Sustainable energy development is vital to economic growth, lessening poverty and protecting the environment. Led by alum Migara Jayawardena, Founder and Managing Director of AMALA Clean Energy Advisors, we will look at real-life situations through examples from Indonesia and Belize to explore how the transition to cleaner and more resilient energy systems can help address the adverse effects of climate change and improve everyday lives. Migara will also lead us through looking at how our own interests and actions are influenced by and also shape the global transition towards more sustainable development outcomes.

 

About Migara Jayawardena:

 Migara Jayawardena is the founder and Managing Director of AMALA Clean Energy Advisors – a global consultancy specializing in supporting the clean energy transition for sustainable development. He leads AMALA’s global associates in helping clients formulate innovative investment and policy solutions to decarbonize energy systems. Mr. Jayawardena has three decades of experience in energy and infrastructure in emerging markets spanning Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to establishing AMALA, Mr. Jayawardena worked at the World Bank Group for over 20 years leading efforts to help clients reform and develop energy and infrastructure. Before joining the World Bank Group, Mr. Jayawardena also served as the Assistant Program Director and a Faculty Member for the Program on Investment Appraisal and Management, at Harvard University’s Institute for International Development (HIID). During this time, he also helped establish Cambridge Resources International (CRI), an investment and risk advisory consultancy. Mr. Jayawardena continues to remain involved in training development professionals including serving as a Development Practitioner Fellow at Georgetown University (Washington DC) where he teaches a graduate clinic on investing in energy and environment in developing economies; and, as a guest lecturer in executive programs on project evaluation and risk analysis at Duke University (Durham, North Carolina) and Queens University (Ontario, Canada). He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Towson University Alumni Association. Migara received his B.S. in Economics from Towson State University and his Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University.