Lalith Welamedage

Lalith is a social entrepreneur, researcher, and development practitioner with over 25 years of experience in the development sector. He has particular expertise in policy, research and practice related to SME and social enterprises, technology and innovation, equality, and diversity. He has held managerial positions in public, private and non-profit sectors and has undertaken consultancies in Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Vietnam and Barbados for the British Council, Oxfam GB, World University Services of Canada, the Commonwealth Secretariat, GIZ and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. Lalith has had research stints at the universities of Newcastle, Salford and Northumbria and has also been a visiting lecturer at the Universities of Peradeniya and Moratuwa in Sri Lanka and the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago.

He serves on the National Steering Committee of the UNDP-GEF Small Grants Programme in Sri Lanka, National Agenda Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on Entrepreneurship Eco-system, and on the GSG Impact Investing - National Advisory Body of the Impact Investing of Sri Lanka. He is the co-founder of Lanka Social Ventures, an enterprise support service in Sri Lanka which provides incubation and acceleration support for social enterprise and responsible SMEs, training and research and consulting services.

Lalith’s academic profile includes an MA in Industrial Development from the University of East Anglia and a PhD in Economic Geography from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne which examined SME, Technology, and Innovation Policies. He is also a Fellow of Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs, United Kingdom.