Bio & CV

Educated at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, Sanjana read English at the University of Delhi, India and as a Rotary World Peace Fellow, was awarded an Advanced Masters in Conflict Resolution and International Relations from the University of Queensland, Brisbane with a Dean’s Commendation for High Achievement.

He is currently a Senior Researcher and Head of the Media Unit at the Centre for Policy Alternatives. He is a frequent commentator on journalism and new media in domestic and international fora. In addition to hosting a talk show on public television, Sanjana has lectured at the Sri Lanka College of Journalism (SLCJ), engaging journalists from state, private, alternative media on how to use web, Internet and mobile technologies to strengthen professional, independent and investigative journalism.

Since 2006, Sanjana is a Special Advisor to the ICT4Peace Foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland. Through the Foundation, Sanjana works to further the use of ICTs in crisis information management and peacekeeping initiatives at the United Nations. As a Fellow of the Center for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Sanjana has contributed to the evolution of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR, focussing on mobile telephony’s utility in ethno-political conflict transformation.

Sanjana is the founding editor of Groundviews (www.groundviews.org), an award-winning web based civic media initiative that has won critical acclaim and recognition as one of the most vital websites for dissent in Sri Lanka, during and post-war. He is currently a columnist at The Nation newspaper, and contributes regularly to local and international media and academic publications.

In 2010, Sanjana was the first Sri Lankan to be awarded a prestigious TED Fellowship, two years after he was awarded a News & Knowledge Entrepreneur Fellowship from the Ashoka Foundation. Both awards recognise pioneering efforts to leverage web based citizen journalism and new media to bear witness to violence and strengthen democracy, human rights and a just peace.

Sanjana is widely recognised as a vital voice in the design and implementation of ICTs and new media ecosystems in peacebuilding, online dispute resolution, conflict transformation and crisis response.

Download full CV here.

Email: sanjanah at gmail dot com