2024 DIAN Kick Off Meeting

Bijita is a Programme Manager for the DIAN team based in Hong Kong. She is responsible for maintaining the member database and providing support for DIAN events and campaigns.

Before joining community business, Bijita was a marketing coordinator for an NGO focused on empowering marginalised women and youth through an intersectional feminist lens. She has also interned for Prudential to conduct market research on ethnic minorities and for an SME in the holistic wellness industry. One of her passion projects is to publish a bilingual children book to raise awareness on social issues, promote bilingualism, and increase Nepalese representation in children literature.

Bijita holds a bachelors degree in Business Management and Liberal Arts. She is fluent in English, Nepali and Hindi while being intermediate in Cantonese and Mandarin. She uses she/her/her pronouns.

Dimuthu de Silva is the Senior Manager, Consulting & Training at Community Business. He is responsible for consulting, training design and delivery, client relationship management and the daily operations of the C&T team. Prior to joining Community Business, Dimuthu was a consultant in Learning & Development and HR, with over twelve years in banking, financial technology, KPO and BPO, hotels & tourism and education industries. He has experience in end-to-end learning design and delivery, HR systems delivery, general consultancy and policy development around people, culture and organisational development. He is also an active researcher of social inclusion, representation and participation of marginalised communities and speaks at conferences and forums frequently. Dimuthu was born and raised in Sri Lanka and completed his higher education in Malaysia. He has worked in Sri Lanka and the South Asian and APAC region on assignments. Dimuthu has an MBA in International Business from Anglia Ruskin University, MSc in International Development Management from University of Nottingham and is a certified TESOL/TEFL trainer. He is also an accredited DiSC trainer from Wiley and Sons, USA. Dimuthu is fluent in English and Sinhala.

The Chief Operating Officer as a member of the Executive Leadership team, contributes to the overall strategic direction and sustainability of Community Business as a not-for-profit organisation. Responsibilities include executive leadership of all operational functions including Marketing and Communications, Change Management and HR, Employee Engagement & Culture, Finance, Legal and Compliance, Technology and Infrastructure. In addition she has leadership oversight of our number of our key programs including Gender, LGBT+ and Employee Wellbeing.

Prior to joining Community Business Janet has built a successful career as a senior leader most recently with Telstra International in Hong Kong, covering a broad range of disciplines and functions including strategic business planning and performance, programme management and delivery, corporate governance, change management, organisational effectiveness and talent development. She also has experience in the Travel, Tourism, Training and Hospitality sectors. Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Janet and her husband now call Hong Kong home.

Janet believes organisation is only as strong as its people. She has helped teams get where they want to be by working with people, opening channels of communication, developing and retaining the right talent and ensuring an inclusive environment where creativity and collaboration can thrive.

With over 35 years work experience Janet is continuing her learning by undergoing study towards a Bachelor of Psychological Sciences through Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is an alumni of The Women's Foundation Mentoring Program.

Salma is a Senior Programme Manager from Bangalore, India. She is responsible for driving the strategy and execution of the Community Business - India Best Practice Conference and India Awards.  

Salma has a total of 9 years of experience as an Advertising and International Strategic Events professional. Her profile included Business Development, Sales, Marketing and Branding. Always in a client facing role, she understands client requirements and how it can be translated it into trainings and events. She has also had a stint as an Entrepreneur and co-founded a Trainings and Conference company that catered to Latin-America and Middle East.  

Salma has done her MBA in Media and Communication from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune. She is fluent in English and Hindi.

Saranta is the Senior Programme Manager for DIAN. She is responsible for driving the development and execution of DIAN across the region.

Prior to Community Business, Saranta was working with founders and leaders committed to building authentic work cultures and workplaces that empower their teams. Her experience brings together a unique blend of workplace strategy, learning & programme design and leadership coaching.

Passionate about the future of work, Saranta launched The Working Capitol, a co-working space in Singapore to re-imagine the way work, wellbeing and inclusion can co-exist. She was also the Head of Learning for a private network of female leaders, spearheading the programme design & delivery and member experience across events, workshops & networking opportunities, to advance the role of women in leadership. Saranta is a strong believer in the power of community to drive transformation and create impact and is a champion of diversity & inclusion practices in and out of the workplace.

Saranta was born in Belgium and raised in Singapore. A graduate from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts, International Studies & French, she worked in the US and Southeast Asia representing global brands in her early career before exploring the world of entrepreneurship. Saranta is a coach-in training, supporting especially female founders and working mothers. She is fluent in English and French, conversational in Italian and learning Indonesian.

Nisha is a Programme Manager for DIAN based in India. She supports in managing the Diversity Inclusion Asia Network (DIAN), the leading network of companies and professionals committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in Asia. 

Prior to Community Business, Nisha worked as a Manager in an NGO, she was responsible for leading the Mental Health Programme, and coordinating other educational programmes for children from low-income households. 

Nisha is Psychologist with a Master's in Psychology. She is fluent in English, Hindi and Malayalam.