NDB’s VP Project Finance and Credit Control Ishani Palliyaguru at Interbrand Daily FT IWD 2021 Forum

Ishani Palliyaguru who currently serves at National Development Bank PLC (NDB), in the capacity of Vice President – Project Finance and Corporate Credit Control, will speak alongside a panel of women leaders at the Interbrand Daily FT International Women’s Day Forum on 28 March. Ishani is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants – UK while being an Associate Member of the Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka and the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka, and has 22 years of banking experience. 

She serves as a member on the panel of judges in the ‘Vanithabhimana’ program, a national level joint initiative by NDB and Sirasa News First aimed at rewarding the country’s female achievers in eight categories including entrepreneurship, sports, environmental management, social service and young leadership. 

“Studies have shown that achieving a more gender-balanced workplace can create efficiency saving, enhance employee engagement, boosts productivity, meets the diverse needs of customers and suppliers, and improves brand reputation. As a result, business leaders are compelled to assess and measure more effectively where they stand so as to find opportunities to close gender gaps and gain a competitive edge in the market,” says Ishani. 

“I am delighted that Ishani is joining us at the Interbrand-Daily FT International Women’s Day ‘Leading Through Extraordinary Times’ Forum on March 28,” said Interbrand Sri Lanka Partner and Headlines PR Chairman Anusha David. “NDB Bank has contributed immensely towards achieving a more gender-balanced workplace and Ishani echoes the sentiments of a myriad of like-minded people including myself who are determined that women take their rightful place in every sphere. We are living in extraordinary times, and women are leading the extraordinary wave of change. Across businesses, brands, sectors, and countries, we are working and fighting for a better world and showing that leading is not just a job title—it’s a set of strengths that we are extremely well suited for.”

NDB Bank has been empowering the women of this country while also improving financial inclusivity for decades. “In fact, NDB began its journey of empowerment within the organisation before venturing out to the country. “At NDB Bank, all employees are recognised as equal and we have worked hard to improve gender equality with female employees currently at 40% and 33% among senior management. We created an enabling environment for women to be the best they can be to achieve their full potential and grow.”

NDB is the first company in Sri Lanka to obtain EDGE Gender certification joining more than 200 leading companies, in 50 countries and 23 industries.

According to research banks with a diverse workforce tend to have a better understanding and reach of the women’s consumer market, translating to women’s higher financial inclusion. The Bank’s positioning with women and the female workforce thus enabled NDB to turn its attention to empowering women in the country and improving economic inclusivity. 

“The bank has a programme to provide technical support to small and medium businesses especially those run by women in collaboration with development agencies and professionals in business, finance, and others. We had many training programs on ethical business, savings and investment, social responsibilities, and English language as well. We even trained trainers to run these programs where women made up 80% of the participants. The bank also has a programme for entrepreneurs to each level of a business’ progression, from micro to small scale and then medium scale: our aim was the uplift our customers and facilitate growth every stage of their journeys,” said Palliyaguru.

The Bank’s reach for female entrepreneurs since August 2019 has been over 114,000 with 109,965 via the Araliya account and 5,500 via Sri Lanka Vanithaabhimana. 

Each International Women’s Day, NDB reaffirmed its commitment to support the creation of more and better jobs for women, including in leadership, which will further drive economic growth in Sri Lanka. To promote women’s private sector labour force participation in Sri Lanka, which is a key national priority, NDB develops products and services that better meet women’s needs as customers while promoting women as employees and NDB’s own workplace gender equality.

Thus began Sri Lanka Vanithaabhimana – which includes a program to uncover and reward successful women entrepreneurs from every corner of the country. 

Vanithabimana, introduced by NDB Bank and Sirasa News 1st, has become a platform for Sri Lankan female trailblazers who are fast breaking new ground. The platform is also a national level program that has empowered women and made them direct participants of the Sri Lankan economy. 

One main objective of this program is to get women to participate in the modern marketplace and to encourage and facilitate their entry to it. It will also take a step towards appreciating and felicitating those women who at present actively contribute to the economy and society. 

All winners from the eight categories took part at the event, representing their area of expertise, namely – Entrepreneur (micro), Entrepreneur (small), Upcoming Entrepreneur, Young Leader, Environment Management, Social Services, Sports and Education. These winners were identified through provincial level competitions and over a period of nine months.

NDB bank is the first Sri Lankan institute that received the EDGE certification in 2019, which is a global assessment methodology and business certification standard for gender equality and its Araliya savings account became a source of strength to women who were employed due to the benefits it provided. Araliya savings account also empowered women who were unemployed by educating them and giving them an opportunity to take a new lease in life, without fear. The COVID-19 pandemic only demonstrated the need to empower women economically, if the country was to ever recover financially.

Interbrand is the world’s leading brand consultancy, with a network of 24 offices in 17 countries. Established in 1974 and an opinion leader in the field of value-based brand management, Interbrand was the first brand consultancy to recognise the significance of a brand as a business asset and introduce the brand valuation concept and methodology. Interbrand’s Best Global Brands, the most prestigious brand ranking table globally, identifies the 100 most valuable global brands by analysing the many ways a brand benefits an organisation. The Best Global Brands methodology was the first brand valuation method to become ISO certified. Interbrand is part of the Omnicom Group Inc. network of agencies.