Dhammika Fernando elected IPM Sri Lanka President 2018/19

Dhammika Fernando, a versatile, dynamic and experienced human resource management professional, was unanimously elected as the President of the IPM Sri Lanka Executive Council at the Annual General Meeting held on Saturday. 

He will lead the highly acclaimed professional body to the next level of growth and expansion in the year 2018/19. Dhammika currently functions as the Executive General Manager of Tropical Findings Ltd., a Japanese multinational company operating in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone. Dhammika is a past Chairman of the FTZMA (Free Trade Zones Manufacturers Association), having held the position for five consecutive years until 2015, and a member of the National Labour Advisory Council of the Ministry of Labour, and also a member of the National Wages Board for the Apparel Trade.        

“I am delighted that Dhammika was elected unanimously by the discerning membership of the Nation’s leader in human resource management to lead the professional body in an exciting era of socio-digital change. As a versatile and dynamic professional with a wealth of experience on many fronts, he is ideally positioned to share his knowledge and insights to take IPM Sri Lanka to the next level,” said IPM Sri Lanka immediate past President Professor Ajantha Dharmasiri.      

A corporate member of IPM since 2002, Dhammika Fernando was first elected to the Governing Council of IPM Sri Lanka in 2007 and has since served in many capacities throughout his illustrious career on the Council as the Chairman of the Young Members’ Forum (YMF), Honorary Secretary of IPM in 2009/10 and Honorary Vice President from 2010 to 2012.  During his tenure, Dhammika chaired the organizing committee of the IPM International HR Conference in 2012, which was one of the most successful conferences of IPM at the time. He also represented IPM at the CIPD Conference in UK, Hong Kong International HR Conference, and the Bangladesh HR Conference organized by the Bangladesh Society of Human Resource Management. He was also awarded the prestigious ‘Global HR Excellence - HR Leadership Award’ at the Asia Pacific HRD Congress in 2010.

“I consider it very much a privilege to lead and provide guidance to IPM Sri Lanka in our journey to be the leader in human resource management in the Asia Pacific region. Our vision to be a world-class professional body in human resource management is shared by one and all, starting from the dynamic, committed Executive Council and IPM members to the lecturers of the business school and the staff of the secretariat,” said IPM Sri Lanka President Dhammika Fernando.

Dhammika’s quest to strive towards achieving their ambitious plans is already underway with IPM Sri Lanka winning the hosting rights to the prestigious World HR Congress 2020 under his guidance as the Co-Chairman of the IPM External Affairs Sub-Committee. In his capacity of being the Co-Chairman of the IPM External Affairs Sub-Committee, he has been elected to the Board of the Asia Pacific Federation of Human Resource Management (APFHRM) for 2018/19. Currently, Dhammika is an IPM-nominated Vice President of OPA Sri Lanka. He is the Chairman of ‘The Management Club’ Negombo Chapter, President of the Katunayake Seeduwa Lions Club, Vice President of Alumni of his Alma Mater, and a member of the Alumni of the University of Moratuwa. He has a multitude of experience in the TV broadcasting industry, as well as the light engineering and electrical switch gear industry as well. 

Dhammika completed his school education at Maris Stella College, Negombo, and his academic education at the University of Moratuwa in the field of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. He completed his professional education at IPM Sri Lanka (NDHRM) and obtained his postgraduate qualification from the Open University. He also holds an MBA, a two-year research degree from the Open University of Sri Lanka specialising in HR.

Before joining the IPM Council, Dhammika served in several IPM Standing Committees, including the first-ever marketing committee. He was also instrumental as Co-Founder in introducing ‘The Great HR Debate’ as a novel feature to the agenda of the IPM National Human Resource Conference. He also chaired IPM’s Audit Committee and the Finance and Admin Committee.