CSR Lanka holds 6th AGM on ’Sustainable CSR in the Digital Age’

Newly-elected CSR Lanka Board of Directors. From left: Director Lakshan Madurasinghe, Director Gayani De Alwis, Director Mahesh Wijewardene, Chairman Chandula Abeywickrema, Vice Chairman Rizvi Zaheed, Director Rohan Pandithakorralage and Director Bandula Nissanka

CSR Lanka Limited held its 6th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 29 August from 4.00 pm onwards at The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. The Chief Guest was Dr. Nirmal De Silva, a thought leader, a specialist in SME, social enterprise and leadership power play. He is also a strong advocate of women and youth empowerment and an impact investor as well.

Lanka Impact Investing Network (LIIN) Chairman and Impact Investor Chandula Abeywickrema was re-elected as CSR Lanka Chairman while Vidullanka Director Rizvi Zaheed was elected as Vice Chairman, and seven other members were selected to serve in the Board of CSR Lanka as Directors: Aitken Spence Director/Chief Human Resources Officer Rohan Pandithakorralage; Singer Sri Lanka Sales and Commercial Director Mahesh Wijewardene; Sampath Bank Senior Deputy General Manager (Consumer Banking) Tharaka Ranwala, Standard Chartered Bank Corporate Affairs / Brand and Marketing Head Sanjeewani De Silva Ranasinghe, CILT Chairperson, WiLAT Global Vice Chairperson and WCIC Board member Gayani De Alwis; USAID Consultant and former Economic Advisor Bandula Nissanka; and Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability Director Lakshan Madurasinghe.

CSR Lanka was formed in May 2013 with the pioneering initiative of United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and seven equally-committed corporate leaders from leading Sri Lankan corporates. With a number of multi-stakeholder collaborations from the corporate sector and multilateral agencies, the leadership of CSR Lanka is committed to engage the Sri Lankan corporate sector on economic, social, and environmental transformation that can impact the Sri Lankan people, economy, and environment. To that effect, the Board of Directors of CSR Sri Lanka signed a charter, pledging to practice and spearhead their mission of providing strategic guidance and necessary resources to create long-term, sustainable value CSR efforts of the corporate sector.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Guest Dr. De Silva delivered a presentation on the topic “Sustainable CSR in the Digital Age”. He pointed out that the key question to look at is ‘what is there in your organisation’s DNA?’ He said that there are 4 approaches to CSR: some companies adopt strategic point of view, some defensive, some cost-benefit driven, and some adopt an innovative and learning-oriented approach. He further encouraged companies to look at it from the responsive perspective as well as the CSR point of view, rather than just looking at it on a strategy-oriented level. He stated that organisations need to think on how to translate this in to their individual employees’ mindset, as well as organisational DNA. He pointed out that in most of the organisations, top management or the sustainability head understands the concept, but unfortunately not many companies take actions to include CSR in their induction programs.

CSR Lanka Vice Chairman Rizvi Zaheed shared a presentation on CSR Lanka activities, and delivered the vote of thanks, which marked the end of the formalities of the session, leading to a lengthy gathering of networking over refreshments.

Among the guests were members of CSR Lanka, invitees from various institutions and the Board members of CSR Lanka.