Most influential women speak up at Women Top 50 Forum organised by WIM

Women Top50 Committee

A cross-section of ‘Top 50 women’ that have been recognised over the last eight years by Women in Management (WIM) were featured recently to discuss the key social issues that career women face in Sri Lank today. The event was a sell-out, considered one of the most notable events that the country had seen, featuring the discussion of topics such as ‘Having a successful career & being single: is there an impact›; ‘What if there is an app for parenting›; ‘The man who is not right›; ‘Are women harassed at office without knowing?’; ‘How do men in suits see ‘her’’; to name a few. The event was a ‘no media’ event, given the sensitivity of the discussion points, but became one of the most discussed topics on digital media during the past two weeks. 

Shiromal Cooray

McKinsey Sri Lanka Managing Partner Ganaka Herath

Dr. Mariyam Shakeela

The share of voice garnered by some influential business personalities led to McKinsey & Company launching their “Power of Parity – Advancing Women’s Equality in Asia Pacific” report, which was prepared by the McKinsey Global Institute and presented by McKinsey Sri Lanka Managing Partner Ganaka Herath. An interesting insight on Sri Lanka was shared with powerful personalities such as Munchee Managing Director Shea Wickramasinghe and Dr. Pavithra Kailasapathy from the University of Colombo, moderated by corporate personality Dr Rohantha Athukorala, who heads Turner Investments Inc. for South Asia. 

Apparently, 29% of the GDP of Sri Lanka is contributed directly by women, as against 11% in Pakistan, 18% in India, and 19% in Bangladesh, which means that Sri Lanka is ahead of the game in the South Asian region. Women in Management Founder/Chairman Dr. Sulochana Segerawas of the view that McKinsey must carry out a study to understand the contribution that women will make to Sri Lanka by 2025, given that as at now there is a 14% growth year on year to the national figure, and that the woman of today is more strongly linked to the Sri Lankan economy, especially in the service sector which contributes 70% to the country’s 90 billion dollar economy. 

The 2018 event saw almost 225 powerful women from institutions, business and political backgrounds coming under one roof, to discuss topics that have not been discussed openly and issues in urban Sri Lankan society. The moderators created an Oxford-type debate on the explosive topics, and were carefully selected, such as Daily FT CEO/ Editor Nisthar Cassim, Infotechs CEO Ramya Weerakoon, MSL Group Director Caryll VanDort, WIM EXCO President Nilani Seneviratne, and Commercial Bank Deputy Chairman Preethi Jayawardena.

The panellists included Sandra De Silva, Rajitha Jayasuriya, Chiranthi Cooray, Catriona Jayasundara, Deshamanya Indrani Fernando, Shiranaaz Kaney, Saroja Sirisena, Roshanie Jayasundara, Carmen Niethammer, Dinusha Jayamaha, Achala Soysa, Dinesh Weerakkody, DIG Ajith Rohana, Chevaan Devavarathan Daniel, Kavinda Jayawardena, Shyam Bohra, Anoja De Silva, Anusha David, Jayanthi Dharmasena, Shyamalee Tudawe, & Dr. Sepalika Sudasinghe. The keynote speeches were delivered by Shiromal Cooray from Sri Lanka and Dr. Mariyam Shakeela from Maldives. The Trail Blazer speech on “Finding your way and your voice” was delivered by Dr. Asha De Vos. 

It was clear from the discussion that women are separated from their homes, livelihoods, families, values and self-beliefs, and there has to be a greater integration if even more women are to move from middle management to senior management, and then grow into boardroom members. In other words, inclusive thinking must come into corporate Sri Lanka and the public sector leadership, so that Sri Lanka can become a strong nation with a hundred billion dollar economy by 2020.