Women in Management Awards to fete best in professional and career

IFC Country Manager Sri Lanka and Maldives Amena Arif, Panel of Judges 2018 Chairman Dr. Rohantha Athukorala, Women in Management Founder and Chairperson Dr. Sulochana Segera, Women In Management Maldives Executive Committee President Minha Faiz, Colombo Hilton GM Manesh Fernando and Women In Management Sri Lanka Executive Committee President Dulari Fernando 

By Shannon Jayawardena

Women in Management (WIM) awards which will be taking place for the eighth consecutive year this August is aimed at taking women entrepreneurs to a global platform with the theme; ‘Taking Sri Lankan Women to the World.’ 

This year’s edition is organised by WIM and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to highlight and give the local businesswomen the place that they deserve. This initiative commenced in 2011 with only five awards and has since grown to 50 awards that identify the various skills and leadership qualities of women in management. 

WIM Founder and Chairperson Sulochana Segera said: “For the past seven years, WIM has consistently identified and recognised exceptional women leaders across every level, from corporates to the grassroots. Sri Lankan women bring the highest foreign income and have the highest literacy rate. We should be proud.”

She strongly believes that the awards have had a direct impact on the country’s economy as well. In 2012 women participation in the economy was at 32.8% and has since grown to 35.8%. She stressed on the fact that this participation did not just increase but has been worked really hard at. 

IFC Sri Lanka Maldives Country Director Amena Arif noted: “Gender equality is not just a social and moral imperative but also an economic lead. This is because globally women represent 50% of the world’s population yet they account to only 41% of the global workforce. In Sri Lanka even though our economy expanded, women labour force dropped to about 36% in 2016.”

Arif stressed on the fact that there are highly qualified women in the country who have not been given the formal recognition. The awards have thereby helped organisations get recognised and has created a strong wake up call for women organisations across the country while changing the women brand in Sri Lanka.

Nominations for the awards will be open till 15 June and winners will be awarded on 7 August at the Hilton after three rounds of judging by the selected panel. Round one will consist of the entries of the nominees including 20% by the judges if they feel as if a worthy applicant has not been nominated. The judges will then look into their profiles and mark them according to various criteria, finally selecting those most suitable for each award. 

This year’s judging panel includes Panel Chairman Dr. Rohantha Athukorala, IFC Sri Lanka Maldives Country Director Amena Arif, Singer Sri Lanka Marketing Director Kumar Samarasinghe, MAS Holdings Legal Group Director Rajitha Jayasuriya, Daily FT Editor Nisthar Cassim, Sun Match Company Executive Director Gowri Rajan and Attorney General’s Department PC Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe.

Athukorala said: “This year’s awards are going to be very tough because if you look at the report card of 2017, we see that the country’s overall growth has declined since the last three years. Our export revenue has also declined hence consumer confidence is at its lowest. However the real essence of this happens to be the winners of these awards who have kept the brand alive.”

Alongside the award ceremony which is to be held in August, WIM will also be hosting a separate award in Maldives for the first time, from which winners will be nominated to the ‘Top 50’ Professional and Career Women Awards Sri Lanka 2018’. 

WIM Maldives Executive Committee President Minha Faiz stated: “We are here to celebrate us women in management and our achievements. This journey began as a simple idea by Founder Sulochana who saw the gap in opportunity and recognition for women inn management. WIM has the made the mark in the hearts of many Maldivians and I personally believe that these awards will open up many opportunities for very talented women in my country.”

Pic by Sameera Wijesinghe