HRP forms new team; seeks to go beyond profession to the nation

Association of HR Professionals EXCO members: Seated from left:  Chandana Wijayanama – Secretary, Roshan Kulasuriya – Vice President, Pradeepa Kekulawala – President, L. Chiranthi Cooray – Immediate Past President, Ishan Dantanarayana – Vice President, Thushara Jayawardana – Treasurer. Standing from left: Dinusha Jayamanne– committee member, Paduma Subasinghe – assistant secretary, Sakunthala Senarath- committee member, Sujith Bandulahewa – committee member, Ravi Jayasekera – committee member, Chandi Dharmaratne– committee member, Chinthaka Premaratne - committee member, Sampath Alwis – Assistant Treasurer, Oshana Dias – committee member

At the recently-concluded Annual General Meeting of the Association of HR Professionals, a new Executive Committee was elected for the year 2016 to take the organisation’s objectives forward. Led by PradeepaKekulawala, Head of Human Resources of SriLankanAirlines, the committee comprises highly-experienced professionals 

PradeepaKekulawala (President): Head of Human Resources, SriLankan Airlines Ltd. with diverse cross industry HRD experience having served formerly as Group Director HR BAM Holdings Group (apparel),Director Group HR and Admin – BMI Group(Engineering), AGM Group HR – MetropolitanGroup (Office Automation/IT) andDirector Operations – KentAcademy of Career Training whilst being a corporate trainer and HR consultant for over two decades.

Ishan Dantanarayana (Vice President): Chief People Officer – BrandixGroup, Member of Brandix Senior Leadership Team, formerlySenior Director Human Resources – Virtusa, Country HR Manager – DHLKeells Ltd., Head of HR and Admin – MTV& MBC.

RoshanKulasuriya(Vice President): Human Resources Director – CoatsThread Exports Ltd. FormerlyHuman Resources and Corporate Affairs Director – Fonterra.

ChandanaWijayanama (Secretary): General Manager HR – South Asia Gateway Terminals Ltd. FormerlyExecutive Vice President HR – FrankeAsia, Hong Kong; Head of University Relations and Employment Practices – Holcim Group Support, Switzerland and VP HR – Holcim Lanka Ltd. 

Thushara Jayawardana (Treasurer): GM HR – CICHoldings PLC., Attorney-at-Law by profession, formerly senior management roles at Hemas Holdings and Dialog Axiata PLC. 

Paduma Subasinghe (Assistant Secretary): Senior Vice President GroupHR – Browns& Co. Plc. FormerlyDGM HR – Airtel Lanka Ltd.

Sampath Alwis (Assistant Treasurer): Senior General Manager – GroupHR Operations – BrandixGroup. FormerlyHead of HR/AVP – AegisServices Lanka Ltd., Manager HR – Virtusa Ltd., Manager HR – WNSCustomer Solutions/AVIVA Global Services Lanka Ltd., Head HR (Retail Sector) – Richard Pieris Distributors Ltd.

L. Chiranthi Cooray (Immediate Past President): Chief HR Officer/DGM HR – HattonNational Bank PLC. FormerlyDirector Human Resources and Planning at Voice of Asia Networks, General Manager – HumanResources at McLarens Group, and senior HR roles including that of HR Manager, Eagle Insurance Ltd.

Chinthaka Premaratne (committee member): Group Director HR – FairwayHoldings. FormerlyHead of HRD –GoodhopeAsia Holdings Ltd., Head of HRD Services – DialogTelekom PLC, Regional Manager HR – LankaBell, AVP – HR – HSBCData Processing Lanka Ltd. 

Ravi Jayasekera (committee member): Vice President Human Resources, Union Bank of Colombo Plc. FormerlySenior Manager, Group HR, HSBC based in Hong Kong and Head of HR HSBC, Sri Lanka.

Chandi Dharmaratne (committee member): Senior Director HR – VirtusaPolaris. FormerlyGeneral Manager Group Learning and Development MAS Holdings, and senior roles at COSI Inc. in Manhattan, New York, USA.

Dinusha Jayamanne (committee member): Human Resource Director – Fonterra Brands Lanka Ltd. FormerlyAssociate Director – People& Culture (Fonterra Brands Lanka), Manager – TalentTransformation (Fonterra Brands Lanka), Manager – TalentEngagement & Development (Brandix  Casualwear Ltd.), Assistant Manager – CorporateHR (Brandix Lanka Ltd.).

Oshana Dias (committee member): Vice President – HumanResources – Brandix i3. FormerlyHead HR at Brandix i3 and other senior positions at Brandix i3.

Sakunthala Senarath (committee member): Head of Talent Management, Hayleys Group HR. FormerlyManager Organisational Development & Manager Human Resource Development at MAS Holdings.

Sujith Bandulahewa (committee member): AGM Marketing – Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. FormerlyHuman Resources Manager at Ceylon Oxygen Ltd.

The Association of Human Resource Professionals (HRP) is the only professional network of practicing HR professionals in Sri Lanka. HRP with its 15-year history has made significant contributions to uplifting the standards of the HR profession in the country with a host of initiatives and interventions over the years.

Amongst the activities for the year HRP plans to be a catalyst in the nation’s human talent building, share the latest best practices amongst the member fraternity and offer a world recognised professional certification for HR practitioners in the country. The first-ever Human Capital Summit in Sri Lanka is being organisedby HRP in association with National HR Development Council (NHRDC) on 11and 12August partnered by ADB, ILO, World Bank and Employers Federation of Ceylon.