Senela Jayasuriya is a multi-award winning Global CEO, Keynote speaker and Leadership expert, specialized in diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) and Innovation. Recognized among the top 150 GLOBAL WOMEN LEADERS by GCPIT, 2022
Senela is the Founder & CEO of Women Empowered Global and the Founder of 1 Million Women in Power, as well as the Managing Director of Diverse, an innovation consulting company specialized in innovation strengths assessments and innovation coaching. Senela is also an Ambassador to the United States Presidential Service Center focusing on DEI training & advocacy programs. Her company network spans over 30 countries across 6 continents. Certified & experienced C-level expert in leadership development for Women in Corporate, STEM & Entrepreneurship. Former Country Director for Tech Company and Communications Lead for a Fortune 100 company. A SIX ‘I’s® Certified Innovation Global practitioner. In 2018, transitioned from corporate to entrepreneurship. In twelve months, scaled the company from a 2 member local team to a diverse & inclusive global team in Africa, Europe, South Asia & North America. Senela has been awarded with the “Global Women in Leadership Award 2022”.
FWM: Share your background as a leadership expert.
I started my career in advertising and progressed into handling account management in a multinational Ad-agency group responsible for Fortune 500 retail & consumer brands. Thereafter, I was absorbed into a Fortune 100 company that was headquartered in USA, as it’s Communications Lead in a very highly-male dominated sector. At this time, I was still in my mid-20’s and in middle management. My last appointment in Corporate 5-years back was as the Country Head and Head of International Marketing for a Tech firm headquartered in UK. During which point, entrepreneurship got my attention and I currently manage two companies of my own; in the leadership training, coaching & EduTech field, as well as my second company which is an Innovation consulting firm that carries out Innovation Strengths Assessments and Innovation Strengths Coaching.
I am also on the Board of Directors for four other organizations in the commercial and non-profit sector. I was also appointed as an Ambassador to the US Presidential Service Center, USA as well as a Country Chair for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion under the G100: Mission Million Global initiative, recognized for my expertise in Diversity training & Women’s Career & Leadership Development.
For the past 4 years, I have been developing self-leadership & personal branding frameworks and tools and teaching business owners and employees how to fast-track their careers and create magnetic personal brands. The key outcome when I work with individuals is to equip them with the tools and competencies to help raise their income earning potential and save them years of trying to climb the leadership ranks with stressful results riddled with self-doubt and possibly a burnout too.
Global Awards and Recognitions:
“Global Women in Leadership 2022”, GCPIT
“eYs Magazine Ambassador for IWD 2022 Australia
“Exceptional Women of Excellence”, WEF 2018
“2018 Women Icons Asia Award”, BERG Summit, Singapore
“SL Women Leadership Award – 2018”, CMO Asia
“Iconic Women Creating a Better World for All”, WEF 2017
Special recognition plaque from The GSEW in New York, USA
FWM: “Helping you with high-performance for a higher purpose.” Explain.
So glad you asked me this. I absolutely love this statement which is also a slogan I use in my high-performance training and coaching program when I work with hard-working corporate executives, to teach the difference between working efficiently versus effectively. Of course, in any type of career, we strive to achieve both efficiency as well as effectiveness and finish tasks to a high standard and with high-quality.
Here’s the thing, when we think of high-performance in a business setting, companies tend to evaluate high-performance as it relates to productivity, output, outcome and overall performance indicators. However, something that I help my clients understand is that when we are passionate about what we do, we don’t feel like its work; it becomes a passion and point of fulfillment. The only way to arrive at that paradigm is to realize that we need to find a higher-purpose reason that connects our effort and results. Similarly, when it comes to leadership, it’s about finding a way to connect the WHY behind the organizational vision and mission to the heart-centered connectors that could help employees truly resonate and aspire to fulfill and achieve the company goals and objectives.
Even in my own attitude and general approach to life, I ask myself this same reasoning “Am I serving or fulfilling a higher-purpose and mission?”. If the answer is NO, it would certainly be a reason for me to not proceed.
“Leadership is a combination of heart and mind. You can’t lead with one and not the other.”
FWM: Tell us about Women Empowered Global.
Women Empowered Global is more than just an organization. It is an ecosystem designed to empower women through professional development, career advancement and entrepreneurial programs, world-wide. We have structured courses, masterclasses and mentoring programs to meet the needs of women pursuing careers and goals that are in some instances hindered and influenced depending on the social & cultural conditioning imposed upon them. In such instances, we assess her current level of professional skills and aptitude, and based on that will help her choose an empowerment program or training most suited for where she’s at right now. We believe that no woman is an island. We need each other and this is the reason why we as an organization have launched business networking & building forums such as the Mingle event for Women in Business, Corporate & STEM where we have combined the concept of a Trade Exhibition, with a Think Tank – with Networking as a key built-in feature. We have even launched the Virtual platform for the Mingle community on Facebook, which has now grown into a muticultural group of women from over 20 countries.
We launched our presence in Africa in 2018 through an online Academy to help change the narratives of what Leadership looks like for African professional women in the Legal, Tech and Management fields, teaching them key soft skills as well as business sustainability skills. We also provided spot mentoring and networking opportunities for Academy members to learn from International Mentors connecting in from France, USA, Asia as well as within the Continent. In 2019, we launched the Global Speaker Series, giving speakers and coaches from around the world the access and ability to deliver webinars to global audiences from Africa, South Asia, Europe and other continents.
Some of our other initiatives include our Instagram LIVE Talkshow in Sri Lanka called “Happy Hour” where we featured prominent influencers and policy experts to advocate and discuss social taboos and stigmas associated with women and their appearance; as well as non-traditional careers. Our talkshow highlighted pressing issues women face such as “Colorism for Asian Women”, “Cyber-Bullying”, “Mental Health” and many other topics.
Women Empowered Global has also partnered with strong collaborators in Paris, Washington DC, Cameroon, London, Sri Lanka, and several other countries to conduct Global Thought-leadership panels such as the “Shatter Your Glass Ceiling” virtual conference conducted during Covid. We had speakers from different continents and cultures sharing their views, knowledge and experience with our global audience on SDG5 and sustainable solutions. We recognize and appreciate diversity. Which is why we always aim to bring that aspect into everything we do, across our initiatives.
In 2020, we launched the WEG Global Mentor Hub, where the vision is for career women to have the opportunity to get advice from our international Mentor pool.
In 2022, we launched a Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) podcast with the US Presidential Service Center, to highlight the importance of Male allyship, promoting women in gaming and sports, and other inspiring and insightful episodes to bring awareness to how we can “Break the Bias”. The episodes are still being recorded and can be listened to at www.womenempoweredglobal.com/podcast
FWM: When you set out to empower 1 Million women globally, what was your vision?
The mission of “1 Million Women in Power” is to empower 1Million women for leadership globally, in corporate, business and STEM. We have a growing global network of female leaders and male allies who connect with us at our weekly forum every week, and its absolutely amazing to see such a vast representation of mission supporters from such different fields including deep tech & AI, Art and the Music industry, Best-selling authors, TV Producers & TV Anchors, Motivational speakers, Celebrities, Business Advisors, Coaches and the list goes on. It’s definitely a big commitment to honor such a powerful mission which could potentially equal the playing field we see for women everywhere, when we advocate and support more women taking up line positions and Executive responsibilities and decision making on policy, innovation and sustainability in all sectors. The 1 Million Women in Power mission has been such a huge part of my vision and aspirations for the past 5 years. I took time to launch it but I know that for such widely-impactful initiatives, the universe has its way in orchestrating it in a divine manner with divine timing; and that was the case even in the context of this mission.
1 Million Women in Power is currently hosted virtually by Women Empowered Global every week, with its supporters of amazing panelists and leaders who join on a weekly basis. We have women leaders from USA, Taiwan, South Africa, United Kingdom and Sri Lanka. We will also soon be launching a special Leadership masterclass for emerging female leaders who want to learn how to grow their confidence for leadership, and learn how to navigate with strategies, insights and people management skills in a corporate and business setting, which includes how to deal with workplace related barriers that can make or break the morale of individuals and teams. Since 1 Million Women in Power recognizes the culture bias, social conditioning and childhood upbringing that could affect career women anywhere, our curriculum covers the diverse perspectives to support women to think in a more authentic and objective way when it comes to leadership and taking the lead. There is so much more to say about this but its best for anyone interested who wants to learn more about it to simply reach out to the team at contact@womenempowered.global and they will receive a response within 48hours.
FWM: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion have been pillars of your success. Tell us about your work in these areas.
Absolutely. My work on DEI is more focused on Gender diversity, equity and inclusion. I was born to a culture and generation where baby girls were raised to get married to a wealthy man from an elite society. And baby boys were raised to build a successful business and settle down with a fair beautiful virginal wife with a narrow waist and subservient personality, where a sizable dowry is a bonus. Fortunately, my own mother broke her glass ceiling and ended up defying odds in a highly politicized patriarchal work system in her time and lasted an aggressive and passionate legal career retiring on the Board after her 25year service. A lot of my work today under my company Women Empowered Global is owed to my observations of how women were oppressed and marginalized in my society and continent. The things I saw growing up of how working mothers were scorned at as a social rebel if she decided to pursue a career in leadership. I personally am aware of women who deliberately stick to low tide jobs even if it pays low and has low job promotion. This is not to generalize in any way, but there could be different reasons to her decision here too. On the one hand, a low-risk job means less work demands. One of the other reasons is that she complies with her in-law’s stereotype of the type of job a working mother could opt for – which does not include a conspicuous or high-demand job. With low quality day-care which is still relatively expensive to the median salary female employee, she is forced to settle for the type of negotiated balance of life to maintain a job while being a mom. The challenges are not only limited to working mothers. Working women in general are impacted by several socio-economic and legal challenges that determine their physical health, mental health, income potential, access to funding, ownership of property and the list goes on. Of course, when it comes to analyzing opportunities and influences, it differs from country- to-country, culture and other factors.
Since my work is global, I was interested to observe the parallels as well as the contrast on the opportunities and influences that women were exposed to based on the culture, social conditioning, and support system within her environment.
At Women Empowered Global, we have a very diverse team comprising of different ages, cultures, ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs, across four continents – and we embrace this difference as beauty – not a bias. Our belief is that no one should be judged based on appearance, but rather on their intensions and contributions to this world.
We conduct regular research to design training, coaching and mentoring programs as well as confidence building and professional skill and personality development programs for career women, to uplift and empower women from different cultural backgrounds, ages and nationalities. Currently, most of our programs are conducted in English, and depending on the type of program, we run it in the respective vernacular of that demographic or members registered. Other DEI initiatives include the DEI training we offer corporates, DEI consulting as well as the DEI podcast.
FWM: As a Global Consultant, why are individuals coming to you today?
Since I am a Leadership expert specialized in both DEI and Innovation; I bring in motivational energy, vision and practicality to whatever I am sought-after for – whether it’s for a Keynote or speech, a seminar, a thought-leadership panel, a strategic planning discussion for a business client, a book collaboration, media feature or business partnership.
For my coaching clients who are career women between the ages of 25 years to 40 years, looking to step in to a bigger leadership role at work or do a career transition or even start their own business and increase their income potential; I teach them how to create a magnetic personal brand and fast-track their career by saving them years of time and money. What’s unique about the results I’ve achieved for individuals on a global scale has been my ability to use empathy and cultural mindfulness when I coach them – encouraging their individuality – against fitting into a mold or stereotype. It’s also interesting how my programs attract coaching clients who want to challenge the status-quo and are currently struggling to overcome their own inhibitions, social upbringing and negative mindset. I spend a lot of time learning about the individual first, in trying to understand and really listen to their journey, their pain, their dreams and their heart. I then use my technical and coaching expertise to asses where my clients currently are, where they want to be, and what action steps are needed to help them get there. The entire transformation journey takes courage and consistency – and it’s all worth it.
FWM: Tell us about your Leadership trainings & coaching for female professionals in Corporate, Business & STEM.
Though my career working for companies was mostly revolved around Marketing Communications, Brand Development, Stakeholder relations and Human Resources; I had my hand in mentoring and teaching in some shape and form. My career history and personality gave me the edge of having a strong combination of skills and instincts that are vital in entrepreneurship today. Coupled with my international certifications in coaching and innovation, I have created a dynamic coaching program for women in Corporate, Business & STEM. I conduct the coaching in two ways – for individuals with One-on-One exclusive sessions, or in small groups of five people from the same team or unit. The coaching program was developed factoring in the empirical research and data points of career women and their micro & macro challenges and aspirations; and as an end result – I help them step into a more bold, confident and self-assured version of themselves, ready to take on life’s challenges and opportunities with confidence instead of anxiety. Anxiety and negative self-talk are a real issue that holds even some of the best of us back from truly tapping in to our income and personal growth potential. “Trust” is a key component in my coach-client relationship – where I am present to hear their fears, heart, hopes and dreams and work with each individual to define their vision statement, assess their current situation and then map out the strategy to grow their network and social influence as well as their personal brand as a competent and confident woman. I take them through conscious goal-setting as well which is important for them to have a sense of alignment on the action steps needed to reach their ambition. We also cover emotional intelligence as that too is a huge area that if not addressed and managed mindfully, it could cause a lot of unnecessary stress for a woman trying to increase her circle of influence, power and positioning, regardless of the sector she is operating in. I also introduce a very unique dimension to the program where she gets the opportunity to assess her innovation strengths as an individual and help her discover her blind spots, and explore how we can leverage her innovation skills as a competitive advantage for her job or business. The feedback I have received from my clients on the innovation strengths discovery has been exciting since many of them say it gave them a sense of empowerment to discover their skills they didn’t know they even had to help them make ideas at work more useful and impactful. If you’re reading this and thinking “you know what, I don’t want to – fit it- but rather, I want to stand out and learn how to do that effectively”, then you can reach me at senela.jayasuriya@gmail.com
FWM: Share your proudest moment of your career.
I have had some amazing moments in my career starting from being one of the youngest managers to be appointed to that role when I first joined the multinational at age 25; to leaving corporate and starting my own companies; then sharing my views on a thought-leadership panel alongside a Lady Country President on a IWD Panel for the Forbes School of Business & Technology, USA, as well as representing my country at prominent summits and global events I was invited to speak at such as the African Trade & Investment Global Summit held in Washington DC; to being featured in international magazines including the Presidential Magazine with The US Presidential Service Center with the cover feature being of the First Woman and Woman of Color as Vice President in the history of USA; to being awarded the Women Icons Asia Award in Singapore; to addressing thousands of strong leaders from around the world attending the Women Economic Forum in New Delhi, India; to being featured in the “Lady Power Asia” world premier film; to having a dedicated book chapter featuring my story – where I was featured among 13 trailblazing women around the world in the book “Women Going Global” by Tonya Mcneal-Weary. The list goes on.
I give credit for all my feats and celebrations to the wonderful and difficult people who gave me valuable lessons in life and what it means to be human. I learnt what it means to use my struggle as my strength, and to face fear with a smile and do it anyway because the biggest vacuum and loss in life are not the attempts that failed – but rather the several missed opportunities due to not even trying or giving up too soon – and dying with a life full of regret. Today, I am 37 years of age. For the past 20 years of my existence, I would say I have tapped into spirituality in a deeper way that makes sense to me and my life’s calling and vision; thereby to leave a legacy on earth as well as serve humanity with kindness and love. In hindsight, every tear I cried, every heartache to every moment in my life – both good and bad happened exactly the way it was meant to. True success is not about things or even what we celebrate as achievements; because in actuality, as human beings, we can’t take our medals to the grave; neither will we ever stop trying to achieve the next thing or move on to the next goal. I have come to the realization that – living a life on our own terms, feeling empowered and serving humanity while we are at it is possibly the greatest achievement of all.
FWM: Where can we expect to see you in 2022?
I absolutely love what I do and the positive impact it has on me, my daughter who turns 11 in August, my family and my society. And of course, it doesn’t stop there. My companies currently through its collaborations have a presence world-wide. I am currently open to speaking agencies and collaborators in different international markets to partner with to launch my speaking and coaching to a wider audience around the world, particularly in pockets and markets I have not yet reached internationally. If this interests you, please drop me an email to senela.jayasuriya@gmail.com
Further, once the 1 Million Women in Power phase 1 and 2 of the global empowerment – leadership forum and leadership masterclass gains further momentum, I look forward to launching chapters around the world. In 2022, I was also awarded the Country Chair role under the G100: Mission Million initiative by Dr. Harbeen Arora Rai as well as appointed to the Board of the Rotary Club of Global Impact in North Carolina, initiated by Martin CJ Mongiello. Both these appointments too have vested in me the responsibility for continuing to serve humanity and make impact on earth.
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