YALU:

Youth Advancement, Leadership, & Unification

our vision

YALU: Youth Advancement, Leadership, & Unification is an organization created to connect and engage Sri Lankan youth around the world. Located in Southern California, YALU strives to create spaces for Sri Lankan-American youth to convene, build friendships, volunteer, and celebrate our Sri Lankan identities together.

Doing so, we hope to collaborate with youth in Sri Lanka, removing existing barriers that separate our communities. By engaging Sri Lankan youth, both abroad and on our home island, we envision this will help advance what it means to be “Sri Lankan” and unify our leaders of tomorrow!

our mission

We understand that living in the diaspora can disconnect Sri Lankan-Americans from fully being in touch with our Sri Lankan heritage. As a result, YALU is committed to deconstruct the idea that there is only one way to be Sri Lankan by:

Participating in social and cultural events
Engaging in a pen pal program between diaspora and residential Sri Lankan youth
Organizing volunteer opportunities locally and in Sri Lanka
Collaborating with our communities

“Whether we live in Sri Lanka or the U.S., we face similar issues of understanding and remembering the past that has made us and seeing the future we want.”

Romesh Gunesekera

Sri Lankan Author