Mr. Anura
Atapattu
Hony. President
2022/2023
Mr. Anura Atapattu is the Managing 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 Berendina Emplyment 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),Postgraduate 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. Gnanasiri Abewardhana counts more than 20 years of experience in financial service sector having commenced his career at Central Finance in 1995 and afterwards serving at People Leasing where he setup their respective leasing divisions & branch network. Later on He joined Asset Line Company Ltd in 2005 as Assistant Manager to steer the financial service cluster of the David Pieris Motor Company. He was promoted as Regional manager until 2008. He monitored & covered Branch Administration, Marketing function (Leasing Hire purchase, loan) & Recovery function in the following areas: Jaffna Mannar,Vavniya, Anuradhapura, Puttalam, Trincomalee, Kurunegala, Polonnaruwa, Kuliyapitiya, Rathnapura & Matara.
Mr. Abeywardhana holds a Bsc Management Degree from University of Jayewardenepura. Currently he is the Vice President of Alumni Association of Public Administration Department in Sri Jayawardhanapura University and also an active Executive committee member in the Alumni Association of University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
Currently he is working as General Manager and Chief Executive Officer in Dumbara Micro Credit since 2015.
Mr. Udaya Bandara currently performs his duties as the Chief Executive Officer of the Arthavida Intermediary Company Ltd (AIL), which has been operated in the Micro Finance industry in Sri Lanka in a successful manner nearly thirty years period.
Before joining to Arthavida Intermediary Limited, Mr. Bandara carried out his duties more than five years period as the Chief Executive officer/ General Manager of Sri Lanka Savings Bank (SLSB) which is mainly catering as a Government Bank for the Development of Micro Finance as well as the Small and Medium Sector (SME) industry in Sri Lanka. After his retirement from SLSB he worked as the Management consultant to one of the leading Vehicle Spare parts importers in Sri Lanka and then he joined as the Chief Executive Officer of Arthavida Intermediary Co. Limited.
Mr Bandara has gained a vast experience & exposure mainly in relation to the field of Micro Financing, project financing, SME sector Financing, Development Finance, Rural credit activities as well as in all kind of Retail credit activates in different kind of Leading Government and the private sector Banks such as National savings Bank, Commercial Bank of Ceylon Ltd and Union Bank of Colombo PLC. His total years of banking experience counts more than thirty four years.
In Sri Lanka savings Bank Mr. Bandara Started SME Lending Business activities and introduced several Innovative products in relation to the SME as well as Micro Finance and Savings Deposits enabling the Bank to increase the market share & make more profit. Likewise in Union Bank he commenced the SME, Agriculture and Micro Finance Department being headed introducing many more credit lines and new products.
He has successfully completed Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Wayamba university of Sri Lanka. And also he has gained several other professional qualifications such as Post Graduate Executive Diploma in Bank Management (IBSL), Post Graduate Executive Diploma in Business Management ( Wayamba University), Post Graduate Executive Diploma In Micro Finance in ( SLFI),Diploma In Agriculture(SLSA),Diploma In Credit Management (IBSL) etc.
He also has been privileged to participate many more local and international seminars, conferences & Trainings especially in respect of the areas in Rural Credit, Business & Bank Management., Improving the productivity & the Quality assurance in SME projects etc. and various other disciplines in Japan, Singapore, India and China.
Mr. Bandara’s Local and international experience, knowledge & the exposure in Micro Finance and the Network connections would be immensely valued to the LMFPA.
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 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
Ms. Tharanga Ileperuma is the General Manager and Executive Director of Agro Micro Investments Limited and holds the Directorship of Agro Micro Foundation (Guarantee) Limited. She started her career in 2004 joining to the Micro Finance industry. During her career over 14 years she has experience in Accounting, Auditing, Finance Management, Human resource Management and Administration.
She holds the membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Sri Lanka as the Certified Business Accountant, and the membership of the Institute of AAT –SL. She completed the Post-graduate Diploma from Cardiff Metropolitan University-UK and holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Sunderland – UK. She also has undergone trainings on Micro Finance in IBSL.
Mr. Chamika Weerasinghe has over 22 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 29 years’ of experience in the Microfinance sector with more than 24 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. 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.
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. Sanjev Perera is the CEO and Executive Director of Vision Fund Lanka which is part of Vision Fund International, the Micro Finance arm of World Vision, one of the largest NGOs in the world. He counts over 35 years in the Banking, Finance and Corporate sector holding Senior Management and Board positions
He was the Senior Vice Chairman of the Industrial Association of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, a Chief Examiner of the Institute of Bankers Sri Lanka, a past President of the Colombo Rowing Club, a National Selector of the Amateur Rowing Association of Sri Lanka and a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International
He holds an MBA from the Post Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers, Sri Lanka
Mr. Gamini Krishantha Kiringoda Gamage is an experienced Central Banker with 24 years of experience in Directory roles in various departments in Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Mr. Gamage has had a wide range of exposure in numerous fields of on-site and off-site supervision of licensed commercial and specialized banks as a senior examiner of the Bank Supervision Department and Information System Auditor of the Bank Supervision Department. He has worked in the Currency Department as the Deputy Director in-charge of operational, Policy and Administration of Currency in Central Bank. In addition to his experience at the Central Bank, he has served 10 years as a Staff Officer and Manager of People’s Bank, specialized in retail banking, international banking and overlooking the Department of Information Technology. He has an M.Sc. in International Economics from the University of Illinois in USA, a Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology from University of Colombo and a Diploma in Information System Audit from the Institute of Charted Accountants of Sri
Lanka
Mr. Nirmalan Nayagam is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Sejaya Microcredit Limited. Prior to this, he has been in the microfinance industry for about 15 years, first as the Chief Financial Officer at VisionFund Lanka and as a Regional Finance Director at VisionFund International, covering both Asia and Eastern Europe regions. He holds a qualification from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK
Mr. Kitsiri Jayasinghe started working in the business field in 1990 and has started various new business activities throughout his career.
He is the founder of Darshana Agencies and Motors, Japan Civilian Imports Pvt Ltd and DCS Credit and Investments and also a director of DCS International, Japan.
For 32 years, he has started and expanded his business establishments and branches in the areas of Anuradhapura, Rambewa, Padaviya, Mannar, Medavachchi and gained a wealth of experience.
As a Managing Director in several organizations, he has strong work experience in financial management, supply chain as well as Management, General Administration, and Human Resource Management. He also has knowledge and experience in all activities including implementation of systems, processors and process controls etc.
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.