MANAGEMENT
Samadanie Kiriwandeniya – Managing Director, SANASA International
Ms. Kiriwandeniya is a development professional with cross-disciplinary experience in co-operative banking, MSME financing, corporate resource mobilization, and gender mainstreaming. She is also well known for her community empowerment and marketing talents.
She has contributed to Sri Lanka’s National Development process in the following ways; as a Board Member of the Western Province Industrial Bureau, a Steering Committee Member of the Flict Organization sponsored project GIZ that controlled International funds allotted for peace and reconciliation, as a Committee Member of the National Action Committee for Reintegration of Ex Combatants, a Steering Committee Member of the March 12 “Citizens Forum for Clean Politics” and as a Board Member of the Women’s Chamber of Commerce. She is, currently, a Committee Member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
She holds the position of the Chairperson of SANASA Development Bank (PLC) and is a Board Member of SANASA Campus and SANASA Uththamaavi.
Ms. Kiriwandeniya holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
VALUE CHAIN EXPERTISE
Bandara Nikathenna – Value Chain Officer – Spice Sector (Market Analysis)
Mr. Nikathenna joined SEFEC in September 2017 as Value Chain Officer for the Spice sector. In his role he supports the development of performing value chains in the spice sector by bringing knowledge of markets to stakeholders and encouraging and nurturing strengthened, more reliable and amicable business relationships between value chain actors and stakeholders.
Mr. Nikathenna has served in both the public and private sectors as well as worked on international funded projects for over 28 years. He has experience in studying, analyzing, validating and implementing different Value Chain Development approaches in Sri Lanka. In collaboration with ILO, GTZ, UNIDO, IFAD, he has worked in the dairy food value chain as well as in floriculture, rubber, and vegetables.
He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) and a Diploma in Agriculture from Sri Lanka School of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture. He has specialized in Agri- Business Development, Entrepreneurship Development and Value Chain Development with SME Credit. Mr. Nikathenna holds a MSc. Degree in Agriculture from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and a BSc. Degree in General Science.
Mr. Nikathenna is an Associate Member of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM).