The Asia Foundation

Expertise: Politics, economics, and social issues in Sri Lanka; rule of law, access to justice, economic reform and development; alternative dispute resolution; and women's empowerment.

Dinesha deSilva Wikramanayake is currently The Asia Foundation's country representative in Sri Lanka. Formerly, she served as team leader for The Foundation's Sri Lanka Local Economic Governance program (2010-2012), as assistant director in the Foundation's Washington D.C.office, (2008 – 2010), and was formerly assistant representative in the Foundation's Sri Lanka office. She has  two decades of experience in the field of international development, with special interest and experience in economic governance, rule of law, access to justice, and conflict resolution.

From 1995 to 1997, Ms. deSilva Wikramanayake was director of the Foundation's USAID-funded Citizen Participation (CIPART) Project in Colombo. She also previously served with the Foundation as a program officer for Sri Lanka and the Maldives from 1991 to 1992, focusing on English-language education, women's empowerment, media development, and economic liberalization. In between positions with the Foundation, she served as a project management specialist for USAID in Colombo, managing and subsequently redesigning a Technology Initiative for the Private Sector (TIPS) project, which provided demand-driven assistance directly to the private sector to access new technologies, improve marketing efforts, and develop linkages with foreign interests. She also previously served as an economist for the Environmental Foundation Ltd. and for six years as an economist for the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Education: B.A. in economics from Georgetown University; M.A. in economics from Columbia University.