Chamodi Rajapakse

Grant Manager

Professional Profile

Chamodi Rajapakse is an experienced Grant Administrator and overall Project Manager with a proven track record of successfully managing grants for 100+ client projects simultaneously from project start to closeout.  She has managed multiple federal grant funding projects, maintained compliance with federal guidance, coordinated budget development, and verified allowable direct and indirect costs, funding allocations, and secured appropriate approvals.  She has extensive knowledge in public health and federal grant management, including in-depth knowledge of CDBG funding disbursement, QA/QC, and monitoring/ evaluation processes. She will bring excellent analytical, numerical, written, and organizational skills to the project.

Areas of Expertise

CDBG Knowledge
Budgeting & Finance
Monitoring & Evaluation
Compliance & Monitoring
Grant Management
QA/QC
Staff Development Leadership

Representative Projects

PLEXOS GROUP, L.L.C. – FEB 2023 TO PRESENT
Grant Administrator
City of Galveston Mitigation Program

• Supports an infrastructure project for building a drainage system to minimize the damages from flooding and improving drainage in a flood prone area in the city of Galveston. Core duties include writing Standard Operating Procedures, coordinating between the city and other subcontractors, completing payment requests, and ensuring contract requirements with the city of Galveston are met.

GRANTWORKS, INC – JAN 2022 TO PRESENT
Project Manager
Hurricane Harvey CDBG-DR Programs, Texas General Land Office, City of Houston and Harris County

• Provides consultative support services for various disaster recovery programs funded by HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Funding for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) to the Texas General Land Office.
• Reviews eligibility and recommends approval for grants to Individual Assistance applicants and Public Services programs by reviewing contracts, invoice, and other legal documents while ensuring adherence to federal, state, and programmatic requirements.
• Manages and completes draw requests for Buyout, Homeowners Assistance Program (HoAP), Homeowners Buyout Program (HBAP), Infrastructure Draws, Staff-Time Auditing, Homeowners Reimbursement Program (HRP), and the Houston and Harris County HAP Programs.
• Manages federal grant funding as mandated by federal grant guidance; coordinates budget development, allowable direct and indirect costs, funding allocations, and appropriate approvals.
• Collaborates cross-organizationally to provide support to other HUD funded programs and provide periodic training on program procedures and processes to actively promote knowledge sharing and learning culture within the organization.
• Maintains working knowledge of funding sources and associated requirements and regulations, including Title 2 CFR 200 – Uniform Administration requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.

GRANTWORKS, INC – OCT 2021 TO JAN 2022
QA/QC Specialist
Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs, Emergency Rental Assistance Program, Austin

• Provided rental assistance to residents of Texas at risk of homelessness resulting from COVID-19 by completing audits of rental assistance request and approving funding requests.
• Completed in-depth eligibility reviews and communicate issues and provide corrective actions to eligibility analysts to produce highest quality deliverables.
• Prevented fraud, waste, and abuse by analyzing all documents and information submitted to observe escalating irregularities.
• Oversaw the systematic and continuous data collection on the progress of activities over time and monitored results in terms of timeliness, quality, and accuracy in line with project indicators.
• Prevented bottlenecks and program lags through close workflow monitoring and re-assigning project files as needed to increase performance.

AMERICAN INCOME LIFE – MAR 2019 TO OCT 2021
Supervising Managing Agent

• Ensured the safety of financial assets of union members in New Jersey by creating comprehensive financial protection programs using life insurance products.
• Provided the highest customer satisfaction by cultivating key relationships with union members and policy owners, conducting bi-annual policy reviews, and guiding clients through the approval process.
• Develop system and processes to manage monitoring and evaluation data from across the organization to create new protocols increase efficiency.
• Increase company revenue through continuous sales team expansion by exceeding recruitment of new agents and providing mentorship activities for agent development.

PLEXOS GROUP, L.L.C. – JAN 2018 TO JAN 2019
Project Manager
New Jersey Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Elevation, and Mitigation Program, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs

• Completed payment requests for applicants of Hurricane Sandy recovery NJ RREM program by completing in depth reviews of support documentation while maintaining strict adherence to program and federal guidelines
• Managed federal grants for 30+ applicants from project start to closeout by closely working with homeowners and contractors and ensuring all milestones are met in a timely manner.
• Efficiently disbursed $6 Million+ in CDBG-DR funding within + 10 months by completing payment requests for NJ RREM applicants by processing Advance funding requests, Final Payment requests, and Fraud Payment requests for de-frauded applicants.
• Developed the Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) for processing payment requests for fraud applicants and trained personnel across all departments.
• Designed and conducted periodic Payment and Contractor Validation training for construction project managers to streamline document collection and ensure optimal efficiency.

NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION – AUG 2017 TO JAN 2018
Project Manager, Program Management and Staff Augmentation
New York City Build It Back Program, APTIM, NY – in conjunction with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations

• Managed the quality assurance and quality control process for vendor special inspection reports for Hurricane Sandy recovery NY Build it Back Program.
• Created daily data reports to provide oversight of project status and performance summaries using excel to provide real-time project status to vendors and program leads.
• Liaised between the special inspection and design technical review teams to minimize project spending on design-associated re-inspection costs.
• Managed construction project coordination, including coordinating inspections between project managers and construction managers and analyzing technical reports to guarantee accuracy and availability of vendor inspection reports to ensure project completion.
• Orchestrated projects within strict timeframes and budget constraints by employing critical thinking to solve complex problems and working closely with senior leaders.

NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS – AUG 2015 TO AUG 2017
Community Outreach Coordinator
New Jersey Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Elevation, and Mitigation Program, APTIM, New York, NY

• Disbursed millions in grant payments to 3000+ homeowners based on NJ RREM program policies and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines.
• Executed field meetings and phone reviews with homeowners and project managers to enhance project performance by streamlining document collection and reviewing files for completeness and compliance.
• Facilitated the fraud process for homeowners by processing fraud advance payments while ensuring strict adherence to fraud guidelines set forth by the Department of Community Affairs (DCA).
• Methodically completed complex financial worksheets to ensure quality delivery of detailed payment request packets to NJ Department of Consumer Affairs.

Education

M.S., Public Health,
George Washington University

B.A., Psychology,
Suny Genesco University