Mr. Chandula Abeywickrema 

Chairman
Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed to the Board as a NonExecutive Independent Director with effect from 26th June 2019 and serves as the Chairman of PMF Finance PLC.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience: He is a global expert on Financial Inclusion, Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing. He is the current Chairman of the Banking with The Poor Network (BWTP), Asia’s Largest Microfinance Network and also an advisor on financial inclusion to the Asian Bankers Association (ABA). He is also leader representing Asia for the Global Steering Group (GSG) for Impact Investing and he is regularly invited to major international forums and conferences to speak as a keynote speaker in the areas of development banking, financial inclusion and impact investing and has served on a number of Boards of Financial Institutions, both locally and internationally. He is the Chairman of CSR Sri Lanka the national apex body for Corporate Social Responsibility, representing the largest number of private sector companies, and the Chairman of Lanka Financial Services for Underserved Settlements, a public and private sector collaborated credit guarantee fund to support low-income housing finance. He also serves as a board member of World Vision Lanka and Continental Insurance Lanka Limited.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Special) degree from the University of Kelaniya, a Diploma in Marketing from the National University of Singapore, Training in Leadership Strategies at Ashridge University, UK, Finance & Banking in South East Asia conducted by the Association for Overseas Technical Scholarships, Tokyo, Japan, and has studied Corporate Management Strategy at the University of Melbourne. He has also completed a programme on Advanced Leadership strategies at Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Current Appointments: He is the Co-Founder of ‘Ath Pavura’ the first-ever TV reality show for Social Entrepreneurs and Impact Investors in Sri Lanka, telecasted on the largest national TV network, and also the Founder and Chairman of Lanka Impact Investing Network (Private) Ltd (LIIN), Sri Lanka’s very first impact investing firm focused on channeling private equity funds with the purpose of investing and providing business development support to nurture a well-developed ecosystem of social entrepreneurs across the country. He also Chairs the National Advisory Board for Impact Investing in Sri Lanka (NABIISL).

Former Appointments: An accomplished and well respected senior commercial banker with lead expertise and experience in retail and development banking, Mr. Abeywickrema has a proven track record of over 35 years and is recognized in Asia as an expert in Financial Inclusion. As Deputy General Manager – Retail & Development Banking, he spearheaded the retail and development banking strategy which provided management and strategic direction in steering HNB’s SME and Microfinance portfolios to greater heights. During his tenure, HNB was named the best retail bank in Sri Lanka by Asia Money for 7 consecutive years, until his retirement in 2013 after serving the bank for 25 years. Subsequently, he served as the Managing Director/ CEO of CCC Solutions, the project management arm of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce from 2014 to 2015 and as the Consultant- Strategy and Marketing for National Savings Bank (NSB) from 2016 to 2017.

Membership of Board Sub-committees: He serves as the Chairman of the Board Integrated Risk Management Committee, Credit Committee, Related Party Transactions Review Committee, Nominations Committee, Human Resources and Remuneration Committee and a member of the Board Audit Committee.

Mr. Travis Waas

Non-Independent Non-Executive Director

 

He was involved in the restructuring of People’s Merchant Finance PLC, and was appointed as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director with effect from 22nd June 2020.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience: Mr. Waas counts more than 3 decades of experience in the financial services sector, having commenced his career at Lanka Orient Leasing Company Ltd in 1987.

An alumnus of the University of Colombo with a B.Sc and a MBA from the University of North Texas, USA.

Former Appointments: He has pioneered the setting up of the leasing operations at Hatton National Bank, Vanik Inc. Ltd. and Assetline Leasing Co. Ltd., where he served in the capacity of Senior Manager Leasing, Senior Vice President and Managing Director respectively

He was an Executive Director of the financial services cluster of the David Pieris Group of Companies, Director/CEO of Orient Financial Services Corporation Ltd. and a Non-Executive Director of Capital Alliance Finance Ltd, People’s Merchant Bank, LB Finance Ltd. and the Leasing Association of Sri Lanka.

Membership of Board Sub-committees: He serves as a member of the Board Audit Committee, Board Integrated Risk Management Committee, Related Party Transaction Review Committee, Credit Committee, IT Steering Committee and the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee.

Mr. Rangana Koralage  

Non-Independent Non-Executive Director

 

Appointed to the Board as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director with effect from 26th June 2019.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience: Having started his career at Ernst & Young as an Audit trainee he progressed over 8 years in the Audit & Assurance sector by becoming a Senior Manager of BDO Partners having gained valuable experience in Business Valuations, Due Diligence, Forensic Audits, Internal Audits, Project Proposal Formulation, Business Process Outsourcing and Financial Advisory Services. His expertise is widespread covering a range of industries from banking & finance, insurance, micro-finance, plantations, manufacturing, general trading, apparel, not-for-profit organizations and serviceoriented organizations to name a few

He is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and holds a MBA from Cardiff Metropolitan University of UK. He is also an Associate Member of the Institute of Professional Finance Managers – UK and an Associate Member of the Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka.

Former Appointments: He has a proven track record of over 10 years in the corporate world, having held leadership positions in both leading local and overseas entities at senior and strategic level. He was Group Accountant and Senior Accountant at Durdans Hospital and Asiri Surgical Hospital respectively. Further, he strengthened his senior management skills by joining Arabian Sugar Company B.S.C. in Bahrain, the only sugar refinery situated in the Kingdom of Bahrain and one of the biggest sugar suppliers to the Gulf region as the Group Finance Manager.

Current Appointments: He is the Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Automobiles Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. and a Director of Sterling Capital Investments (Pvt) Ltd.

Membership of Board Sub-committees: He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board Audit Committee and a member of the Board Integrated Risk Management Committee, Credit Committee, IT Steering Committee, Human Resources and Remuneration Committee and Nomination Committee.

Mrs. Krystle Reid Wijesuriya 

Independent, Non-Executive Director

 

Appointed to the Board as an Independent, Non-Executive Director on 22nd August 2022.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience: She holds the role of General Manager for Strategy and Growth Initiatives at We Are Team Rocket, a UK-based agency specializing in lead generation and B2B growth marketing. She has experience working with multiple cross-functional teams related to strategic planning, process improvement, risk management, business development, and project management. She is also a diversity and inclusion specialist; she is one of the CoFounders of Enable Lanka Foundation, which works to dignify and reframe the value of young persons with disabilities in society. The Foundation is the Sri Lankan partner for the APAC Microsoft Enabler program in Sri Lanka, which provides online training in data engineering and programming, cloud computing, and application development to young persons with disabilities.

She has a BSc (Hons) in Global Business Management, Strategic Management and reading for her M.Sc. in Applied Finance at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

Her work has been featured in ‘I Am Inspired’ book published by two Sri Lankan authors, BBC, the House of Lords in London, Commonwealth articles, SBS Australia, Institute of National Security Studies – Sri Lanka, Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Sri Lanka and many other national newspapers and television channels.

Former Appointments: She was a member of the subcommittee appointed by the National Child Protection Authority to sensitize public administrations and authorities on inclusion. In 2019, she was selected as one of the 50 Young Global Shapers (Davos 50) to attend the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. She was also named the Commonwealth Young Person of the Year in 2017.

Current Appointments: She is a Fellow of ChangemakerXchange, which is a global collaboration platform for young social innovators, and an Associate Fellow for the South Asia Foresight Network (SAFN) for the Sri Lanka Node of the Millennium Project. She sits on the Lirneasia Disability Research Advisory Board and is a Founding Member of the Commonwealth Children and Youth with Disabilities. She is also the Community Champion for Southern India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives for the Global Shapers Community, an initiative by the World Economic Forum.

Membership of Board Sub-committees: She is a member of the Related Party Transaction Review Committee, Human Resources and Remuneration Committee and Nomination Committee.

Dr. Nirmal De Silva  

Independent Non-Executive Director

 

Appointed to the Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 29th September 2022.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience: Dr. De Silva has a Doctorate in Business Administration (Specializing in HR) from the University of Aldersgate, a Masters in Business Administration from the Edith Cowan University – Australia, a Bachelor of Business Management Degree from the Monash University – Australia. He is a CIMA Passed Finalist, qualified as a Certified Management Accountant (CPM – Australia) and has a Post graduate Diploma in Marketing by CIM. He is also a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Professional Managers (CPM – Sri Lanka) & Association of Business Executives (ABE – UK).

Current Appointments: Dr. Nirmal De Silva is a multi-awardwinning Strategy Consultant, SME Evangelist, Entrepreneur & Associate Professor in Business Management with two decades of ‘C Level’ experience across the world, where he has provided leadership to several Multinational and Fortune 500 companies.

He is a Board Member of Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) in Sri Lanka, Co-founder/ Director of Paramount Realty Pvt. Ltd. and Capazity Pvt Ltd. He is also an Independent Non-Executive Director of Asia Pacific Technology Systems. Dr. De Silva is an important influencer in shaping the start-up and social enterprise ecosystem in the country. As an Academic, Dr. De Silva focuses on areas such as curriculum enhancement, softskills development, entrepreneurship, leadership & holistic learning.

He serves as a mentor for Faster Capital in the UAE, Mentor Capital Network (MCN) in USA, Hatch – Sri Lanka and as a member of the National Advisory Committee (NAC) for Entrepreneurship Eco-system Development at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. He is also a Consultant to the SALE programme of the International Labour Organization’s Curriculum Development of the South Asia Leadership in Entrepreneurship programme and is an Associate Professor of several global universities. In addition, he serves in the advisory committee of Sri Lanka Tourism, and is a board member of the National Advisory Board for Impact Investment (NABIISL) in Sri Lanka & a co-opted member of the Governing Council of CPM Sri Lanka.

Past Appointments: He has served as a Director of the Pradeshiya Sanwardhena Bank (RDB), as the Country Head of Regus, a board member of the Lanka Impact Investing Network & advisor to the State Ministry of Urban Development.

Membership of Board Sub-committees: He serves as the Chairman of the IT Steering Committee, and is a member of the Board Audit Committee and the Board Integrated Risk Management Committee.