who we are
The Community Friends’ mission and programs are built on a 28-year history between our founding director, Carsten Henningsen, and a Sri Lankan community service non-profit organization known as Friends in Service to Community. The association and friendship first started in 1980 when Carsten traveled to Kandy, Sri Lanka through a joint program at the University of Puget Sound in Washington and Sri Lanka’s University of Peradeniya.
Seevali Ratnakara is a director of Community Friends and project secretary with Friends in Service to Community, a Sri Lankan community service non-profit established in 1958 to help relieve suffering.
Deva Ratnakara is a director of Community Friends and president of Friends in Service to Community. He has more than 25 years experience in community service projects with Friends in Service to Community. Deva manages Community Friends’ Sri Lankan programs.
Mark Friedman is a director of Community Friends and a senior attorney with Intel Corporation since 1996. He has 20 years of experience in the legal field representing a wide range of international clients.
Jay Goodfriend is a director of Community Friends and the president of Syntonic Microwave, an electronics design company. He is also a CPA, a photographer, and has lived and worked in Indonesia.
Carsten Henningsen is a director of Communty Friends and chairman of Portfolio 21, a global environmental mutual fund. He has 25 years experience in socially and environmentally responsible investing, including community investing.