Our small but mighty force
Uadaya JK Sivakumar
“Emerge is Empowering, Motivating, Encouraging, Resettling, Guiding, and Elevating teenage survivors of sexual abuse.”
Uadaya Sivakumar has worked in the development field for ten years and believes deeply in equity and equality. Before joining Emerge Lanka Foundation as its Financial Officer (her first role with Emerge), she has attended many trainings on women’s rights, gender-based violence, Muslim women’s Issues, women’s political participation, and engaging men to prevent violence against women. These workshops fueled her commitment to the issues which affect women and children of Sri Lanka. Her fluency in all three languages is an asset to Emerge.
Chief Operations Officer
Kaavya Pathirana
Communications Lead
“Emerge is the big sister who guides and loves; where we celebrate the worth of each survivor, and empower them to be their own silver lining.”
Kaavya has always been inspired to join the field of Relief Working as an activist focused on telling impactful stories. She worked as the Communications Officer with Emerge back in 2015 for two years and fell in love with fighting for the cause. She later joined Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka and was able to travel around the island while writing about the transformational impact of poverty housing, and was able to expand on her Resource Development skill set in that capacity. The work of Emerge remained close to Kaavya's heart and purpose, and she returned back to Emerge in 2020 to continue to fight for the cause. She sees the Emerge participants as some of the strongest young women in society - and is a huge advocate for their untapped potential to re-claim their life and power. Kaavya is determined to refine the program curriculum so that the girls will not only have the practical knowledge they require to live a healthy, wholesome life outside of the shelter, but also be equipped with emotional intelligence to reclaim their lives.
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Ashani Hans Ehaliyagoda
Reintegration Lead / Trainer
"Emerge creates the determination and strength to overcome boundaries and empower the lives of countless young survivors."
Ashani is a Psychology major, following her degree at the ICBT Campus, who has always wanted to be an activist of a cause led movement. Ashani has been a part of Emerge for the past 3 years. She deeply believes in the cause of Emerge, and is highly supportive of making a difference in the lives of all survivors. While working as a trainer of Life Skills and English, she also works in programming and report writing. Her passion for teaching and writing are both heightened with the work she does at Emerge. As she has seen the many atrocities of life that survivors face every day, she wants to provide the closure, knowledge and skills these young women require when they enter the outside world; as any young individual has the right to learn. Being an older sister to these young women, Ashani’s passion has broadened and has brought her closer to the cause. Joining Emerge has been one of the most empowering and best decisions that she has ever made. Not only does she teach, but she also learns a lot from the girls. She is happy to be a part of this family, and is excited for the future of Emerge.
Amanda Piyaratne
Psychologist
"Every single individual has a beautiful story, and it deserves to be heard”
Amanda is a Psychologist with an undergraduate in Psychology from Coventry University and a Masters in Clinical Psychology from the University of Colombo. As a Psychologist and mental health advocate, she works with adolescents and adults by taking a holistic approach to Mental Health. Her main goal is to support, listen and hold a space for individuals; giving them a safe, validating space to reflect, recognize strengths and build resilience. Amanda joined Emerge in 2020 and has been passionate about working with survivors of trauma. Through trauma focused interventions, she continues to help participants voice their needs, feel safe, empower them to manage their emotions and develop healthy coping strategies for them to come back into the society and speak their story even louder.
Sujeewa Dilrukshi
Admin Support
Sujeewa has been with Emerge for years and has been a key source of support to the entire team. A power-woman even in her personal life, she gracefully ensures that each member of the Emerge team has all the support they need. She takes pride and joy in being a part of an organization that gives a voice for children in our society who are overlooked. Sujeewa always adds her insights during team discussions and is always a reliable voice during challenges. Sujeewa’s positive and motivated attitude gives the team its flare.
Theja Jayasinghe
Programme Officer
"Emerge is hope”
Theja Jayasinghe is a psychosocial worker focused on community development, with a strong commitment to serving youth and adults from marginalized and at-risk groups. She has worked with many iNGOs in collaboration to build project focused on education. Theja's experience is an asset to Emerge as she works to develop new life skills and reproductive health lessons in line with the Sri Lankan context for the Emerge curricula. Theja is an incredible and experienced workshop facilitator and brings her own flare of reporting against the goals set by the Programmes Team.
"Emerge shines a light on the cracks, and attempts to fill in those cracks, in a system that is burdened by a lack of adequate resources”
Though she did her BSc in Biomedical Science, her passion has always been to lend a more hands-on approach to mental health advocacy, community development and psychological healing and well-being, as a result, she completed her MSc in Psychology to help her follow in that pursuit. She has worked in various fields, and brings that adaptability to all areas, both personal and professional. Through her work with Emerge Lanka, her aim is to make sure the team has the financial resources necessary to approach individuals as early as possible with the practical life skill, and therapeutic tools that allows for reduced re-traumatisation in all areas of life. She shares with the team the hopes to empower, uplift and successfully re-integrate as many young women as possible. She strongly believes that the path to sustainable change is through prevention, and sees Emerge Lanka as a crucial agent of change that has already made its mark in the space of support for children and young adults in state-run care.
Strategic
Partnerships
Lead