Our Team

Praveena Kulasinghe Joseph de Saram is a scientist, entrepreneur, and changemaker. She is Managing Director of the Shiranee Joseph de Saram Foundation (SJDSF), Sri Lanka’s pioneering organization supporting individuals with Intellectual Disability (ID) gain employment and independence.

Praveena has extensive experience in the non-profit and for-profit sectors. She served as a Trustee of the Princeton-Blairstown Center, an over 115-year-old charity that serves disadvantaged youth in the US for nearly a decade; and on numerous boards at Princeton University, including The Princeton University Store and The Annual Giving National Committee. Prior to returning to Sri Lanka to lead SJDSF, Praveena was the founder of a triple bottom line pet product business; Chief Operating Officer of Optimal Acuity Corporation, a medical device manufacturer, and a Management Consultant with Kearney. She currently serves on the boards of SJdSF and TRACE Technology & Innovation Ecosystem in Sri Lanka.

Praveena is passionate about access to appropriate education and opportunities for marginalized people. She was named Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2024 by the Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce for her contribution to employment for persons with disabilities.

Praveena has an M.Phys. in Physics from the University of Oxford and an M.A. in Molecular Biology and Neuroscience from Princeton University.

Deshal de Mel is an economist who has experience across government, private sector, and academia, currently serving as Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance of Sri Lanka. He was also a member of the National Trade Negotiation Committee where he led negotiations on trade in services, completing Sri Lanka’s first bilateral trade in services agreement with Singapore. He previously worked in the corporate sector as Senior Economist at the Hayleys Group, one of Sri Lanka’s largest diversified conglomerates. He has served on a number of corporate and non-corporate boards, including at present Sampath Bank PLC, and previously Sri Lankan Airlines, Sri Lankan Catering, and the Centre for Poverty Analysis. He was also a Commissioner at the Securities & Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka in 2018-2019. He has a degree in Philosophy, Political Science, and Economics from the University of Oxford and a Masters in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics. He was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2019.

Chiranthi Cooray is Deputy General Manager/Chief Transformation Officer of Hatton National Bank PLC. Chiranthi serves on the Boards of the HNB General Insurance Ltd, CSR Sri Lanka (Guarantee) Ltd & Advisory Board of AISEC Sri Lanka and serves as a Trustee of the HNB Sustainability Foundation. She also serves in the SLID Education & Technical Working Committee and Women’s Chamber of Industry & Commerce Policy Advocacy Committee.

She is a past President of the Association of Human Resource Professionals, Sri Lanka. Chiranthi holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Wales (Cardiff Metropolitan). Chiranthi was awarded the HR Leadership Award for Global HR Excellence organized by World HR Congress in February 2015.

She has also been awarded the Gold Category at the Women for Governance Professional & Career Women Awards 2014/2015 by the Women in Management for her exceptional contribution and achievements in the field of Human Resources. Under her leadership the Hatton National Bank PLC has achieved many local and international awards in the last 10 years in HR and Sustainability spheres. In 2017, Chiranthi served as the Chairwoman of the National Task Force to recommend a strategic road map to increase female labour force participation in Sri Lanka for the National HR Development Council of Sri Lanka.