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LEADERSHIP
CONFERENCE

Leadership Conference is one of the prominent events “A LEADER IS BEST WHEN
organized by LED KLN of the University of Kelaniya, HE EXISTS, WHEN HIS W
simultaneously with the STEP series. Although it was FULFILLED, THEY WILL SAY
not possible to arrange a physical conference due to
the situation in the country, our organizing committee
collaborated with the LED KLN Executive Board to organize
the first-ever largest virtual leadership conference in 2020
successfully.

In December, Leadership Conference 2020 was held for
two days in the theme “Alpha Pack” for making aspiring
leaders for the future community. The conference consists
of two main topics, “Leadership” and “Teamwork” and
experienced panelists had joined hands with us in this
two-day conference.

On the first day, the opening session, the “Introduction
to Leadership,” was conducted by Mr. Fahad Fahrook.
There we had a great interactive discussion on who is a
Leader and what leadership is, leadership qualities, the
difference between Leader and boss, and leadership and
dictatorship. Also, we conducted an online activity that
participants can experience and build more knowledge
from what they learned from the opening session. That
was our first step in making a great leader.

The next session was “How to develop leadership within
you?” and Ms. Sulochana Sigera conducted it. In that
session, our participants got ideas about the effect of
leadership qualities in developing personality, challenges
that have to face, and how to overcome them, and her
personal experiences. Therefore, at the end of our second
session, we need to unleash the Leader within them. As
the organizing committee, we felt that we’ve succeeded
because that last interactive activity happened so well
with the contribution of many of the participants.

Throughout day one, we talked about leadership. Then
on the second day, our topic was “Teamwork.” Having
a good team is also essential for a successful leader.
The second day organized with that in mind was further
strengthened by two talented sports personalities, full
of team spirit and experiences.

On the first session of the second day, Mr. Roshan
Mahanama discussed teamwork and group work,
the role of a team player, the qualities and skills of a
team player, the way to succeed as a team, and his
personal experiences growing as a team. In the second
session, Mr. Sheahan Ambeypitya talked more about
the effectiveness of a good leader in a team, the need
for a leader to make the team successful, and the
interrelation of leadership and teamwork as a summary
of our conference. Excellent interactive sessions were
also conducted on the second day, and we had talented
winners.

With that amazing 200+ delegation and our official
partner, “Global Image,” we did a successful Leadership
Conference in 2020, having the first step to produce
successful leaders for the future world.

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BUSINESS
SCHOOL

LED KLN is initiating with empowering the youth Finding Job opportunities session was con-
and filling the gap between undergraduates ducted by Mr.Jeewa Perera - CEO ChampIT
and the corporate world. “Business School Solutions Inc. USA to deliver a deep under-
2021” is an annual professional development standing for fresh graduates about LinkedIn
program organized by the LED KLN. This was networking, current recruitment methods and
organized as the final event in LED Curriculum virtual interview etiquettes. The CV writing
for the executive year 2020/2021. It was held session was conducted by Mr Mass Savan-
from the 15th of March to the 3rd of April for ghanfrom Attune Lanka Pvt Ltd. to share his
the fourth consecutive time this year to provide tips on how to write a winning resume. Mr.
industry level hands-on experience for the Satchin Semage was the guest speaker of
undergraduates. This time, it was successfully the personal grooming session.
held virtually with the participation of nearly 200
local and private university undergraduates with As the final step in the LED Business School
the theme of Stand out and Hunt for Excellence. 2021, Mock interview sessions were held by
a panel of well-experienced corporates in Sri
Business School 2021 was focused on Lanka covering different fields and career
Identifying passionate career, Finding job paths of Information Technology, Manage-
opportunities, CV writing and personal grooming ment, Engineering, Data Analytics and Sus-
and Mock interviews. The event consisted of five tainability.We received nearly 150 resumes
one-hour informative session series focusing for Mock Interview sessions from state and
on Digital Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Data private university undergraduates. This year,
Science & AI, Environmental Science and ChampIT Solutions, WSO2, MAS Active Pvt
Community Services & International Relations Ltd, Attune Lanka Pvt Ltd. were the compa-
to provide help to identify the career passion of nies that have partnered with LED KLN to
undergraduates. Mr.Amitha Amarasinghe - CEO give the opportunity of facing a job interview.
of Asia Pacific Institute of Digital Marketing, Business School 2021 was successfully held
Mr.Dhanika Perera - CEO of Bhasha Lanka
(Pvt) Ltd., Mr.Eshan Mewantha- Chief Scientist Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, conse-
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Spot Technologies were the guest speakers of cing elit, sed diam nonummnibh
technical sessions. Ms.Mega Ganeshan -Senior
Executive Sustainability at Linear Aqua and Mr.
Sudesh Ruvinda – Lecturer in Zoology at the
University of Kelaniya were the guest speakers
for the Environmental session. Mr.Darshatha
Gamage Co-Founder of Impact Voices was
the guest speaker of the community services
session.

IDEATHON Various personalities, strengths, and
weaknesses were blended to pull out the best
outcome as this was an event that made the

club’s name taken outside the university. As it

was predicted to be, the howl was made along
The Executive Board of LED KLN initiated the way where the club got exposed to many
this idea with the collaboration of Unilever other universities, and prospects were keen to
Sri Lanka to get on board a business case know about the LED KLN.
idea incubator to capture the best solutions

in the real-world scenario. With all the initial

level discussions held, the concept finally “IT,S NOT ABOUT IDEAS.

became a reality as the applications were

called in for the organizing committee under IT,S ALL ABOUT MAKING IDEAS
the supervision of the executive committee of HAPPEN”
LED KLN.

A set of keen individuals stepped in to take Starting with 75+ registrations and shortlisting
up the challenge ahead, and out of them, 13 up to 20 teams and out of that the best team
outstanding individuals were picked. The pack which suggested the best solution which was
included an Organizing Committee president, from the University of Colombo won a cash
04 Vice presidents representing each avenue prize, and the positive word on that was spread
of LED KLN, namely Human resources, all around.
Branding & Marketing, Business Development,
and Organization Development. Among the key takeaways, the club got exposed
out of the university, clearly portraying the
As soon as the duties were assigned, purpose of the club. The Organizing Committee
all individuals were motivated towards members got a family team instead of a bunch
achieving the tasks they were allocated with, of members who worked to achieve a common
starting off with planning the event flow, goal.
planning on the flyers, to calling applications
contacting delegates and applicants from Putting all these thoughts in a nutshell, I
other universities as all the state and private Navishini Perera was selected to sail the
universities were involved in this. organizing committee as the president, and I
managed to sail to the island with the bunch
The magnificence of this event was that it was of sailors I was given with comfortably on the
held virtually from the first phase itself. All the constant, yet stable ship called the Executive
applications, along with the initial business Committee of the LED KLN. Also starting
proposal submission and the supportive from the senior Treasurer and other academic
sessions to the grand finale held online, was members, members of
rather a new experience for all the members,
including the organizing committee itself. The club volunteers were the strong pillars who
Communication for a group task nowadays held our backs as an organizing Committee
happens simply via a WhatsApp group; but, for whenever we wanted!
us, the OC, the Ideathon was not some routine
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mingled around. Virtual fun nights and daily
hangouts made the pack bond more and
understanding between each other more.

LED TALKS

LED TALKS is the weekly meeting of LED
KLN. It is conducted by dividing the whole
two hours session into two small sessions.
The first hour is for a knowledge-sharing
session, while the last hour of the meeting
ends with an interactive session. This
event is organized by the LED TALKS
Organizing Committee with the sole
objective to learn inspirational concepts
towards success and to enhance the bond
between the members of the club. It helps
a lot to improve the leadership skills and
other professional skills of our members
as well.

The knowledge-sharing session is “Know your way - the pathways after graduation”
conducted by a resource person or the was conducted by a set of members of the club.
members of the club, focusing on the
chosen topic or theme of the day. Moreover, An informative session on “Emotional intelligence”
at the end of the knowledge-sharing was conducted by Ms. Rasini Bandara. It was very
session, the participants are encouraged interesting and full of knowledge.
to ask questions. This session magnifies
the comprehension and proficiency of The event “Be the change” was done by fellow
members. members of our club who presented amazing
facts about eco entrepreneurship and online
Let us give a briefing about the series of entrepreneurship.
topics discussed by LED TALKS.
An interactive session is where all the members get
“The Network is your net worth” was a chance to speak and engage. It is a place where
conducted by the members of the club, and fun games are played, while the true essence of
it was a session full of valuable insights fun and laughter among members of the club is
about expanding our network. “Staple brought out. Furthermore, it strengthens the bond
Yourself for work” was conducted by Mr. between the members and also, it’s a great time
Vidusha Nathivitharana, and he highlighted to celebrate all the special occasions and festivals
the importance of knowledge management with our fellow members of the club.
for a career with passion.
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Lanka” was done by Mrs. Aarthy Arun, cing elit, sed diam nonummnibh
and the session was very engaging and
interactive.



TALK WITH

SLINTEC

SLINTEC, Sri Lanka Institute of Nano
technology Pvt. Ltd is a pioneer in Nano and
advanced technology research in Sri Lanka.
We had the privilege of getting an insight about
the company from their Senior executive-
Business Development, Ms. Eugene Maheshi
Fernando.

What is your company’s background and what
are the services that you are offering?

SLINTEC is a private-public partnership In which field does your company have the
between the government of Sri Lanka and eight greatest number of services?
leading private sector companies. Our main
purpose is to do innovative research using At the moment we have six focus areas for
nanotechnology and advanced technologies. research: Sustainable agriculture, Smart
Mainly, the services we offer include contract- textiles, Printable electronics and sensors,
based research projects for the private sector Medical diagnosis and preventive medicine,
as well as government institutes. ‘SLINTEC Minerals and composites and Energy. With the
Start-Up Engine’ is another initiative by current pandemic situation and the emergency
SLINTEC to help entrepreneurs, especially requirements of the country, we have come up
those with innovative ideas, to bring their with several innovations in several areas .In
products to the market using science-based history, we have also done a lot of research
research. There is a large variety of equipment related to Textiles and Agriculture, Minerals
available at SLINTEC. We provide Incubation and composite areas and developed patented
space and modular labs to conduct research technologies which were transferred toprivate
and development projects for outside clients. companies. We cannot limit our services just to
We are the main research institute in the one sector; we have offered different services
country that are offering services related to to different industries.
nanotechnology and advanced technology
-related research.

In LED KLN, we always try to ‘empower We always try to remove the gap between
youth striving for excellence. As a undergraduates and the corporate world while building
reputed company in Sri Lanka, what influential leaders with soft skills. In your opinion, how
do you think about LED KLN? How important are these soft skills for a fresh graduate or
does LED KLN help undergraduates intern?
to develop themselves and be ready
for the corporate world? For those who are in the executive committee of LED
KLN, encountering individuals with different ideas and
I got to know about LED KLN coming up with a collective decision must have been
through one of the events that I familiar by now. Things are similar in the corporate
participated in. It helps the students world but different scale. Being a part of LED KLN will
to get an understanding of business help you not to feel alienated in the corporate culture
which in fact is an effective way to and world as this gap between the undergraduates
empower youth. It is a mechanism and the corporate world is eradicated through the
for the youth to be ready to embrace familiarization, exposure that one gets through the
the forthcoming challenges in the club. To sustain in any industry, you need teamwork,
industrial sector. I have seen the leadership, communication, presentation and problem
endeavors that you have carried out solving skills etc. I think the younger generation will be
to conduct awareness sessions with equipped with all of these by participating in the club
your colleagues about the business activities.
world. I really admire this initiative by
LED KLN. You joined us through Ideaothon, you were a judge
for the pitching part. So, what do you think about the
Our key features are ‘leadership’, partnership with LED KLN?
‘empowerment’ and ‘development’?
How are these values essential to I think that was a very good opportunity for me to connect
have in our youth? How can those with the university students .So, I really like the way
benefit them in their future? university students developed their entrepreneurship
skills and personalities through Ideathon. Like what you
If I talk about leadership first, we need did in Ideathon, at SLINTEC we have pitching sessions,
leaders at every point. One cannot where we bring new ideas out and convert them to
define a leader as a key position commercilizable research projects.
bearer like the head of a company.
Individually, everyone got to be What is your message to members of LED KLN?
leaders in both the professional as
well as personal lives. Empowerment My most fundamental message to the undergraduates
is one of the things you promote is to develop their skills while studying. Discover your
at LED KLN. We will develop as a own potential.I encourage you to do more events,
country when have good leaders who empower the undergraduates to be good leaders while
empower others to be good leaders. developing themselves.

As I mentioned earlier, SLINTEC also help the
undergraduates or any other person to pitch their
ideas and come up with startups with ‘SLINTEC
Startup Engine’. You can be entrepreneurs while being
undergraduates. We will be launching our third round
in June or July. If you have an idea to come up with an
innovative product, keep in touch with SLINTECStartup
Engine. All the best!

LED COLLABORATIONS W

LED is a non-profit organization which Creative Software – Creative Software is a
bears the aim of bridging the gap between pioneer and leader in Sri Lanka’s software
undergraduates and the corporate world. industry. They joined hands with us as our
Building connections with the corporate world ‘official bronze partner’ of the ideathon. This
is a goal we find on that journey towards our software company provided us with a keynote
prime objective. The term 2020/2021 was a speaker who also served as a judge at the grand
very successful year in that aspect. We hosted finale and the representative from Creative
three massive events in collaboration with Software helped us to judge the technological
many prestigious corporate brands. Inquisitive aspect of the final contestants’ solutions. LED
Minds 2020 | The Ideathon, Leadership KLN has worked hand in hand with Creative
Conference, Business School 2021 are those Software before this event so the ideathon was
three accomplishments that we added to the an opportunity for us to strengthen our bond
glorious history of LED KLN. with this organization.

Inquisitive Minds 2020 | The Ideathon – The SEF – Sustainable Education Foundation is a
first ever ideathon in LED KLN history is volunteer driven organization which operates
Inquisitive Minds 2020. Applicants submitted with the short-term goal of making the Sri
their business proposals for a business Lankan education system the most effective
problem given by our official platinum partner. and dynamic education system in the world.
SEF collaborated with us in the ideathon as the
Unilever – Unilever is a multinational consumer ‘official outreach partner’ and gave us a huge
goods company which bears the aim of making support to reach out to a greater audience
sustainable living commonplace. Joining and to create awareness in a greater crowd
hands with this prestigious brand as the ‘official about our event. It was the first time that we
platinum partner’ strengthened the foundation joined hands with SEF and it was truly a great
of the whole event. Providing us with mentors collaboration.
and a judge panel to shortlist the proposals
received and also to select the winning teams Xtream Youth – Xtream Youth is a media
on the grand finale, Unilever showed us organization which we collaborated with as our
immense support to successfully complete ‘official media partner’ to shout out to the all
this ideathon from the beginning until the end. interested undergraduates island wide. Our
This collaboration also paved the way for us to collaboration with Xtream Youth was successful
nourish the bond that already existed between indeed as there were applicants from various
LED KLN and Unilever. universities around Sri Lanka.

SLINTEC | SLINTEC Startup
Engine – Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology
is a pioneer in nano and advanced technology
research in Sri Lanka. Inquisitive Minds 2020
was the first collaboration that LED KLN made
with SLINTEC as the ‘official gold partner’.
This prestigious organization proved itself to
be a great match to our strategic partnership
requirement by fueling the event with mentors
and a judge panel for the grand finale. Working
with SLINTEC was quite smooth, easy and
was a good collaboration indeed.

WITH CORPORATE BRANDS

Spot.lk – Spot technologies is a Sri Lankan
AI based human capital job platform which
connects people and jobs. LED KLN made this
collaboration with Spot.lk as our ‘official gold
partner’ and contributed towards the success
of the event by furnishing the ‘finding job
opportunities’ session with keynote speakers
and a panel for mock interviews. Working with
Spot.lk was a real privilege.

Leadership Conference 2020 – The first ever Champ IT solutions & MAS - Champ
virtual Leadership Conference organized in IT is a leading software development
LED KLN history is the Leadership Conference company specializing in custom web and app
2020. It was held as a two-day conference development. MAS is a leading manufacturer
featuring three professionals. of intimate apparel, sportswear, and many
other related products. Both these renowned
Global Image – Global Image is a highly organizations joined hands with us together
rated photography service in Sri Lanka. LED at Business School 2021 as our ‘official silver
KLN joined hands with this organization at the partner’ and bestowed us with panels for the
Leadership Conference 2020 as our ‘official mock interviews. This collaboration with two
media partner’. This collaboration provided us organizations was one of a kind experience for
the opportunity to reach out to a vast audience LED KLN.
throughout the sessions of the event. The
Leadership Conference was a huge success
indeed.

Business School 2021 – The final corporate So, the term 2020/2021 was in fact a splendid
level series of sessions we had in this term year and a successful one with respect to the
is Business School 2021. It consisted of a collaborations that we have made with many
CV writing session, finding job opportunities corporate brands even at the peak of a harsh
session and a mock interview session. crisis that prevailed in the country due to the
covid-19. LED KLN accomplished its mission
Attune – Attune is an organization of industrial exposure in this term, and it will
operating in the information technology keep growing for the benefit of generations of
and services industry which provided its undergraduates to come.
contribution at the Business School 2021 as
our ‘official platinum partner’. Attune showed
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partnership is truly cherished.