Mrs. D. K. Renuka Ekanayake
Director

Mrs. D. K. Renuka Ekanayake was a senior officer of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service and has a long-standing experience in the Public Service.

She completed her primary education at St. Anthony’s Girls’ School Panadura and secondary education at Lumbini College, Colombo.

Mrs. Ekanayake holds a BSc Honours Degree in Public Administration from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Post Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree in Public Administration from the University of Malaysia.

She also holds a Diploma in Gender and Women in Development from the International Women’s University, Germany, a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) Degree in Public Policy and Administration from the University of Malaysia, and two postgraduate Diplomas in Sociology and International Relations from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.

Mrs. Ekanayake has also professionally qualified as a Licentiate from the Sri Lanka Institute of Charted Accounting.

Mrs. Ekanayake has multi-faceted experience serving in various government Departments and Ministries such as the Department of Cooperative Development, Divisional Secretariat Moratuwa, Divisional Secretariat Kalutara, Rural Development Training & Research Institute, Ministry of Samurdhi & Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Technology & Research.

She served as the Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs & National Heritage and worked towards the conservation, promotion and propagation of literary, arts and cultural elements of Sri Lanka.

She also held permanent Secretary positions in a number of Ministries such as Secretary to the Ministry of Social Services & Livestock Development, Secretary to the Ministry of Rural Economy and Secretary to the Ministry of Fisheries, Aquatic Resources Development and Rural Economy

Mrs. Ekanayake has obtained foreign training from a number of countries such as Germany, Korea, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Kenya in diverse areas including Poverty Alleviation, Management of Natural Disasters & Rehabilitation and Rural Governance Empowerment & Participation.

She has international exposure having represented Sri Lanka as the Head of Delegation at various international conferences related to areas of National Heritage and SAARC.

Mrs. Ekanayake has published several research papers on areas of cultural affairs, gender equality, poverty alleviation, rural economy, environment and technology and research.

Mrs. Ekanayake assumed duties as the Director of the SAARC Cultural Centre in April 2023.

Dr. Bina Gandhi Deori
Deputy Director – Research

Dr. Bina Gandhi Deori holds Ph.D from Deccan College, Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune . She was teaching in the Department of Ancient Indian History Culture &Archaeology, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan (India) before joining SCC on deputation.

Dr. Deori was awarded Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, UK Visiting Fellowship 2014-15 and the CRASSH Charles Wallace India Trust Fellowship to study the collections from Northeast India at the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology (MAA) and at the Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge University in 2016.

Dr. Deori was granted the Erasmas Mundus NAMASTE Consortium Grant for academic staff mobility to spend 1 month at the Institute of Ethnology & Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw, Poland and Erasmus Mundus-Euphrates scholarship-academic staff mobility at the Dept. of Anthropology, Vilnius University, Lithuania in the year 2015 and 2017 respectively.

In 2019, Dr. Deori was selected to participate in capacity building workshop on Nature-Culture linkages in heritage conservation in Asia and the Pacific, at the University of Tsukuba, Japan in cooperation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, IUCN, ICCROM and ICOMOS.

Dr. Deori has presented papers in several national as well as international conferences and worked in several projects documenting the cultural heritage of the indigenous communities of Arunachal Pradesh as the Principal Investigator.

K. Keerthi Gunathilaka
Administrative Officer

K. Keerthi Gunathilake obtained his Bachelor of Arts Special Degree (Second Class Upper) in Fine Arts in 1997 and his Master’s Degree in Mass communication in 2005 from the University of Kelaniya. He first joined Korea Ceylon Co-operation Pvt Ltd as a senior executive officer and thereafter joined the Ministry of Education as a development officer from 2002 to 2008. Then he joined the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as cultural promotion officer and consequently was transferred to Foreign Cultural Relations unit in 2009. He joined the SAARC Cultural Centre as the Administrative Officer in 2010.

Kalum Bandara
Finance Officer/Accountant

Kalum Bandara holds a Master’s Degree in Business Studies and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from the University of Colombo.  He is a Certified Business Accountant of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and a fully qualified member of the Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka.  Prior to joining the SAARC Cultural Centre in 2010, he had worked in many reputed public and private organizations as assistant accountant, and finance assistant.

Dilani Fernando
Personal Secretary to the Director

With over 20 years of experience as a secretary/personal assistant, Dilani has served as the personal assistant to chairman and managing directors of several private and public institutions. She holds a Higher Diploma in Business Management, Diploma in Diplomacy & World Affairs and a Diploma in Confidential Secretarial Practices. She started her career as a confidential secretary to top management at the Ministry of Industries in Sri Lanka. After 12 years of service, she joined the private sector and worked as a confidential secretary/personal assistant in insurance, media, finance and operations sectors.

Mahinda Sumanasekara Bandara
Documentation Officer/Librarian

Mahinda Sumanasekara Bandara obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Special Degree in Languages and Culture from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Master of International Relations (MAIR) from the Colombo University. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Information Management (PGDIM) at National Institute of Library and Information Sciences (NILIS), University of Colombo.  He started his career as the Cultural Promotion Officer at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and subsequently joined the Ministry of Cultural Affairs to handle the International Cultural Relations including UNESCO and SAARC affairs.  He joined the SAARC Cultural Centre as the Documentation Officer and Librarian in 2012.  He is responsible for the SCC Resource Centre, media and publicity.

Harishnath Nadarajah
Programme Assistant

Harishnath Nadarajah obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Madras, India and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.  As part of his MBA industrial training component, he went on a study tour to the Yunan Normal University of China in 2017. He also holds a Diploma in Human Resource Management from Madras Christian College, India.  He worked as Operations Executive in the private sector prior to joining the SCC in 2017.

K.G. Madusha Lakmali Samarasinghe
Finance Assistant

Madusha Lakmali obtained her BSc in Business Administration as an external candidate from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. She has obtained her Chartered Accountant Intermediate Level certificate from the Institute of Chartered Accounts of Sri Lanka and now working towards her Business Level Certification. She has obtained her Diploma in Accounting and Business Studies from the Institute of Certified Management Accountants.  She had worked for 11 years as an Accounts Executive in the private sector prior to joining the SAARC Cultural Centre in 2017.

Mass Kumala Mass Aron
Documentation Assistant

Mass Kumala Mass Aron holds a three-year Higher Diploma in Library and Information Science at University of Kelaniya. She has completed a Certificate in Computer Applications at Lumbini College and a Certificate Course in English Language at University of Colombo. She has completed a practical training program conducted by the Library and Information Service in National Institute of Education. Prior to joining the SCC, she has worked as Librarian and Assistant Librarian at Lyceum international school (2011-2020), Librarian at Giggles International School (2009-2011), Assistant Librarian at Lyceum International School (2004-2007).

Uvini Kithma Diyawadana
Computer Operator

Uvini completed a diploma in web designing at IDM Nations Campus, Galle in 2012. She has also obtained certificates in “English for Job-seekers” and “Information & Communication Technology” and a two-year Diploma in Information & Communication Technology in 2015 from the College of Technology in Galle, Department of Technical Education & Training (DTET) of the Ministry of Skills Development and Vocational Training of Sri Lanka. She is currently pursuing Bachelor of Technology in Software Technology at the University of Vocational Technology in Ratmalana, Sri Lanka. Prior to joining the SCC, she has worked as Computer Trainee at the Department of Education of the Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Computer Trainee at Sri Lanka Telecom PLC Sri Lanka, and Information Technology Assistant to the Information Technology Department of Grace Cosmetics Sri Lanka.

Nalin Siribaddana

Ajith Jayawickrama

Priyantha Deepal

Saman Lakmina

Chandana Hiththatiyage

K.M. Malki Anuradha