CEPA Team

Management

Priyanthi Fernando, MA (Leicester) Executive Director
Priyanthi has a Masters Degree in Mass Communications from the University of Leicester (Distance Learning). She is a social development professional who has worked in the development sector for over 30 years, in the areas of technology, infrastructure and poverty. She has strong gender analytical skills, and has specialized in development communication. She has worked in Sri Lanka and overseas, led a specialist global network, managed the Sri Lankan arm of an international NGO, and worked with a grassroots women’s organisation. She has also been an international consultant with considerable experience in evaluating and designing networks, institutions and programmes. As the Executive Director of CEPA she is responsible for the overall functioning of the organisation, providing direction for research and research communication and facilitating the management of resources.
Areas of interest: Inclusive Development, Institutional Change, Gender, Networking and
communication

Kishani Cader, ACMA Head of Finance and Administration
Kishani is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (ACMA). She has over 20 years experience in all fields of financial management, research and consultancies. She is responsible for the overall management of finance and administration.

Nilakshi De Silva, MPA (Princeton) Team Leader, Research Quality and Learning (From November 2014)
Nilakshi has a Masters degree in Policy Analysis from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University. She has more than 15 years of experience in the development sector, working for the government, multilateral agencies and non-governmental organisations. In the past 10 years her research has focused on inclusive development, multidimensional poverty and M&E of development.
Areas of interest: Development Theory, Monitoring and Impact Evaluation, Research
Methodology.

Karin Fernando, MA (Brandeis) Team Leader, Poverty Impact Monitoring Programme
Karin has an MA in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University, USA. She has nine years experience working in development project implementation and environmental management with NGOs and multilateral agencies and monitoring impacts of development projects. As Team Leader of the Poverty Impact Monitoring Programme, she is responsible for developing the PIM programme, its outreach and advisory services.
Areas of interest: Sustainable Development, Environmental and Natural Resource
Management.

Udan Fernando, PhD (Amsterdam) Team Leader, Communications and Policy Programme
Over the past 20 years, Udan has held leadership positions in Sri Lankan development organisations, functioned as a freelance consultant in Sri Lanka and abroad and held a senior staff position in a research & consultancy organisation in the Netherlands with work experience in Europe, East & West Africa and South East Asia. Udan has had academic and professional training in management, law, labour studies and international development cooperation. He has taught in universities in Sri Lanka and the Netherlands as a visiting academic.
Areas of interest: Aid Policy, Development Cooperation, Communication for Social
Change/Development, Strategic Planning and Organisation Development.

Vagisha Gunasekara, PhD (Purdue) Senior Research Professional, Poverty Impact Monitoring Programme, Thematic lead - Post-conflict Development (From November 2014)
Vagisha received her PhD in political science from Purdue University, USA and she specialised in comparative politics and public policy for her Master's Degrees from North Dakota State University and Purdue University. She has more than 8 years of research experience on post-conflict reconstruction, women and citizenship, and comparative social policy. In the past 10 years, she has also worked with non-governmental organisations and multilateral agencies on programme designing, project implementation, policy development and independent consultancies on issues of violence against women, reproductive rights of women, men, and youth, and women's economic and legal empowerment. At CEPA, she spearheads the Reimagining Development initiative and the post-conflict thematic.
Areas of interest: Inclusive Development, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Institutional Change

Kulasabanathan Romeshun, MA (Colombo) Team Leader, Poverty Assessment and Measurement Programme
Romeshun has worked in the development field for the past fifteen years in government and funding organisations. He has a Masters in Financial Economics from the University of Colombo. As Team Leader for the Poverty Assessment and Measurement Programme he is responsible for developing the team's work on understanding poverty, developing poverty measures and applied research of CEPA.
Areas of interest: Development Economics and Infrastructure Development

Senior Research Professionals

Nayana Godamunne, MSc (Oxon) Senior Research Professional, Poverty Assessment and Measurement Programme, Thematic lead - Vulnerability
Nayana received a Master’s in Forced Migration from the Department of International Development, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, UK, and read for a Bachelor’s (with Honours) in Politics and Sociology at the University of Bristol, UK. She started her career in the financial sector but moved to work in development where she has more than 15 years' experience working on programme design, project implementation, policy development and independent consultancy on issues of displacement, resettlement, livelihood development and gender. At CEPA, she has worked on issues of post-war reconciliation, development induced displacement, diaspora engagement and social protection.
Areas of interest: Displacement, Resettlement, Forced Migration, Social Protection and
Vulnerable People

Gayathri Lokuge, PhD candidate (Wageningen) Senior Research Professional, Poverty Impact Monitoring Programme
Gayathri has done extensive research and advisory work related to conflict, livelihoods, fisheries, land and displacement, especially in the conflict-affected North and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka. Her methodological orientation is qualitative. She conducts training in the areas of conflict sensitivity and qualitative research methods. Her ongoing PhD research focuses on how women and men from small-scale fisher households in the Trincomalee District use social and political networks to access resources and maximise livelihood opportunities.
Areas of interest: Poverty and Conflict, Training, Ethnography, Fisheries, Gender and
Photography

Geetha Mayadunne, Ph.D. (Peradeniya) Senior Research Professional, Poverty Assessment and Measurement Programme
Geetha received her Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Peradeniya. She specialized in Applied Statistics and Econometrics for her Master’s degrees from the University of Colombo and Monash University, Australia. Before joining CEPA, Geetha was the Director of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Agriculture. She has over fifteen years of public sector experience in development policy analysis and at the early stages of her career she worked as a Statistician at the Department of Census and Statistics. At CEPA she has been involved in studies on measuring poverty, living conditions of slum dwellers, plantation sector productivity, food security, Assessment of Livelihoods and access to basic services in the post-war North & East, Delivery and Access to Livelihood services.
Areas of interest: Development Policy Analysis, Evaluation of development interventions encompassing poverty, livelihoods, employment & income generation, social & physical infrastructure, food security, public service provision, delivery & access to basic services, social security, plantation sector; Evaluation of interventions on post-war rehabilitation & reconstruction, Poverty Assessment & Analysis, Statistical and Econometric research methods for assessment and analysis of social issues and evaluation of development interventions.

M. A. Mohamed Munas, MA (Colombo) Senior Research Professional, Poverty Assessment and Measurement Programme, Thematic lead - Migration
Munas received his Master’s in Economics from the University of Colombo and read for a Bachelor’s in Agriculture at the University of Peradeniya. Munas has over eight years’ experience researching poverty, conflict, fisheries, migration and diaspora issues. Also, he has conducted project evaluations in the conflict-affected areas of Sri Lanka. Munas coordinates the Migration thematic at CEPA. He currently leads a research project on diaspora engagement in conflict settings, focusing on Sri Lanka. Also, Munas conducts trainings on qualitative data analysis using Nvivo software.
Areas of interest: Migration, Diaspora, Reconciliation, Project Evaluation, Post-Conflict
Livelihoods, Small-scale Fisheries

Chaturanga Weerasekera, BA (Peradeniya) Senior Professional/Librarian
Chaturanga is a Chartered Librarian and a member of the Sri Lanka Library Association with over 17 years of professional experience in knowledge dissemination and resource centre management. She is following a Master’s in Library and Information Science at the University of Colombo. Chaturanga is responsible for the overall function of the CEPA Resource Centre including the physical and digital library and dissemination of CEPA publications. She coordinates "off the page" information sharing events such as the Book Club and Film Club. 

Research Professionals

Roshni Alles, BA (Peradeniya) Editor, Communications and Policy Programme (till November 2014)
Roshni studied English Literature and Sociology for her degree at the University of Peradeniya. She has over ten years of experience in publishing and service oriented organisations in Sri Lanka and Singapore. As a member of the Communications and Policy Programme she coordinates the CEPA publication strategy and provides editorial support to the CEPA team.

Amila Balasuriya, MSc (Peradeniya) Research Professional, Poverty Impact Monitoring Programme
Amila has a Master’s in Natural Resource Management from the Post-Graduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, and a Bachelor's in Agriculture from the same university. Amila has more than eight years’ research experience in poverty, agriculture, climate change and infrastructure. Besides working as a researcher at CEPA, he manages the CEPA Innovation Fund.
Areas of interest: Impact Monitoring, Rural Livelihoods, Environment, and Natural Resource Management

Basith Inadeen, BA (Colombo) Research Professional, Communications and Policy Programme
Basith has a Bachelor's in Social Science from the University of Colombo. He holds international licenses from the Wageningen University, Netherlands, on Multi Stakeholder Process, and on the Citizen Report Card methodology from the Public Affairs Centre, India. He has extensive experience in field data collection and coordinating in the development sector for various think tanks, as well as research and development institutions. He currently leads the Citizen Report Card — Good Governance tool at CEPA.
Areas of interest: Good Governance and Accountability, Multi Stakeholder Process, Post-Conflict Development and Migration

Mansi Kumarasiri, MA (Colombo) Research Professional, Poverty Impact Monitoring Programme, Thematic lead - Infrastructure
Mansi has a Master’s in International Relations from the University of Colombo and a Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities from the University of Kelaniya. She has over eight years’ experience researching issues of development and displacement, the poverty impacts of infrastructure, programme evaluation and policy influence. Mansi leads the Infrastructure thematic at CEPA.
Areas of interest: Infrastructure, Monitoring and Evaluation and Policy Influence

Ishara Rathnayake, M.Phil. (Peradeniya) Research Professional, Poverty Assessment & Measurement Programme (till November 2014)
Ishara received her Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture, specialising in Agricultural Economics and holds an M.Phil from the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya. Ishara has over eight years of research experience on poverty related issues. She has coordinated and task managed several projects at CEPA related to poverty knowledge management, agriculture and rural livelihoods and capacity building of local authorities in Northern Sri Lanka funded by several donors.
Areas of interest: Agricultural Economics, Nutrition and Poverty assessments

K. I. H. Sanjeewanie, BA (Kelaniya) Research Professional, Poverty Assessment and Measurement Programme (till April 2014)
Sanjeewanie studied social statistics along with economics and read for her Masters in Business statistics at the University of Moratuwa. She has involved in Impact Evaluations and Poverty Assessments by providing inputs in the conceptualization of studies, data collection, analysis and documentation. She has done extensive research and advisory work related to multidimensional poverty and well being. She also works as an individual consultant in impact evaluations for multilateral agencies. Sanjeewanie has also been involved in coordinating CEPA Open Forums and she has carried out some training on understanding and measuring poverty.
Areas of interest: Applied Statistics, International Trade and Finance, Gender, research techniques.

Junior Research Professionals

Tehani Ariyaratne, BA (Stonybrook) Junior Research Professional, Communications and Policy Programme (till June 2014)
Tehani studied Psychology and Anthropology at Stony Brook University, NY. She has 5 years of experience working on communications and social media projects, as well as gender and development research. At CEPA she coordinates the alternative communications component of the Communications and Policy Programme, as well as research uptake for the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium.
Areas of Interest: Gender, Environment and Sustainable Development, Alternative Communications and Social Media

Nadhiya Najab, BBusCom/BComn (Monash) Junior Research Professional
Nadhiya studied economics, communications and international studies at Monash University, Australia. Her research at CEPA falls under the Migration and Post-Conflict thematic. She is part of the CEPA Communications team as well.
Areas of interest: Migration, Post-War Development and Communications Strategies

Thilani Kaushalya BSc (Peradeniya) Junior Research Professional
Kaushalya has a first class degree in Agricultural Technology and Management, specialising in Applied Economics and Business Management, from the University of Peradeniya. At CEPA, she currently researches tertiary education and well-being in Sri Lanka.
Areas of interest: Rural Development, Vulnerability, Development Economics and Environmental Economics

Prashanthi Jayasekara, BA (Staffordshire) Junior Research Professional
Currently, Prashanthi functions as a Junior Researcher at CEPA. She coordinates the alternative communications component of the Communications programme. She uses creative nonfiction to explore socio-political realities.
Areas of interest: Poverty, Vulnerability, Arts, Infastructure, Cities, Gender, Environment, Photography, Storytelling

Mehala Mahirajah Junior Research Professional
Mehala is following a Master’s in Development Practice at the University of Peradeniya. She has more than five years' experience in the humanitarian and development fields at the district and provincial levels. Previously, she worked with the Norwegian Refugee Council. At CEPA, Mehala is involved in capacity building and training, as well as research, where she brings her expertise in action research.
Areas of interest: Law, Politics and Policy, Sustainable Development, Governance, and Environment

Usitha Sivapragasam, BSc (Asian University for Women) Junior Research Professional (from September 2014)
Usitha graduated from the Asian University for Women, Chittagong, Bangladesh, with Summa Cum Laude honours in the Environmental Sciences. She has worked with local and international NGOs on environmental issues and has experience in conducting scientific and qualitative research. Her current work at CEPA looks at the factors contributing to sustainability and replication of environmental projects and the successes and challenges of community-driven development projects.
Areas of interest: Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Green Chemistry, Environmental Technology and Policy, and Environmental Ethics and Bioethics 

Research Assistants

Aftab Lall, MA (Institute of Development Studies) Research Assistant
Aftab holds a BA Honours degree in English Literature from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, India, and recently earned a Master's in Poverty and Development from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK. He has worked on slum rehabilitation in New Delhi and corporate social responsibility initiatives in Ho Chi Minh city. At CEPA, he conducts primary research on access and delivery of basic services in the Northern Province as part of a research project of the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium.
Areas of Interest: Poverty, Vulnerability, Conflict and Post-Conflict Contexts

Mira Philips, BA (Toronto) Research Assistant
Mira received her Bachelor’s in Political Science from the University of Toronto, Canada. She is interested in understanding the intersection between gender and post-conflict development, interrogating the ways in which conventional models of development may perpetuate the exclusion and marginalisation of those recovering from conflict, and advocating for a more intersectional and nuanced approach to post-conflict reconstruction. Her work at CEPA has mainly focused on studying the political economy of post-conflict livelihoods and the impacts of neoliberal economic development models on social and human development. 
Areas of interest: Gender, Livelihoods, Post-Conflict Development

Finance and Administration

Eranga Amunugama, Bsc(Hons) MMU, Programme Development Specialist
Eranga received his Bsc in Business from the Manchester Metropolitan University specialising in Marketing. He has over 7 years of experience in the Private Sector and in Development Agencies such as CARE International before joining CEPA. He has been involved in Programme Design, Resource mobilisation and private sector partnerships in the past. At CEPA he is the focal point for new programme development initiatives, partnerships and resource mobilisation.

Chaturika De Silva, Accountant
Chathurika has completed her Certificate in Business Accounting at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA-UK) and is currently studying for operational level exams. She has 7 years of experience at CEPA and is responsible for the provision of accounts, project costing, liaising with donors and providing other financial information.

Feroza Sakkaf, Office Manager (till August 2014)
Feroza joined CEPA as an Executive Secretary and also functioned as Office Manager. She has over 15 years of experience both in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom. Feroza provided secretarial support to the CEPA team and logistical support for the Board and Annual General Meetings. She was responsible for all documentation relating to personnel management.

Gayathri Manori, Accountant
Manori has completed Strategic Level I in the CA Sri Lanka Professional exam and is presently studying for the Final exams. She began her career at KPMG and has 5 years experience in Taxation and Auditing and commercial experience of 2 year. Manori joined CEPA in January 2013. She is responsible for the preparation and presentation of financial statements complying with Sri Lanka Financial Reports Standards relevant for SME’s, Taxation, liaising with auditors and provision of other financial information.

K. M. Rajitha Chamali, Assistant Accountant
Rajitha has completed her Certificate in Business Accounting Level II of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and is currently studying for CIMA Operational & Management Level Examination. She has one and a half years experience in the banking sector and joined CEPA in 2009. She is responsible for maintenance of financial records, accuracy and timelines, and provision of support services and information to the management and staff to enable efficient decision making and monitoring of the MIS System.

Juanita Wickremeratne, Front Office/ Logistics Manager
Juanita has over ten years of experience in secretarial and administration work in the service industry. Her work function involves programme logistics, general administration, public relations and providing secretarial assistance to the Executive Director.

Nimmika Madurangi, Accounts Clerk – Finance and Admin team
Nimmika is studying for AAT final stage exams. She started her career at an audit firm and joined CEPA in June 2012. She is responsible for day to today payments, operational data entry for management accounts and other finance related tasks.

D. M. N. U. Guneratne, Administrative Clerk
Guneratne joined CEPA in December 2001. He supports the Librarian and Accounts and Administrative team in day to day administrative tasks.

N. E. B. Ayomi (BBM) Human Resources Assistant (from August 2014)
Having graduated from the Uva Wellassa University, Badulla, with a Bachelor's in Business Management, Ayomi is currently following a Master’s in Labour Relations and Human Resource Management at the University of Colombo. Her work at CEPA includes maintaining and processing administrative work related to Human Resources.

Support Staff

Ramya Baddugodage, Office Aide
Ramya joined CEPA in January 2002 and is responsible for the maintenance of CEPA's working environment and for organising the refreshments at CEPA events. 

Merlin Rodrigo, Office Aide
Merlin joined CEPA in May 2001 and is responsible for the maintenance of CEPA's working environment and for organising the refreshments at CEPA events.

Lahiru Indika Dissanayake, Office Assistant
Lahiru joined CEPA in April 2013 and assists in all logistical arrangements.

Consultants

CEPA’s increasing portfolio of work has meant that the organisation works with a growing number of external consultants. Below are those who have worked with us in 2014.

Indira Ariyaratne - Consultancy on the “Exploring what is considered quality at sociological research: A perception study”.

S. Colombage - Consultancy to evaluate the Poverty Assessment and Measurement (PAM) programme.

Dharini de Mel – Consultant to handle HR work and providing support to senior management in administration matters.

Indralal de Silva - Consultancy to review the “Migration and Poverty” thematic.

Ranga de Silva – Consultant to redevelop and revitalise the poverty database ensuring its maximum outreach.

Sulochana Dissanayake – Consultancy to produce a puppet show on the impacts of resettlement on the people affected by the Southern Expressway.

Bishen Fonseka - IT Consultant in charge of maintenance of CEPA’s computer systems. He is also responsible for the overall integrity of the network, server deployment and security.

Malkanthi Kodagoda Gamage – Consultancy related to the CSR/ACDN project.

Nalaka Gunawardene - Consultancy to evaluate the programmatic aspects of the Communication and Policy Influencing (CAP) team of CEPA.

Sunil Jayasekera – Consultant focusing on improving the media visibility, the Sinhala media in particular and the Sinhala editorial quality of CEPA’s work.

Aruni Jayasinghe - Consultancy focusing on a Human Resources Systems Review and provide strategic HR directions for CEPA.

Thushani Kalugalagedara – Consultant to conduct research on University Education in Sri Lanka.

Sujeewa Karunasekera (For Corporate Consultants (Pvt) Ltd) - Consultancy focusing on developing a Business Model for CEPA.

Malathy Knight- Consultancy to review and write the strategy for the Infrastructure Thematic 2015-2019

Buddhika Maduranga - Consultancy to producing a documentary for the CLAPP project.

Seema Misra - Consultancy Services in relation to the Policy Influence & Monitoring Project.

Vijay Kumar Nagaraj – Consultancy to coordinate the Annual Sympoisum and finalise the work plan of the infrastructure thematic for 2015.

M. Don Ajith Nandana – Consultant to train CEPA staff on using Arc View software to create maps and illustrate data and statistics via maps.

Navam Niles - Consultancy to contextualise the 2014 UNDP Human Development Report for Sri Lanka using an environmental lens.

Kamakshi Perera - Consultancy to evaluate and review the ‘Post War Development’ thematic.

Indrani Rajendran – Consultancy for the project on Civil Society Organisations (CSO) Local Authority (LA) Action and Partnership Program (CLAPP).

Peter C. D. Rezel - Consultancy to evaluate the Poverty Impact and Monitoring (PIM) programme.

Ashwani Saith – Consultancy to conduct a refresher course on understanding concepts & approaches of poverty.

Chamindry Saparamadu – Consultant for research work in the 'Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium'.

Anitha Selvarajah – Coordinated the production of the 2013 Annual Report.

Manchula Selvarathnam – Consultancy to check translations of CEPA’s Tamil publications.

Rajesh Tandon – Consultancy to facilitate CEPA’s Annual Retreat and finalise CEPA’s Strategy Document.

Chanuka Wattegama - Consultancy to evaluate and review the thematic research focus of the “Infrastructure and poverty”

Nireka Weerathunga – Consultant to carry out an exploratory study on wellbeing. 

Interns

A number of interns worked with us in 2014 on a range of specific projects. We appreciate their commitment and hard work.

N. E. B. Ayomi – interned at CEPA from February to August 2014 as an Accounts intern to assist audit related and all the administrative functions.

Thahira Cader – interned at CEPA from December 2013 to plan, consolidate and follow up CEPA’s 11th Poverty Symposium titled Re-imagining Development which was held in December 2014.

Alanna Gunasekera – Interned inAugust 2014 to assist in CEPA’s Annual Symposium 2014 and office administration.

Archana Prabhakar – Coordinated the Book Launch on National and Household Food Security in Sri Lanka.

Tabitha Robert - Interned in August/September 2014 to assist in CEPA’s Annual Symposium 2014.

Nirudhya Sundaramoorthi – Interned as an Accounts intern in August 2014 to assist in all financial and administrative functions.

Chalika Sasikani Thangaraja – Interned under the ‘Reimaging Development’ initiative coordinating the essay and painting competitions.