WIM Chief recognised as ‘Business Woman of the Year Sri Lanka 2020’ at UK awards show

The Global Banking and Finance Awards UK recently announced Dr. Sulochana Segera as the winner of ‘Business Woman of the Year Sri Lanka’. 

The year 2020 marks the first time a Sri Lankan female entrepreneur has been recognised as a winner of the award while being listed on the Global Banking and Finance Review website.

The awards reflect the innovation, achievement, strategy, progressive and inspirational changes taking place within the global financial community and was created to recognise companies of all sizes which are prominent in particular areas of expertise and excellence within the financial world. 

The awards have evolved and grown to include those in banking, foreign exchange, insurance, hedge funds, pension funds, compliance and advisory, corporate governance, brokerage and exchanges, project finance, binary options, investment management, technology, asset and wealth management, exchange traded funds, real estate, corporate social responsibility, and other areas.

One of Sri Lanka’s top social entrepreneurs, trainers and motivational speakers with over 24 years of experience, Dr. Segera is the Chairperson of the global brand Women in Management (WIM). The umbrella brand is mother to projects like ‘Professional Career Woman Awards’ and the ‘WIM Single Mother’, which has been instrumental in changing the national mindset towards recognising, celebrating and motivating female entrepreneurship.

She is mostly known in the industry as a corporate trainer for multinationals with a passion towards rural and urban upliftment of standards of living, education and skill development. Her personal trajectory is very much linked to the growth of the brand WIM, which started as a female empowerment initiative and gradually progressed into a global platform.

In the arena of MSME and SME sector, Dr. Segera is considered a mentor, counselor and an investor of good will, as she often travels to rural areas to discover what she calls ‘diamonds in the rough’. Her efforts have encouraged boards to follow a more inclusive leadership in their top-tier management structures. She claims that all recipients of the Wim Top 50 award in Sri Lanka are inspirational and astute corporate leaders who have endured many challenges and continue to be examples to so many in their roles as leaders with a work-life balance. 

All 580 winners of the award have gone through a rigorous process of evaluation and include leaders from both urban and rural areas,which is one of the most notable features of the Top 50 she said. She went on to explain “more often than not, I am able to spot resilience and talent in challenging circumstances and invariably am spurred on to advise them and connect them with bigger opportunities that they themselves might not have given themselves credit for. This way, for the past few decades, I have seen lives changed and women empowered, which makes every challenge I have to face to get there worth the effort.

“Female entrepreneurship is a passion close to my heart from the time I can remember. For me, the journey of playing a part in shaping national and international sentiment is a promise I made to myself and its rewards have been the lives changed and communities empowered in urban, rural, local and international areas.” 

“The journey of WIM was founded on a very deep understanding of the intrinsic and extrinsic motivational impact of peer recognition, which not only contributes to a boost of esteem but also brings forth hidden talent within many to reach higher knowing that their value will never go unappreciated,” she added. 

A certified personality development trainer in Asia, Dr. Segera is a trainer for the World Bank entity IFC in the area of ‘Sustainable Private Sector Investment’; whilst in the private sector for the top global multinational Coca Cola, she’s the official trainer for the brand ‘5 by 20’, which is an initiative for the empowering of five million women by way of economic development. She is also a trainer for the British Council ‘Active Citizen’ project.

“This award for me, personally, is a great honour and an opportunity to put Sri Lankan female entrepreneurship on the map. More than anything, it is a case study of a personal triumph I can use to encourage many kids in school, single mothers, female-led households and entrepreneurs, further establishing that impossible is nothing. 

“I am both humbled and encouraged by this award and wish to thank the Global Banking and Finance Awards UK for it. I hope there will be many ladies after me who bring home the same title and use it to help others.”

She is the Patron of the T.E.A. Project (UK-Based Project in Sri Lanka empowering Children), and also sits in the Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Skill Development, Employment and Labour Relations.