grassroots development consultants – the team
Milinda Rajapaksha was appointed to the Youth Technical Advisory Panel of the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka in 2003. Since then he has developed into a passionate advocate for sexual and reproductive rights of young people across the region.
Milinda worked for two years with the UNDP Regional Centre when it was based in Colombo with the HIV cluster. Today he is employed as the Youth Coordinator for IPPF South Asia Region. His work involves a rights based approach to sexual and reproductive health in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Milinda has also worked as a consultant to PANOS South Asia in 2009 and 2010 to promote Sexual and Reproductive Rights and the Rights of HIV Positive people with journalists in Sri Lanka and is a member of Regional Oral Testimony Trainers for PANOS South Asia. Milinda was also one of the founders of the National Youth Coalition on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Sri Lanka.
His current project with Grassroots Development Consultants is working on the Peer Educator Training Programme for the Sarvodaya/UNFPA partnership.
He has a B.A in Business Management & Finance from Wayamba University, Sri Lanka and has a Fellowship with the University of Miami USA in Development Communication.
Contact us to request Milinda’s updated CV/Resume
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Prathibha Perera has worked with Community Concern Society since 2003. He started on the project ‘Lakdaruwa’ (Children of Sri Lanka) which focused on a child and youth sponsorship programme integrating rights and developing leadership capacity of young people in marginalized communities. In 2006 Prathibha was appointed programme coordinator for Save Lanka Kids, a CCS project focusing on youth empowerment. This again involved working with young people to reduce risks associated with alcohol and drugs, and related disempowerment. In 2007 Save Lanka Kids started a HIV outreach programme for workshops and awareness programmes for young people in schools, youth clubs, church youth groups, and young CSO activists. Prathibha was a crucial part of the team that planned and successfully implemented the first youth conference in Sri Lanka on HIV & AIDS – REACH in 2008.
Prathibha is now the coordinator of ‘Kedella’ a Care and Support initiative for HIV Positive People based in Colombo. This project is a partnership between Community Concern Society and the Positive Women’s Network (PWN+) Sri Lanka.
Prathibha is the Training and Capacity Building Team Leader for the National Youth Coalition on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Sri Lanka. He also a member of STITCH a movement committed to educate, advocate, empower and network for social change through youth volunteerism and activism in Sri Lanka.
His current projects with Grassroots Development Consultants are working on the Behaviour Change Communication project for the National Workers Congress/ILO partnership, and the HIV prevention initiative for the maritime sector in Sri Lanka with the National Union of Seafarers in Sri Lanka/ILO/ITF partnership.
Prathibha was recently in the US representing Sri Lanka on the Regional project for South and Central Asia ‘NGO Management of Youth Programmes in the USA’ funded by the US State Department.
Contact us to request Prathibha’s updated CV/Resume
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Gayatri Natrajan, an Indian domiciled in Sri Lanka, works with Elizabeth Moir International School as a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language. Gayatri ran her own Speech and Drama Institute ‘Express Yourself’ training students for Trinity Guildhall examinations in India. Gayatri is now in the process of developing an English as a Foreign Language module for grassroots organisations in Sri Lanka. Her exposure to HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Gender came when she was appointed the Wake Up Pune Campaign Coordinator from 2007 to 2009. Her theatre training and background helped her to develop theatre based HIV interventions for young people in India.
Gayatri has an LLB from ILS Law College in India, and while she is not currently qualified to practice law in Sri Lanka, she brings her legal expertise to issues of advocacy and policy that we deal with. Her analytical skills have also enabled her to become a competent data analyst using SPSS and Epi-Info softwares and she contributes to the design and development of research goals and methodology.
Her provocative prose has helped in making her Wednesday Column one of the popularly read posts on grassrooted.
Gayatri also has a BA in Economics and a Masters in English Literature from the University of Pune.
Contact us to request Gayatri’s updated CV/Resume.
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Ira Madan first volunteered with Sahara Centre for Residential Care and Rehabilitation in New Delhi in 2001. Sahara is a leading NGO with a national presence in India working in the field of Drug use and HIV. Her work with Sahara as a volunteer included counseling on HIV and drug use; setting up the Sahara Transgender Community project in Old Delhi; and initiating ‘Friends of Sahara’ a consortium that provided economic and psycho-social support for HIV positive people. Her commitment and passion for HIV and Drug Use led to employment with Sahara where she excelled on research projects including the Rapid Situation Assessment in Thane, Mumbai to measure the HIV awareness levels in three target communities of the district (2003); a community based research study in Jehangirpuri, New Delhi to assess the strengths, beliefs, and knowledge in relation to HIV and AIDS in collaboration with Duke University (2003); the Indian component of the study ‘The Structural Determinants of Drug Use among Young People’ a four country research project for Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN) (2003-2004); development of research instruments and protocol for the needs assessment of street girl children in Jama Masjid, New Delhi (2004); a tobacco alternate substance study by Dalmia Centre for Research and Development to determine the efficacy, acceptance and experience of alternate herbal substance with users in drug treatment centres in and around New Delhi (2004).
In 2005 Ira was appointed the Research Coordinator for Sahara, where she headed the project ‘Positive Outcomes for Orphans’ a four year five country study on the needs of orphans related to HIV, where she was based in Nagaland, India until 2010. During this period Ira also coordinated a Population Council NY/DFID/Sahara research study on sexual behaviour and networks of injecting drug users and the Dalmia Bio-Technology/Sahara clinical study on DCBT 8902 on Hepatitis C.
In addition Ira was the external evaluator of the targeted interventions implemented by the Nagaland State AIDS Control Society (2006); Research Consultant for Sharan on ‘Mapping of High Risk Groups and Migrants’ under NACP III in the state of Nagaland (2008); DFID Futures Group TAST consultant for NACO ‘Mid Term Review on Innovations (IDU/MSM/TG) and IEC of Nagaland State AIDS Control Society (2009); Research Consultant for Asian Consortium on Drug Use, HIV and AIDS and Poverty of seven country assessment on involuntary drug treatment (2010).
Ira’s experience and her people skills allows for her to ensure participation of all stakeholders in the design and development of research goals, designing of research tools and also training researchers to implement projects in Asia including skills on SPSS, EZ Text and Epi-Info. Ira’s personal goal is to reduce the gap between research and practice, ensuring that communities and HIV and drug user initiatives have access to the research they need to implement effective programmes at the grassroots.
Ira has an M.A in Sociology from Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India and a B.A in History (Hons.) from the University of Delhi, India.
Contact us to request Ira’s updated CV/Resume.
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Kamani Jinadasa qualified as a Lawyer in 1999 and practiced in areas of Fundamental rights and Corporate Law. She later moved into Human Resource Management at a Sri Lankan multi national company, MAS Holdings. Her previous work experience involves 4 years in Human Resource Management, including training and development, policy and strategy development, organizational behavior and operations at the group and a manufacturing plant of 560 employees which comprised mainly of rural women.
Kamani worked since 2006, as the Manager Women’s Empowerment and Go Beyond at MAS Holdings, which required her to manage a programme that targeted 35,000 rural female employees from 23 plants both in Sri Lanka and India and sought to address key issues faced by women in areas such as domestic violence, sexual and reproductive health, HIV & AIDS, family planning, sexual harassment, maternal health & women’s rights. She was instrumental in introducing Gender policy and development at MAS Holdings. Kamani is currently working part time at the United Nations Population Fund as a Gender Specialist, facilitating the Forum against Gender Based Violence.
Having volunteer experience in the development sector since 1996 and working with rural youth as Chairperson of the Youth Advisory Panel of the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka, Kamani has gained vast knowledge and experience in project design and implementation and advocacy in areas relating to Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, Women’s Empowerment, People living HIV. She was also a founder of the National Youth Coalition on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Sri Lanka. She is currently a member of the Executive Committee and National Council of the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka. She has also served on the Board of Management of Lanka +, an NGO that supports People living with HIV.
Kamani’s passion lies in areas promoting Women’s empowerment, furthering Adolescent sexual and reproductive rights and increasing the quality of care towards people living with HIV.
Kamani, holds an MBA from University of Western Sydney, Australia and has a post attorneys diploma in International Trade Law.
Contact us to request Kamani’s updated CV/Resume
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Paba Deshapriya has been a volunteer with the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka since 2006. A passionate young advocate and activist, she has been chairperson of the Youth Technical Advisory Committee from 2008 onwards. She is also a member of the IPPF South Asia Region Governing Council, and is currently the Secretary of the National Youth Coalition on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Sri Lanka.
Paba is an effective communicator in both English and Sinhala, and conducts workshops on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and gender. She is also an excellent written translator, and is currently translating ‘Sexual Rights: An IPPF Declaration’ into Sinhala.
Her current projects with Grassroots Development Consultants include working on the Peer Educator Training Programme for the Sarvodaya/UNFPA partnership, and translating HIV Training Modules into Sinhala.
Paba has a BA in Political Science from the University of Colombo.
Contact us to request Paba’s updated CV/Resume
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Hans Billimoria has worked as a development consultant in Sri Lanka since 2009. Prior to this Hans worked for a grassroots development NGO, Deep Griha Society (DGS) in Pune, India. He was the Programme Manager for all DGS HIV & AIDS interventions. These included Care and Support for HIV Positive People in three urban slum communities; Prevention and Awareness programmes with varied target groups in Pune including the corporate sector, universities and colleges, schools, urban slum youth and women’s groups. Hans was also a founding member of the Pune City Action Plan for Injecting Drug Users.
Hans has always believed in innovative approaches to HIV prevention and awareness, and the D-MAV Mobile Awareness Project, Condom Cricket, and Disruptive Theatre have been three of his most effective innovations. He is also an effective communicator and trainer, and ensures that participants in his programme participate in the learning and sensitization process.
Hans founded the Wake Up Pune campaign based on his belief in networking with people who seek to make a difference. Today, Wake Up Pune remains a sustainable initiative only due to volunteerism and contribution by local communities.
His current projects for Grassroots Development Consultants include being in-country resource person for the International Council on Management of Population Programmes (ICOMP) strengthening leadership of 3 CSOs in Sri Lanka working with sex workers, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users; Research and Training Consultant for the National Union of Seafarers in Sri Lanka, a project in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and International Transport Worker’s Federation (ITF); Principle Trainer for Sarvodaya’s Youth Peer Education programme on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, funded by UNFPA; and UNAIDS Research Consultant for the People Living with HIV Stigma Index.
Hans has a BA in Philosophy & Psychology from Madras Christian College, University of Madras, India and an M.Phil in Philosophy from the University of Dundee, Scotland.
Contact us to request Hans’ updated CV/Resume.
