Congratulations to Nipuna Ambanpola for being selected as Public Administration and Policy’s MPA Student of the Month! We are especially proud to highlight Nipuna as we celebrate Public Service Recognition Week. Nipuna is a fine example of how our students positively impact and drive the world of public service as they make their mark on communities, countries, and the world.
Nipuna Ambanpola was born and raised in Sri Lanka and since his childhood, enjoyed volunteering. Nipuna came to the United States in 2015 through the Georgia Rotary Student Program sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Savannah South and West. He was admitted to Georgia Southern University – Armstrong Campus. Since at College, he has continued his passion to volunteer. He founded several clubs at Armstrong including the Resident Student Association, The Student Alumni Association, and the Rotaract Club. For three of the four years during his undergraduate life, Nipuna served the resident student population as a Resident Advisor. In 2016, Nipuna was named one of the Rotary Youth-All Stars by Rotary International. Nipuna then went on to charter the Rotaract District 6920 as the first ever District Rotaract Representative for District 6920. For the years 2017-18, Nipuna also served as the Student Government Association President of the Georgia Southern Armstrong & Liberty Campuses and was instrumental in bringing the two institutions together during the consolidation.
Nipuna graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Economics from Georgia Southern University and is currently pursuing a Masters of Public Administration & Policy at the University of Georgia. Today, Nipuna serves as the Co-Founder & Executive Director of IVolunteer International Inc, a 501(c)3 tech-nonprofit organization that is internationally recognized with the vision of creating 7 billion volunteers. Nipuna found the organization in 2017 to connect volunteers to volunteer projects around the world in real-time. In August this year (2020), IVolunteer International will launch a social-impact mobile application for volunteers to use worldwide, which will focus on the individual person, geo-connecting them to projects and allowing them to track their individual social impact.
In 2016 Nipuna was invited to speak about the organization at the Rotary-UN Day Global Goals Summit that took place in the U.N. Headquarters in New York. He was also a TEDx Savannah Speaker in 2016 where he spoke about how volunteerism can be the key to uniting the world. In 2019, Nipuna was invited to speak to young leaders from around the world on his action-oriented leadership in the public sector at the University Scholars’ Leadership Symposium in Malaysia. At the University of Georgia, Nipuna is a graduate assistant at the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, one of the 8 departments of the public service and outreach divisions at UGA. He is also a member of Society of Entrepreneurs and is currently working to establish a Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) in Athens, Georgia.
Nipuna was recognized for his work and was awarded a Will Watt Fellow and a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary Clubs in District 6920. During his free time, Nipuna writes about leadership, volunteering and youth engagement in his personal blog – www.nipunaambanpola.com.
Congratulations Nipuna! Keep up the amazing work. You are making a difference.
