SLIM ‘Leading Liyo’ to empower female professionals

The Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) recently conducted an insightful panel discussion themed ‘Leading Liyo’ to address the ‘Role of Gender Equality in accelerating Economic Revival’.

The panel consisted of eminent leaders in the local corporate arena, including Thusitha Molligoda, Senior Investment Officer, Asian Development Bank; Dr. Ravi Fernando, Chairman / CEO, Global Strategic Sustainability Pvt Ltd. / Visiting Lecturer in Residence INSEAD Business School, France; Himalee Madurasinghe, Chief Executive Officer, Kantar Sri Lanka and Thilanka Abeywardena, Vice President, SLIM / Chief Marketing Officer Lead, South East Asia New Markets, Microsoft Sri Lanka Pvt Ltd. The keynote speech was delivered by Dr. Janaki Kuruppu, Founder / Chairperson, Mother Sri Lanka Trust / Former Chairperson, Sri Lanka Tea Board and Former Chairperson, Regional Development Bank. The SLIM Executive Committee attended the event, which was held at Waters Edge, Colombo, whereas a virtual audience of over 100 representing the Senior Managerial level to C-Suite Executives joined the discussion via Zoom and Facebook Live Streaming.

As the keynote speaker of the panel discussion, Dr. Janaki Kuruppu shed light on important aspects such as women’s role in the corporate world and the significance of training women to be at the steering wheel of corporates. She also elaborated on two main factors that create gender inequality at workplace: lack of access to opportunities and resources, and devaluing aspirations. Dr. Kuruppu highlighted the fact that the Female Board Room representation in Sri Lanka is 8%, which is way too low in comparison to neighbouring India and Bangladesh. She further mentioned that many external barriers such as Gender Pay Gap, biases and inflexible working schedules weaken the participation of women in the workforce. For instance, women face more bias, both explicit as well as implicit hidden bias from both men and women in the workplace. Apart from the external barriers, internal barriers also cripple the ability of females to participate in the workforce. A common scenario is that their career often takes a backseat when internal barriers such as caregiving duties arise. She highlighted that gender equality starts at home where we can sow the seeds of change-in-gendered-norms. She mentioned that it is time to finally close the Gender Gap and tap into the potential the world has been overlooking for centuries.