Thinker. Planner. Doer. That’s who she is!

Sandya left the corporate sector after being a mover and a shaker for 27 years in the field of Marketing Communications. Her final stint was as the head of Ogilvy Action, a company she launched and led on behalf of Ogilvy Worldwide for 12 years as its Director / CEO. Ogilvy Action changed the landscape in media neutral communications in the country where she introduced the concept of Brand Activation to the Marcom industry.

Subsequently, she joined the World Bank as their Senior Communications Specialist cum External Affairs Officer for Sri Lanka and Maldives. She resigned from the World Bank in 2015 to pursue many of her passions that she had kept in the back burner. Currently she is involved in a multitude of business ventures; digital communications, cinema tourism, leisure planning and consulting on sustainable business management are some of them. She is the principal producer of Prasanna Vithanage’s latest movie – GAADI. In 2019, Sandya published her memoir, ‘Not Just My Good Karma’. Sandya is an Independent Director of Seylan Bank PLC and serves on the Board of 1990 Ambulance service in an honorary capacity.
She is a degree holder in Languages, has an MBA in International Business Management, a post graduate diploma in marketing and an alumna of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore on Leadership in Strategic Communications. She was awarded ‘Marketer of the Year’ for her contribution to Marketing through the innovative concept of Brand Activation. She was also awarded the ‘Zonta Woman of Achievement’ for the commitment she championed towards responsible media usage. She was awarded ‘Inspirational Woman of the Year’ jointly by Women in Management and IFC at the Top 50 Professional and Career Women Awards in 2020.

Strategic. Insightful. Problem solver. Yamindra always sees the big picture, while bringing a sharp sense of focus to the issues at hand. She has a keen interest in sustainable business and is passionate about ensuring corporations are doing their part to remain competitive in the future, while positively impacting the environment and society at large.

With 20 years of experience in marketing communications, brand strategy, CRM, and digital and database marketing, Yamindra has a broad range of expertise in traditional media, digital media, data analytics and performance marketing.

She has worked on a variety of global brands at top tier advertising and marketing companies in Asia and North America. Yamindra has worked across industries including Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Packaged Goods, Retail, Finance, Food and Beverages, Telecom, and Non- profit. Some of the brands she has worked on are Nestle Canada, Proctor & Gamble, Glaxo SmithKline, Johnson & Johnson USA, Sun Life Financial, Bank of Montreal, AIR MILES, AT&T, UNICEF and World Vision Canada.
Yamindra has been responsible for the growth of many brands through awareness and loyalty strategies; she led the set up of the first CRM program strategy for Johnson & Johnson in the US, which helped educate and engage audiences to seek help for many life saving treatments. Yamindra has led many award winning campaigns, and was awarded the Johnson & Johnson James E. Burke Marketing Award “For Creativity, Innovation and Perseverance, Resulting in Business Growth”.
Yamindra holds an Honours, Bachelor of Arts, Double Major in Mass Communications and German Literature from York University, Toronto, and an MBA in International Management from the University of London, UK. She also holds a Diploma in Digital Marketing from the Asia Pacific Institute of Digital Marketing (APIDM) and is a Certified Corporate Coach, from the Coaches Training Institute, California, with experience in the areas of facilitation and coaching, both within the corporate system and as an external consultant.

Kosalā Kumara has over a decade of creative and strategic development experience in marketing, branding, and advertising, enhancing the profiles of her global clientele while garnering numerous awards for her design achievements.

Having relocated from New York to Colombo, Kumara was previously the principal of the Brooklyn Design Studio, a boutique creative agency with global clients across multiple segments, where she managed all creative work, and branded over 50 companies, including name, logo, website, PR, advertising and launch. Previously, she served for 12 years as the Director of Advertising at Doyle New York Auctioneers, overseeing the complete brand overhaul of one of the largest

New York-based fine-art auction houses. She managed creative across all platforms: print, digital, radio, video, and social media; and aligned Doyle’s marketing plans and GTM tactics and significantly enhanced their global brand exposure, obtaining coverage in top media throughout the world.
Her comprehensive expertise includes Marketing Strategy, Brand Development, Strategic Communications, Creative Development, Art Direction, Multi-Channel, Social Media Marketing, Data Visualisation, Audience Engagement, Project Management, Budget Management, and Problem-solving. She was a recipient of the 2021 American Graphic Design Award (Branding), 2018 (Print Advertising), 2016 (Branding and ID Design), and 2016 (Logos and Symbols).

Subanie is a Human Resources professional with over 18 years of experience, who started her career as an academic after graduating from the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo and working as a Temporary Lecturer. Thereafter, she joined the corporate world at Union Assurance PLC and due to her passion for HR from early days, she chose to read for her MBA with the specialization in HR from National Institute of Management, India. Subanie has over 18 years experience in two of the most respected conglomerates, John Keells Holdings and Hemas Holdings, and at the Fairfax Group, a Canadian MNC, with a total of over 12 years as Head of Human Resources.

Subanie has a demonstrated history of working in industries such as insurance, leisure, IT, financial services, power generation and Corporate HR. Skilled in both Strategic HR and General HR, including Talent Management, Compensation and Benefits, Performance Management, Learning and HR Consulting.

Whilst at Hemas, she was exposed to all aspects of HR operations including Unions, Industry Relations etc., and at John Keells her role was the central point for all Group Level HR initiatives and projects. This gave her an enormous level of exposure to learn from the world’s best. The initial experience in Customer Relations and Operational aspects as a Management Trainee helped her be more grounded in her approach to HR and understanding the needs of the business from operational and line manager angles.
Her tenure at Fairfirst was just post the acquisition and merger, where the role of HR was vital. She had the privilege of upgrading and harmonizing practices to the Fairfax global standards. Among several awards and recognitions such as being recognized as Asia’s Top Employer brands etc. being the first Sri Lankan company to be certified with EFC Compliance plus is a true victory to showcase achievements.
Subanie has always been passionate about developing young talent and grooming them to realize their true potential. During her HR career as the Head of HR, she has volunteered to be part of a more involved role such as the Project Champion of the University Soft Skills Programme, University Visiting lecturer, Mentoring the Management Trainees / Interns etc.
Currently, as an independent consultant, she get involved in corporates and entities who seek advice and consultation with regard to Human Resources Development in various areas, in bringing them in line with expected standards. In addition, she is involved in lecturing through Universities and educational institutes, grooming the young HR and Management talent.

David Bent is a world-leading advisor on sustainable business. Over the last 13 years he has been at Forum for the Future, the global non-profit, working with leading companies on how their sustainability approach can be good for their business and good for the society. He worked with the board of O2 for 8 years, guiding their sustainability journey from beginners to pioneers. In 2014-5 he worked with MAS Holdings to co-create a sustainability strategy that was ambitious for the company, for Sri Lanka and for the industry.

He has also helped companies be ‘future-ready’ in India (including several members of the Adity Birla Group), Hong Kong, the US and the UK. For instance, he helped Unilever understand the best way to bring environmental and social factors into investment decisions, and was a member of the advisory panel to cereals business Jordan Dorset Ryvita.

He is an Associate Fellow of the Centre for Science and Policy in Cambridge, where he is exploring what a pro-sustainability industrial strategy and innovation policy should be. He is also working for the UK government’s Cabinet Office on an Inclusive Economy Programme, an innovative collaboration between government, business and civil society.

Kunal Sinha is an award-winning researcher, educator and strategist with deep experience in driving demand generation, market innovation, organizational learning and consumer engagement for global corporations in fast growth markets such as India, China and Indonesia. He has spent over 25 years in the marketing services and consulting industry, mostly in the strategic planning and consumer insight functions, working at Ogilvy, JWT, McCann-Erickson, and The Futures Company in India and China. He brings a rare, valuable perspective on two of the world’s largest societies. His work encompasses trendspotting, cultural analysis and forecasting. He has lived in China since 2006.

Kunal has worked on a wide range of government, corporate and non-profit clients in his career. He led strategic planning on Unicef projects on safe water and sanitation in Bangladesh, HIV/AIDS in Myanmar and Child Survival and Safe Motherhood in India, and led a winning global pitch for a long term global Unicef contract covering research, strategy, public relations and knowledge management, in 2014.
Over the last decade years, Kunal has led a huge variety of consumer research and trends projects in Asia, notably in China and India – mapping changes in society and consumer behavior in lower tier markets in both nations. He has studied phenomena such as the rise of nationalism in China and its impact on corporations, the cultural practice of guanxi and how brands might tap into this behavior, the rising opportunity for sustainable brands, how people across Asia satisfy their intellectual curiosity, the role and meaning of colors in Chinese society, the similarities and differences amongst the Indian and Chinese middle class, and how notions of beauty in China are fast changing due to the digital revolution. Companies such as Unilever, Intel, SC Johnson, International Hotels Group, The Economist, The Walt Disney Company, UCB, Mondelez International and Smithfield Foods have drawn upon this research to shape their marketing approach in key Asian markets. He has consulted with leading financial companies such as JP Morgan, Credit Lyonnais, UBS, Goldman Sachs,
Comgest, Waterland Investment and Black Rock on investment opportunities in China’s consumer and digital markets. Kunal has been invited to speak at Harvard Business School, Cambridge University, London Business School, University of San Francisco, Johns Hopkins University, Norwegian Institute of Science & Technology, Mudra Institute of Communications, Peking University, University of New South Wales, Australian National University and Syracuse University. In addition, he has taught MBA and EMBA programs at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and the American University, D.C.’s Kogod School of Business. He has authored over 70 papers and articles in academic and business journals, at Esomar, and business newspapers across continents. He has written four books, ‘An Ordinary Traveller’, about travels in South Asia and ‘A Banarasi on Varanasi’, an insider’s perspective on the holy city, the award-winning ‘China’s Creative Imperative – How Creativity is Transforming Society and Business in China’ (which has also been translated into Chinese), and ‘Raw: Pervasive Creativity in Asia’; and several book chapters, ranging from ‘Communicating with China’s Luxury Consumers’ in the book Luxury in Emerging Markets, to ‘Marketing to India’s Underserved’ in Business Solutions for the Global Poor.