with the people of Nepal remained.
After spending a year back in the US, a natural disaster devastated a remote village in Nepal and one of Rebecca’s friends, Tenjing needed help raising funds for the victims. She said yes.
That first campaign led to another. Each year they were able to provide the resources needed with Rebecca crowdfunding remotely and Tenjing delivering supplies directly to villages across Nepal.
Over time their work focused around child development and was called Project Red Panda. They provide books, bicycles, art supplies, sports equipment… resources that empower children.
Then came a campaign that stalled. They needed funds for bicycles to help a group of children in Eastern Nepal gain better access to school. Traditional crowdfunding wasn’t moving fast enough, so Rebecca tried something different. She offered oil painting commissions in exchange for donations.
It worked. The funds came in, and the bikes were delivered.
And a question formed that she couldn’t shake: If one painter offering commissions could complete a project for children in Nepal, what could an entire community of artists accomplish?
So, golden eyes project was born.
