Ramesh Schaffter
“If you have been blessed with something you have a responsibility to use it wisely”
Meet Ramesh
Renowned for his business acumen, Ramesh Schaffter has an impeccable track record of building some of the country’s most respected enterprises across a diverse mix of industries, predominantly under the Janashakthi Group umbrella. His current primary role is as the Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of Janashakthi Limited. He is also a Director on the Boards of several listed subsidiaries of the Group and other unlisted entities. He has served on the Boards of several other listed and unlisted companies in the past.
A Fellow Member and former Council Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Sri Lanka, and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, he counts over three decades of experience in Finance, Marketing and Leadership. He is an accomplished public speaker and a multiple award winner at national and international level Toastmasters’ contests.
Ramesh's Journey
Ramesh has always been passionate about sports and represented his school in cricket, basketball, table tennis and volleyball. He was actively involved in cricket as a player, administrator and reporter during his younger days and now helms the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club, one of the oldest clubs in the country and home to our first test match. He also served as the Vice Patron of the Mercantile Hockey Association.
Being someone who is in touch with his spiritual side as well, Ramesh serves on the Council of the Colombo Theological Seminary, a graduate and postgraduate educational institute, and is a former Chairman of the Incorporated Trustees of the Church of Ceylon. He is a Co-Founder of cable television channel Swarga TV – Sri Lanka’s leading Christian TV Channel and the Christian Arts Foundation (CHRAFT), an organisation that promotes music and drama in Sri Lanka.
Ramesh truly believes in engaging with and giving back to the community. This is reflected in his multiple social entrepreneurial ventures which are dedicated to empowering underprivileged members of our society to stand up on their own feet. He is involved in several social support organisations and has served as the President of Habitat for Humanity, Sri Lanka and Board Member of World Vision, Sri Lanka. He also actively shares his learnings from his personal and professional lives with young adults in his role as a life coach and mentor.
With so many facets to his life, Ramesh has a wealth of knowledge and seeks to leverage it to expand his impact on the community as an agent of change. As part of this endeavour, he launched the Inspiring Change Foundation.
Some words about Ramesh
A big thank you Ramesh Schaffter for accepting the invite as the guest of honour to deliver the keynote speech. It was truly mind-blowing and inspirational to anyone aspiring to take on a challenging leadership role. Very thought provoking and would have been a massive wakeup call to many who attended the CLA Great Manager Awards event. Thank you Ramesh once again for raising the benchmark of leadership effectiveness
Riaz Hassen
Head of Colombo Leadership Academy
Ramesh, your speech was so thought provoking, powerful and intriguing especially when you touched on the LEAD YOURSELF FIRST WITH GREATER CONFIDENCE model. We are certain that the future leaders and other participants would take this speech as a massive booster to transform their personal leadership styles and navigate their leadership effectiveness and organizational success. This was one of the best speeches by any measure and would help to make 2022 a great year for everyone.
Colombo Leadership Academy
It was a great evening indeed. Many takeaways even at this late sunset years of my life. The opening speech by MD Riaz Hassen gave a sparkling enlightenment to the evening proceedings. This was followed by Ramesh’s speech , full of lessons to learn, sharing of lifetime experiences enriched by his usual charismatic and inimitable style. All in all, I much enjoyed a Great evening after a long long time
Russel De Mel
Colombo Leadership Academy – Attendee