The Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) recently launched its Young Directors Forum (YDF) with the aim of grooming young talent to take up positions in the Boardrooms of corporate Sri Lanka as well as in the public sector/State-Owned Enterprises. As its inaugural event, the YDF organized an online panel discussion on the topic of “Refreshing the Boardroom: In Conversation with Young Directors”. The panel comprised of Anushka Wijesinha -Economist, Independent Non-executive Director of Seylan Bank, HNB Finance, Fairfirst, Co-founder/Chairman of the Center for Smart Future, Chairman of the YDF and moderator of the panel, Ms. Annika Senanayake-Director of several listed companies and Director, Corporate Planning, IWS Holdings, Sanjay Jayawardena-Founder/Director, Spirit Kitchens, Deshal De Mel-Research Director, Verite Research and Director of several listed companies including Sampath Bank and Janashakthi, all being working committee members of the YDF together with Charaka Perera – Director/COO of Stafford Motor Company-Council Member of SLID and Council representative for the YDF.

“The YDF was established to provide a forum for Young Directors and future Boardroom leaders to engage their minds on topics of interest in performing their roles more efficiently and effectively. The YDF wants to reach out to directors and director aspirants of different types of companies in Sri Lanka – listed and private companies, startups, and eventually public sector SOEs as well” said Anushka Wijesinha.

Responding to a question from the moderator as to why companies are bringing young directors to their boards, panelist Sanjaya Jayawardena said that this occurs due to the need for diversity in helping companies make better decisions. “In addition to the diversity of thought, experience, background, gender, and ethnicity, age is a key element in the notion of diversity. Young Directors are better positioned to provide a fresh perspective, a fresh way of thinking and are less likely to resist change. Today we see a lot of businesses, industries going through rapid change, which has been further accelerated due to the pandemic, and we see companies recognizing the importance of looking at things through a wider lens and getting the right mix in the boardroom”.

“A fair amount of vigor goes into the selection of directors in the financial services sector and when a director is brought in, it would not be because somebody is young, but there would always be a specific skill such as risk management, finance, technology, etc. and she/he is expected to lead with that skill. There is a lot of value that comes with the diversity of thoughts and the ability to bring in different perspectives. There is also an expectation that young directors would have a better grip on newer technologies or newer trends in business such as payment-related technology, fintech, and eCommerce in the financial services sector” said Deshal De Mel bringing about a financial sector perspective.

“Boards are responsible for driving its business forward, keeping it under prudent control, and creating value for all its stakeholders. With digital transformation increasing complexity in business, we are looking at new skills and oversight with more companies engaging with data mining, AI, digital applications just to transform the way that they do business and provide their clientele with more digital-centric solutions. Young directors who fall into the category of millennials are digital natives, and inherently by the age factor, they have more insight and possibly exposure to the digital sphere. This enables them to provide different perspectives especially relating to the fast-moving technologies that could add value to a wide variety of industries” said Annika Senanayake expressing her views.

Describing the rationale of SLID to initiate the YDF, Charaka Perera said that youth leadership has been seen in all sectors from politics, corporate leadership, NGOs, startups, etc. and that with the rise of youth leaders in Boardrooms, young directors have repeatedly proven themselves. “The primary focus of the YDF is grooming the future Board leadership of corporate Sri Lanka. We believe that through the YDF, we can identify the needs of the younger generation and young Directors who are about to step into the Boardroom for the 1st time and develop and roll out programs that will fulfill these needs” he added.