Manjula Dissanayake

Manjula is an investment banker turned social entrepreneur and founder of Educate Lanka - a nonprofit social enterprise with a mission of democratizing quality and relevant learning opportunities for the marginalized. Prior to founding Educate Lanka, Manjula worked in corporate investment banking and in international development at the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank. Manjula is a stern advocate for inclusion, equity and relevance in education and speaks frequently on these themes globally, including at the World Bank, the U.N., Clinton Global Initiative, U.S. Department of State, World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), Global Talent Summit and the World Conference on Youth. Manjula was named an under-33 Global Influencer and a top 10 Social Innovator in the U.S. His TEDx Talk is titled 'Talent is universal. Opportunity is not.' Manjula holds a bachelor's in finance from the University of Maryland and a master's in social innovation and entrepreneurship from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He completed his executive education in social entrepreneurship from Stanford University. Manjula is a Salzburg Global Fellow, Asia Peace Innovators Fellow and a Cordes Fellow. Manjula is based in Washington, DC and splits his time between the U.S. and Sri Lanka.