Customer Service Grants Management
Resume:
Millaniyage Samanthi Visaka De Costa
Program Assistant
adybiy@r.postjobfree.com
Program Assistant with over 12 years of experience in grants management and providing leadership to 10 Grants Officer Representatives to manage over 100 grant programs of $625,000. 12 years of experience managing a budget of $725,000. Pursuing an inspiring, career-oriented position with a well-established organization where experience and skills in grants management and leading a group of grants management professionals will assist to enrich the organization’s mission goals and the community it serves Experience
Senior Specialist Accounting Grants and Contracts
American Council on Education (ACE)
May 2023 – Up to date
Provides financial and budget support to ACE programs, both federal and non- federal with overseeing Federal Financial Reporting, associated drawdowns for reimbursement of costs incurred by ACE programs, and private foundation grant reporting.
Managing grants and contracts throughout ACE, researching and interpreting relevant regulations, guidelines, and standards for federal awards.
Serve as a liaison between funding agencies and program staff for federal awards and assist staff in developing, preparing, and submitting award proposals to support ACE’s potential funders, including budgets, documentation, and interpretation of funding requirements.
Maintain records of all grants and sub-award files in proper and up-to-date conditions, including agreements, sub-agreements, and copies of all reports submitted to funding agencies.
Support and participate in budgeting, reprogramming, and monthly statement analyses for sponsored awards and general fund projects.
Prepare required compliance reports and schedules for review, monthly reports, and reconciliations, including cyclical compliance reports. Program Assistant (Grants Management)
U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka
October 2007 – February 2023
12 years delivering “life-cycle” support to above 1,000 Federal grant programs with mentorship to 10 Grants Officer Representatives (GORs), coaching them in monitoring grants worth more than $50,000,000 to spearhead efficient and accurate communication with grantees and advising the Grants Officers on Federal grant regulations and procedures.
Have directly overseen more than 100 grant programs of $5 million through their lifecycle as a senior GOR.
Trained grantees in successfully executing 100 grant programs related to Integrated Country Strategy goals, producing timely deliverables, meeting program deadlines, and supervising more than 50 sub-awards worth $425,000.
Written 20 multi-faceted Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) for submission on Grants.gov and the U.S. Embassy Grants Opportunities portal enabling greater than 20 successful applications to work on high-impact programs each year.
Reviewed more than 100 grant application packages sent by grant recipients to ensure the accuracy of application packages.
Monitored over 14 Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) projects worth 1,103,942 which worked towards preserving tangible and intangible heritage cultural heritage.
Administered a Cultural Antiquities Task Force project worth $92,499 from 2019 to January 2022;
Managed the organization’s budget worth US$10 million from 2009 to 2021 which provided funding for greater than 100 successful projects aligned with the country’s strategy.
Shepherded greater than 20 grant
proposal writing workshops
guaranteeing more than 20 successful
submissions for vibrant grant programs.
Steered more than 20 site visits to grant
programs worth $100,000,000 quarterly
to confirm compliance with grant
regulations.
Education
Master of Business Administration
London Metropolitan University
2017 to 2019.
Training Courses
Grants Officer Representative.
Microsoft Certified Professional.
Administrative and Budget training
Tech Stack
Salesforce/CRM
Teams
Zoom
SharePoint
G-Suite
Knowledge of FAR, ADS, FAM
Sage Intacct
Ariett
Solver
Achievements
Length of Service Award (with the
United States Government)
Meritorious Honor Award for
exceptional performance in managing a
record number of Embassy grants in the
Public Diplomacy section.
Customer Service Award for excellent
support in the grant process during a
critical period of year-end deadlines
Eagle Award in recognition of
outstanding performance and for being
instrumental in organizing events.
Industry Expertise
Project Management
Grant proposal writing
Budgeting
RFP Writing
Languages
English – Fluent and Sinhala – Fluent
Names and Contact information for Reference:
Dr. Christopher L. Teal
Visiting Professor
Institute for Public Diplomacy & Global Communication Georgetown University
37th and O Streets, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20057
Work Phone: +202-***-****
Email: adybiy@r.postjobfree.com
Ms. Grachelle Javellana
Policy Branch Chief
Office of Grants and Agreements at
U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service
Work Phone: +202-***-****
Email: adybiy@r.postjobfree.com
Ms. Nicole A. Chulick
Deputy Chief of Mission
U.S. Embassy in Ghana
No. 24, Fourth Circular Rd., Cantonments, Accra
P.O. Box GP 2288
Accra, Ghana
Work phone: +233-030-2751-950
Email: adybiy@r.postjobfree.com
Mr. Jeffrey J. Anderson
Counselor for Public Affairs
United States Embassy in Canberra
Moonah Place, Yarralumla ACT 2600, Australia.
Work phone: +61-02-621*-****
Email: adybiy@r.postjobfree.com
Ms. Rachel M. O’Hara
Program Officer
Global Leaders Division
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Work phone: 202-***-****
Email: adybiy@r.postjobfree.com
Contact this candidate