Da Gelje Sherpa (Dawa) is Expedition Himalaya’s, Expedition Director. He is a renowned Himalayan explorer, mountaineer and expedition organizer as well as a successful entrepreneur. He was born in Solu-Khumbu, in the foothills of the world's highest peak, Sagarmatha (Mount Everest). He has 46 years of direct involvement in the profession, beginning as a porter and progressing to the assistant chef, trekking guide, and now Expedition Director at Expedition Himalaya.com, which was founded in 2011.
Dawa was a pioneer in the professionalization of the trekking and climbing industry in Nepal. He has summited Everest seven times (from both Nepal and Tibet), Dhaulagiri, Cho-Oyu five times, Sishapangma eight times, and many other 8000m peaks. He has also worked to promote Nepal as a PATA Nepal representative as well as being a representative of the Nepal Tourist Board, traveling to the United States and other countries to attend tourism-related seminars, conferences, trade shows, and festivals.

For the last 15 years, he has been an active President of the High-Altitude Mountain Worker Welfare Association (HAMWWA). Along with HAMWWA, he has been involved with the Welfare Committee of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, working for the welfare of climbers, and delivering relief materials at difficult moments such as the earthquake and Covid-19. He is active in a variety of social impact activities and has worked on a number of school construction projects in rural Nepal, allowing hundreds of pupils to learn more comfortably than previously. Along with school construction efforts, he has personally supported underprivileged youngsters in their education and in reaching their goals.