Women’s empowerment and leadership session at 46th ARTDO Conference on Monday

Women in Sri Lanka form approximately 57% of a total estimated population of 21 million. However, out of the total economically active population of 8.5 million persons, only 33.4% are women. Thus, almost 70% of the labour force constitutes of economically inactive women.

Taking into consideration these statistics, the organisers of the 46th Asian Regional Training and Development Organisation (ARTDO) Conference has recognised the need to support women to achieve their full potential and broaden their prospects of contributing to the economy, society and family. 

Though Sri Lanka’s Constitution gives women equal opportunity, in the workplace, there is a lack of equal opportunities to achieve leadership positions. While the only limiting factor should be the relevant levels of education, there seems to be a ‘sticky floor syndrome’ operating in many of the economically active areas of work. 

Large numbers of Sri Lankan women work in the estate sector, garment industry, and as migrant workers, yet not in the capacity of management. Therefore, it is essential for women to understand how they can overcome these barriers. Although Sri Lanka produced the world’s first woman Prime Minister in 1960 and first woman Executive President in 1994, we do not have adequate women representation in Parliament, currently standing at a mere 13%. The statistics on women in management in Sri Lanka are not quite clear, but broad estimates place the figure below 10%. That is the reason sessions such as this are of vital importance.

This special session will have a panel of famous ladies from Sri Lanka, USA, Japan, and Malaysia. The three international speakers will be in Sri Lanka to address the main ARTDO Conference, which will be held on 24-25 September, and have readily agreed to address the special session dedicated to women:

Koko Nakahara from Yokohama, Japan, is a HRD consultant who develops training and performance management solutions to leading Japanese and international companies. She develops and manages human resources and human capital. Nakahara will share the experiences of successful women of Japan, who climbed to the corporate ladder under difficult cultural obstacles. 

Dr. Tanvi Gautam, founder of Asia’s first global women and leadership program, running for 7 years, will talk about the trends and practices she is noticing in organisations. Based on her work in the US, India, Singapore, and the ASEAN region, she will be discussing strategies that support the agenda, the trends and approach that organisations are taking, and what can be done differently, not just by organisations but also women themselves, to shift the balance for a more equitable workplace.

Rita Goh, ITD World Malaysia Director of Learning and Development has 30 years’ experience in the HR development and talent management field. Rita will address this session on nurturing the future generation whilst being a corporate leader. Goh will address the milestones in a woman’s career, having children, sacrificing corporate responsibility at the crucial time of development of children, and making a return to career and workplace. She is a super example, as she has made a flourishing comeback to her career, after investing time on her children during the important stages. She is the mother of two amazing and brilliant young boys.

The powerful and vibrant local personalities who will speak at the women’s empowerment session will be: 

Lakmini Wijesundera, Iron One Technologies and BoardPAC co-founder and CEO and SAARC Woman Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018: as a woman entrepreneur who has built a successful Sri Lankan business in the IT sector with global clientele, her message will be sharing her story as an example and experiences in this journey of building a global business in Sri Lanka as a woman. The end goal being to encourage more women to embark on an entrepreneurial journey of their own, and to continue to grow such businesses beyond Sri Lanka. Wijesundera will also address key areas such as increasing awareness and mindset of women and the society, better access to childcare facilities, safe transport etc. for women to continue to stay in the workforce, entrepreneurship, start-up funding, and education for starting and growing businesses.

Dilrukshi Wickramasinghe, current Solicitor General and former Director General of Bribery and Corruption Commission, will discuss the challenges met and how to overcome them from a woman’s experience. She is an expert on anti-corruption law who has a passion for anti-corruption work, prevention and creating awareness on anti-corruption. 

Dr. Sulochana Segera, founder of Women in Management is dedicated to uniting Sri Lankan career women to reach their full potential, breaking through the glass ceiling, to overcome barriers, how to empower women to forge ahead amidst the challenges. Dr. Segera has been awarded with several prestigious awards both nationally and internationally. 

The moderator will be John Philips of KESAB, Australia. 

The target audience for this conference is career women in corporate and Government institutions, women in business, young women who are starting up careers or businesses, and especially mothers who have taken time off careers and want to make a comeback.

This special session will be held on 23 September from 3.00 to 6.00 p.m. at the Main Ballroom, Hilton Colombo. Tickets are priced at Rs. 4,500 and limited tickets are available. 

The main conference will be held on 24-25 September at the Main Ballroom, Hilton Colombo and will focus on several areas including: governance for transition – changing the culture in governance, tools for digital transformation, developing a future workforce with Gen Z and Millennials, sales transformation – reinventing yourself for future challenges, talent assessment through AI, alternative dispute resolution – tailor made for legal practitioners and corporate lawyers, emotional excellence – heart of a corporate leader, sustainability practices of the environment, applied emotional wellbeing.. The rate for the full event is Rs. 30,000 per person. Discounts are available on group registrations and special rates are available for Government Institutions. 

More details could be derived from www.artdo46.info, email: [email protected] or from our hotline: 0767318211.