I started my career in 1987 as a science journalist and got involved in the development sector in 1991. There I worked with Practical Action (formerly referred to as ITDG) from 1991 – 2001, doing projects in development communication, aiming at empowering the powerless – women, youth, children, people who have disability, etc., and in small enterprise development in collboration with SEEDS (Gte.) Ltd. I was one of the field researchers involved in BDS-PMF research. In 2001 – 2007, I worked as the Country Programme Manager of BasicNeeds Sri Lanka, with people who are expereincing mental illnesses. It gave me a lot of opportunity to develop livelihoods interventions in consultation with truely affected people. After leaving BasicNeeds, in 2008 with 4 colleagues registered our own enterprise “laymen’s den (pvt.) ltd. which is more or less a consulting venture.