Niluka Gunawardena

Board Member at Women Enabled International

Niluka Gunawardena is an educator, researcher, and activist based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Her understanding of disability is informed by her experience of multiple disabilities and intersectionality.

Niluka earned a Master of Arts degree in Disability and Gender (with Distinction) from the University of Leeds, UK. She is a Visiting Lecturer in Disability Studies at the University of Kelaniya and the University of Colombo. She is a consultant to the AHEAD project conducted by the Centre for Disability Education, Research, and Practice to create an accessible and inclusive learning environment for all students at the University of Colombo. She is on the teaching team of CREA’s Disability Sexuality and Rights Online Institute and SGRI. She has taught Geography and Earth Science to secondary school students for several years and is currently working on introducing Mindfulness to schools in association with Mindful Educators.

Niluka regularly conducts community and corporate training workshops on disability awareness and rights. She is a researcher who has worked on evidence-based policy for organizations like the Human Environment Research Observatory, Equal Ground, and BBC. She serves on the Advisory committees of Arrow, HYPE Sri Lanka and LIRNEasia among others.