Suranga Priyashantha

Director of Digital Marketing and Growth - Afterpay Australia

Suranga Priyashantha is a practising digital Marketer based in Sydney, Australia. Suranga holds over 16 years of industry experience both at strategic and functional levels in Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Training and Consultancy. He currently serves as the Director of Digital Marketing and Growth at Afterpay one of the fastest-growing global Fin-tech companies currently operating in Australia, NewZealand, United Kingdom and the United States.

Suranga founded Asia Pacific Institute of Digital Marketing (formerly eBusiness Academy) in 2009 through which he pioneered digital marketing education and training in Sri Lanka. He has partnered with a number of global training and educational institutions and digital platforms including General Assembly, Facebook and Google. Through various initiatives such as seminars, webinars, workshops, industry panels, course programs and consultancy he has trained over 1500 business executives, entrepreneurs and students in the Asia Pacific region.

Suranga started his digital marketing career in 2004 as an eCommerce Executive at Roomsnet International, a leading online travel agency. Having lead a number of innovative campaigns and product innovations over 6 years he finished at Roomsnet as the General Manager eMarketing. He then joined Netstarter (Sri Lanka) as the Head of search marketing and later joined Netstarter (Australia) and served as the Head of analytics and performance optimisation. In 2014, he joined Fairfax Media, the leading news media publisher in Australia as the Head of Digital Marketing.

Suranga obtained his bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management from the University of Jayewardenepura and obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, United Kingdom.

Amitha Amarasinghe

Chief Operating Officer - Neo@Ogilvy Sri Lanka

A Digital Marketing professional with over 15 years of experience, Amitha is one of the earliest adopters to the digital transformation wave in the profession of marketing. He is one of the most experienced digital strategists in Sri Lanka, and spearheaded digital strategy for some leading local and multinational brands.

He started his career in digital marketing in 2004, at a time when the topic of digital marketing wasn't mainstream among the marketing fraternity in Sri Lanka. He joined a Colombo-based online travel agency (Roomsnet.com), catering to European travelers, as an eCommerce executive and held the position of eCommerce manager when he finished his six-year tenure with the company.

In 2010, Amitha joined the global advertising giant Ogilvy as the head of Neo@Ogilvy, a new business unit specializing in digital advertising. Under his leadership, Neo@Ogilvy grew into being the pioneering digital agency in Sri Lanka serving many local and multinational companies. He is a visiting lecturer at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura on the subject of Digital Marketing, and he is the lead trainer at the Asia Pacific Institute of Digital Marketing (APIDM). He has addressed many forums in Digital Marketing and technology field held in Colombo, Mumbai, and Cambodia. Amitha obtained his bachelor's degree in Marketing from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and obtained a Master of Business Administration degree from the Postgraduate Institute of Management at the same university.

Chamara Peiris

Chief Operating Officer - Moneyworkz.lk

Chamara has over 15+ years of experience in the Digital and Technology space and has contributed both his knowledge and experience in tech startups in the past 10+ years.

He has successfully led and scale teams to design and bring new ideas to life and has had the rare and valuable opportunity of having co-founded 2 software consulting firms which catered to clients in UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, and Latvia which invariably continue to gather knowledge and expertise in tech space.

Chamara is currently at the Moneyworkz.lk as the Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Moneyworkz, Chamara was the Chief Operating Officer at zMessenger. His exposure includes positions such as Chief Technology Officer at Yoho Bed, Director Marketing at Cinergix/Creately and Calcey Technologies. He was the Co-Founder and CEO of Xiteb (Pvt) Ltd and Co-founder and CTO Minlo Technologies (Pvt) Ltd.

Udara Dharmasena

Manager – Digital - Neo@Ogilvy

An enthusiastic digital marketing professional based in Sri Lanka, Udara Dharmasena is currently working for Neo@Ogilvy Colombo and is also a lecturer at Asia Pacific Institute of Digital Marketing (APIDM). A strategic thinker and a marketer in lieu with all the modern global trends, Udara has played a significant role in conceptualizing, planning and implementing digital marketing strategies for reputed brands across Sri Lanka.

A Post Graduate Diploma holder in Marketing from SLIM, Udara is known for his ability to think out of the box and generate ideas that give real results. He is well known as an individual who likes to keep abreast with all the new digital marketing news and trends as well as share it with those to whom it matters the most.

With plenty of prior experience working in non-government organizations sector, Udara has played an undeniably important role in the Mobile for Development (Mobile4D) Projects implemented by Sarvodaya-Fusion in bringing Smartphone technologies to rural parts of Sri Lanka.

He also went on to win the Cannes Young Lions competition (2017) in Cyber Category in Sri Lanka along with his team member and they competed at the global competition in Cannes, France.

A dedicated and committed individual, Udara’s specialty relies in Paid media and he currently heads the Paid media team at Neo@Ogilvy and is an active digital marketing trainer.

Gayathri Seneviratne

Strategic Account Manager - Indian Subcontinent - Amadeus Hospitality

Gayathri holds 9 plus years in the field of Digital Marketing, Online Brand and Communications Strategy and eCommerce and Online Revenue Optimization. She currently works for Amadeus Hospitality, one of the largest global travel technology companies in the world, by providing strategic direction to luxury hotels and resorts in the Indian Sub-continent and the Indian Ocean.

She is professionally a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (MCIM), holds a Master of Business Administration from the Staffordshire University and Bacher of Science in Business Computing and Information Systems by the University of Wales.

Emma Debeljak

Director of Content Team - Digital Silk

Emma leads a team of content marketers at a global digital agency headquartered in New York. She has worked with companies worldwide and across sectors, from Spain to Australia, and from IT to fashion, developing end-to-end content marketing strategies as well as delivering specialized content marketing services.

Wasantha Dharshana

Marketing & Communications Director - Kingsley Healthcare Group

Wasantha Darshana has been at the cutting edge of digital marketing in Sri Lanka from its very infancy and, as well as attaining Certified Digital Marketer and Chartered Marketer status, became the only Sri Lankan so far to qualify as a Chartered PR Practitioner.

He was among the first to employ Google AdWords in Sri Lanka after it was introduced in 2000 and has gone on to train more than 10,000 professionals in IT and digital transformation in the banking and BPO sectors.

He has established himself as an experienced and innovative C-Suite Executive, excelling in start-ups and high-growth environments and demonstrating acumen in shaping and executing strategic visions aimed at transforming corporate landscapes in the healthcare and technology sectors.

He is currently the Group Marketing and Communications Director at Kingsley Healthcare Group, one of the top twenty healthcare companies, in the UK.

Wasantha is a qualified and experienced Director with a Post Graduate Diploma in Corporate Governance and Company Direction and has held over 40 Exec and Non-Exec Directorships for cross-sector enterprises covering Finance, Travel, Management Consultancy, Capital Investment, BPO & Real Estate.

Infas Iqbal

Head of Online Marketing & Ad Ops - ikman.lk / Saltside

Infas is an expert in data-driven digital marketing with 10+ years of experience in the digital domain with hands-on exposures not only in Sri Lanka but also in different regions such as Middle East, Africa & South Asia.

He is currently Heading the global online marketing & ad operations for Saltside group which operates leading classified platforms in Sri Lanka (ikman.lk), Bangladesh (Bikroy.com) & Ghana (Tonaton.com) he has exposure working.

Prior to Joining Saltside in 2014 he was part of founding team at Neo@Ogilvy Sri Lanka driving digital marketing strategies & executions for multinational clients from various industries, Infas Iqbal holds Business Administration degree from Staffordshire University, UK

Mohenesh Chamith Buthgumwa

Director - Isobar & Response - Dentsu Aegis Network

Mohenesh is the highest globally & locally awarded media planner in Sri Lanka. He's currently the Director for Isobar & Response at the Dentsu Aegis Network. Formerly he served as the A/Director – Digital Strategy at GroupM Sri Lanka, And to that he was the “Head of Digital” for Team Unilever & Mindshare (2015 to 2017). He has won the “Campaign Asia - Digital Media Agency of the Year” on 4 separate occasions, which recognizes inspired leadership, management excellence & business performance.

He is currently the only Sri Lankan to represent MMA Smarties as a judge in the years 2017/ 18 & 19 which is considered the Oscars of Mobile Marketing. His efforts have won him a converted "WARC Media GOLD" & a "SMARTIES GOLD" which is considered the 2 biggest achievements in Marketing for a local Brand/Agency on a global scale. Locally he has also won the only Effie Gold to date that was driven digitally and the only person to be a part of 3 Effie GOLD winning teams among the 35+ Effie's he has bagged during his carrier to date.

Sanjeewa Warusawitharana

Digital Marketing Consultant -

I help brands to unlock the Power of Digital Marketing and share the amazing experiences and learning gained from it.

I have worked over a decade in different verticals namely in business development, customer service, international logistics, INGOs and digital marketing industries. I'm further developing new skills and renewing the love I have for digital marketing while working and collaborating with others from different fields.

Navoda Kariyawasam

Manager - Digital Marketing - Cenmetrix & Cemex HRM

Navoda is an experienced digital marketer with over 10 years of experience specializing in the areas of SEO, PPC, Social Media, eCommerce, and Web Analytics. She started her career in online marketing in 2009 as an intern at eMarketingEye (EME) Pvt Ltd, a leading online marketing agency in Sri Lanka mainly catering to the travel and tourism sector both locally and internationally. During her tenure at EME as the Manager - Online Marketing, she managed a team of online marketing professionals and led SEO and PPC campaigns for globally renowned hotel chains.

In 2014, Navoda joined ODEL PLC as the Manager - eCommerce to manage the digital marketing strategy including SEO, PPC, Social media, Email, and other online marketing activities to drive online sales for ODEL.

In 2015, she joined Dilmah Tea as the Manager - Digital Marketing in managing innovative digital marketing campaigns for the Dilmah brand globally. Navoda is currently working as an independent digital marketing professional in addition to working as the Manager - Digital Marketing at Cenmetrix and CEMEX HRM on a part-time basis. She has also served at multiple organizations (Manager- Brand Engagement and Corporate Communications at DFCC Bank and Head of Digital Marketing at Dusit Thani Sri Lanka) on a short term contract basis.

Navoda obtained her BA Honours Degree in Economics from the University of Colombo in 2009 and she completed her MBA from the University of Colombo in 2013. She also holds CIM qualification (DIP M) which she obtained in 2009.

Fazlan Marikkar

Senior Executive – Digital - Neo@Ogilvy, Sri Lanka

Fazlan has demonstrated proven 8 plus years in the field of Sales, Communications and Digital Marketing. Currently working in one of the leading Digital Agency in Sri Lanka Neo@Ogilvy and serving leading Brands in Sri Lanka, by providing guidance, strategic insights to align corporate goals. He is also developing targeted Digital Campaigns to position the brands in different Digital Spaces.

Fazlan has persuaded his Professional Qualification from Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, He is a Certified Professional Marketer (Asia) and reading for Master of Business Administration from Postgraduate Institute of Management offered by The University of Sri Jayawardanapura.

Amithe Gamage

Co-Founder - Quantum Leap (Pvt)Ltd

Amithe Gamage is an entrepreneur, corporate trainer, consultant and certified coach (IAC). Drawing from over 25 years of industry knowledge and experience he has effectively trained more than 25,000 on sales, leadership, and entrepreneurship. He is a certified professional marketer (AMF), is certified in IT service management (ITIL-v3) and holds an MBA.

Mariam Riza

Vice President - Intergenerational Consulting - Wattleshire, Australia

Mariam is an award-winning strategist, consultant, and international speaker on human capital engagement to build strategies to engage different generations in your business.

In her role as Vice President in Wattleshire, Australia, her work spans Accountancy member education, HR Technology in workforce engagement solutions, Higher Education industry, Public sector, & multicultural community organisations.

She also lecturers in areas of Ethics and Sustainability, Human Capital Psychology, Consumer and Economic Psychology, and Social Media for Professionals, in face to face and online programmes for both academic institutions and professional bodies.

She lecturers and facilitates programmes for

1. ABI Professional, Australia (for CPA Australia Program)
2. CPDFormula, Canada (for CPA Canada Verified CPD)
3. NewCampus, Singapore
4. General Assembly, Australia
5. Asia Pacific Institute of Digital Marketing (APIDM), Colombo
6. and previously Masters of Science in Business Psychology at Heriot Watt University, UK
7. Oxford College of Business, Colombo.

Her thoughts and views on Ethics, Sustainability, and Human Capital Engagement are widely sought after at Accountancy, Audit and Human Resources Conferences by

1. CPA Australia Congress
2. ACCA National Conferences
3. CIMA
4. Malaysian Institute of Accountants National Conferences
5. Accounting & Finance, and HRTech and Education Conferences

She has spoken in global locations across Australia, Asia Pacific and MENASA regions; as well as their official publications, global webinars and online media.

Her advocacy efforts have been recognized with industry accolades, where Mariam was awarded

1. AccountantsDaily x MYOB 30under30 Award - 2019
2. ACCA ANZ Advocate of the Year - 2019
3. Top 50 Most Influential Women on LinkedIn
4. Godage Emerging Writer Prize for three consecutive years

Combining Business Psychology, Emotional Intelligence, & Socioeconomic insights, her approach to her lecturing and delivery focuses on individual students’ requirements with a holistic simple view to explaining concepts and principles for easy understanding.

She is respected in her domain, & has 31,000 social media followers.

Umair Wolid

Vice President Marketing - Digital X Pvt Ltd

Umair Wolid a multiple award-winning Digital Marketing professionals who have over 12 years of experience in Digital Marketing fraternity Umair weights a variety of skills in the Digital Marketing fraternity, he shaped Sri Lanka’s leading News Publisher Wijeya Newspapers Digital strategy for 11 years.

Currently he is specializing in concepts such as Programmatic Advertising, Social Listening and Data Management Platforms at Digital X. Umair is a Chartered Marketer (2013/14), MCIM (UK) and holds an MBA from Bucks New University, UK. Further, Umair is a corporate trainer/speaker on digital media-related topics.