Board of Directors
01. Ms Samadanie Kiriwandeniya
Chairperson – Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director
Appointed as Chairperson in 2011
The Corporate Leader of SANASA Group, Ms Kiriwandeniya presently holds Directorships of SANASA Campus Ltd., Uththamavi Guarantee Limited, SANASA Travels (Pvt) Ltd. and SANASA International Company Limited.She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Peradeniya and Master’s Degree in Sociology from University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and draws from extensive Senior Management experience in the fields of Participatory Development, Gender Issues Management, Micro Finance and Conflict Resolution.
Ms Kiriwandeniya served in the capacity of Senior Manager, Deputy General Manager (International Relations – SDB bank) and National Coordinator of the Post-Tsunami Programme.
02. Mr Lakshman Abeysekera
Senior Director – Non-Executive, Independent Director
Appointed to the Board in 2013
Mr Abeysekera draws from almost three decades of experience in the fields of Accounting, Finance and Management, and he is a Fellow Member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka as well as a member of governing council of Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka.
Mr Abeysekera is highly proficient in international trade, shipping, and pharmaceutical sectors across local, public quoted and multinational companies. He presently holds Non-Executive Directorship at People’s Insurance PLC, Directorship at Janrich Foods Ltd. and NovEx Pharmaceuticals Limited.
Mr Abeysekera holds an MBA from the Institute of Postgraduate Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and was the former Chief Financial Officer at Emerchemie NB (Ceylon) Limited, Senior Accountant at Lankem Ceylon PLC and Accountant at Hoechst (Ceylon) Limited.
03. Prof Sampath Amaratunge
Non-Executive, Independent Director
Appointed to the Board in 2016
Prof Amaratunge is an expert in the field of economics with special reference to rural development and draws from three decades of service as a leading academic in Sri Lanka and he is the current Chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC).
Having published more than 75 Articles in international and national refereed journals and proceedings, Prof Amaratunge holds a BA (Hons.) in Economics from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, MA in Economics from the University of Colombo, and MSc. in Economics of Rural Development from the Saga National University and a PhD from Kogoshima National University in Japan. Prof Amaratunge was also a recipient of the prestigious Research Excellence Award in 2002, awarded by Kyushu Society of Rural Economics, Japan, which is in addition to several other local and international awards.
He was a Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, a Member of the University Grants Commission and Chairman of the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA).
04. Mr Prabhash Subasinghe
Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director
Appointed to the Board in 2017
A visionary entrepreneur with an established leadership record in diverse industries including rubber, seafood, insurance and banking.
Mr Subasinghe is also the Managing Director of Global Rubber Industries (Pvt) Ltd. and Global Seafoods (Pvt) Ltd., Chairman of the Sri Lanka Association of Manufacturers and Exporters of Rubber Products, Board member of Sri Lanka Society of Rubber Industry and a Key Advisor for the National Export Strategy. Further, during the past several years he served as a member of Sri Lanka Exports Development Board (EDB) in December 2019 he has been appointed as the Chairman of EDB – Sri Lanka.
He holds a BSc in Applied Economics and Business Management from Ivy League Cornell University followed by Executive Level education at Harvard, INSEAD and the Center of Creative Leadership Colorado USA. Mr Subasinghe was also the President of the Seafood Exporters Association of Sri Lanka.
05. Mr S Lionel Thilakarathne
Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director
Appointed to the Board in 2017
With extensive experience in Project Management and Participatory Project Planning and Implementation in rural areas, Mr Thilakarathne has been actively engaged in implementing many community development programmes in Agriculture and Fisheries. He is also an experienced trainer, having developed a training curriculum and conducted TOT training on establishing Community Governance. He has published three books on Participatory Governance.
Mr Thilakarathne holds a Diploma in Management from the Open University of Sri Lanka. At present he is the Chairman of Nikaweratiya SANASA Union LTD., Executive Director of Rural Centre for Development, Treasurer of Green Movement of Sri Lanka and Director of Governance Forums of Sri Lanka.
06. Mr K G Wijerathne
Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director
Appointed to the Board in 2018
An Executive Director of the Sanasa Federation, the apex organisation of Sanasa Movement in Sri Lanka, Mr Wijerathne also provides leadership as Chairman of Pahalawewa Sanasa Society and Director of Matale District Union and Matale District Co-operative Council. He draws from decades of experience in working at grassroots level with the Sanasa Movement.
Mr Wijerathne is an Attorney-at- Law with over 20 years of experience and possesses a LLB Degree and Higher National Diploma in Management from the Open University of Sri Lanka.
He followed a Diploma Course in Co-operative Management at the International Co-operative Institute in Moscow, Insurance Management and Administration Course at the Credit Union National Association, USA and the Credit Unions Leadership Training Course at the Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Union in Thailand. Mr Wijerathne is a former Director of the SANASA Insurance Company Limited and General Manager at Matale Sanasa DTCCS.
07. Mr Chaaminda Kumarasiri
Non-Executive, Independent Director
Appointed to the Board in 2018
A good governance advocate, thought leader, corporate trainer, leadership coach and management consultant with many years of experience, Mr Kumarasiri holds senior leadership positions in leading local as well as multinational organisations. He is the Founder/CEO of the Human Capital Partner and the Chairman/Principal Consultant of HCP Consulting (Pvt.) Ltd. He is also a regular writer on Financial Literacy, Strategic Management and Leadership for print media and a sought after resource person for organisational transformation projects and capacity building initiatives.
Mr Kumarasiri counts over 20 years of lecturing and corporate training experience focused on strategic planning, leadership development, organisational transformation, change management, and financial intelligence for business managers and emotional well-being through mindfulness. He is a Fellow Member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) – UK, and the Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka (AAT), and also an Associate Member of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka (CMA). He holds a BSc. Accountancy (Special) degree from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura with a First Class and has completed his MBA in Finance at the University of Colombo. He also serves as a Director of Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, member of the governing council of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka; the national body of accountants.
Mr Kumarasiri previously also held the positions of Financial Controller at Bank of Ceylon, Chief Financial Officer at The Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC, Assistant Vice President at HSBC Securities Services and Senior Manager – Assurance and Advisory Business Services at Ernst & Young including a secondment to the Financial Services Area office of Ernst & Young LLP, New York.
08. Mr Prasanna Premaratna
Non-Executive, Independent Director
Appointed to the Board in 2018
Drawing from over 30 years of private and public sector experience as an Agriculturist and Development Banker, Mr Premaratna was heavily invested in the development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME) across Sri Lanka. As a Development Banker, he was mainly involved in assisting many start-up projects. Today, he holds the position of Board member of the South Asia Partnership of Sri Lanka (SAPSRI).
Mr Premaratna holds a Master’s Degree in Agriculture from the USSR, a Postgraduate Diploma in Bank Management from the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka and a Postgraduate Executive Diploma in International Relations from the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS) Colombo. He has participated in many local and overseas programmes in Development Banking and agriculture related banking programmes in Europe, South East Asia and Japan. He is a member of the Association of Professional Bankers of Sri Lanka (APB).
Mr. Premaratna was a Chairman of the Regional Development Bank of Sri Lanka, Vice President of DFCC Bank and the Chief Executive Officer of DFCC Consulting Private limited. He was also a Pioneer Member of the Management Team of Pelwatte Sugar Industries before moving into the Banking Sector.
09. Mr B R A Bandara
Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director
Appointed to the Board in 2019
Anchored to a career spanning across three decades in the co-operative sector, Mr Bandara presently holds Directorships of Polgahawela SANASA Shareholders Trust Company Ltd. and SANASA Printers & Publishers Ltd. He is also the General Manager of Polgahawela Sanasa Societies Union Ltd.
Mr Bandara holds a Diploma in Banking & Finance from SANASA Campus Ltd., a Diploma in Business Management from the National Institute of Co-operative Development, a Professional Diploma in Co-operative Management from the Academy of Wayamba Co-operative Rural Bank, a Higher National Diploma in Accountancy from the Technical College Kurunegala, and a Certificate in Banking and Finance from the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka.
Mr Bandara has also held the post of Director of the SANASA Producer and Consumer Alliance Limited, and was also Chairman of Panaliya Sanasa Society.
10. Ms Dinithi Ratnayake
Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director
Appointed to the Board in 2020
Ms Ratnayake has broad and In-depth knowledge on financial institutions, advisory and transactional banking knowledge and experience, including her strong credit background, and exposure to debt capital markets and international Risk and Compliance practices. She is well positioned to leverage on her in-depth understanding of the financial institutions landscape both locally and internationally, through years of close association and relationship with banks, financial institutions, and regulators.
Ms Ratnayake is a Senior Banking Professional with over 24 years banking experience, for the most part at Citibank N.A. as a Director, Head of Financial Institutions Group in Sri Lanka. Prior experience includes Retail and Institutional Banking at ANZ Grindlays Bank PLC and Corporate Banking at Seylan Bank PLC.
Ms Ratnayake is a Co-Founder/Director of IDEAology Strategy Consulting (Pvt) Ltd., which provides advisory and strategic and tactical support to financial institutions and public sector entities in Sri Lanka and the Middle East.
She is also a Governing Council member of South Asia Partnership Sri Lanka, a NGO which engages in social development, working towards building empowered communities to achieve sustainable growth.
Ms Ratnayake holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Houston, Clear Lake and a Master of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Colombo.
She is the representative Director of FMO & SBI Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund PTE. LTD, who is a major Shareholder of SDB bank.