Mr. Anura Atapattu
Hony. President
2020/2021
Mr. Anura Atapattu is theManaging Director of Berendina Micro Investment Company(BMIC. He is also the Chairman of two other organizations in the Berendina group namely Berendina Development Services (Gte) Limited (BDS) and BerendinaEmplyment Centre (Gte) Ltd (BEC). He was also served as the Chief Executive Officer – Sarvodaya Rural Enterprises Development Services (REDS) and the Deputy Managing Director of Sarvodaya Economic Enterprises Development Services (Guarantee) Ltd (SEEDS). He had been in a Board member of SEEDS, BDS, BEC, BMIC, and LMFPA for many years. He has been the founding Chairman of Development Facilitators Limited a consulting, training and research provider for Microfinance, MSME and other development spheres in Sri Lanka and abroad. He is a consultant in profession and has undertaken many assignments nationally and internationally and has represented Sri Lanka development sector in many local international conferences, seminars and events. He hold a B. Sc. (Agric),Post-graduate Diploma in Economic Development and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) – University of Lincoln – UK. His local and international professional experience, exposure and networking is of great value to LMFPA.
Mr. Imran Nafeer is a Director of Muslim Aid Micro Credit Company and has experience and exposure both local and international level as a Microfinance consultant in various aspects including Social Performance Management, Research & Product Development, Islamic Microfinance and Micro Insurance. He is an accredited trainer of CGAP and Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. Recently he was awarded as a certified Social Auditor from CERISE France on behalf of LMFPA. He holds an Honours Degree in B. Com. (Marketing) Special from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura. He obtained Post Graduate Qualifications in Marketing from Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and in International Relations from Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS). He also serves as a lecturer in the Microfinance Diploma course by the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka (IBSL). Mr. Imran has served as LMFPA Secretary from 2011 to 2013 and from 2015 to 2016. He has also served as LMFPA president during 2017/2018.
Mr. Wasantha Gunawardhane is the Senior Manager of People’s Micro-Commerce Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of People’s Leasing & Finance PLC which has state ownership through being the subsidiary of People’s Bank. He obtains twenty four years of exposure in microfinance & community development fields. Mr. Wasantha has vast work knowledge & experience in General Administration, Human Resource Management & Operations Management in NGO sector and co-operatives focused on Business Development & Animal Husbandry. Meantime being a chairman of co-operative sector he gathered corporate level management exposure.
He started his career as the first employee of Berendina and developed his career growth by being the resident project manager in the same company. Thereafter he acted as Head of Field Operations in Lak Jaya Microfinance. Previously Mr. Wasantha served as the Hony. Vice President of LMFPA in 2013/2014 and also as a Director in 2014/2015 and 2016/2017.
Mr. Priyantha Dematagoda is the General Manager/Chief Executive Officer of Sewa Community Credit Limited, is a Professional Banker with 23 years of Commercial Banking experience. He was a Faculty member of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka (IBSL), Center for Banking Studies CBSL, and also serves as Trainer in various disciplines in baking at many Private and Government Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka. He is also a Certified Trainer in Microfinance by Frankfurt School for Finance and Management. He holds a Masters Degree in Business Studies and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Colombo. He also holds a Diploma in Human Rights (Institute of Human Rights Sri Lanka). He has also undergone professional training at National University of Singapore (NUS), and with the Association for Development Financing in Asia and Pacific (ADFIAP) and University of Sri Jayawardhanapura. Mr. Dematagoda has previously served as LMFPA Treasurer during 2017/2018.
MrFelician Jayakody joined Sarvodaya Development Finance Ltd from January 2018. He counts over 27 years of banking experience having served International and Local banks.
He has experience in Branch Banking, Trade Finance, Corporate / SME Banking, Leasing, Project financing, Relationship Banking, Syndications, Risk Management, Treasury, Process Development & Re- Engineering , Audit , Credit Administration, Recoveries , Islamic Banking , Compliance and FCBU.
He started his career at Hatton National Bank where he served for 11 years and moved to Nations Trust Bank as Customer Relationship Manager.
Prior to joining Emirates NBD Bank in the United Arab Emirates, he wasthe Regional Manager at Pan Asia Banking Corporation.
Having returned to Srilanka from the United Arab Emirates in June 2012, Mr. Felician has functioned as a Head of Corporate Banking / FCBU (WR) in Amana Bank Plc prior to joining SDF.
Mr. Lasantha Fernando is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers, Sri Lanka (FIB SL) and holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Colombo (MBA Colombo)
He commenced his career with Hatton National Bank PLC in 1979 at the bottom of the ladder and progressed to the position in the Corporate Management.
When retiring in 2015, he was the Deputy General Manager Development Banking overall responsible for lending to the SME, Rural, Agriculture and Microfinance, prior to which he successfully headed the Recovery and Credit Quality Management Division as its Deputy General Manager.
Over the 35 years, he has gathered extensive experience in Branch Banking, Corporate Banking, financing SME, Rural, Agriculture and Microfinance.
Mr Lasantha Fernando also had a one-year stint with Laxmi Bank Ltd Nepal, as its Deputy General Manager on secondment from Hatton National Bank PLC under Technical Service Agreement between the two banks.
He also served in the Boards of Sitma Development Ltd, a subsidiary and of Splendor Media Pvt Ltd an associate company of Hatton National Bank PLC.
Upon retirement, he took up an assignment as Consultant with KPMG Sri Lanka to study and submit a proposal to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the feasibility and recommend a mechanism of setting up an institution to provide Guarantees as Collateral to Banks to support and strengthen the lending to the SME Sector.
At the point of taking up the appointment as Chief Executive Officer at Sejaya Micro Credit Ltd he was an Independent Non-Executive Director of Richard Pieris Finance Ltd and was also a member of the Audit Committee and the Chairman of the Integrated Risk Management Committee.
Mr. Attanayake, Director/CEO of Lak Jaya Microfinance,has experience of 36 years in the Central Bank of Sri Lanka during which he held the position of Director in several departments. Representing the Central Bank he has served as Executive Chairman of NuwaraEliya Regional Development Bank, (1988-1988) Director/Trustee – National Development Trust Fund (2002 – 2005); and Adviser to the SME Bank. He has also served in Microfinance project implemented by UNDP in Papua New Guinea (1993-1995) as Chief Technical Officer. His expertise runs across many fields including Economics, Regional Development, Rural Credit, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Financing.He holds Master of Economic Degree from Monash University, Australia, Post Graduate Diploma from VidyodayaUniversity and B.A (Hons.) from University of Sri Lanka and served as visiting lecturer in several universities in Sri Lanka, He is an expert trainer in Microfinance who can bring insights to developing the capacities of member organizations.
Mr. Priyantha Gunawardhana is the Managing Director of PragathiSewa Foundation in the Anuradhapura district. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura and a Diploma in Education from the National Institute of Education. He has also undergone training on Institutional Development and Organizational Management, Financial Management, Financial Analysis, Delinquency Management and Participatory Rural Appraisal. He also has international exposure on microfinance and has undergone training in in Bangladesh, Italy and India. He is a very experienced trainer and microfinance practitioner.
Mr. Chamika Weerasinghe has over 20 years of experience in the field of banking and finance with regard to Micro Financing, SME Financing, Corporate Banking, Retail/Branch Banking, Trade Finance, Project Finance, and Credit Risk Management in the most respected banks in Sri Lanka including NDB Bank PLC, DFCC Bank PLC and Seylan Bank PLC. He has also held some Senior Management position in Finance and Micro Finance industry in local and South East Asian Region.
His relevant work experience also includes years of service as a veteran investment adviser in local and Asian region and provide advisory service on fund and liquidity management in finance and other versatile sectors as a key intermediate.
He earned his Bachelor of Commerce (Special) Degree from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura and Masters in Business Administration as well. He is also an Associate Member of Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka.
Mr. Saman Ranaweera is the Senior Manager – Operations at Ventura Crystal Investments Ltd. He has over 27 years’ of experience in the Microfinance sector with more than 22 years in the management and top management in leading Microfinance Institutions in the Industry.
He started his career as a Divisional Project Manager at Seeds Guarantee Ltd in 1993 where he served for 9 years prior to joining Agro Microfinance (GTE) Ltd as a Credit Manager. Prior to joining Ventura Crystal Investments Ltd, he also served as the Senior Manager – Field Operations at Lakjaya Microfinance Ltd and as the Senior Manager – Operations at Agro Microfinance (GTE) Ltd.
Mr. Ranaweera is a fully Certified Trainer of the Microfinance Distance Course by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and Tokyo Development Learning Centre (TDLC). He is also a Certified Trainer of GCAP. He has also attended various “Training of Trainers” programs conducted by Frankfurt School of Finance & Management and LMFPA & Plan Sri Lanka.
Mr. Victor Rathnayake is the Director of the MFI Nomic International Ltd. He is also the founder CEO of Grameen Micro Credit Co Ltd that introduced the Grameen concept to Sri Lanka back in 2000. He received comprehensive training in microfinance under Prof. Mohamed Yunus, Nobel prize winner for introducing Grameen concept to the world. Mr. Rathnayake was able to extend the microfinance business throughout Sri Lanka with 78 strong branch network with 2,498 staff and 364,000 borrowers during the period 2000-2008. He was also able to build up to 8,400 clientele with over Rs. 9 billion deposit base in 2008.
He later joined Bimputh Finance PLC in 2012 and commenced microfinance operations there. Under his leadership, the microfinance portfolio increased from zero to 1.5 billion. The customer base exceeded 67,000 with a net profit of Rs. 252 million within a short period of 22 months.
Having over 30 years of experience in the field of marketing and working with leading multinational organizations locally and internationally, he has trained over 8,000 youth in the field of microfinance.
Mr. Rathnayake is Bsc Graduate from the University of Peradeniya and a Post Graduate Diploma holder of Marketing Management at Sri Jayawardenapura University. He is also a fellow member the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK and certificate holder of Retail merchandising in Toronto Canada and Singapore.
Mr. Charith Jagoda is the Deputy General Manager – Microfinance at LOLC Finance Plc. He counts close to 25 years of experience in the financial services industry with hands on experience in commercial banking and microfinance.
Charith started his career in financial services at Hatton National Bank, where he served for 10 years prior to joining LOLC.
He has had extensive training and exposure in microfinance internationally and has undergone training on Strategic Leadership and Inclusive Finance at the Harvard Business School.
Mr. Ransith de Mel heads the operations of ECLOF LANKA (GTE) LTD a pioneering MNGO in Sri Lanka serving the Nation with a very strong program in “Fair Credit to Promote Human Development and Dignity”. He commenced his career at The Central Finance Company and has served many Commercial Organizations. He has a strong financial background during his employment career for more than 30 years and possess strong work experience on Financial Management, Supply Chain Management, General Administration, Human Resources Management, Implementations of Systems, Processors and Process Controls etc. He has training in India on Group-based microfinance for collective empowerment.
LMPA is the pioneer in microfinance networking among microfinance practitioners in Sri Lanka, and was initiated on the 31st of March 2006. The Lanka Microfinance Practitioners’ Association is incorporated as a non-profit organization under the Companies Act No. 7 of 2007.