Research & Public Service Manager, University of Georgia
Class of ’19 | Board Position: Member
Nipuna Ambanpola is a tech-for-good entrepreneur, speaker, and social impact activist. Nipuna serves as the Research & Public Service Manager at the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia where he manages data strategy, research, and impact reporting. Nipuna is also the Founder & Executive Director of IVolunteer International Inc., a 501(c)3 tech-nonprofit in the United States with the mission of leveraging technology to mobilize volunteers around the globe.
Nipuna earned his undergraduate degree in Economics at Georgia Southern University and Masters in Public Administration and a Masters in Business Analytics at the University of Georgia. While at Georgia Southern, Nipuna served in various leadership roles and found many student organizations that are active to this day. The most prominent is his leadership as the Student Government Association President during the Armstrong-Georgia Southern Consolidation where he was instrumental in representing student voices at the Consolidation Implementation Committee and the creation of many high level task forces such as the President’s Diversity Advisory Committee (PDAC) and the unification of degree programs, student governments, and other functions of the university. In 2019, Nipuna received the Nick Mamalakis Outstanding Eagle Award.
Post graduation from Georgia Southern, Nipuna continued to serve the university as a member of the University Young Alumni Board and the Parker College of Business Young Alumni Board. Nipuna engages with the student alumni association, one-on-one student mentoring, and spoke at the Inaugural Eagle Eye Symposium and as the National Volunteer Month Speaker. In 2024, Nipuna was inducted as a Campus Museum of Service Honorees by the Office of Leadership and Engagement.
On a daily basis, Nipuna leads numerous globally distributed teams to consult with public and private agencies to leverage technology to empower young people to become active citizens in their community. Nipuna has industry experience in data strategy consulting, technology-for-good, and social impact. Nipuna is a Paul Harris Fellow, Will Watt Fellow, a Rotary Youth-All Star, a TEDx Speaker, and a Civil Society Youth Representative serving in the Youth Steering Committee at the United Nations Department for Global Communications. He volunteers his time as the Assistant Governor for Rotaract for Rotary District 6910 and a board member at Books for Keeps, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting literacy.
Nipuna and his wife Karen (also a Georgia Southern graduate) live in Athens, Georgia and pursue careers and interests grounded in public service.