Board of Directors/ Staff
All functions of the organisation are governed by a Board of Directors (BoD). The Board of Directors is ultimately responsible for making EFL’s major policy and organisational decisions. The BoD consists of a maximum nine members (including the Chairperson) who are elected by the membership of EFL, and hold office for a period of three years. When they retire by rotation they are eligible for re-election. The BoD function in a purely honorary capacity, and are provided with no financial recompense for their services.
Ms. Sharmini Ratwatte – Chairperson
Mrs. Ratwatte was appointed as the Chairperson of the Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL) in 2007. She is a Non Executive Director of MAS Investments (Pvt) Limited and John Keells PLC and is also a trustee of the Sunera Foundation, a non profit organisation working in theatre and arts with the differently abled. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and has an MBA from the University of Colombo. She has over 20 years accounting and management experience in the design and construction industry and the apparel industry. In 2004, Sharmini was recognised with the Zonta “Woman of Achievement” Award for Management.
Ms. Charuni Gunawardana – Director/ Company Secretary
Ms. Gunawardana has a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Colombo, and a Masters in Commercial Law. She is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators, UK. Charuni is the Senior Attorney of the law firm C G Associates and a Director of C G Corporate Consultants (Pvt.) Ltd. She was appointed Secretary to the EFL Board in 2004 and appointed as a Director in March 2005.
Mr. Prasanna Jayawardena – Director
Mr. Jayawardena is an Attorney-at-Law by profession with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Colombo and is a leading counsel in the field of commercial law and also has extensive experience in the field of Banking. He is a nature enthusiast. Prasanna was appointed to the EFL Board in 2005.
Mr. Uditha Egalahewa – Director
Mr. Egalahewa is an Attorney-at-Law with over eighteen years of experience and was appointed to the EFL Board in 2005. He joined the Office of the Attorney General of Sri Lanka in 1992 and served as a State Counsel and as a Senior State Counsel for a period of 13 years. Uditha had his basic legal education at the Sri Lanka Law College followed by a Masters in Law from the University of Colombo. He also holds an additional Masters degree, as a World Bank sponsored scholar, from the International Maritime Law Institute of Malta, in which he graduated with distinction and was awarded the Professor Walter Muller Prize.
Dr. Mario Gomez – Director
Dr. Gomez (LL.B; LL.M; Ph.D) is a human rights lawyer and Member of the Law Commission of Sri Lanka. He was previously a lecturer in the University of Colombo where he taught administrative law, constitutional law, jurisprudence, and women’s rights at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. He has published in the areas of public interest law, economic and social rights, women’s rights, human rights commissions, internally displaced persons and public law. He was a Post-Doctoral Human Rights Fellow at Harvard University in 2001/ 2002. He was appointed to the EFL Board in 2006.
Mr. Ravi Fernando – Director
Mr. Fernando holds a MBA from the University of Colombo and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK). He holds a Diploma in International Management and completed the Advanced Management Program at the INSEAD Business School in (France). He is an Alumni of the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainable Leadership having Completed the Climate Leadership Programme in 2007 and the Post. Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business in 2008. He is the United Nations Global Compact Focal point for Sri Lanka and on the Boards of LOLC, World Vision and Ceylon Asset Management Ltd. In September 2007 he won a “Global Strategy Leadership award” at the World Strategy Summit for his work on Ethical branding for the Sri Lankan Apparel and Tea sectors. He was appointed to the EFL Board in late 2007.
Rukshan Jayawardene – Director
Mr. Jayewardene is a wildlife photographer who won an award at the (BBC) ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year’ Competition, 2002. He holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of Maryland, and an MPhil in Archaeology from the University of Cambridge. He lectured in Archaeology at the University of Kelaniya and worked as a field archaeologist for 14 years. As a maritime archaeologist he worked in Galle and Oman. He has had photographic exhibitions and writes and speaks on wildlife and conservation.
He is a founding member of three conservation organizations and is on the committee of the ‘Wildlife and Nature Protection Society’. He joined the EFL Board in 2010.
Dr Eric Wikramanayake – Director
Dr Wikramanayake obtained a Ph. D. in Ecology from University of California, Davis in 1988 and is a Post Doctoral Fellow and Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution, and now a Senior Conservation Scientist with the World Wildlife Fund providing scientific/technical assistance and advice to WWF’s Asia regional programs. Experience in wildlife and biodiversity conservation in human-dominated landscapes with regional experience in Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, India, Nepal, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia. Special interests are to help mainstream conservation into development in Sri Lanka and develop conservation models that are compatible with Sri Lanka’s development aspirations. He was appointed to the EFL Board in 2011.
