Board of Trustees

/Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees comprises of distinguished individuals hailing from the various communities that make up Sri Lanka’s diverse socio-cultural fabric, all of whom are united by a common commitment to justice, peace and human rights. Between them, they have a wealth of experience and relevant expertise in the areas of law, human rights, constitutionalism, peacebuilding, social science research, investment banking and financial services from the not-for profit as well as the private and public sectors.

 

Serving in an honorary capacity, the role of the Trustees is to provide strategic direction to the Trust and to lay the policy framework within which the organization functions. The policy framework relates to governance, grant-making, finance and investments and the overall operations of the secretariat. With the leadership provided by the Chairperson, the Trustees carry out these functions through the Programme and Finance Sub-Committees which consists of members of the Board with the relevant expertise and senior members of the Management Team who report to the relevant sub-committees as ex-officio members.
The Board of Trustees collectively nominates a fellow-Trustee, to take up the role of Chairperson of the Board. Since NTT’s inception the following members served in this capacity;

Ms. Ambika Satkunanathan (July 2012 – to date)

Sithie Tiruchelvam (Jan 2006 – June 2012)

T. Someswaran Founder chairman – (May 2000 – Dec 2005)

The Board of Trustees

Ms. Ambika Satkunanathan (Chairperson -effective July 2012)
Ambika Satkunanathan is a Trustee of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture since October 2023. She is a member of the Expert Panel of the Trial Watch Project of the Clooney Foundation and a member of the Network of Experts of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime. She was also an Open Society Fellow (2020-2021). From October 2015 to March 2020, she served as a Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. Prior to that, for eight years, she functioned as the Legal Advisor to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sri Lanka. Her research has focused on transitional justice, prison reform, militarization, gender and Tamil nationalism. Her publications include contributions to the Oxford Handbook of Gender & Conflict, the Routledge Handbook on Human Rights in South Asia, and Contemporary South Asia. She also served as the Vice Chairperson of Urgent Action Fund Asia & Pacific, a regional feminist grant making organisation. Ambika holds a Master of Laws (Human Rights) degree from the University of Nottingham, where she was a Chevening Scholar, and has earned bachelor’s degrees (LL.B / B.A) from Monash University.
Mr. Channa de Silva

Channa de Silva currently serves as the Chairman of the Sarvodaya Development Finance and Founder Chairman of Capital Media.

He previously served as Managing Director of Summit Finance PLC as well as Group Managing Director of Delmege Group Limited. He has served the government sector previously as Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Executive Director of the Board of Investments (BOI) Sri Lanka.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Colombo and Master’s Degrees from Harvard University (USA) and Melbourne University (Australia). He is an Edward S Mason Fellow in Public Policy from Harvard University and also has served as a teaching Fellow of Harvard Kennedy School. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (FCMA – UK) and  Fellow of the Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA – UK) along with membership of Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment (CISI).

He serves as the current President of University of Colombo Graduates Association.  Also he is the Founder & President of Coexist Sri Lanka Foundation. Mr. De Silva is board member of Sri Lanka network panel of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA – UK) as well as Sri Lankan council board member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investments (CISI- UK).

Ms. Shehara De Silva

Shehara is an International Marketing and Communications expert who has been behind the success of several local and multinational brands. She is currently Vice President, Marketing and Strategy of Emojot, which is a  Silicon Valley Technology startup. She was previously Group Head of Strategy of several Omnicom companies and Managing Director of Interbrand KL, the worlds largest brand consultancy. She has also consulted for organizations in the development sector including ILO, USAID and PLAN. She is on the Board of Keells Foods, The Environment Foundation, & the Music Project.

Mr. Mirak Raheem

Mirak serves as the Chairperson of the Programme Sub-Committee of NTT. He is a researcher and activist working on human rights, reconciliation, land, displacement and minority issues. He worked as a Senior Researcher at the Peace and Conflict Analysis Unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, Sri Lanka for 9 years, during which time he released a number of publications. He has served on a number of boards, including currently the Secretariat for Muslims. He obtained his undergraduate degree in International Relations & History from London School of Economics and Political Sciences, and a Masters Degree in Peace Studies from Notre Dame University, USA.

Dr. Pramilla Senanayake

Pramilla was, until recently, the Assistant Director General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, a post she held for over 15 years. She is currently the Chairperson of the Concept Foundation located in Bangkok, Thailand; Founder and Chairperson of the Board of the Educate a Child Trust – a charity providing education for over 800 children and post tsunami housing for over 60 families, in Kalutara, Sri Lanka. She is also a member of the Boards of Family Health International USA and Water Aid UK.

The founding members who served on the Board since its inception in the year 2000 are

Ms. Sithie Tiruchelvam (2000 – 2012)
Mr. T. Someswaran (2000 – 2006)
Ms. Suriya Wickremasinghe (2000 – 2006)
Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda (2000-2008)
Mr. Arjuna Mahendran (2000- 2006)

Prof. G.L.Pieris also served on the Board for a short period during the first year of its incorporation.