Dhashma Karunaratne elected as WILAT Sri Lanka’s new chairperson

Seated from left: Vijitha Weerasinghe, Amra Zareer, Dr. Priyangani Jayasundara, Gayani de Alwis, Dhashma Karunaratne, Niroza Gazzali, Anoma Ranasinghe, Gayathri Karunanayake. Standing from left: Gayara Jayasuriya, Wasanthi Vithanage, Kasuni Ahangangoda, Sajuni Wasage, Ruchithra Yogananda, Seminie Dissanayake, Kithmini Gamage, Shakkya Perera, Maithree Attanayaka, Manjari Nigamuni. Not in Photograph: Namalie Siyambalapitiya, Dr. Namali Sirisoma, Sriyamal Gamage, Anushka Weeraratne

Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT) Sri Lanka appointed its new Chairperson Dhashma Karunaratne for year 2017 at the fourth Annual General Meeting held on 27 April at the National Chamber of Commerce Auditorium amidst a large gathering of the industry’s eminent personalities. 

Dhashma takes the helm from the outgoing Co-founder and Chairperson of WiLAT Gayanide Alwis and will execute WiLAT’s advocacy initiatives, working closely with its parent body Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) and Global WiLAT Forum. In her professional career, she has held diverse roles, including Corporate Finance, Business Strategy, Management Accounting and Distributor and Project Management. In her current role she contributes towards the execution of the Commercial and Marketing Strategy of South Asia Gateway Terminals, of Port of Colombo, Sri Lanka and drives initiatives for business growth integrating contractual performance monitoring and compliance. 

She is a member of CILT and is currently serving as a Member of the CILT council. She has been an active executive committee member of WiLAT Sri Lanka since its inception in 2013 and has been serving as the Vice Chairperson for Branding and Promotions since 2016. She has successfully executed effective programs to promote and position Women in Logistics and Transport, as an Integral part of the industry and the economy.

Anoma Ranasinghe, Niroza Gazalli and Dr. Priyangani Jayasundara were elected as the Vice chairpersons and bring with them a wealth of experience and knowledge of the industry. The newly appointed WiLAT Exco, will together stand stronger as a leading female advocacy group in Sri Lanka and the region. 

The keynote speech was delivered by APL Lanka Ltd. Managing Director Kingsley Abeywickrema on the theme ‘Future outlook of the maritime industry’. He highlighted that all activities relevant to the maritime industry will be automated and integrated in the near future and concluded that Sri Lanka should focus on opening more Principals’ offices and continue to develop our ports and other infrastructure to be more competitive with other countries in the region.

Gayani de Alwis, the Co-founder and outgoing Chairperson, in her speech thanked the past committees for supporting her during her four year tenure and wished the newly elected Chairperson and her committee and mentioned that she hopes, WiLAT Sri Lanka will continue the efforts and be the shiniest diamond in the Global CILT crown. She added that at a time when WiLAT Sri Lanka is in a very strong position, she is confident that the new committee under the able leadership of her successor would be able to translate vision and strategy in to world class execution and bring together all females in the Logistics and Transport Industry to create value to the economy. 

The new Chairperson Dhashma Karunaratne concluded by, standing together in one spirit contending as one, for the empowerment of all women is what she would strive to pursue during her tenure. 

The key feature of this year’s newly elected council is the presence of women from all sectors (aviation, maritime, land transport and supply chain) of the logistics and transport industry and representation from academic institutions. In order to attract millennial, a young female student representative each from the four universities offering supply chain and logistics degree programs were co-opted once again.

For more details on WiLAT, visit their web page: http://www.ciltsl.com/wilat/.