The Faith & Work Forum is a conversation series that discusses the interplay between faith, work, and life. Each semester we feature guest speakers with leadership experience from across a wide range of vocations, who bring authentic stories about seeking a meaningful, purpose-driven life. This program runs in partnership with our Fellows Program & Vintage Lunch and provides candid conversations over a free lunch at the historic Bonhoeffer House. RSVP required. Email Christy Yates to learn more. 

Our spring Faith & Work lunch will feature Romesh & Lawson Wijesooriya
in conversation with Perkins Fellows Eujine Kim ‘26 and Sean Kim' ‘27

Lawson Wijesooriya is the Chief of Staff for Richmond's 81st Mayor, Dr. Danny Avula. Before leading his successful bid for mayor as campaign manager, Wijesooriya spent 15 years leading local non-profits—with a focus on strategy and community development—to serve some of the city's most vulnerable residents. Lawson moved to Richmond, VA in 2004 with a heart for the inner city and a dream of living towards MLK’s vision for “beloved community”. She lives in an historically under-resourced neighborhood with her husband, two sons, and several others in need of housing. After growing up in New Jersey, Lawson graduated from the University of Virginia as a Phi Beta Kappa Jefferson Scholar, and enjoyed her honors interdisciplinary study of Christian community development in the Political and Social Thought Program. After teaching abroad for several years, she helped start Blue Sky Fund, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide transformational experiences for urban youth through outdoor adventure and served as its Founding Executive Director for 10 years. She was highlighted as Mentor of the Year by Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine and honored as Richmond Style Weekly’s Top 40 under 40 in 2010. After leaving Blue Sky in capable hands, Lawson opened an ice cream business in her neighborhood as a new social enterprise adventure. The for-profit company was formed in 2017 with a mission to provide a gathering place for all in the rapidly changing Church Hill neighborhood while creating job opportunities for youth. She was also the Director of Development and Strategy for a small, faith-based affordable housing organization that provides homes for extremely low-income residents and that saught to protect against the displacement of Black households. In addition to being Chief of Staff, she serves along side fellow members of East End Fellowship’s congregation, a church she helped plant in 2008 as a founding elder.

Romesh Wijesooriya is an Assistant Professor of General Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond (CHoR), where he has served as Division Chair since 2014, Medical Director for the Pediatric Primary Care Clinic, and Assistant Medical Director for Telehealth at VCU Health. A founding board member of the Virginia Children’s Care Network (VCCN), he earned his BA in Religious Studies with a Biology minor from the University of Virginia as an Echols and Jefferson Scholar, followed by a year of service in Nigeria and completion of his medical degree at UVA in 2004. Under his leadership, the Division of General Pediatrics has doubled in size and patient volume, expanded programs, and increased research and educational activity. His clinical interests include medical education, health equity, pediatric obesity, and telehealth, and he played a pivotal role in managing VCU Health’s 5000% telehealth growth during COVID-19. A fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, The Obesity Society, and Alpha Omega Alpha, he has received numerous teaching and clinical awards, including Richmond Magazine’s “Top Docs” annually since 2012, and his research collaborations have appeared in leading journals such as Nature Medicine. Outside of medicine, Romesh is married to Lawson and is the proud father of two sons, ages 18 and 16. He lives in Church Hill in downtown Richmond, where he is deeply engaged in community initiatives addressing economic and health disparities. He is also a founding member of East End Fellowship, a multi-ethnic, economically diverse Christian church dedicated to “seeking the welfare of the city.”