Gihan Fernando is Assistant Vice Provost of the American University Career Center in Washington, DC, and collaborates closely with faculty and deans across the university to serve the career needs of about 9000 undergraduate and graduate students. Gihan has over 30 years of experience in higher education administration with a focus on career services, and before joining the AU community, held positions at Georgetown University Law Center, Cornell Law School, and New York University School of Law. He was a member of the NACE Board of Directors and served as the President of the Board of Directors of NALP, the Association for Legal Career Professionals, from 2007-2008. Gihan received his BA in Political Economy from Johns Hopkins University, and his JD from Georgetown University Law Center. Gihan is committed to higher education for all. He serves on the board of Collegiate Directions, Inc, a non-profit that helps underserved students get to and through college. He also served on a grant panel that awarded $50 million to HBCUs to support their students’ career advancement. And he is a senior advisor to the International Career Advancement Program, a fellowship program that helps diverse professionals advance in international relations fields. Gihan is a first-generation immigrant to the US. He was born in Ghana to Sri Lankan parents and grew up in Africa.