Kumaran's Birthday Fundraiser for comdu.it

Dear friends,

As most of you know, I co-founded comdu.it in 2014 as a global network of volunteers committed to leveraging the diaspora for sustainable development of Tamil-speaking and other vulnerable communities in Sri Lanka.

The work of comdu.it would not be possible without our dedicated volunteers (currently more than 60 volunteers spread across Canada, Germany, and Switzerland) and the global leadership team that also serves on a voluntary basis.

Time, however, is not the only resource we need. We also need financial support from our friends, supporters, and well wishers to keep carrying forward comdu.it’s vision to build a robust and lasting bridge especially between the next generation growing up across the diaspora and in the homeland.

That is why I have launched this fundraiser on my birthday this year to ask for your generous support for comdu.it.

To illustrate the point about comdu.it’s commitment to its mission, here are a few achievements in 2020 despite the global pandemic and parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka:

·  Raised over $100,000 in less than six weeks for COVID-19 relief to provide dry rations to over 8,500 families in 17 districts across Sri Lanka and in Sri Lankan Tamil refugees camps in Tamil Nadu, India.
·  Stood in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter  movement.
·  Developed new portfolio approach to programming segmented across economy, education, energy, entrepreneurship, health, marketing, research, and waste management.
· Successfully built a Minimum Viable Product for Tharavu, an innovative open data platform to inform data-based decision making of comdu.it and its diaspora partners about development programs in Sri Lanka.
· Renewed our annual commitment as Platinum Sponsor for Yarl Geek Challenge – Season 9  hackathon.
· Sponsored and provided programming support for e-Climathon Jaffna 2020  hackathon.
·  Partnered with IBM Canada on its Pro Bono Consulting Initiative to ideate innovative solutions to help comdu.it achieve further operational excellence.
· Provided employment opportunity for three (3) young people as part of the 2020 Canada Summer Jobs program.
· Hosted global meetups in Chennai, India and Vancouver, Canada.
· Participated in several important online conversations  around diaspora engagement in capacity building that were hosted by peer networks in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Malaysia, and India.
· Started the process to incorporate comdu.it in Sri Lanka to deepen our roots on the ground.

(COVID-19 relief at the Mandapam refugee camp in Tamil Nadu, India)