Lankan-US athlete Ivana completes at Boston Marathon
Ivana Wijedasa
Before Ivana Wijedasa crossed the stage at Boston University School of Law to accept her law degree this year, she crossed a finish line that few dare to approach. The young Sri Lankan-American law student completed the Boston Marathon — all 26.2 miles of it — just one day before turning 26 years old, proudly representing Sri Lanka every step of the way.
What started as a quiet habit — lacing up and running along the Charles River to decompress between classes — quietly became something bigger. A goal took shape. In the lead-up to race day, Ivana turned that goal into action, raising over USD 15,000 for the Youth Advocacy Foundation (YAF), an organisation dedicated to providing children with access to legal representation and quality education and to ending the school-to-prison pipeline. For Ivana, the cause was never abstract.
“It’s something that I’m really deeply connected to in my career as an attorney,” she said.
“It’s really important that children are given the opportunity to have not just access to the council, but just have access to be a kid, to remain in these schools.”
Through her training and fundraising, Ivana helped power YAF’s mission to keep young people supported in school and on a path toward opportunity — standing with students and families who deserve strong advocacy and equitable access to education. Her generosity doesn’t stop there. She plans to donate an additional USD 5,000 of her own funds to support the education of less fortunate children in Sri Lanka.
If the marathon alone wasn’t enough, consider the schedule she trained around. As she prepared for race day, Ivana was simultaneously serving as Co-President of MESALSA in 2024-25, contributing to law review, working as a Research Assistant, volunteering as a Tour Guide, and participating in the Immigration Law and Policy Society and Immigration Clinic at Boston University. Her resume of summer internships included a judicial internship with the First Circuit Court of Appeals and a legal internship with the New York Civil Liberties Union.
As she prepares to graduate in May this year, Ivana leaves Boston University not just with a law degree, but with a marathon medal, a legacy of advocacy, and over USD 15,000 raised in the name of children who need someone to run for them.