Dr. Novil Wijesekara is a community health and resilience veteran from Sri Lanka. For more than two decades, he has pioneered community empowerment through participatory community resilience building, disaster preparedness, outbreak preparedness and response, environmental health, and drinking water quality. He established several community-based organizations that promote resilience, such as the first tsunami early warning system of Sri Lanka (Community Tsunami Education Center), the Community Resilience Center, and the International Journal of Community Resilience. He leads Resilience Research, Training and consulting, a Sri Lankan think tank working on resilience. A medical doctor turned into a public health specialist, Dr. Wijesekara holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, a Doctor of Medicine in Community Medicine, a Master of Science in Disaster Management, a Master of Science in Community Medicine, a Post Graduate Diploma in Diplomatic Studies and Foreign Relations, and a Diploma in Human Rights and Peace Education. His work on disaster, health and environmental issues has been recognized by numerous national and international organizations such as the National Disaster Resilience Leadership Award and Health Emergency Excellence Award, Asia Foundation Development Fellowship, Community Solutions Fellowship, Southeast Asia Interfaith Fellowship, and the US Department of State and IREX leadership programs. He is also an alumnus of the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, Hawaii. Dr. Wijesekara is currently visiting the U.S. on a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship at Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.