Team
Governance Board
Rathina Iyer Pathmanaba Iyer
Rathina Iyer Pathmanaba Iyer is a Pioneer of Sri Lankan Tamil Digitization (1999) and the Founding Chairman of Noolaham Foundation (2008) and Governance Board Member. He is currently concentrating Digital Library Collection Development 2020, Vaasihasalai 2020, Digitization of Donated Documents, Collection Development & Chapter Operations - United Kingdom processes.
Pathmanaba Iyer was born in 1941 in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He graduated in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He has worked as a Divisional Officer in the Land Commissioner’s Department, Sri Lanka, from 1972 to the end of 1989 when he left for the United Kingdom.
He pioneered Sri Lankan Tamil digitization efforts in collaboration with Project Madurai in 1999. He is a well known publisher and founded and operates Tamiliyal Publications. His contribution to Sri Lankan Tamil Literature spans more than four decades. He contributed the milestone achievement of the translation of documents from Tamil to English. Pathmanaba Iyer was instrumental in bringing creative works with diverse points of views to the fore. In 2004, he was awarded with Iyal Viruthu, an award organized by the South Asia Studies Centre of the University of Toronto and the Tamil Literary Garden, for his lifetime achievements.
He is located in London, United Kingdom.
Shaseevan Ganeshananthan
Shaseevan is the Founding Director (2008), Executive Director (2008 - 2015 ) and Board Member of Noolaham Foundation.
He is currently concentrating Governance & Policy, Organizational Strategy & Sustainability, Partnerships & Collaborations, Process Management and Oversight, Communications, Public Relation & Community Outreach, Resource Mobilization & Sustainability and Annual Plan and Monitoring.
Shaseevan was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka in 1982.
He followed B.Sc. (Physics, Mathematics and Statistics) in University of Colombo.
He is a Member of British Computer Society.
He is a serial entrepreneur who has founded a corporate group of companies functioning in software development, digital marketing and business startup ecosystem that helps entrepreneurs, enterprises and investors to establish successful businesses.
He is located in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Kopinath Thillainathan
Kopinath Thillainathan is Co Founder of Project Noolaham (2005), Founding Director of Noolaham Foundation (2008 ). He is currently concentrating Digital Library & Archive, Noolaham Australia, Digital Preservation, Manuscript Archive 2022, Diversity Initiative and Metadata enrichment 2022
Kopinath was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka in 1982. He is a Finance and Accounting graduate from the University of Curtin, Australia.
Kopinath started digitization initiatives 2004, through Eelanool.
He is located in Perth, Australia.
Prashanth Sirinivasan
Prashanth is contributing to the Tech Infrastructure Management, Technology Services & Software Development, Technology Research Lab (NF Lab) and Next-generation AI-based eco-system for Noolaham. Prashanth is also participating in Noolaham USA fundraising as well.
Prashanth was born in 1982 in Colombo,Sri Lanka. He studied in Jaffna Hindu College and Bampalapitiya Hindu College and graduated in Information Technology from the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Srilanka. He has performed various roles in the software Industry and actively involved in many projects in Sri Lanka,India, Canada and USA. He is currently working as a Senior Software Consultant in USA.
He focuses on the history of Language , Community and Land of Tamils.
He is currently located in North Carolina, USA.
Sujeevan Tharmaratnam
Sujeevan is contributing to Office Management (Jaffna), Volunteer Engagement and Recognition, Physical records storage repository Management, Backup and Recovery, Organizational Events (SL), Chapter Operations - Sri Lanka ( Friends Of Noolaham ), Open Education Resource 2020, Digitization of Donated Documents and Jaffna Uthayan Newspaper Digitization.
Sujeevan Tharmaratnam was born in 1993 in Trincomalee. He was educated at Jaffna Hindu College, specialized in Information Technology and practiced as a social entrepreneur. He is the founding member of Sirakukal amayam, movement for educational empowerment.
He is currently located in Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
Kanaga Sugumar
Dr Kanagalingam Sugumar is contributing to the Chapter Operation - UK, Documentation of Medical History of Northern Province and Documentation of Documents Published in India.
Dr. Sugumar was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka and he has been involved in partnerships and collaborations with various individuals and institutions. He was one of the founding members of "Shanthiham"(சாந்திகம்) and currently he is working as a general medical practitioner (GP) in London.
He is currently located in London.
Grey Board Members
Mr.Ratnavelpillai Mayooranathan is a Grey board member of Noolaham Foundation since 2017.
He is currently concentrating on HR Recruitment and Selection, Kilinochi District Regional Archive and Early Tamil Works of Sri Lanka.
He is an architect by profession. He obtained a Bachelor degree in Built Environment (B. Sc.(BE)) and Master degree in Architecture (M. Sc. (Arch)) from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
He was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka in 1952.He is located in Inuvil, Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Mohamed Saakir Ibrahim
Saakir is contributing to the Muslim Archive project, Collections Development, Noolaham Digital Library Collection Development 2022, Noolaham Digital Library Collection Development 2023, Documentation of Sri Lankan Muslim Ephemera and Office Management (Batticaloa).
Mohamed Saakir was born in 1991 in Sammanthurai,Sri Lanka. He studied in St/Arafa Vidyalaya and St/MMMV (National School) and graduated in Medical Laboratory Sciences from the University of Jaffna, Srilanka. He is an Author, Antique Collector and a Laboratory Scientist. He published a book about local history in 2012 ( 'Toponymy of Sammathurai') and He is one of the main four authors of the editorial board of Concise History of Sammanthurai (Sammanthurai History and Legacy) which was published in 2019. Also he is writing to the Magazines. He is currently working as a Medical Laboratory Technologist in Srilanka.
He focuses on the Local history , Folklore, Toponymy and Poetry
He is currently located in Sammanthurai, Sri Lanka.
Meerabharathy
Meerabharathy contributing to Noolaham Canada.
Meerabharathy is born in Karaveddy and grownup in malayagam (upcountry), Navatkuli, Colombo. Studied Highlands college Hatton, Bsc degree from University of Jaffna ( completed as a displaced student at University of Colombo). B.A (Hons) Degree in psychology from York University, Toronto, Canada.
Worked with Sarinihar for a short time and Participated with different drama workshops and groups. Political activist with different political parties. trained as a meditation facilitator.
He is located in Toronto, Canada.
Sajeev Edward
Sajeev Edward has more than ten years’ experience in the consulting industry, and has dealt with a range of clients from the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and Middle East. He has extensive experience with digital marketing, survey design, survey programming, data analysis, statistical modeling and financial modeling. He is contributing to HR Admin & Payroll, Finance & Accounts and Budget and Budget monitoring and KPI & Career Planning, Training, Learning and Development
Sajeev was born in 1984 in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He studied in Jaffna College, St. Benedict’s College and St. Peter’s College Bampalapitiya and graduated in BSc, Physical Sciences from the University of Colombo, Post Graduate Diploma in Statistics from University of Peradeniya and a Passed Finalized of CIMA, UK.
He is currently located in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Indraselvan Velu
Indraselvan is contributing to the Office Management (Hatton), Upcountry Archive 2020 at Noolaham.
Indraselvan is a teacher and a member of the Central Committee of the Sri Lankan Teachers' Association and also the Secretary of Nuwara Eliya District. He serves as the Secretary of the Upcountry Tamils' Cultural Forum and is on the Editorial Board of malaiyagathamilar.com. His interests and work centre around political, cultural and human rights of the Upcountry Tamil community.
He is currently located in Hatton, Sri Lanka
Annogen Balakrishnan
Annogen Balakrishnan is contributing to the Noolaham United Kingdom, Rights Management, Publications (Books / Journal / Magazines / Booklets) and Vasakasalai project.
He is a writer and he has published three short stories books in Tamil. And he is one of the editor of Akazh online magazine.
Annogen was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka in 1992. He followed Electrical and Electronic Engineering as a bachelor degree, and he has completed his Master degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of Nottingham England. Currently, he is living in London, United Kingdom.
Sarawanan Komathi Nadarasa
Sarawanan Komathi Nadarasa is a Grey Board member of Noolaham Foundation from 2022 and contributes towards Noolaham Norway, Evelyn Ratnam Library Documentation and Caste in Sri Lanka as well. Sarawanan is a journalist, writer, and researcher with over 30 years of experience in these fields. He was one of editors of Sarinihar newspaper. He published a magazine, called “Parai” during 2000-2001 from Norway.
Sarawanan was one of the first batch students at University of Colombo when Journalism studies started at that university. He had also studied archiving & digitalising in Norway and after worked as a archive instructor for 2 years in Reaktorskolen AS, Oslo. He worked as an IT instructor between 2002 – 2016.
Ao far Sarawanan has published 8 books and his “1915 - Kandy Riots” Book received the State literary award for 2018 in Sri Lanka. His research articles are published in his website www.namathumalayagam.com which also received President Award 2018 in Sri Lanka.
Sarawanan contributes to universities & institutions as a resource person; specially in History, Politics and Media Studies. He is an avid book collector as well.
Sarawanan is located in Oslo, Norway.
Nalayini Indran
Nalayini Indran contributing to research library and archive, Digital Library & Archive (Information Architecture), User Services & Reference Services and Digital Library Metadata Enrichment 2022.
She is experienced Librarian with a demonstrated history of working in different library sectors in London for 25 years. Currently working as a Senior Librarian in a secondary school in London and previously worked as an Assistant Archivist In Colombo, Sri Lanka. Has published short stories, and articles on the importance of reading/reading culture, archives and archival practices, women literature and more. Born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, and completed a B.A (Hons) in Tamil Literature at the University of Jaffna and completed an MA and PG Dip in Library and Information Management in the UK.
She is located London, United Kingdom.
Mark Balmforth
Mark Balmforth joined Noolaham’s Grey Board in 2022. He contributes to the Initiatives & Proposal Writing, Research for Documentation, and Caste in Sri Lanka processes. Mark has collaborated with Noolaham since 2015 through the direction of three British Library Endangered Archives Programme grants (EAP835, EAP971, and EAP1450).
Mark was born in Seattle, USA in 1984. He is currently a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto. He holds a PhD from Columbia University and a BA from the University of Washington. His research examines inherited inequalities resulting from historical encounters between Tamils, Europeans, and Americans.
He is currently based in Toronto, Canada.
Emeritus Board Members
Natkeeran L.Kanthan
Natkeeran is the volunteer for the Technology team.
He was responsible for developing the technical roadmap for the Noolaham digital library. He was the co-coordinator of Noolaham's executive meetings. He is also part of the Noolaham : Canada Team.
Nakeeran graduated with a Master of Engineering (Electrical-Computer Focus) from Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is a software developer with focus on business intelligence applications in Toronto, Canada. He also contributes to Tamil Wikipedia and human rights violations documentation projects. His interests include natural language processing, data mining, and Tamil language.
He is located in Toronto, Canada.
Guruparan Kumaravadivel
Dr. Kumaravadivel Guruparan is responsible for Collaboration & Partnership.
Guruparan served as an academic attached to the Department of Law, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka between 2010 and 2020 serving as Senior Lecturer at the time of resignation. He served as Head of the Department between January 2017 and November 2019.
He is also a practicing attorney and has appeared as lead counsel in a number of cases relating to post-war human rights and humanitarian law issues in Northern Sri Lanka including in cases relating to the right to memory and remembrance in the post war context, the rights of families of the disappeared and post-war land issues. He is a Co-founder of the Tamil Civil Society Forum and Founder Chair of the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, based in Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
He holds an LL.B (Hons) from the University of Colombo, a BCL from Balliol College, University of Oxford and a PhD from University College London in Public International Law and Comparative Constitutional Law. He was awarded the Chevening Scholarship in 2010 and the Commonwealth Scholarship in 2013.
He is currently located in London, United Kingdom.
Sanjayan Selvamanickam
Sanjayan Selvamanickam is a Emeritus board member and currently concentrating on Chapter Operations – Norway process.
Sanjayan was born in Ragama, Sri Lanka in 1965. He was educated at Batticaloa Methodist Central College and Høyskolen i Nesna, Norway He is an IT professional.
Sanjayan is a blogger, In his writing he focuses on relationships between people.
He is located in Oslo, Norway.
Piratheepan Paramanathan
Piratheepan is Coordinator the Noolaham USA. He served in the Noolaham Foundation Board of Trustees in 2008. Piratheepan joined as a volunteer in 2006 and helped creating Noolaham content pages in Joomla and Mediawiki. He organized the first fund raising activity for Project Noolaham in 2007 in Southern California.
Piratheepan was born in Kanderodai, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He studied in Jaffna Hindu College, Jaffna. Piratheepan received a B.Sc in Civil Engineering from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 1997 and a MS in Civil Engineering from the Clemson University, South Carolina in 2002. While in Peradeniya, he actively participated in various cultural activities and served as the President of the university Tamil Society in 1996/1997.
He is located in Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
Bavaharan Vanniyasingam
Bavaharan Vanniyasingam was served as a Board Member in 2015-to 2016. Bavakaran has contributed through the UK Chapter and as well as contributed to fundraising through the temples. He is still funding the UK Chapter. He functions as SD Manager, Application Specialist and Systems Engineer after finishing education in the University of Peradeniya and the University of Southampton.
He is located in London, United Kingdom.
Mahendran Thiruvarangan
Mahendran Thiruvarangan is the Emeritus Board Member of Noolaham Foundation (2023 ).
M.Thiruvarangan was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka in 1985. Mahendran Thiruvarangan is a Senior Lecturer (Gr. 2) in English Literature at the University of Jaffna. He holds a PhD from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His research interests include postcolonial literature and cultures, literature and coexistence and social justice. He is currently concentrating Research for Documentation, Initiatives & Proposal Writing.
He is located in Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
Thamilini Jothilingam
Thamilini is an emeritus board member of the Noolaham Foundation. She contributed to the Initiatives and Proposal Writings, Multimedia Documentation, Research for Documentation, Documentation of the Documentation Process, Digital Preservation of Upcountry Archival Records, Setup of the Multimedia Room, and Muslim Ephemera Digitization.
Thamilini is a researcher and documentary artist based in Toronto, Canada. Thamilini’s research interests and artistic practice are centred at the confluence of art and anthropology, with a focus on gender, memory, archives, cultural heritage, and visual histories. She holds a BA (Hons) in Social Anthropology from the University of Kent, UK and a MFA in Documentary Media from Ryerson University, Canada.
Thayanthan Thirunavukarasu contributed to Project Management Oversight, Operational Tracking Sheet Management (OTS), Internal Document Management System (DMS) processes, Audio Books Project 2020, Digitization at Jaffna Public Library 2022, and Nooaham Singapore chapter.
Thayanthan was born in 1984 in Jaffna ,Sri Lanka. He studied in Mahajana college Tellippalai and graduated in Civil Engineering from University of moratuwa Srilanka. He has also completed Master degree in Civil engineering from National university of Singapore and MBA from university of Stirling, UK.
He has performed various roles in his profession and He is currently working as a Senior Resident Engineer cum Project Manager in Singapore.
Being as a social activist and writter, he focuses on sustainable economic and educational development strategies together with social and enviornment sustainability.
He is currently located in Singapore.
