Speakers and Facilitators

A Director of the Hirdaramani Group, Rakhil joined the company in 2005 and is responsible for its knit facilities across Sri Lanka and Vietnam, he has also been instrumental in the Group’s diversification into the IT Services sector. Rakhil is a Member of the Young Presidents' Organization, where he serves as the Integration Chair for the Sri Lanka Chapter.  Rakhil was educated at Winchester College UK and holds a BA International Business from the European Business School.

Deshika has over 20 years of experience in HR working for various organizations including Microsoft Corporation, USA.  She is a guest lecturer at several institutes and has been invited to speak at various forums.  She recently won the Women in Management award for “Leadership Excellence in Human Resources - 2014/2015”. Deshika holds a BA Honors Degree in English and Psychology from the University of Washington, USA and an MBA from the Australian Institute of Business.

With 17 years of experience in emerging markets and digital trends, Ahmed has made his way in becoming the Director of Innovation and Consumer Insight at MAS Bodyline and recently, the chief marketing officer at Digital Commerce Lanka and as well as head of marketing Dialog Axiata PLC. 

Arul is a pioneer in setting up finance and accounting outsourcing centres in Sri Lanka and India. He was appointed to Hayleys Group Management Committee (GMC) and was instrumental in winning large BPO deals for his organisation. Arul has a rare combination of being an Engineer and Accountant. Former Senior Vice President of WNS, a well-known BPO personnel who had over 2,000 accounting professionals working for him as the head of operations for Finance and Accounting across India and Sri Lanka. 

With a 30 year career in the IT Industry Asoka was a former Executive Council Member, and Student Counsellor of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka. He holds a bachelor of Applied Science Degree from RMIT University Australia and City & Guilds UK certified trainer. Asoka holds experience as Manager in Management information systems for DMS, Oracle Consultant for the King’s Office Abu Dhabi, Ceylon Biscuits, Central Bank and Aitken Spence PLC.

Chanakya has been with Copal Amba since the Colombo delivery centre’s inception in 2003. He is currently responsible for all aspects of research delivery and client relationship management for engagements serviced out of Colombo. He has led strategic initiatives at Amba Research, working closely with the senior leadership team in seeking, evaluating, and overseeing the implementation of growth initiatives. He is a CFA charterholder, a CIMA (UK) Fellow, and an ACCA (UK) Fellow.

Darshana is the CEO Business-Skills, Australia Sri Lanka. Formally being the Director HR, Cinnamon Grand Colombo Darshana holds his Masters as an HR specialist from City & Guilds UK. He has over 30 years of experience as a trainer, Counsellor and Performance Coach in numerous fields such as finance, insurance, communication, IT, airline, freight & shipping, hospitality, agriculture & produce, apparel, food manufacturing, education, sport, NGO, etc.

Jeevan is an entrepreneurial idea generator and is the visionary behind Sri Lanka’s first operational IT Park – Orion City, home to some of the world’s leading IT firms. Since its inception in 2008, Orion City has experienced steady growth and is on track to achieve its goal of being a 3,000,000 square feet facility by 2020. Jeevan Gnanam is a mentor and facilitator and an active member of SLASSCOM and helps in many initiatives driven by the Entrepreneurship and Marketing Forum.

Currently holding the post of Chief Operating Officer – Marketing of the Hirdaramani Knit Cluster, Sri Lanka,  Nawaff boasts a career with wide ranging experience across all aspects of the apparel industry both in Sri Lanka and internationally. Rapidly climbing the ladder locally and in the Uk, he joined the Hirdaramani Group in 2014. At Hirdaramani Nawaff has been instrumental in driving change and innovation as the company continues its evolution as a model for operational excellence.

Niroshi Siriwansa, with a passion in developing entrepreneurship skills in Sri Lanka, she was the former Manager of International Higher Education for British Council Sri Lanka with expertise in Entrepreneurship development, Higher education and transnational education in Sri Lanka. She is attached to Colombo Leadership Academy expanding the horizons of young aspiring entrepreneurs.