About us

Who We Are

The FARO Foundation was established in 2006 by three pioneering associates as a philanthropic initiative to providing a value adding service to the less privileged youth of our society. It was incorporated as a nonprofit legal entity in Aug 2006, with the three founder members becoming its first Directors.

Founder Directors

Kapila Gunawardana

Kapila is the former Vice President and Area Chairman of Energizer Inc, USA, a Fortune 500 company. Kapila started his career in Sri Lanka with Union Carbide, becoming its first local CEO. He relocated overseas with the parent company, working for 36 years in senior executive capacities throughout the world, before taking retirement in 2003 and starting up FARO. He is now dedicating his efforts to sharing the benefits that he enjoyed whilst growing up in Sri Lanka.

Chandima Gunawardena

Chandima is currently an Executive Director of the Carson Cumberbatch Group of companies and member of the Management Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. He brings with him an extensive executive experience in both public and private sectors in the country and an excellent relationship with the local business community. His ongoing counsel and advice is assisting FARO in achieving its ambitious goals.

Sumana Liyanage

Sumana is the former CEO of the United Motors Ltd Group of companies and current Chairperson and Consultant to several nongovernmental organizations. He is also the honorary Treasurer of the FARO Foundation. His dedication and wealth of experience in dealing with social organizations in the country is an invaluable asset to FARO.

Kanagaratnam Nirmalan

Kanagaratnam Nirmalan is an entrepreneur, a leading exporter of marine products and custom made plastic film packaging products in Sri Lanka. He is a BSc graduate of the University of Ceylon. A Board member of few companies in Sri Lanka and was elected president of Seafoods’ Exporters Association of Sri Lanka.

Mangala Karunaratne

Mangala Karunaratne is an entrepreneur who founded Calcey Technologies in 2002. He started his career in Silicon Valley, where he held various Internet engineering and management roles at Fortune 1000 technology companies and dot-coms. In addition to Calcey, he founded eConceptions, RideLanka, OneClickTel, ShopMagik and a few other companies. Aside from his position as CEO of Calcey, Mangala serves as the co-chairman of FARO He also sits on the board of Trace, which is aimed at elevating the Sri Lankan Tech Industry to the next level. He is also a Trustee of the Karuna Trust and serves on the SLASSCOM General Counsel.

Roshani Kobbekaduwa

Secretary
F. J. & G. de Saram, Partner