Leadership

Krishan Balendra is the Chairperson-CEO of John Keells Holdings PLC. He is also the Deputy Vice Chair of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Hon. Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Sri Lanka. He is a former Chair of the Employers Federation of Ceylon, Nations Trust Bank and the Colombo Stock Exchange. Krishan started his career at UBS Warburg, Hong Kong, in investment banking, focusing primarily on equity capital markets. He joined JKH in 2002. Krishan holds a law degree (LLB) from the University of London and an MBA from INSEAD.

Gihan Cooray is the Deputy Chairperson/Group Finance Director and has overall responsibility of the Group’s Finance and Accounting, Taxation, Corporate Finance and Strategy, Treasury, Information Technology and Corporate Communications functions. He is the former Chair of Nations Trust Bank PLC. Gihan holds an MBA from the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University, Houston, Texas. He is a Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK, a certified management accountant of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants, Australia and has a Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK. He serves as a committee member of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

Amal Cabraal is a business leader with over four decades of management experience in both local and international markets. He currently serves as the Chairman of Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC, Ceylon Beverage Holdings PLC, Silvermill Investment Holdings and CIC Feeds Group of Companies. In addition, he is a Non-Executive Director of John Keells Holdings PLC. He is also a member of the Colombo Port City Economic Commission and serves on the Management Committee of the Mercantile Services Provident Society. Previously, Amal served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Unilever Sri Lanka, and has completed the stipulated maximum nine-year tenure as a Non-Executive Director of Hatton National Bank PLC. A marketer by profession and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK. Amal holds an MBA from the University of Colombo and is an executive education alumnus of INSEAD-France.

Dr. Sharmini Coorey is a former Department Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a former member of the Presidential Advisory Group advising the Government of Sri Lanka on multilateral engagement and debt restructuring. Her 35-year experience at the IMF includes surveillance and programme work in a range of advanced, emerging market, and developing countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Western Hemisphere as well as Fund policy work. Prior to her retirement in November 2021, Dr. Coorey served for almost nine years as the Director of the Institute for Capacity Development, the IMF’s department for capacity building. As its first Director—the most senior staff-level position at the IMF—she was instrumental in establishing the department and providing strategic direction for the governance, management, and funding of the IMF’s capacity building activities and overseeing the IMF’s training of government officials in policy-oriented macroeconomics. Dr. Coorey also served on the Investment Committee of the IMF Staff Retirement Plan and on the Editorial Committee of IMF Staff Papers. She was a visiting researcher at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and is currently an international policy fellow at Verite Research in Sri Lanka. Dr. Coorey holds Ph.D. and bachelor’s degrees in economics from Harvard University.

Counting over 25 years with MAS, Suren is the Group Chief Executive Officer of MAS Holdings (Pvt) LTD and was previously the Chief Transformation Officer of the company overseeing MAS’ 2025 transformation. He was also the CEO of MAS Intimates, the largest division of MAS Holdings. Among many roles within the organisation, he also functioned in the capacity of Chief Operating Officer of MAS intimates in 2014, heading operations and taking leadership in providing strategic management directives. Suren holds a BSc. in Engineering from the University of Moratuwa and is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. He has received extensive overseas business exposure and training, including Executive Education at Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, INSEAD Business School, Ashridge Business School, Henley School of Management, University of Waikato in New Zealand, and Harvard Business School (Program for Leadership Development). Suren also serves in the Board of World Vision Sri Lanka as the Vice Chair, a non-profitable relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.

Manil Jayesinghe is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK), Fellow Member of the Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy. He started his career at the Ernst & Young, gaining extensive experience in a range of sectors including manufacturing, retail, hospitality, wholesale business and telecommunication, in his capacity as Partner of Ernst & Young for 30 years; and was the Country Managing Partner of Ernst & Young Sri Lanka & Maldives from 2021-2023, Head of Assurance Practice in Sri Lanka and the Profession Practice Director of Sri Lanka, from 2003 -2023. His forte in valuation of businesses and development of strategic plans for Financial Institutions, made him a key resource in financial services. He also served as Head of the IFRS/SLAS Desk in Sri Lanka. In his career spanning over 41 years of advisory and industry experience, he served as President and a council member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, a Member of the Board of Sri Lanka Accounting & Auditing Standards Monitoring Board, a Council member of CMA Sri Lanka, member of the CIMA Sri Lanka Board, council member of the University of Moratuwa, a Member of the Securities & Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, Member of the Board of Investments of Sri Lanka, member of the International Accounting Education Board of the IFAC, member of the Audit Advisory Committee of the Central Bank, Advisor to Audit Committees of PLC’s and Banks, and Member of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka. Currently he is, the Chair of the Statutory Accounting Standards Committee, a Member of the Statutory Auditing Standards Committee and serves on many other committees of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. He is also a Member of the Financial Reporting Standards Implementation and Interpretation Committee (FRSIICS), the Chair of the Accounting Standards Committee of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), a Member of the Audit Committee of SLIM, Governing board member of the Central bank of Sri Lanka and Independent Non-Executive Director of Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC, Ceylon Hospitals PLC, C W Mackie PLC, Lanka Milk Foods (CWE) PLC, Lanka IOC PLC, Vallibel One PLC, Royal Ceramics PLC, Lanka Dairies Ltd and Sahasya Investments Ltd.

Ruchira Shukla is the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Synapses, a VC Fund focused on STEM-led investments in ClimateTech and HealthTech. Previously, Ruchira was the South Asia Regional Lead for Disruptive Technology Investments at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group. She led IFC’s investments in early-stage technology businesses as well as VC Funds and represented IFC on the boards of several start-ups and LP advisory committees. Her investments include Upgrad, Blackbuck, Bizongo, Tata1mg, Medgenome, Byju’s, and several others. Also, as the Global Lead for the HealthTech business at IFC, Ruchira led IFC’s investments and interventions in the HealthTech industry across emerging markets. Ruchira also ran IFC’s South Asia business in Technology, Media and Telecom, and has previously worked with organisations such as Boston Consulting Group and Lehman Brothers. She has over 25 years of experience across venture capital and private equity investing, strategy consulting, and investment banking across Asia, US and Europe. Her sector focus spans consumer internet, enterprise technologies, B2B eCommerce, HealthTech, Edutech and eLogistics, with a keen interest in business models that leverage emerging technologies such as Web 3.0, AI, IoT and blockchain to disrupt traditional spaces. Ruchira studied at IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad in India. She also graduated as Palmer Scholar from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Dr Wijayasuriya serves as the Chief Advisor to the President of Sri Lanka on Digital Economy since January 2025, post stepping down from his position as Chief Executive Officer - Telecommunications Business and Group Executive Director at Axiata Group. Axiata is one of Asia’s largest Digital Connectivity Providers. Dr Wijayasuriya’s career in the Telecommunication’s Industry spans 30 Years, over 25 of which have been in the capacity of Chief Executive. Dr Wijayasuriya was honored (in 2024) with the ‘Chairman’s Award’ by the GSM Association in recognition of Outstanding Contribution to the Global Mobile industry. Dr Wijayasuriya served as a member of the Board of Directors of the GSMA during the period 2022-2024. In his previous role Dr Wijayasuriya led the Pan-Region Telecommunications Operations of the Axiata Group, spanning the markets of Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Up to the year 2016, Dr. Wijayasuriya functioned as the Group Chief Executive of Dialog Axiata PLC (Dialog), Sri Lanka’s leading multi-play connectivity provider, and one of the highest valued companies on the Colombo Stock Exchange. Dr Wijayasuriya is a Past Chair of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. He was also named ‘Sri Lankan of the Year’ by Sri Lanka’s premier business journal, LMD in 2008. Dr. Wijayasuriya graduated from the University of Cambridge UK and subsequently obtained his PhD in Digital Mobile Communications from the University of Bristol UK. A Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Engineering Technology UK, Dr. Wijayasuriya also holds an MBA from the University of Warwick UK.

Daminda Gamlath is the President of the Consumer Foods industry group and has been with the John Keells Group since 2002. He was the Sector Financial Controller for the Information Technology sector and the Consumer Foods industry group before he was appointed as the Head of Beverages in 2013 and the Sector Head in 2017. Prior to joining the John Keells Group, he worked at the Hayleys Group. Daminda holds a B.Sc. in Engineering from the University of Moratuwa, an MBA from the University of Colombo and is a passed finalist of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK.

Zafir Hashim is the Head of the Transportation industry group and the Plantation sector and has been with the Group for 22 years. He joined the Group in 2003, seconded to Lanka Marine Services where he served as CEO from 2005-2015. He has also served as a member of the Transportation Sector Committee from 2005. During the last 22 years he has held the position of CEO at John Keells Logistics Lanka Limited, and Mackinnons Mackenzie Shipping Co. Limited, Mack International Freight Limited and Mackinnons Travels Limited. He has an MSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Birmingham, UK.

Nayana Mawilmada is the President of the Property industry group at JKH. With extensive international experience in planning, facilitating, and managing large scale urban development and infrastructure projects across 15 countries, and working within both the private and public domains, Nayana brings a unique perspective to property sector endeavours. He is widely seen as a key advocate and spokesperson for sound urban development policy and planning in the country. Among his previous roles, Nayana has served as the Director General of the Urban Development Authority of Sri Lanka, Managing Director of York Street Partners (Private) Limited, a boutique investment bank in Colombo and as an Urban Development Specialist for the Asian Development Bank based in Manila, Philippines. His academic training includes an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Master of City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a Bachelor of Architecture from Hampton University in the USA. In recognition of his leadership in Sri Lanka’s urban development space, he was also awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship in 2017.

Suresh Rajendra has over 30 years of experience in the fields of finance, travel and tourism, hotel management, property development and real estate management and business development both in Sri Lanka and overseas. Prior to joining the JKH Group, he was the Head of Commercial and Business Development for NRMA Motoring and Services in Sydney, Australia and Director/General Manager of Aitken Spence Hotel Managements (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka. He is a Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. He is a member of the Group Executive Committee of the John Keells Group. He is the President of the Leisure industry group and is also responsible for Union Assurance PLC, John Keells Information Technology (Private) Limited and John Keells Stockbrokers. He serves as a Director of Asian Hotels & Properties PLC, Union Assurance PLC, Trans Asia Hotels PLC, John Keells Hotels PLC and also in many of the unlisted companies of the John Keells Group.

Charitha Subasinghe is responsible for the Retail industry group at JKH. He has been with the John Keells Group since 2003. He was the Sector Financial Controller of the Supermarket business, before being appointed as the CEO in 2005. He was also employed at Aitken Spence Hotel Management as the Sector Financial Controller before moving over to John Keells. He is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK as well as a Diploma Holder of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK. He also holds an MBA from the University of Colombo.

Nadija Tambiah is a Barrister at Law and an Attorney at Law. She heads the Legal and Company Secretarial functions of the John Keells Group. She also heads the John Keells Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of John Keells Holdings PLC and is part of the JKH Diversity and Inclusion Initiative of the Group. She is a Trustee of the George Keyt Foundation, Geoffrey Bawa Trust, Lunuganga Trust, a member of the Executive Committee of the Colombo Museum of Modern Art. She is Vice Chair of the Women Directors Forum of the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors.

Sherin Cader is the Chief Financial Officer of the Financial Services industry of the John Keells Group. She has been with the John Keells Group since 1998, serving in many capacities across multiple sectors. She has played diverse roles across finance and operations in Financial Services, the IT Enabled Services sector and JKH Centre functions. She functioned as the Financial Controller at John Keells Holdings PLC from 2009 till 2012. Subsequently she took on the role of General Manager - Finance and Planning at Union Assurance PLC until her current role within the Financial Services industry group of JKH. Sherin also serves on the Board of Nations Trust Bank PLC as a NonExecutive Director. She is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants UK, and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of UK and is also a Chartered Global Management Accountant. She is also SAP Certified in Managerial and Financial Accounting.

Nelindra Fernando is the Chief Financial Officer for the Consumer Foods industry group. Nelindra has been with the John Keells Group since 2013. Prior to joining the Group, she worked at the MAS group for 12 years and Ernst & Young, Chartered Accountants for 4 years. Nelindra serves on the Board of Ceylon Cold Stores PLC as an Executive Director and at Keells Food Products PLC as a Non-Executive Director. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of UK and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.

Isuru Gunasekera is the Chief People Officer of the Group, whilst also overseeing Group Sustainability, Enterprise Risk Management and Group Initiatives. He joined the Group in 2001 into the New Business Development Division and thereafter headed Group Initiatives and also new projects for the Transportation sector. He was the CEO of John Keells Logistics for 10 years and CEO of Mackinnons Travels for a short period. Prior to joining the Group, he was attached to J P Morgan Chase. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Loyola Marymount University, USA

Changa Gunawardane is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Leisure industry group and has been with the John Keells Group for over 15 years. He previously held the position of CFO of the Information Technology sector, as well as the Sector Financial Controller of the Airlines and Logistics SBU within the Transportation sector. With over 26 years of experience as a finance professional in varying industries including Pharmaceutical, Manufacturing, Management Services, Electrical Engineering and Construction, Changa is also a Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants UK and holds an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

Asha Perera is the Chief Financial Officer of the Transportation industry group. She previously held the position of Chief Financial Officer at Union Assurance PLC. Prior to joining UA she held multi sectoral positions in Retail, Leisure, Information Technology and Plantation services. Prior to joining the John Keells Group in 2005, she held multiple operational and finance responsibilities in the Apparel industry. Asha holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), a BSc. in Management (Human Resource Management) from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura - Sri Lanka and is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, U.K.

Inoke Perera is the Sector Head of the Property industry at the John Keells Group. He previously held the position of Chief Operating Officer for the Property Group. Inoke joined the John Keells Group in September 2003 and was appointed as Head of Commercial Operations of the Property industry group in July 2006 and Head of Operations of the same Industry Group in July 2012. He started his career in accounting, holding positions in Financial Accounting, System Implementation, Management Accounting, Business Analysis and Finance. He then later switched to Project Management, Commercial and Operations. He has over 25 years’ experience in Venture Capital, Consultancy, Property Management and Property Development Industry. He is an Associate Member of Chartered Institute of Management Accounting, UK. Master of Business Administration PIM (University of Sri Jayewardenepura), Currently reading for a Master of Laws (LLM) at Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK. He is an executive committee member of the Condominium Developers Association of Sri Lanka (CDASL).

Nisreen Rehmanjee is the Head of Corporate Finance, Group Tax & Social Entrepreneurship of the John Keells Group. Starting her career as an accounts trainee with KPMG in 1995, she rose to the position of Director Tax in 2001. She then joined the John Keells Group as Head of Tax Strategy in 2005. Her overseas experience includes a stint with the Global Tax Solutions team in London during her tenure with KPMG and a 3-year secondment to India with the John Keells IT/ITES cluster as Head of Corporate Functions. She was instrumental in conceptualising and launching the ‘Plasticcycle’ initiative of the John Keells Group, which is focused towards reducing plastic pollution across Sri Lanka. Nisreen is a Fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. Additionally, she is a member of the Tax Sub-committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, a past President of ACCA Sri Lanka and serves on the ACCA Sri Lanka member network panel.

Ramesh Shanmuganathan is the Group’s Chief Information Officer, a member of the Group Management Committee for the Information Technology sector, as well as Chief Executive of John Keells IT and John Keells X. Ramesh is also an Executive Director at John Keells IT, Infomate as well as John Keells Lanka BPO Services in addition to being a Non-Executive Director at Nations Trust Bank. He has over 25 years of experience in the ICT industry in Sri Lanka and the USA, with over 20+ years in C-level management. Ramesh is a Hayes-Fulbright Scholar and holds to his credit a Doctor of Philosophy (Technology Management) from Keisei International University (Seoul, South Korea), Master of Science (Information Technology and Computer Science) with Phi Kappa Phi Honours from Rochester Institute of Technology (New York, USA), Master of Business Administration from Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering with First Class Honours from the University of Moratuwa. He is at present reading for his Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) at the International School of Management, Paris. He is a Chartered Engineer, Chartered IT Professional and a Fellow of the British Computer Society and Institute of Engineers, UK. He has active memberships in several other professional institutions and is a visiting faculty member for several post-graduate programmes. He is an active advocate of Digital Transformation and Open Innovation and speaks in many international events and forums in this regard.

Hishan Singhawansa is the Deputy CEO at Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts of the Leisure industry group and overlooks Cinnamon’s entire portfolio of hotels and resorts in Sri Lanka and the Maldives including the development of the much-anticipated integrated resort project, Cinnamon Life Colombo. He has been with the John Keells Group since 2008 and started his career at the Retail industry Group of John Keells, where he headed Category Management and Supply Chain before being placed in the Leisure industry group in 2017. He holds a BSc in Engineering (Hons) Degree from the University of Moratuwa; and a MBA from the University of Wales.

Mikael Svensson is the CEO of Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts and overlooks Cinnamon’s entire portfolio of hotels and resorts in Sri Lanka and the Maldives including the development of the much-anticipated integrated resort project, Cinnamon Life Colombo. Mikael brings with him extensive international senior leadership experience in managing and operating large scale luxury hotels across Asia, the Middle East and Australia, of which over 20 years was with the Hyatt Group. He was the opening General Manager of the landmark luxury hotel on the trunk of the Palm Jumeirah, the Viceroy Palm Jumeirah, Dubai and the Grand Hyatt Mumbai, India. He was also the General Manager of the Park Hyatt Canberra, Australia and Hyatt Regency Hua Hin, Thailand. Prior to joining the John Keells Group, he was the Senior Vice President of Louis T Collection, a Singapore based hospitality management and building solutions company which owns a portfolio of hotels across Asia and Australia.

Aravinda Wanniarachchi is the Chief Financial Officer of Retail. He joined the John Keells Group in 2007 and was attached to the Corporate Finance and Strategy team prior to joining the Retail industry group. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK and holds a BBA Marketing (Sp.) degree from the University of Colombo.

Ravi Wijewantha joined the Group in September 2003 and was appointed as Sector Financial Controller of the Property industry group in July 2006 and Chief Financial Officer of the same Industry Group in July 2017. He has over 24 years of experience in the fields of auditing and accounting. He is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants UK and holds an MBA from ICFAI University Dehradun India.