Strategy
Where the organisation goes next, and what it takes to get there — set with the executive committee and carried into every department.
← Governance
Executive committee
Gerard Dinith Mendis.
Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Hearts for the Homeless International
Jacksonville, Florida · H4H International
Nearly seven years with Hearts for the Homeless, from a single campus chapter to leadership across the organisation's entire global footprint.
2019
with H4H since
Current role
Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, H4H International
Based
Jacksonville, Florida
Discipline
Medicine and public health — first-year medical student
Focus
Strategy, compliance, public relations, and global growth
Gerard Dinith Mendis is the Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Hearts for the Homeless International. His connection to the organisation spans nearly seven years, from a single country chapter to leadership over its entire global footprint.
Gerard joined Hearts for the Homeless in 2019 as a member of the University of Central Florida chapter. He was soon recruited by the organisation's senior leadership to launch its first chapter in Sri Lanka, and worked through them for more than two years as Country Liaison — ultimately establishing a program partnership with the Royal College in Colombo that delivered a lasting improvement in preventive healthcare access across the region.
That success became the model for the organisation's broader international growth. Gerard went on to help stabilise existing efforts and launch new projects in Zimbabwe, Jordan and India, strengthening the operational footing of chapters across multiple continents. In 2023, following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, he founded and led a special trauma medical education and outreach initiative to provide critical support to affected communities — a project for which he was accepted into the Clinton Global Initiative's CGI U program to develop the effort further.
His roles within Hearts for the Homeless have grown alongside the organisation itself: from Country Liaison for Sri Lanka, to leading its international operations, to leading its global operations team, and now to Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer — where he supports the organisation's overall strategy, compliance, public relations and continued growth across dozens of U.S. and international chapters.
Outside of H4H, Gerard has built a parallel career in clinical research and medicine. He worked as a cerebrovascular research fellow at Mayo Clinic, where he published research on CADASIL, a rare cerebrovascular disease, and contributed to the development of tools for automated stroke detection software aimed at speeding up critical care decisions. He is now a first-year medical student at the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, and writes part-time for a Sri Lankan think tank on public health topics affecting the country.
Gerard holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science from the University of Central Florida and a Master of Public Health from Eastern Washington University.
Service record
A journey through H4H.
From one campus chapter to the organisation's global operations.
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2019
Joined Hearts for the Homeless
University of Central Florida chapterCame into H4H as a chapter member, running blood pressure screening opportunities for the homeless community around campus.
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2019–2022
Country Liaison, Sri Lanka
First H4H chapter in Sri LankaRecruited by senior leadership to launch the organisation's first Sri Lankan chapter, and led it for more than two years — establishing a program partnership with the Royal College in Colombo that delivered a lasting improvement in preventive healthcare access across the region.
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Expansion
International chapter growth
Zimbabwe · Jordan · IndiaTook the Sri Lanka model to the rest of the international network, stabilising existing efforts and launching new projects across multiple continents.
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2023
Founder, Ukraine trauma initiative
Special initiative · Clinton Global Initiative UniversityFounded and led a trauma medical education and outreach initiative for communities affected by the war in Ukraine, and was accepted into the Clinton Global Initiative's CGI U program to develop the effort further.
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Global operations
Leading international, then global, operations
H4H InternationalMoved from the international portfolio to the global operations team, responsible for how chapters everywhere are launched, supported and held to the same standard.
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Present
Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer
H4H InternationalSupports the organisation's overall strategy, compliance, public relations and continued growth across dozens of U.S. and international chapters.
Contribution
The work of the executive office.
Gerard's remit spans the strategy, standards and partnerships behind dozens of chapters at home and abroad.
Compliance
Keeping chapters on sound operational and legal footing, so a screening opportunity in one country meets the same standard as one anywhere else.
Public relations
How H4H talks about its work, and how partners, universities and volunteers find their way to it.
Global growth
New chapters and new countries — and the support that keeps them running long after the launch.
One chapter, then a country, then a continent — the same idea, carried a little further each year.
What drives his work
Chapters in 12 countries
Explore international operations
How H4H chapters are launched, supported and kept running — wherever in the world they are.