Nushelle de Silva is an Australian born Sri Lankan social entrepreneur and art educator.[1] She is the founder of Building Bridges foundation in Sri Lanka.[2]

Nushelle de Silva
Born
Sydney, Australia
NationalitySri Lankan
EducationLadies' College, Colombo
Alma materPrinceton University
Occupation(s)entrepreneur, art educator
OrganizationBuilding Bridges
AwardsQueen's Young Leader Award (Asia)

Biography

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Nushelle de Silva was born in Australia and lived there until the age of seven. During her childhood in Australia, she was subject to racial abuse.[1] Her family moved to Sri Lanka, when she was seven, where she continued her education at the Ladies' College in Colombo.

Career

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De Silva pursued her career as a social entrepreneur and initiated "Building Bridges" foundation in 2012. She developed the foundation with fellow activist Irfadha Muzammil. De Silva graduated from the Princeton University in architecture and in 2015 she received a Master of Science and Architecture from MIT.[3]

In 2016 she received the Queen's Young Leader Award (Asia),[4][5] for her notable work with peace and reconciliation projects through the Building Bridges foundation, particularly in the war affected Jaffna area.[6] Nushelle also appeared on the inaugural edition of the Forbes magazine's 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2016 for her notable achievements in the field of social entrepreneurship,[7] the only Sri Lankan, to date, to appear on the list.

In March 2019, she was acknowledged as one of twelve female change-makers in Sri Lanka by the parliament, coinciding with International Women's Day.[8][9]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Join the walk against cancer!". trailsl.com. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  2. ^ "Building Bridges". Building Bridges. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  3. ^ "Nushelle de Silva | MIT Architecture". architecture.mit.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  4. ^ "Nushelle de Silva - A Gift for the children she works with". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  5. ^ "Life Online - Nushelle De Silva". www.life.lk. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  6. ^ "Nushelle de Silva '11, Building Bridges in Sri Lanka". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 2016-02-02. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  7. ^ "ARTRA | Sri Lanka's Art & Design Magazine | NUSHELLE DE SILVA L UNFOLDING SOLIDARITY". artra.lk. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  8. ^ "Sri Lanka : Sri Lanka parliament celebrates Sri Lankan Women Changemakers". www.colombopage.com. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  9. ^ Mudalige, Disna; Indrakumar, Camelia Nathaniel and Menaka. "Twelve prominent women to be celebrated". Daily News. Retrieved 2019-11-13.