Welcome to The People Behind the Programs, a blog series celebrating the voices, stories, and impact of the community professionals powering connection and belonging across the globe.

Meet Sasmini Bandara, a dedicated community builder based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sasmini, who wears hats as both Co-Director of The Digital Nomad CMX Community and an Ambassador at The Community Collective, shares her international journey of creating spaces where people feel a true sense of belonging.

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Sasmini’s journey into community work has been an unexpected passion, driven by a love for volunteering and connecting people. Let’s dive into her story in her own words.

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How It Started

I think like most community builders, I was doing community management long before I had the language for it. My journey started in 2015 when I joined a Rotaract Club in Sri Lanka. I loved volunteering and connecting people, and over two years we grew the club from 10 to 100 members. That experience taught me how to host events, build trust, and make people feel seen, the core of community work.

Later, I moved into virtual communities through different program management roles where I supported founders and participants in various programs. Each role helped me understand how relationships drive engagement. I also volunteered with Sea Sisters Sri Lanka, an ocean-based social initiative, where I learned what it means to create belonging through shared purpose.

I formally entered the community industry through CMX and The Community Collective, both spaces that helped me recognize that what I’d been doing all along was, in fact, community building.

A Day in the Life

I currently serve in two voluntary community roles, Co-Director of The Digital Nomad CMX Community and Ambassador at The Community Collective. These roles help me stay connected with like-minded people who care about belonging, connection, and purposeful growth.

At CMX, I co-lead a global virtual chapter alongside Michelle, who’s based in Australia. Together, we focus on featuring APAC-based speakers and stories since I’m based in Asia as a digital nomad. Our goal is to highlight diverse voices across the region and create events that feel inclusive and relatable to members in different time zones.

A typical week involves planning events, coordinating with speakers, and preparing communications for our members. I manage content and documentation in Notion and Google Docs, which keeps collaboration with Michelle and our community seamless despite the distance.

At The Community Collective, I connect with other community professionals, share lessons from my own journey, and support where necessary. Both roles remind me that community building is about staying close to people while learning, exchanging, and creating spaces where everyone feels they belong.

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The Tools that Power My Work

My go-to tool is Notion. It’s where all our knowledge sharing happens. Everything from community documentation to event resources and speaker briefs are kept there. I also organize all our public-facing links there, so members and collaborators can easily access what they need.

For operations, I rely on Google Docs to plan timelines, draft event promotions, and collaborate on logistics in real time. It’s simple and effective when multiple people are working together across time zones.

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Advice for Newcomers

It’s okay to feel overwhelmed at first. You’re suddenly managing a lot of people, energy, and emotions and it’s easy to wonder where to start. My advice is to find your niche early: are you drawn to operations, moderation, or strategy? Pick one and go deep. If you’re not sure, try each and notice which one feels most natural. For me, I can stay calm in stressful situations and connect with people easily, but my nervous system prefers structure, creating systems, optimizing processes, and bringing order to the chaos. That’s why I leaned into operations rather than moderation (the more people-facing side).

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Resources I Suggest

Here are some resources that profoundly influenced me:

• The Community Collective's Community Cohort Program
• CMX Community MBA
• Cult Status by Tim Duggen
• Seth Godin's This is Strategy
• Hell Yeah Or No: What's Worth Doing

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💬 Let’s connect on LinkedIn — I’d love to hear from fellow community builders.

💡 The People Behind the Programs is a blog series that shines a light on the community professionals powering impactful programs around the world. Want to share your story or nominate someone doing incredible community work? Submit your spotlight here.

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