The Asia Foundation

Expertise: Sri Lanka; political and social issues in Indonesia; East Timor; conflict management; elections; and local government and decentralization.

Nilan Fernando is The Asia Foundation's country representative in Sri Lanka. Formerly he was assistant country representative in The Asia Foundation's Indonesia and Bangladesh offices. He also held positions in the San Francisco headquarters and the Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Fernando was responsible for oversight and management of the Foundation's programs and operations in Indonesia and East Timor from 2000-2003 and in Bangladesh from 1997-1999. He was involved in all aspects of country analysis, strategic planning, proposal development and fundraising, program monitoring and evaluation, financial and grant administration, and personnel management.

Since joining the Foundation in 1988, Mr. Fernando has developed and managed programs in the areas of human rights, access to justice, conflict resolution, elections, women's empowerment, media, local governance, and legislative development. He managed voter education and election monitoring programs in Bangladesh during local government and parliamentary elections and coordinated donor and NGO coalitions for the Foundation.

Mr. Fernando's articles on Sri Lankan politics have appeared in Asian Survey, the International Herald Tribune, and Himal.

Education: B.A. in history and economics from the University of California, Berkeley; M.A. in international development from Cornell University.