Sri Lanka

Kanishka is a development practitioner with experience particularly in DDR and Peacebuilding, Community Engagement, Development Communications, Post-Crisis Development, Migration, and the Third Sector. Kanishka has worked with conflict associated groups, war victims, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and marginalized groups. He has proven expertise in project management, formulation and administration with a background in development communications, and earned a Masters in Media in Development from SOAS, University of London. He has managed community projects and delivered creative workshops and information campaigns on community engagement, conflict transformation, youth empowerment, for multicultural audiences. Through these experiences, he developed substantive experience in project management, partnership & coalition building, community mobilization, conflict mapping, and social marketing. Kanishka is a recipient of the Chevening Fellowship awarded by the British Government recognizing the next generation of global leaders for development. Kanishka enjoys focusing on the topics of Community Activism, Conflict Transformation, Social Integration, Development Communications and using Media as a tool for social change.

Host Organization: Philanthropy University

Role at Host Organization: Kanishka will oversee the cultivation and growth of communities throughout the PhilU platform. This will involve communities of practice outside of course (e.g. groups of learners grouped by region, topic, etc) as well as inside courses (helping moderate forums, stimulate conversation, etc). Community is a pivotal component of the PhilU experience.

Gayathri has ten years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She holds a degree in social science from Madurai Kamaraj University. For seven years, she served as a project officer with Save the Children and specializes in child protection, education, disaster risk reduction and emergency humanitarian response. She has experience in proposal development, monitoring and appraising of project sites, and report writing. She also worked as a monitoring and evaluation and communications officer at the Child Development Fund and focused on child and youth development. Through these experiences, Gayathri has developed technical competencies in planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of programs. She also acquired skills in training and report writing. She is passionate about working with children.

Host Organization: ChildFund International

Role at Host Organization: Gayathri will support ChildFund’s Emergency Management Unit and improve the organization’s preparedness and response to emergencies and humanitarian crises. She will support global strategic functions, develop innovative tools and methods, and resource acquisition.