Migara Jayawardena

Migara Jayawardena is the founder and Managing Director of AMALA Clean Energy Advisors – a global consultancy specializing in supporting the clean energy transition for sustainable development. He leads AMALA’s multi-disciplinary group of global associates in helping clients formulate innovative investment and policy solutions to decarbonize energy systems. Mr. Jayawardena has three decades of experience in energy and infrastructure in emerging markets spanning Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Prior to establishing AMALA, Mr. Jayawardena worked at the World Bank Group for over 20 years leading efforts to help clients reform and develop energy and infrastructure sectors. He primarily worked in the Energy Global Practice at the World Bank, and also served as a Lead Evaluation Officer and Thematic Coordinator for Energy and Infrastructure at the institution’s Independent Evaluation Department (IEG). During his tenure at the World Bank Group, Mr. Jayawardena worked globally on issues related to infrastructure reform and development finance focusing on business development, policy advice, and investment lending. His work in the energy sector was mostly on power sector and utilities, renewable energy (hydropower, geothermal, solar PV and wind, and biomass), transmission and distribution, energy resilience, and rural electrification. Of particular interest to him is the utilization of public-private partnerships to achieve development goals; and addressing climate impacts through infrastructure development. The investment projects he led at the World Bank Group received multiple awards for their design and development effectiveness.

Before joining the World Bank Group, Mr. Jayawardena served as the Assistant Program Director and a Faculty Member for the Program on Investment Appraisal and Management at Harvard University’s Institute for International Development (HIID). During this time, he also helped establish Cambridge Resources International (CRI), an investment and risk advisory. Mr. Jayawardena remains involved in training development professionals in investment evaluation and risk analysis. He is a Development Practitioner Fellow and Adjunct Faculty at Georgetown University (Washington DC) where he teaches a graduate course on investing in clean energy in emerging economies, In addition, he is a faculty member in executive programs on project evaluation and risk analysis at Duke University (Durham, North Carolina) and Queens University (Ontario, Canada). Mr. Jayawardena also serves on the Board of Directors of the Towson University Alumni Association.

Migara Jayawardena received his B.Sc. in Economics from Towson State University, his Masters in Public Policy and certificate in Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure from Harvard University.