Remembering Rukesh

Rukesh Samarasekera, 33, the Storyteller and Changemaker of the U.S. Green Building Council and a graduate of Brown University, passed away on November 19, 2019 after a nine year battle with cancer. Rukesh’s passion in life was serving others. Even with the substantial demands of his academic, professional, and later, personal life, he had an insatiable desire to give back, participating in, and in many cases, starting, numerous organizations, as detailed in his full biography .

Rukesh poured unparalleled charm, creativity, and determination into these efforts. Although we will never be able to match him in this regard, we are going to do our best to try. Through this GoFundMe, we are raising funds to honor Rukesh's memory. All donations will go toward serving cancer patients in Sri Lanka, many of whom lack access to the state of the art care Rukesh received throughout his illness. Rukesh's mother, Tilani, will personally deliver the donations to hospitals in Colombo.

Rukesh was born on April 24, 1986 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was the son of Upali and Tilani Samarasekera, brother of Shawn and late Shanith, grandson of Jane, nephew of Osca and Nimali Herath, and cousin of Nicole Herath. Everyone who knew and loved Rukesh will always remember his warmth, wit, compassion, loyalty, and faith.