WiLAT SL holds 7th Annual General Meeting

Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT) Sri Lanka, women forum of Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Sri Lanka held its seventh Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 5 June, virtually via ZOOM platform.

It was the first time that a WiLAT AGM was held virtually, creating a historic moment for WiLAT SL amidst the pandemic situation prevailing in the country and beyond. CILT International President Dato Radzak Malek from Malaysia and WiLAT Global Chairperson Dr. Dorothy Chan from Hong Kong also joined the AGM.

In the formation of its Executive Committee for the term 2020/21, Gayathri Karunanayake was re-elected as the Chairperson of WiLAT SL for the second consecutive term. Two of three Vice Chairpersons from the ending term, Niroza Gazzali and Maithree Attanayake were re-elected as Vice Chairpersons for the term 2020/21. Former Secretary Amra Zareer was elected as a Vice Chairperson while Dr. Renuka Herath was elected as the Secretary of WiLAT SL for the new term. Manjari Nigamuni was re-elected as the Treasurer. 

To attract the millennials, a young female student representative each from the four universities offering Supply Chain and Logistics degree programs were co-opted. Since its formation in 2013, WiLAT has played an active role in promoting gender diversity in the Logistics and Transport sector through value enhancing activities.

Addressing the audience, Chairperson Gayathri Karunanayake spoke about various activities that WiLAT SL organised during the past year and thanked the outgoing Executive Committee of WiLAT SL, Council of CILT Sri Lanka, Young Professionals’ Forum and Corporate Partners for their continuous support in the seven years’ journey of WiLAT SL. She stressed on the mission of WiLAT, that is to provide a forum for women in the industry to network and to benefit from the opportunities for career advancement. WiLAT intends to empower women to become leading professionals in the industry, while enjoying the work life balance. 

She also highlighted on the goal of WiLAT, which is to share knowledge and experience, emphasising on the four strategic thrusts of Leadership, Empowerment, Entrepreneurship and Mentorship. WiLAT is committed to create awareness on career opportunities in the industry and to provide access to information sources on Continuous Professional Development (CPD), networking opportunities to share best practices, training and mentoring opportunities to make a positive contribution, continuously develop and nurture a talent pipeline for the industry and to drive change in the industry through diversity. Acting on it, WiLAT looked beyond its core vision and strategic trusts, realising growth opportunities to develop its membership base during the term 2019/20.

“During the past year, WiLAT SL expanded its network on social media, gaining recognition through value adding initiatives. Through effective partnerships, WiLAT was able to unlock more opportunities to become sustainable, reliable, and stabilised. In return, the value additions enabled WiLAT to secure more strategic partnerships and collaborations in the Logistics and Transport sector. WiLAT initiated many impactful events and programs in the past year. ‘Ignite’ mentoring program; the flagship event of WiLAT SL initiated a couple of mentor-mentee meetups which enabled the young students to build stronger industry relationships, enhance their career goals and gain valuable industry insight by networking with professionals who have wealth of experience in the Transport and Logistics industry,” she said. 

WiLAT is the women’s forum of CILT and is part of an ever-expanding global network within CILT. WiLAT’s vision is to promote and encourage the art and science of Logistics and Transport among women. Currently WiLAT is present in 21 countries with over 2500 members in the global network, which is expanding rapidly.