Sanjee Ratnatunga
Lay Member of Court
Date first appointed: 2021
Sanjee Ratnatunga is a Founder and a director at Ideas for Change, an economic development consultancy focused on improving economic and social wellbeing in the North East.
Sanjee was born in Sri Lanka and grew up in Zambia and Kenya. She moved to London in the early nineties to study Economics at Brunel University. After graduating she headed north having secured her first 'proper' job at North Tyneside Council to analyse local labour markets. The intention was to stay until the end of her contract and then return to London… 29 years later she is still here, and is now very firmly rooted in the North East, with Newcastle as her home of choice!
Sanjee has worked in senior management positions in local and regional government leading on several business support and enterprise schemes, skills and inclusion projects. She has worked with the nicest of people and found that building strong working relationships and collaborating with others is the key to getting things done.
Through Ideas for Change, Sanjee has been able to work on a diverse range of projects with many organisations, including the region's universities, colleges, strategic bodies, businesses and charities. The common factor to all of her work is that everyone she engages with is working hard to improve the lives of the people of the North East and this totally aligns with Sanjee's own passion and focus.
Sanjee is also a Trustee at East Durham Trust which runs a range of projects to help communities fight disadvantage in East Durham and she is also a huge supporter of Macmillan Cancer Support. She has engaged in many a Mighty Hike to fundraise for Macmillan's cause. It is also a great excuse to hike around this amazing region and enjoy the beautiful landscape we have at our doorstep.