Vinya Ariyaratne received a MD from De la Salle University in 1989 and a MPH from Johns Hopkins in 1990. In 1996, he received his MSc and in 2003 his MD in Community Medicine form the Post-Graduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo. Vinya completed his Postgraduate Certificate (Hons) in 2006 in Health Managemt, Planning and Policy at the University of Leeds, UK. His expertise lies in community development, public health, nutrition, relief, rehabilitation of war affected communities, peace building, and reconciliation. Formerly: Visiting Fellow, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK; Chevening Fellow, Nuffield Institute, Univ. of Leeds, UK. Currently, General Secretary, Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, Sri Lanka. He is a Member of the board of management, microfinance and rural enterprise development organizations affiliated with Sarvodaya.