Women & Media Collective

What Women & Media Collective does

Women and Media Collective (WMC) is a Sri Lankan non-profit feminist organization founded in 1984 and headquartered in Colombo (No. 56/1, Sarasavi Lane, Castle Street, Colombo 08). The organization's mission is to advance women's rights, gender equality, political representation, and economic justice in Sri Lanka, with thematic programs across Gender & Political Economy, Political & Social Transformation, Media & Mobilization, and Identity & Inclusion. WMC serves women and girls, young women aged 18-25, civil society organizations, and policymakers as a research, advocacy, and education collective. It maintains a six-person staff and no proprietary technology stack; its "products" are research publications (an 840-respondent unpaid care work study, a Gender Pay Gap pilot, a CEDAW Shadow Report), educational programs (Feminist Education Programs, university outreach, training modules in Sinhala and Tamil), media content (The Darkest Light Podcast), and a multi-year advocacy initiative (the CARE Project running August 2024 to December 2027).

WMC's business model is non-commercial: services are provided free to beneficiaries, and revenue is sourced entirely from restricted grants and project funding from international development partners. Identified core funders include the Ford Foundation (supporting the 2017 unpaid care work research) and Global Affairs Canada (funding the CARE Project through The Asia Foundation as implementing partner), with supplementary support from Women's Fund Asia and IWRAW Asia Pacific. The organization delivers programs through a regional partner network of at least seven Sri Lankan civil society organizations across seven districts (Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Colombo, Hambantota, Jaffna, Kurunegala, Nuwara Eliya) and through collaborations with universities (Uva Wellassa, Sabaragamuwa, University of Colombo). Recent operational signals include Cyclone Ditwah emergency relief and gender-sensitive disaster response advocacy across nine districts in 2025, and a leadership transition in May 2026 when Tharanga de Silva was elevated from Director Operations to Executive Director.

Name

Women & Media Collective

Legal name

Women and Media Collective

Website

https://womenandmedia.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Women and Media Collective is a Sri Lankan feminist non-profit founded in 1984 that conducts research, policy advocacy, and education to advance gender equality, primarily serving women, young women, civil society organizations, and policymakers across seven districts, and funded through international development grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Women's Rights Advocacy Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)

akta.pro primary industry

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (BPAGABAF), Gender Equality & Women’s Rights (BPADAGAF)

Keywords

• Feminist advocacy
• Gender equality research
• Women's rights education
• Civil society organization
• Policy advocacy programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Colombo

HQ country

Sri Lanka

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: WMC operates as a non-profit organization primarily funded through grants from international development organizations and foundations supporting gender equality and women's rights initiatives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Women & Media Collective is a Sri Lankan feminist civil society organization that delivers research, policy advocacy, and educational programming on women's rights and gender equality. Its core deliverables include long-duration research and advocacy programs (such as the CARE Project on unpaid care work), educational programs for young women, multilingual training modules, joint shadow reports submitted to UN treaty bodies such as CEDAW, and policy position papers on issues including the gender pay gap and climate change.

Product overview

Women & Media Collective (WMC) is a feminist civil society organization established in 1984, dedicated to advancing women's rights and gender equality in Sri Lanka. The organization operates as a research, advocacy, and education collective rather than a technology company. Its portfolio consists of thematic program areas including Gender & Political Economy, Political & Social Transformation, Media & Mobilization, and Identity & Inclusion. Core offerings include: research and policy advocacy work such as the CEDAW Shadow Report and Gender Pay Gap Pilot Study; educational programs including the Feminism Studies Program and university outreach through Knowledge Building Programs; the CARE Project addressing unpaid care work with training modules in Sinhala and Tamil; media content production including The Darkest Light Podcast; and various advocacy campaigns and policy statements on gender-based violence and political representation. The organization does not offer technology products or software services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Feminist Education Programs Educational programs targeting women aged 18 to 25, including the Feminism Studies Program (2021-2023), discussion forums on legal limitations and access to justice, disability and feminist lens topics, and religion and feminism dialogues. Programs are led by expert trainers and include translated resources for diverse linguistic audiences.
• CARE Project: Addressing Unpaid Care Work in Sri Lanka A three-year project (August 2024 to December 2027) implemented in partnership with The Asia Foundation and supported by Global Affairs Canada, focusing on recognizing, reducing, and redistributing unpaid care work through the 5Rs framework (Recognize, Reduce, Redistribute, Represent, Respond) across seven districts in Sri Lanka.
• Unpaid Care Work Training Module (Sinhala) Training module in Sinhala for men and boys on recognizing, reducing, and redistributing unpaid care work, aligned with WMC's recommendations for gender equality and shared care responsibilities.
• Unpaid Care Work Training Module (Tamil) Training module in Tamil for men and boys on recognizing, reducing, and redistributing unpaid care work, aligned with WMC's recommendations for gender equality and shared care responsibilities.
• The Darkest Light Podcast Podcast series exploring women's issues including episodes on topics such as traditional midwifery in Sri Lanka, produced by Women and Media Collective and distributed via Buzzsprout.
• Pilot Study on the Gender Pay Gap in Sri Lanka Research study on gender pay gap in Sri Lanka, initiated by the Women Parliamentarians Caucus of the 9th Parliament, employing qualitative and quantitative approaches to explore factors contributing to gender pay disparity.
• CEDAW Joint Shadow Report Joint shadow report submitted to the UN CEDAW Committee, developed in collaboration with 14 civil society organizations, spotlighting the impacts of Sri Lanka's economic and debt crisis on women.
• Knowledge Building Programs (University Outreach) Knowledge-building programs conducted at universities including Uva Wellassa University and Sabaragamuwa University, including Training of Trainers (TOT) sessions on feminist ideologies for undergraduates.
• Policy Statements and Advocacy Campaigns Statements and campaigns addressing gender-based political violence, including condemnation of misogynistic attacks on women politicians and calls for accountability.
• Climate Change and Women Position Paper Position paper examining Sri Lanka's climate change vulnerability and the disproportionate impact on women, advocating for gender-focused intersectional climate action.

Quantifiable outcome

• Time Use Survey conducted in 7 districts documenting women's care burden
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• The Asia FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2024WMC serves as implementing partner for the CARE Project: Addressing Unpaid Care Work in Sri Lanka, funded by Global Affairs Canada. The project aims to strengthen policy frameworks and community action to ensure fairer distribution of care responsibilities.
• IWRAW Asia PacificcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIWRAW Asia Pacific provided support as funders and key advisors in developing the CEDAW Shadow Report, collaborating with 14 civil society organizations.
• Social Scientists' AssociationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on organizing the Regional Conference on Equality and Equity in Recognizing Unpaid Care Work and Women's Labour in South Asia (October 2022).
• Women Parliamentarians Caucus of the 9th Parliament of Sri LankamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitiated the pilot study on Gender Pay Gap in Sri Lanka, with research presented at Parliament premises.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Strengths4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/womenandmedia
• Facebookfacebook.com/womenandmediacollective
• Instagraminstagram.com/wmc_srilanka
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/women-media-collective

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Women & Media Collective