OUR JOURNEY

WE DEVELOP LEADERS WHILE CREATING SOCIAL IMPACT

Inspired by the success of its Learning Centers in Mongolia and Cambodia, BOOKBRIDGE chose Sri Lanka as its third country. The Sri Lankan Scout Association had been selected as the key partner in the country. Scouts are active across the country and could help in reaching out to the right people in the communities where social enterprises would be set up. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Scouts Association in September 2015 to ensure on-the-ground support.

The operations in this country started in 2016 through the Capability Program in partnership with WHU, the General Management Program. The GMP+3 team co-founded with Sujitha BOOKBRIDGE Bandarawela Learning Center. Followed by that, two other social enterprises were established. The Country Organization was created in 2018 with the purpose of developing social enterprises in rural areas. Only in 2019 BOOKBRIDGE Sri Lanka was set up as a limited company. By 2020 the strategic focus of the Country Organization shifted from establishing social enterprises in the area of education for children to higher education for young adults and adults.

Sujitha leads BOOKBRIDGE Sri Lanka. She is the first Community Hero in the country and was promoted to Country Manager in 2018. Her responsibilities comprise motivating the Community Heroes and their team, ensuring their skills development and pursuing administrative tasks. She supports and trains the Community Heroes in the country. 

The Country Organisation is composed of four independent social enterprises: 1) BOOKBRIDGE Professional Education Center in Bandarawela (est. in 2016 by the  GMP+3 team, relaunched in 2020 by GMP+6), 2) Kekirawa Learning Center (est. in 2017 by the Global Social Entrepreneurship Program (GSE2) team in partnership with the University of Basel), Dream Space Academy in Batticaloa (est. in 2018 by the 11th Capability Program team), INSIPRA Learning Center in Pelawatte (est. 2019 by the GMP+5 team) and Grow in Nuwara Eliya (est. 2021 by CAP17 team).