Stasshani joins Elpitiya Plantations Board

Stasshani Jayawardena 

Elpitiya Plantations PLC has appointed Stasshani to its Board as Non-Executive Director.

Jayawardena marks several milestones for the Aitken Spence Group as the first female Chairperson in its 157-year history, with her appointment as Executive Chairperson in February 2025. She was also the youngest, and the first female to be appointed to the Board of Aitken Spence PLC, Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings PLC, and Browns Beach Hotels PLC, in December 2013.

With a career spanning over 10 years at Aitken Spence, she wields a fresh perspective in management and heads strategic business units across the Group. She leads several key strategic teams as the Chairperson of Aitken Spence Hotel Managements Ltd., as Deputy Chairperson of Lanka Milk Foods (CWE) PLC, and as a Member of the Board of Directors of Stassen Group, Melstacorp PLC, and Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC.

 Jayawardena is graduate of St. James’ & Lucie Clayton College and Keele University in the United Kingdom, the Emeritus Institute of Management in Singapore, and an Associate Alumni of the University of Cambridge (Judge Business School) in the United Kingdom.

The youngest intern to work under US Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton and the Former US President Bill Clinton in 2003, Ms. Jayawardena was appointed as the Sri Lankan Ambassador for EY NextGen Club from 2017 to 2019. She has served as a Member of the PwC Next- and NowGeneration Advisory Council since 2020.

Jayawardena was appointed to the Executive Board of The Hotel Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) and has represented THASL at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Committee since 2019. She is an Executive Committee Member at the International Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka, since 2020, and currently serves as Vice Chairman and a Steering Committee Member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Sector. She served as the Chairperson of the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) Hotels and Tourism Employers Group for the financial year 2020/21. She was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Colombo International Arbitration Centre, Sri Lanka in January 2025.

Jayawardena has represented the company as the Ambassador for Aitken Spence PLC at the Target Gender Equality initiative of the UN Global Compact since 2020.

In recognition of her work and commitment to inspire, she was recognised at The Top 50 Professional and Career Women Awards in Sri Lanka with the Gold Award in the Hotel and Hospitality Sector in 2017, and, in 2020, the Sri Lankan business magazine, Echelon, listed her among the most innovative and influential young leaders to have succeeded in business and in shaping the future of Sri Lanka.

Jayawardena was the award recipient of the Expatriate Contribution Award – Gold Category – Women in Management Maldives. The Professional and Career Women Awards Maldives 2022 presented this award to Jayawardena for her exceptional contributions and achievements in the field of Hotels and Hospitality.

Jayawardena was an award recipient at the Global CEO Leadership Excellence Awards 2024 (which honoured 50 top-tier CEOs and their teams who successfully navigated challenges in turbulent times) and was again recognised for Excellence in Corporate Leadership at the Global CEO Top Businesswomen Award 2025. Jayawardena was also recognised with the ‘Trailblazing Corporate Leader’ Award at the 15th To50 Professional and Career Women Global Awards 2025, organised by Women in Management, LMD’s Emerging Businessperson of the Year for 2025, and accepted the Award for Trailblazing Leadership and Transformational Corporate Stewardship at the CEO of the Year Awards 2025.