Chari has five years’ experience in Sri Lanka's software industry. His experience includes working on the winning bid to automate the historic Colombo Tea Auction, extensive engagements in East and West Africa bringing online some of the first automated stock exchanges in the region, and working with a multi-billion-dollar global debt brokerage.
In 2009 Chari earned an MBA with concentrations in the Public Management and Global Management Programs from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is committed to working in social and economic development and the strategic management of nonprofits. Stanford gave him the opportunity to add to his exposure to social entrepreneurs by working with many more in New Orleans, Kyrgyzstan and India, as well as others from around the world in classroom settings at the Stanford Business School.
Chari functions as the Managing Director and has been back home in his beloved Sri Lanka since July 2009, working full-time on Rural Returns' first products, exotic heirloom rice unique to Sri Lanka.
D.C. Jayasundera
DC is a civil and environmental engineer from Sri Lanka specializing in water management, rural issues and sustainability at Stanford. DC is a serial entrepreneur in both for-profit and social ventures. He is a founding Board Member of SL2College, which helps Sri Lankan students make informed decisions regarding education opportunities abroad, and a runner-up at a previous BASES Social E-Challenge.
After receiving his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Moratuwa University in Sri Lanka, DC worked as a Structural Engineer in Oregon, USA before entering Stanford University in 2005 to obtain an MS in Environmental Engineering. DC received the "Engineer" graduate degree from Stanford in 2009, where his research focused on policy and planning in water and sanitation issues in developing countries. DC also has an Advanced Diploma in management accounting from the Chartered Institute for Management Accountants (CIMA), U.K.
DC manages Rural Returns' operations in the United States of America.
