Anoka Abeyrathne (Class of 2016)

Anoka P. Abeyrathne is a social entrepreneur and advocate with experience in sustainability (ESG), environment conservation and climate justice. Anoka is the co-founder of SustainSolutions, a social enterprise focused on environmental conservation and community building and utilizing foresight for long term development. SustainSolutions plays an important role in encouraging dialogue among non-profit leaders, social entrepreneurs and investors to fight poverty, save the environment and ultimately, make the world a better place. It operates in over 5,000 villages in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and the Maldives with over 20,000 volunteers.

Anoka has been elected as the Environmental Lead for the Royal Commonwealth Society . She is the first Sri Lankan to have been so elected. A Forbes under 30, the first female World Economic Forum New Champion of Sri Lanka and the youngest Commonwealth Youth Awardee, Anoka is the co-founder of Growin Money and Ignited. She was also featured in the 2012 List of 25 Most Influential and Powerful Young Persons of the World by the Huffington Post and Youth Service . Additionally, Anoka is a noteworthy public speaker featuring at the United Nations , World Youth Conference, TedX Official and the British Council.