Stasshani Jayawardena

Ms. Stasshani Jayawardena was appointed to the Board of Lanka Milk Foods (CWE) on 19th August 2019. She marks several milestones for Aitken Spence PLC, Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings PLC, and Browns Beach Hotels PLC as the youngest board member and as the first female member on the board. Jayawardena heads the tourism sector of Aitken Spence PLC inclusive of hotels, destination management, and overseas travel. With a career spanning over 10 years at Aitken Spence, she wields a fresh perspective in management and leads strategic business units across the Group. She leads several key strategic teams as the Chairperson of Aitken Spence Hotel Managements (Pvt) and Splendor Media Ltd.; as a member on the Board of Directors of Aitken Spence PLC, Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings PLC, Stassen Group, Aitken Spence Aviation (Pvt) Ltd, Western Power Company (Pvt) Ltd and other companies.

A graduate of St. James’ & Lucie Clayton College and Keele University in the United Kingdom, Ms. Jayawardena made waves from a young age. She was the youngest intern to work under US Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton and the Former US President Bill Clinton in 2003 and was appointed as the Sri Lankan Ambassador for EY NextGen Club from 2017 to 2019. She is a member of the PWC NextGen Advisory Board since 2020, the Executive Board of The Hotel Association of Sri Lanka (THASL), and was appointed to represent THASL at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Committee meetings since 2019 (Hotel sector). She was appointed as a Council Member of the EFC and as Chairperson of the EFC Hotels and Tourism Employers Group for the Financial Year 2020/2021. She is also the Executive Committee Member for the year 2020/21 at the International Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka. Ms. Jayawardena represents the Company as the Ambassador from Aitken Spence PLC at the Target Gender Equality initiative of the UN Global Compact since 2020. She is also a member of the Austrian Business Circle in Sri Lanka. In recognition of her work and commitment to inspire, she was recognized at the Top 50 Professional & Career Women Awards in Sri Lanka with a Gold award in the Hotel & Hospitality Sector in 2017, and in 2020 by Sri Lankan business magazine, Echelon, listing her among the most innovative and influential young leaders who have succeeded in business and shaping the future of Sri Lanka. At present, she leads a team of international professionals in strengthening the service foundations and formulating the strategic road map for the tourism sector of the Group. Her passion remains in designing the next generation of business with the core values of integrity, sustainability, empowerment, and equal opportunities with the use of data-driven technology.