Chairman — NEXT Campus
Director — PepperCube Consultants
“Dusty has over 25 years of industry experience with leading multinational companies, in diverse sectors, in different functions and leadership levels.”……The commas after ‘companies’ and ‘sectors’ are unnecessary. It should be: “Dusty has over 25 years of industry experience with leading multinational companies in diverse sectors in different functions and leadership levels.”
“Dusty completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) UK and became a Fellow Member and a Charted Marketer.”
‘Charted’ should be ‘Chartered’: “…and became a Fellow Member and a Chartered Marketer.”
“His areas of research interests revolve around managing change both at individual and corporate level with a particular focus on digital transformation, CEO succession and transition.”
Add ‘the’ before ‘corporate level’: “…both at the individual and the corporate level…”
Head of Enterprise Product
Enterprise Business Unit-Dialog Axiata
He has also completed his PhD at University of Birmingham, with a comprehensive research thesis titled “A design method for specifying power sources and control strategies for hybrid power systems” that elaborates on simulation and modelling of hybrid power systems and control strategies for energy consumption reduction in hybrid vehicles.
Dr. Meegahawatte boasts an outstanding portfolio of professionalism starting off as an Electronics Design & Development Engineer at Bath Institute of Medical Engineering, Bath, UK from 2002-2006. Further, he has engaged in The Technology Rail project, which was a regional development agency funded project based at the Birmingham Centre for Rail Research and Education, a multidisciplinary centre for railway research at the University. The project’s remit was to facilitate the transfer of technology and knowledge to the UK railway industry. He has also been engaged as a Research Fellow at the Power & Traction Group in the department of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering. As mentioned earlier, he has extended his professionalism at University of Birmingham as the Manager at the Energy Systems Integration Laboratory at the university from 2009-2010.
Furthermore, he has also provided insight related to analysis, algorithm development and implementation, as a Data Analytics Developer at Onzo Ltd, London, UK. Later on, Dr. Meegahawatte has been involved in hybrid powertrain technologies and control systems for a consultancy that specialises in the design and development of advanced powertrain technologies for the automotive industry as Principal Engineer at Integral Powertrain Ltd, Milton Keynes, UK from 2011 – 2014. He furthers his involvement at Integral as Technical Lead — Software and Electronics, from 2014 — 2015.
He marks his professional standoff in Sri Lanka by joining Dialog Axiata as Head of Technology — Enterprise, from 2016 — 2019. He is currently the Head of Enterprise Product – Enterprise Business Unit at Dialog Axiata.
He loves playing basketball, he has represented the Dialog Basketball team and several clubs in Basketball tournaments. Also, he loves outdoor activities like hiking, cycling. As he’s back from USA, now he looks forward to travel and explore the country.
Initiator
AWARELOGUE Initiative
George started his career as a Speech and Drama teacher and was a News Anchor and Radio presenter (1998-2007). He also served as the National Communication Officer of the World Health Organisation Sri Lanka Country Office (2006-2007).
George was recruited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he served for more than a decade with assignments in Colombo and at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Paris (2007-2017). He served as Deputy Director of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies for over three years (2018-2021). He is the Initiator of the AWARELOGUE Initiative, and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Colombo.
George pursued his Bachelor of Arts degree at the Open University of Sri Lanka, his Postgraduate Diploma in International Relations at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies and completed his Master of Arts degree in International Relations (2006-2008) at the University of Colombo. His PhD in International Relations (2016-2021) is from the University of Colombo.
George is an alumnus of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations — Clingendael and was a Visiting Fellow at the Ubon Ratchathani University in Thailand. He has served as a visiting lecturer at the Sri Lanka Technological Campus, and the Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute among other higher education institutions in Sri Lanka and overseas.
Diplomacy, foreign policy, regionalism and integration are his main areas of research. In his free time, he takes pleasure in cooking, reading and going for long walks along the beach, and has a keen interest in poetry.
Senior Consultant Business Strategy & Re-Engineering Corporate Trainer/Mentor
Charm started his career as a Trainee Merchandizer and went into become a Merchandising Manager at Ceylon Apparel Exports Ltd (2002-2005). He then joined French Connection UK & GAP Inc where he gained experience in the apparel retail sector.
Consequently, he joined Penguin Sportswear in 2008 as an account manager where he helped to introduce M&S UK as a strategic customer. Charm then joined George Sourcing Services as a Senior Merchandiser and later became the Lean Technologist for the South Asia region. In that position he was instrumental to introduce Lean Management to Walmart suppliers in the region to reduce waste and improve efficiency. Charm then joined VOmax Inc, A Boston, USA based Fashion Company, as the Head of Production and Global Sourcing, where he later got promoted as the Vice President of the company. He currently serves as the Managing Partner for iGlobal. Sourcing USA. Charm is a Freelance contributor to OnlineClothingstudy.com
Charm has completed his Bachelors in BA(Hons) Fashion Product Management from Middlesex University, UK. He has a Postgraduate diploma in Business Administration and an MBA specialized in Finance from Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK. In 2015 He followed a DBA in Global Sourcing and Leadership at California Intercontinental University and has also studied Sustainable Business Strategy from Harvard Business School.
Charm is a senior lecturer with over 10 years of experience in leading UK and Sri Lankan academic institutes. He has been teaching students from various social and cultural backgrounds, possessing constructive and effective teaching methods that promote a stimulating learning environment.
Dr. Charm is an aviation geek who likes to travel around the world. He also likes reading and watching Netflix in his spare time.
Manager (Strategy & Growth)
Logicare Pvt Ltd
Add a comma after ‘Almaaz’ and ‘accountant’: “Almaaz, who started off at HSBC Securities Services in 2013 as a fund accountant, later joined S-Lon Lanka as a Management trainee.”
Global Telecom Solutions Virtusa Corporation
Remove the space in ‘hands-on’: “He has hands-on experience working in numerous geographies and challenging multi-cultural environments delivering strategic growth objectives.”
Chief Executive Officer
Noyon Lanka (Pvt) Ltd
He showcases a prominent leadership with his presence at MAS Active Linea Intimo in the capacity of a Manager, MAS Active Trading as a Deputy General Manager from 2008 — 2013, Director — Strategic Development from 2013 — 2016, Director — MAS Holdings from 2017, and he is now engaged in developing, implementing and transforming the overall business strategy at the business unit of Noyon Lanka by leading, directing and motivating the team whilst managing resources in order to achieve organizational goals in an effective and profitable manner, in the capacity of Chief Executive Officer.
The above mentioned qualities of his are a byproduct of his academic qualifications that he has gained from University of Colombo, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, as well as Chartered Institute of Marketing. He has successfully completed both his LLB and MBA at University of Colombo and fully qualified at Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, as well as Chartered Institute of Marketing.
When he is not busy with the lectures or other professional activities, he loves playing badminton and watching multi-genre TV series.
Director / Chief Executive Officer
Theewra Worldwide
‘Marketer’ should be lowercase: “Banura is an experienced marketer with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry.”
Founder & Principal Consultant
OTONOX, Sri Lanka
Replace “2o” with “20” to correct the typo: “Chamath brings over 20 years of experience…”
“During his spare time, he likes to engage in reading, knowledge building, travelling, swimming and cooking.”
Add a comma after ‘swimming’: “…engaging in reading, knowledge building, traveling, swimming, and cooking.”
Strategic Curator
Pepper Cube Consultants
Crystal started her career in 1997 at Quantum Market Research Limited. She then moved to The Nielsen Company working as an Account Manager, Research Director and was subsequently promoted as Global Head of Qualitative Research looking after teams and clients across 100+ markets spanning Asia, Europe, US and Africa based out of Australia and then Singapore. On her return to Sri Lanka, she joined PepperCube Consultants, a boutique research consultancy firm as their Strategic Curator.
Crystal completed her Bachelors in Psychology, English Literature and Journalism and her MBA in Marketing from the University of Bangalore, India. Her areas of research interests include Psychographics and Segmentation, Semiotics, Branding and Decision Making.
Crystal is an avid cyclist and a foodie. She has a penchant for burning cakes and making up lyrics. Her constant belief in life is that it is not the destination but the journey that matters!
Head of Operations/COO
Pizza Hut & Tacobell Sri Lanka, Pizza Hut & KFC Maldives
‘Negotiation’ should be lowercase: “He is skilled in marketing management, negotiation, market planning, business planning, distribution, marketing research, trade marketing, and sales operations.”
“At the beginning of his career Chinthaka worked as an Airport Service Agent at Sri Lankan Airlines.”
Add a comma after ‘career’: “At the beginning of his career, Chinthaka worked as an Airport Service Agent at Sri Lankan Airlines.”
“Afterwards he joined British American Tobacco where he worked for more than 7 years.”
Add a comma after ‘Afterwards’: “Afterwards, he joined British American Tobacco, where he worked for more than 7 years.”
“Chinthaka then joined Stassen Exports in 2016 as a Business Development manager.”
Capitalize ‘Manager’: “…as a Business Development Manager.”
“Chinthaka has been a visiting lecturer at Charted Institute of Personnel Management Sri Lanka and NEXT Campus for almost 3 years.”
‘Charted’ seems to be a typo; it should be ‘Chartered’: “…at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management Sri Lanka…”
Managing Partner
IGlobal Sourcing
‘A’ should not be capitalized in ‘A Boston, USA based Fashion Company’: “…joined VOmax Inc, a Boston, USA-based Fashion Company, as the Head of Production and Global Sourcing, where he was later promoted to Vice President of the company.”
“He currently serves as the Managing Partner for iGlobal. Sourcing USA.”
The period after ‘iGlobal’ seems out of place. If ‘iGlobal Sourcing USA’ is the correct name, it should be: “He currently serves as the Managing Partner for iGlobal Sourcing USA.”
“In 2015 He followed a DBA in Global Sourcing and Leadership at California Intercontinental University…”
‘He’ should not be capitalized: “In 2015, he pursued a DBA in Global Sourcing and Leadership at California Intercontinental University…”
Founder/CEO — DH3 Solutions Pvt Ltd
Founder/CEO — Silverleap Technology Pvt Ltd
Add a comma after ‘entrepreneur’: “As a serial entrepreneur, he has set up multiple businesses in the domains of digital advertising, digital payments, and digital enablement.” Also, lowercase ‘Digital Advertising’, ‘Digital Payments’, and ‘Digital Enablement’ for consistency.
‘Brings’ should be ‘bring’: “…coupled with a sound academic background, bring great insights and knowledge to the class.” Also, lowercase ‘Technology’.
“He is a diver with a PADI license and also a licensed Coxswain.”
‘License’ is typically spelled ‘licence’ in British English: “He is a diver with a PADI licence and also a licensed coxswain.” Lowercase ‘Coxswain’.
Director/ Chief Emergent Business Officer
CDB Finance PLC
Capitalize ‘Management’ and replace ‘&’ with ‘and’: “…as a Management Trainee and climbed through the career ladder, becoming a Senior DGM.”
Category Manager Sourcing
Dialog Axiata PLC
Starting off the early years of his career as a Quality Controller & System Supervisor at RR Donnelley (1995 to 1999) he then moved to Dialog Axiata in 1999. At Dialog he started out in Billing Operations & Credit Management and then moved on to the Dialog Television Billing Division. From 2010 to 2014 he was in Device Management and then as a Category Manager. Presently he is attached to Group Supply Chain Management overlooking Sourcing for Dialog Mobile (SIM cards and Trading Devices) Dialog Enterprise Solutions, Dialog Broadband & Dialog TV Customer Premises Equipment and General Procurements.
Firdouse is an Associate Member of the “Institute of Supply and Materials Management of Sri Lanka”. He has completed his MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management from Birmingham City University and also his Advanced Diploma in Business Management at London Business School Sri Lanka. Firdouse also has followed Shipping, Air Cargo & Containerization at the institute of Supply and MaterialsManagement.
Firdouse has been a lecturer for Supply Chain & Logistics and Business Administration for more than 2 years. His areas of research interest are Logistics and Supply chain. Further he is engaged as a motivational speaker and a trainer on general etiquettes.
In his free time, Firdouse likes to watch movies and also likes to travel.
Non-Executive Independent Director
Singer Sri Lanka PLC Non-Executive Director, Logicare Pvt LTD
Insert ‘an’ before ‘MBA’ and ‘MSc’ for grammatical correctness: “Gayani holds an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura”
Senior Manager Business Development
McLarens Group Management Limited
Adjust tense for consistency: “Back in 2012, he held the position…”
Chief Digital Officer- EFL Global Founder
Innovation Quotient
In the early years of his career, Irfan was an Account Manager at Grant McCann Ericson. In 2002 he joined MAS as a Merchandiser and later on he joined JWT as an Account Manager. Irfan served as an Associate Vice President during the last two years of the 7 years he spent at JWT.
Afterwards he was Head – Brands and Group Marketing Communications at Dialog Axiata. He was then the Director Insight and Innovation at MAS Bodyline. Irfan then quit the corporate career in 2014 to pursue his entrepreneurial interest. He is now the Chief Digital Officer at EFL Global and the Founder of Innovation Quotient.
Having completed the MBA Business Administration & Management from Mahatma Gandhi University and CIM (1999 to 2001) he has also made many publications such as the Ramblings of a Maverick.
Irfan has been a lecturer for almost 13 years since 2008. His area of interest in terms of research is in Digital transformation.
Consultant / Lecturer in Supply Chain
Add ‘of’ for grammatical correctness: “Jayamal, also known as JJ, has over 25 years of work experience in global organisations.”
Founder – SALESTARGET Sales Academy
Founder – LIFEWORKS & CHOICE
Change “Moreover, he possesses an MBA from the University of Lincoln (UK) and a Bachelors of Science (BSc. in Economics) from Oklahoma State University, USA.”
Head of Business and Brand Development
Montlush
Revised: “Her experience spans across a number of related areas, such as Marketing, Branding, Communication, Public Relations, Promotion Handling, Key Account Management, Supplier Relations, Business Development, Business Analyzing, and Training.”
In the sentence discussing Mihiri’s achievements, consider changing “price” to “prize” for accuracy.
Revised: “Mihiri achieved a world prize for the Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and completed the Intermediary level in CIMA.”
MA International law & Human Rights,
MA Political Science
Public Engagement Specialist
Revised: “She received a Master’s in Political Science with a major in Global Politics from Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines, and a Masters in International Law & Human Rights from the UN Mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica, where she was valedictorian for the class of 2015.”
IT Infrastructure and Operations Senior Manager
Michelin
Revised: “Pasindu Abeysundera has over 15 years of experience in IT Management, including 10 years of meticulous project management experience.”
In the sentence discussing Pasindu’s certifications, consider replacing “form” with “from.”
Revised: “He has received certifications in IT Risk Management, Microsoft Project Essentials, Project Management Applications & Scheduling, and Cost Control from the George Washington University, USA.”
MEd (Candidate/Canada), MBA (UK), BBA (USA), CIM, SLIM Employer Relations Specialist, Seneca College, Toronto, ON Partial-load Faculty, Conestoga College, Waterloo, ON
Revised: “Prasad possesses extensive experience working with and for Federal (Canadian), Provincial (Ontario), and Regional Government Organizations in roles assisting in labor market initiatives, adult learning, Co-Op/Work Integrated Learning (WIL), trades training, and creating pathways for internationally educated professionals and newcomers to Ontario.”
Director (Finance, Commercial and Projects)
MAS Kreeda
Revised: “Ramesh started off his teaching career in 2005 at the Royal Institute of Colombo before commencing his corporate career at Goodhope Asia Holdings (subsidiary of Carson Cumberbatch PLC) as a Management Trainee.”
In the sentence discussing Ramesh’s academic background, consider replacing “of” with “from” for proper preposition use.
Revised: “Ramesh completed his BSc in Accounting and Finance from the University of London and holds a Master of Business Administration from Edinburgh Business School, Scotland.”
Freelance Writer/Journalist
Starting her career as a Marketing Intern at Unilever, she later joined JKCS as a Marketing Executive. After working for 2 years at JKCS she joined Aitken Spence as Assistant Manager Pre-Sales. In 2016 she joined Media Services (publishers of LMD) as a Business Journalist. Ruwandi then worked as Manager Vitality at AIA. She is currently self-employed as a writer for Media Services, freelance creative writer and lecturer.
Ruwandi Perera is an FHEA, PGCert Higher Education qualified lecturer with an International MBA from Birmingham City University and a BBA (special) from the University of Colombo. She is an Associate Member of CIM (UK) and holds a Professional Qualification in Human Resource Management from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) (formerly, IPM Sri Lanka). She is currently reading for her PhD in adult education from London Metropolitan University.
Ruwandi who has been a lecturer for almost 13 years, brings an unmatched exuberance to class. She specializes in Activity Based Teaching and you will often find her class on their toes engaged in hands-on learning! She is interested in areas of research including unlearning, adult learning, individual learning, holistic learning and female career progression.
Apart from work and teaching, she busies herself with a variety of extracurricular activities and events which include singing, theatre, and playing the piano and guitar whenever the need calls for it. She has a penchant for traveling and adventure and is a passionate advocate in protecting the planet and saving wildlife especially whales and elephants.
Director/ CEO – Logicare Pvt Ltd
COO – Ceylon Tea Brokers
Revised: “He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport, the Association for Supply Chain Management, the Association of Business Executives, and CIM.”
Director Sales & Marketing -TEXION Textiles International Holdings – Hong Kong/ China
He joins the professionals at MAS Shadowline as a Merchandiser from 2001 – 2005. Then he joins Brandix as a Senior Merchandizer, progresses to be Assistant Merchandizing Manager within the period of 2005 – 2009. Later on, Shehan joins Landmark Group – UAE as a Buyer. Landmark Group is the biggest value retail chain in entire GCC with A turnover of USD 2.5Bn. He joins Brandix Intimates Apparel as the Assistant Merchandizing
Manager (2010 – 2013), becomes the Merchandising Manager (2013 – 2014) and
progresses to be Business Manager (2014 – 2016). While at Brandix, Shehan has formulated/trained 4 outsourced manufacturing plants to ply adhoc orders. He has also maintained 100% on-time deliveries from 2013 to 2014 for the Sleepwear category, which also is an unconquered record till date at Brandix! During his tenure, he has been responsible for acquiring new plants in Anuradhapura & Polonnaruwa to cater larger volumes for H&M brand & trained/ developed the management to gear up for new production schedules.
He then joins Noyon Lanka as the Deputy General Manager Sales & Marketing (2016 -2017) and he is accountable for USD 26Mn turnover of the organization and reinforcing key markets such as USA, UK, France, Italy, Spain & Asian Markets encompassing 42 client base.
Since 2017, he provides professional insight at TEXION Textiles International Holdings -Hong Kong/ China as Director (Sales & Marketing). He has fortified the key lace markets in USA, UK, France, Italy & Spain and contrived new business opportunities in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh & Indonesia.
He boasts an academic background just as impressive as his career progression. In 2015, he completed his MBA at Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK. He is also a Certified Professional Marketer (CPM – Asia), Asia Marketing Federation, Japan. In 2018, he successfully completed the MSc in Supply Chain & Logistics, Birmingham City University, UK. He is also a member (ACIM) of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK, Australian Computer Society, Australia (MACS) as well as the International Association of Book Keepers – UK (IAB).
Shehan is an outdoor person who does couple of sports like archery and rifle shooting. He also goes camping, angling, fishing as his hobbies. Beside his professionalism in marketing, he is fond of researching about Artificial Intelligence, new technology and blockchain.
Head of Procurement and Supply Chain
Dialog AXIATA
Starting off his career at HSBC as a Banking Associate, he then joined Brandix where he worked for more than 5 years. At Brandix, he initially served as a management trainee in 2003, and later moved up the ladder to Manager-Process Improvement by 2005. Tilak then joined Dialog Axiata where he worked in several managerial roles. In 2014 he moved to Axiata Group Berhad (Malaysia) as Manager-Procurement Governance & Enablement. At present he is the Head of Procurement and Supply Chain at Dialog Axiata PLC.
Tilak is a Certified International Procurement Professional (CIPP) and a Project Management Professional (PMP). Moreover, he has followed an Executive Programme (Leadership in the digital age, Business management) at INSEAD. He also followed an Executive Programme in Design Thinking for Decision Makers at Asia School of Business. Tilak has also successfully completed the Six Sigma Black Belt Certification and the Postgraduate Diploma at CIM and today is a certified “Chartered Marketer”.
During his 5 years as a lecturer, Tilak has brought a wealth of international and local experience to class. As a lecturer, he always tries to share his experience in Sourcing, Procurement, and Supply Chain operations.
Tilak who is a hockey player from his younger days, still ensures to dedicate some time to the sport he loves most. He also likes to spend time at the beach and swim in the sea which, reminds him of his childhood ambition to be a sailor. Tilak loves to cook for his family and friends whenever he has leisure time.
Founder
ILT Retail (Pvt) Ltd
Thilina has hands on knowledge in fashion retail, supply chain, experience in fashion retail assortment planning and strategic alignment to disruptive market conditions. In the beginning of his career, he served as an Assistant Merchandising manager at Vision Apparels. He then joined Growth Lanka as a Development Merchant – NYPD GAP. Afterwards, he joined ODEL where he worked for more than
17 years and was in the forefront of building and nurturing LUVSL, Embark and the other private brands of ODEL since their inception. He started off as a buyer in 2004 and was the Head of Buying during the last 6 years at ODEL (2015- 2021).
At present, he is the Director at Stories and Concepts, Chairman at Two Elephants of Ceylon and Founder of ILT Retail.
Thilina has studied Fashion Retail at RMIT University Melbourne and also completed the MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at Birmingham City University. He has received certifications in Collaborative Leadership, Emerging Leaders and Retail Merchandise Buying.
Thilina has been a lecturer for more than one year and has interests in areas of research related to product development.
During his free time, Thilina likes to design and develop products. Additionally, he is also a wildlife photography enthusiast.