A young community leader

Sarah Sriskandarajah, a young community leader and an advocate is a person with a truly remarkable character. Born in Germany to a Sinhalese mother and a Tamil father, and having been growing up in Sri Lanka for twelve years, Sarah moved to Canada with her family only less than a decade ago. Yet, she has not lost her immense love for Sri Lanka.

Since her post secondary years, Sarah has committed a great deal of her time to community activities in Toronto, and currently continues to do so in Ottawa. Her main objective, as she states, is to bridge the gap between the Sinhalese and Tamils, and to encourage the youth to maintain the Sri Lankan culture and values while contributing in return to the community here as well as back home in Sri Lanka.

During her undergraduate years, Sarah was the President of the Sri Lankan Student Alliance, and held several other positions for three consecutive years. At the same time, she volunteered with several other religious, political, and cultural organizations, and assisted with organizing a wide variety of events as well. While having such commitments, she also reserved her time to extend her knowledge of Catholicism to grade eight students at St. Bartholomew Parish for two years. 

After completing her undergraduate degree, her transfer to Ottawa did not stop her from continuing her community involvement and advocacy. She founded the Sri Lanka Ottawa Youth Alliance (SLOYA), a city wide independent youth organization in order to continue her contributions to the community. While serving her time as the President of SLOYA, Sarah organized an incredibly successful city wide campaign in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal to collected aid for the Internally Displaced Persons in Northern Sri Lanka. She also initiated the established of the Sri Lankan Student Alliance at Carleton University.

Other events that Sarah has organized include, Ottawa’s first annual New Year games celebration; Sri Lankan Alliance cricket tournament;  school supply drives to help underprivileged students in Sri Lanka; and Easter and Christmas meals to the homeless in Toronto and Ottawa, to name a few. Amid such commitments, she also ensured to maintain her professional development by volunteering as a Pro Bono Law Student to assist new immigrants and refugees.

At the age of 24, Sarah is not only a successful young community leader and an advocate, but also holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Philosophy, and Law and Society from York University, and a Paralegal Diploma from Yorkville College. She is currently a final year Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) student at University of Ottawa, and is expected to graduate in 2011 and called to the Bar of Ontario in 2012.  

In her spare time, Sarah enjoys watching movies, cricket, and Sri Lankan television programs; shopping; reading articles of interest and spending time with her family.

Through her hard work and commitment as well as the immense support she receives from her family and friends, Sarah has demonstrated great success in her studies, extra-curricular interests, and professional development. She hopes to continue this commitment as long as she is capable of so doing. Sarah is truly a role model for Sri Lankan youth. Congratulations to Sarah for being this month Honouree!