Ananda Galappatti

Ananda Galappatti is a medical anthropologist and a practitioner in the field of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in situations of conflict, disaster and poverty. His work in this field over the past 18 years has been concerned with strategic interventions to improve access to knowledge and skills, build collaborative networks and enhance coherence within the field in Sri Lanka and also globally. His interests span the provision of MHPSS emergency responses, integration of MHPSS into post-emergency reconstruction and development, care and protection of vulnerable children, responses to gender-based violence, and services for people with serious mental illness.

Ananda co-founded the journal Intervention and continues to serve on its editorial board. He is co-founder and current Managing Board Member of the global MHPSS Network. Ananda is an affiliated fellow of the Social Policy Analysis & Research Centre (SPARC) at the University of Colombo, and also a visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Graduate Studies there. In 2010, Ananda co-founded The Good Practice Group, a social business for the development of MHPSS services, and he serves as its honarary director for strategy.  He is currently also a member of the Advisory Board of the Mental Health Innovation Network.

In 2008, Ananda received a Ramon Magsaysay Award for his work in the field of MHPSS intervention in emergencies. He was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2011.

Ananda currently lives in Batticaloa, on the East coast of Sri Lanka.