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Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah

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Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah
Personal details
Born
Dhananjayan Sivaguru Sriskandarajah

December 1975 (age 48–49)
Sri Lanka
CitizenshipAustralian,
British[1]
NationalityAustralian, British
Spouse
Suzanne Lambert
​
(m. 2003)​
Alma materUniversity of Sydney,
University of Oxford
ProfessionActivist

Dhananjayan Sivaguru "Danny" Sriskandarajah (born December 1975)[2] is a Sri Lankan-born British-Australian activist who is the Chief Executive of the New Economics Foundation.

Until December 2023, he was Chief Executive of Oxfam GB.[3] Prior to that, Sriskandarajah was the Secretary General of CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations.[4] He was the first non-British and youngest person to head the Royal Commonwealth Society, a large non-governmental organisation (NGO) devoted to Commonwealth affairs, based in London, England.[4]

Sriskandarajah is the author of the book Power to the People, published in 2024.

Early life and education

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Danny Sriskandarajah was born in Sri Lanka, the son of Sri Lankan Tamil parents who first moved to Australia as doctoral students.[5]

Sriskandarajah was educated at James Ruse Agricultural High School in Carlingford, New South Wales, Australia, graduating in 1993. He was the school captain and well mentored by Art Herger.[6]

Sriskandarajah then attended the University of Sydney,[7] from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Economics and Social Science in 1998. During 1995 and 1996, he resided at Wesley College, a residential college within, but separate from, the university.[8]

After becoming the first Asian Australian to win a Rhodes scholarship in 1998,[5][9] Sriskandarajah then matriculated to Magdalen College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, to read for an M.Phil. and then a D.Phil. in international development. His research focused on inequalities and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.[10]

Career

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Sriskandarajah held various posts from 2004 to 2009, including Deputy Director of the left-leaning think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research.[11]

He was Director General of the Royal Commonwealth Society, from 2009 to 2012, the youngest ever person and the first non-Briton to head this 140-year-old organisation.[4] In 2012, he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.[4]

He was the Secretary General of CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations from January 2013 to December 2018. He was the fourth person to hold this position, following Miklos Marschall (Hungary), Kumi Naidoo (South Africa) and Ingrid Srinath (India).[4]

In July 2018, Sriskandarajah was announced as a member of the UN Secretary General's High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, co-chaired by Jack Ma and Melinda Gates.[12] He was previously a member of the High Level Panel on Humanitarian Finance from 2015 to 2016.[13]

Sriskandarajah was Chief Executive of Oxfam GB from January 2019 to December 2023.[3][14]

He was appointed Chief Executive of the New Economics Foundation in January 2024.[15]

Sriskandarajah is a supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation that campaigns for democratic reformation of the United Nations.[16]

He is the author of the 2024 book Power to the People (subtitled "Use Your Voice, Change the World"), published by Headline.[17][18] Power to the People was described by Zoe Williams of The Guardian as "upbeat, empowering, alive with the possibilities of civic action and vibrant with examples from the past, including Save the Children's founder, Eglantyne Jebb, and Rosa Parks."[19]

Personal life

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On 16 August 2003, Sriskandarajah married Trinidadian barrister Suzanne Julia Lambert in Trinidad, West Indies.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah". Companies in the UK.
  2. ^ "Celebrating Britain's 101 Most Influential Asians 2023 | Danny Sriskandarajah". easterneye.biz. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah to step down as Oxfam GB Chief Executive at end of year | Oxfam GB". Oxfam GB (Press release). 15 June 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Global civil society network CIVICUS announces new leader". Civicus.org. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  5. ^ a b (28 October 1997). "Migrants' son is Australia's first Asian Rhodes Scholar", The Straits Times.
  6. ^ a b Woo, Eddie (9 April 2012). "2. 1993 News". James Ruse Union. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  7. ^ "Commonwealth". University of Sydney.
  8. ^ "Academic - Wesley College". Wesley College.
  9. ^ "Rhodes scholars - Alumni & Friends". University of Sydney.
  10. ^ Sriskandarajah, Dhananjayan (2005). "Socio-economic inequality and ethno-political conflict: some observations from Sri Lanka". Contemporary South Asia. 14 (3): 341–356. doi:10.1080/09584930500463792. S2CID 53364320.
  11. ^ Travis, Alan (9 January 2008). "Politics | Fewer Britons in work due to ageing population and emigration rather than migrants, says report". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  12. ^ "Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation". UN. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  13. ^ Redvers, Louise (18 January 2016). "UN aid panel calls for 'grand bargain' on finance". Analysis. IRIN. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  14. ^ Preston, Rob (18 November 2022). "Danny Sriskandarajah: 'Few policy makers understand charities' value'". Civil Society Media. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  15. ^ "New Economics Foundation appoints Dr Danny Sriskandarajah as new Chief Exec | New Economics Foundation". New Economics Foundation. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  16. ^ "Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly". Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  17. ^ Bayley, Sian (27 February 2024). "Headline acquires Danny Sriskandarajah's Power to The People". The Bookseller. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  18. ^ Sriskandarajah, Danny. "Power to the People". Hachette UK. ISBN 9781035414239.
  19. ^ Williams, Zoe (18 July 2024). "Interview | The radical who left Oxfam to fight for democracy: 'Eight men have the same wealth as half the world. Where does this end?'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
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