What are your key responsibilities as MELE’s Senior Proposal Coordinator?

My main responsibility as a Senior Proposal Coordinator and a member of the Proposals team at MELE is to support proposals, RFI and RFQ submissions by gathering all the necessary input and documents ready for a compelling and client/donor compliant submission. This includes developing/drafting compliant past performance content, revision of resumes of key personnel and other project staff, developing compliance matrices, among other tasks. I also assist with the development/revision of standard operating procedures, templates and other proposal documentation.

You spent most of your career prior to joining MELE working in the not-for-profit humanitarian sector. Tell us a bit about your experiences working at World Vision USA (WVUS) and how it informs your work here at MELE.

I was with WVUS and the WV partnership for 17 years. Significant part of my work with WV was in business development/fundraising focused on sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Throughout my career I have raised over $320 million worth of funds for food security and resilience programs from donors such as USAID, USDA, WFP and private sector companies. My work took me across Sri Lanka, the United States, and Malawi, and centered on designing multi-year, multi-sectoral programs targeting around a million households globally.

When I transition from WVUS to MELE what I brought from my WV work is the knowledge and experience in business development/proposals. In WVUS, my work was focused on cooperative agreements/USG grants whereas MELE works on USG contracts. Thus, there is a bit of a learning curve for me in my work with MELE as even though the business development process is similar, there are some elements that are vastly different when working on submissions for contracts.

Your LinkedIn banner includes an interesting aphorism: “Be like the lotus. Rise, no matter what surrounds you.” How did you come upon this saying and what does it mean to you?

Just like all sources of wisdom now a days, I came across this banner on the internet.

After getting laid-off last year due to funding cuts to USAID, I realized I had no choice but to make the best of it. I worked towards being compassionate towards myself and others, helping others to cope and look for new jobs/opportunities that can make the situation better for us mentally and financially. When I came across this meme/ aphorism, it described what I was trying to do with this situation I didn’t choose and while I waited for a better day.

You earned your BS in agriculture at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and then you earned an MA in Sustainable International Development at Brandeis in the U.S. What inspired you to pursue a graduate degree in international development following your degree in agriculture and how what did you take from each of these experiences that is useful to you today?

It seemed like a natural transition – going from an agriculture graduate who was collaborating with rural farmers to working in an NGO that worked with rural communities in my country and then to take all the learning and experience globally.

I always wanted to do my higher studies abroad and the Sustainable International Development program at Brandeis University fit the bill. The program paved the way for me to continue to engage in development work. Throughout my career, I worked in some form of business development/proposals following a structure and sometimes a not so structured business development process in a deadline-driven environment. And it is that experience that helps me contribute well to the great work that the proposal team does in MELE.

You have an entire day free to do whatever you like. Walk us through what this day might look like.

I would wake up late and then take time to get out of bed, drinking my morning coffee and getting ready for the day. Then go to a movie. I especially like the 4D and 5D movie experience. Then I would go for lunch or dinner where they have great desserts like Kafe Leopold in Georgetown. (Step one and two can be interchanged). Then I would go home and end the day curling up in my bed with a good book.