SP Alum Featured in City and State's 40 Under 40

Student Programs is proud of Tania Dissanayake, featured in City and State's 2012 edition of the "40 Under 40."

Tania Dissanayake’s family came to the U.S. in 1989 to escape civil war in Sri Lanka, so when her mother encourages her to pursue her dreams, the advice carries some weight.

“My brother and I were raised in Westchester, proudly by a single mom, and she instilled in me a lot of big dreams and promise and trying to have a big future,” Dissanayake says.

Dissanayake, who saw government as a way to protect against suffering, started out as an intern for State Senator Jeff Klein, who had just formed the Independent Democratic Conference.

“They announced the breakaway on January 5 and I started on January 6, so as you can imagine I started amid quite a flurry of movement and excitement,” Dissanayake says. “I felt very encouraged to see a group of people who put governance ahead of everything else.”

Read more at City and State.