This document provides a detailed resume for Deepthi Lamahewa, outlining her extensive experience in local economic development, entrepreneurship development, skills training, and community development projects in Sri Lanka over 25 years. She has held several senior management roles leading projects for organizations like the UNDP, ILO, and Asian Development Bank. Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Bachelor of Laws, and several postgraduate certificates in fields like local economic development and entrepreneurship training.

1. DEEPTHI LAMAHEWA
326/B/4, St Mary’s Road, Galhena, Welivita, Kaduwela, Sri Lanka
Telephone: +94-773455641
Email: deepthi.lamahewa@gmail.com
Profile;
• Significant (25+years) experience in designing, implementing and monitoring
effective Local Economic Development/Entrepreneurship Development, Market
Development in Business Development Services, social/youth/livelihood & Income
generation, Vocational Training and Skills Development, Workforce Development
and community development programs in all parts of the country with all types of
rural / urban / plantation / IDP and emergency settings
• Over 20 years of senior management level experience both as a team leader and as a
team member; manage projects and programmes, staff management and responsible
for decision making and represent senior management teams.
• Certified Consultant /Trainer / External Resource Person for the Ministry of Public
Management Reforms for institutional capacity building at public institutions
• Proven experience and ability to work with the private and public sectors in
identifying and delivering public, private and civil society partnership initiatives
• Solid skills and knowledge on social development including youth development,
participatory development; rural livelihoods, micro companies and rural businesses
with private sector market linkages
• Familiarity with Government priorities & policies, INGO and UN setup and its
operations
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills (in English & Sinhala)
• Knowledge in participatory training tools, such as PRA, RRA, Value Chain
Development and other knowledge sharing methods
Academic Qualifications;
Course Institution Year
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2. Bachelor of Arts Degree (Economics) University of Colombo 1982
Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) Open University of Sri Lanka 1998
Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Sociology University of Colombo, Sri
Lanka
2000
Higher International Diploma in Local Economic
Development
DELNET - ILO-International
Training Centre -Turin, Italy
2009
Diploma in Local Economic Development for
Territorial Agents
FAFFE Institution, Spain 2010
Certified Facilitator in Market Development in
Business Development Services
Turin , Italy and Springfield
Centre , UK
2001,
2002
Work Experience:
• Deputy Program Director – World University Service of Canada (WUSC) ASSET project
(November 2015 to date)
• Manager – Environmental, Gender & Social Safeguard / Institutional Development and
Reforms; Local Government Enhancement Sector Project (LGESP) – Asian Development
Bank (ADB) / Project Management Unit, Ministry of Local Government and Provincial
Councils. (Sep 2012 to Sep 2015)
• Technical Director-Ruhuna Economic Development Agency (RUEDA) in the Southern
Province – UNDP supported Local Economic Development (LED) Project ( 2009 to
December 2011)
• Programme Coordinator- ILO-Japan Youth Employment Project in Sabaragamuwa (2008 –
2009)
• Director General / Chief Executive Officer / Youth Employment National Secretariat
(YEN’S) - ILO – Colombo, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Skills Development and
Vocational Training, and Ministry of Youth Affairs (2004 – 2008) Key Responsibilities:
Facilitate the process of Development of the Youth Employment National Action Plan;
Through a comprehensive consultation process with stakeholders including Public, Private,
INGO’s, Civil Society & Youth
• Director - Entrepreneurship Development - Ministry of Enterprise Development and
Industrial Policy (2000-2003) Key Responsibilities: Setting up a well structured Business
Incubator, Encourage and assist emergence of new entrepreneurs, Undertake
competitiveness studies, Commence Productivity Improvement Programme, Improve the
Business Development Services (BDS) market in the country, , Facilitate ILO-SIYB
Entrepreneurship Training Programme, Expand Entrepreneurship Trainings into the SME
Sector
• Management Consultant - Industrial Development Board (IDB) of Sri Lanka (2001) Key
Responsibilities: Restructuring of IDB activities in line with the Government’s new SME Policy
• Programme Officer - FORUT Sri Lanka (1996 – 2000) Key Responsibilities: Advice the project
staff on development works, in order that the community development and training
components of the program are planned and execute in a planned manner, Building up the
Community based organization and strengthen them to build partnership between each
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3. organization, Assist the Project Coordinators / Partners in planning and budgeting the
community development component and training components in each project within the
budget limits, Workout and familiarize strategies to hand over the project components to the
local partners (localization), Carry out close follow up and assess the sustainability of
program on a regular basis.
• Manager (Development) - Peoples Rural Development Association (PRDA) 1991-1996. Key
Responsibilities-represent ; US AID supported national Resource Center ( represented by
national level NGO’s) and as the District Coordinator of the Puttalam District Development
Resource Centre of Community Based Organizations in the Puttalam District, Plan
International Collaboration Project, CIPSI – Italy Collaboration Project, JTF Micro Credit
Program, ILO/RAFAD/HNB Enterprise Development Credit Guarantee Program , Monitor
30 village level Revolving Credit Funds, Monitoring and Evaluation & Prepare Progress
Reports
• Coordinator – Puttalam District Development Resource Center-IRED Development
Innovations & Net Works (1990-1991) Key Responsibilities; Facilitate 50 People’s
Organizations (Peoples Organisationa) in the Puttalam District (donor – US AID) . Main
responsibility was to facilitate these organizations to understand their strengths and
weaknesses. The ultimate goal was to develop their Institutional capacities to meet with
solutions to their immediate & future challenges
• Group Promoter Supervisor -Plan International, Badulla (1984 – 1990) Key Responsibilities;
Setting up and running village groups / committees, Field Animation, Formation of
Community Groups, Project identification and Implementation through village committees,
Situation Analysis, goal setting and Long Term Planning, Guide and facilitate all
development activities in the DS Division of Hali Ela – Badulla
Trainings Obtained
• Training on Institutional Development and Organizational Strengthening (IDOS): MDF –
1996
• Training on Logical Framework Analysis planning (LFA) – NORAD & ILO-Turin, 1997 and
2009
• Participatory Organizational and Institutional Assessment (PODIA) : MDF – 1999
• Advance Management Training - MDF-2000
• Regional Training and Orientation Course on the “Principles and the Practices of
Appropriate Technology Development”: APROTEC ASIA and JICA from January 15th 1991
to February 13th 1991 in Philippines,
• Training on “Sustainable Farming Systems” ODISCO Farm – Philippines – 1991
• Regional Training on “Sustainable Development Approaches” – conducted by Asian Rural
Institute, and Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) in Japan 1992
• Training on Human and Natural Resource Development, Human Development Center,
Kegalle 1998.
• Women Entrepreneurship Trainers Training (TOT) – India 1996
• PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) – Regional Trainers Training (TOT) – 1995
• ILO-SIYB Trainers Training (TOT) – 1999/2000
• 3rd International BDS conference in Turin, Italy-2002
• Advance Training on BDS Strategies – Springfield Centre / Strathclyde University / UK 2003
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4. Other International Exposures
• Exposure studies on community development approaches in MYRADHA, Guild of
Services, AWAKE, National Coir Federation, SEWA and ASEFFA, in India
• Exposure visit to two organizations engaged in Appropriate Technology Development
in Thailand, 1991
• Represent FORUT – Sri Lanka in the IOGT – NTO International Youth Congress in
Sweden – 1999
• Knowledge Sharing Methods – ILO Workshop –Vietnam -2005
• Knowledge Sharing Follow up WS – Indonesia -2005
• Resource person to Regional Technical Discussion on Youth Employment – ILO
Bangkok – 2007
• Resource person to Experience sharing with Mongolian Youth Forum in Ulaanbaatar,
2007 and knowledge sharing visit to YEN-China Programme at ACYF (All China Youth
Federation) -2007
• Local Economic Development study visit to Italy and Spain, 2009 -UNDP
• Resource person to Local Economic Development World Forum- Spain 2009 -UNDP
• Participant to Local Economic Development experience sharing in Spain 2010 –UNDP
• SOCDEM Asia conference on Health Policy in Malaysia Oct. 2012-FES
• Tourism Sector exposure visit to Philippines – July 2016
Attended Workshops
• Workshop on “Income Generating Projects” conducted by World Education Program of
U.S.A. 1998 (in Colombo – Sri Lanka)
• Income Generating Projects Monitoring and Evaluation Workshop. Conducted by
Matching Grant Program – Thailand 1999
• Management and Supervisory Training workshop, conducted by Plan International,
Badulla and NIBM consultants. 2000
• International Work shop on “Creating Employment through Guarantee Funds and
Economical Empowerment” – organized by the ILO, the RAFAD Foundation and for the
ILO / RAFAD Project – “Self – Management Guarantee Funds”
• Micro Enterprise Monitoring system (MEMS) Conducted by Management Systems
International – US Aid in Sri Lanka
• Gender workshop – conducted by CIDA
Areas of Expertise:
1. Preparation of National Policies; I have taken the lead facilitation role in preparation of the
Youth Employment National Action Plan for the Government of Sri Lanka. Ministry of Youth
Affairs was the lead government counterpart. Ministry of Vocational training and Skills
Development, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labour were involved as other national
stakeholders. All national and regional chambers and Employers Federation have represented
the private sector. Youth groups in rural, urban, estates and North & East have consulted and
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5. involved in the validation process. This process was conducted through the direction of a
National Steering Committee and separate Working Groups were set up to discuss thematic
areas of Employability, Employment Policy, Equal Opportunity and Entrepreneurship.
1. Participatory Project Planning (PPP); assist projects to bring pro-poor and participatory
perspectives to national, regional or district level development policies and planning through
establishing model participatory consultative mechanisms. This will build the capacity of the
Project to deliver a poverty-focused and broadly owned Medium Term Development Plans,
Institutional arrangements and advocacy for poverty reduction, at national, provincial and
district level.
2. Preparation of Participatory Village Development Plans for CBO’S, village development
societies, and other community development projects; Along with the ongoing activities of
the community, a community development plan that identifies community needs, identifies
roles and responsibilities, sets targets, identifies potential further sources of finance to assist
with wider economic development and community development needs, and communicates
outcomes will help in managing community expectations. Given the commitments that the
organization has already made to local community development, it will be important to
understand the breadth and variety of existing /proposed interactions with local
communities, and to be able to work with representatives of all stakeholder groups in the
identification and development of a robust and practical CDP. Following components will be
covered;
• Develop village profile
• Institutional mapping exercise; institutions in the village, projects in the village,
conducted by the national government, provincial authorities, district secretariat and
local government authorities,
• Conduct needs assessment and prioritization plan
• Gaps on existing programmes and identifying areas for development
• Develop, short, medium and long-term plans
3. Other areas of expertise;
• Preparation of Feasibility Reports
• Conduct rapid Baseline Assessments
• Conduct stakeholder mapping and analysis
• Prepare Issue Papers
• Local Economic Development assessments; livelihood, entrepreneurship, public -
private partnership, and regional planning
• SME development; Business clusters, sub sector development, create SME facilitation
forums and Value Chain Analysis
• Labour Market Assessments; Surveys on available job opportunities, future potential
assessments, LM assessments on specific sub sectors
• Local Institutional Development and Organizational Strengthening; Institutional
diagnosis studies, HR development plans, prepare Job Descriptions (JD) and Staff
Appraisal systems
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6. 4. Completed Assignments (consultancies):
• Introducing ‘Biometric Passport’ to Sri Lanka, assessing the legislative amendment
requirements to Immigration Act-International Organization for Migration (IOM),
March-May 2012 (completed)
• Value chain analysis on traditional rice varieties in Sri Lanka-Oxfam Australia (OAU)
–May 2012 (completed)
• Conduct a Training Workshop on Communication and Time Management for
Community Workers -World Vision, Sri Lanka, Hambantota – May 2012 (completed)
• Preparing a fund raising Project Proposal on Mechanization of women led coir
industry in down South, Sri Lanka, for Oxfam-GB – May 2012 (completed/ proposal
has been short listed for 2nd
round)
• Preparing Provincial Road Safety Plans based on National Road Safety Action Plan-
Assignment by World Health Organization (WHO) –Sep-Dec 2012 (completed)
Other Consultancies
• Sub Sector Analysis on SME Potentials in 03 Districts – Caritas, 2008
• Business Development Services (BDS) assessment in Sabaragamuwa Province, Ministry
of Youth Affairs, 2009
• National BDS Market assessment / together with ILO,GTZ & Swiss-contact, Ministry
of Enterprise Development, 2002
• Introducing a Career Guidance system to the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, in
collaboration with WUSC, 2011
• Labour Market Assessment in the Batticaloa District, Child Fund Sri Lanka, 2011
• Knowledge Sharing with international partners on Sri Lanka Youth Employment
National Action Plan preparation process in Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Thailand,
Nepal and Mongolia; sponsored by ILO Geneva, (2008-2009)
• Field Project Assessment; Hambantota, Nuwaraeliya, Polonnaruwa and Dambulla-
Child Fund – Sep - Oct 2012
Voluntary Engagements
• Represented Board of Directors in IDB – 2001-02
• Represented Board of Trustees – Welisara Economic Centre
• National Steering Committee Member- Youth Employment Working Group
• National Advisory Committee (NAC) Member – Janasaviya Trust Fund (JTF)
• National Advisory Committee Member- Entrepreneurship Culture Development
Program – Ministry of Enterprise Development
• National Steering Committee Member- ILO-SIYB program
• Visiting Lecturer- Management Faculty-University of Ruhuna
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7. 4. Completed Assignments (consultancies):
• Introducing ‘Biometric Passport’ to Sri Lanka, assessing the legislative amendment
requirements to Immigration Act-International Organization for Migration (IOM),
March-May 2012 (completed)
• Value chain analysis on traditional rice varieties in Sri Lanka-Oxfam Australia (OAU)
–May 2012 (completed)
• Conduct a Training Workshop on Communication and Time Management for
Community Workers -World Vision, Sri Lanka, Hambantota – May 2012 (completed)
• Preparing a fund raising Project Proposal on Mechanization of women led coir
industry in down South, Sri Lanka, for Oxfam-GB – May 2012 (completed/ proposal
has been short listed for 2nd
round)
• Preparing Provincial Road Safety Plans based on National Road Safety Action Plan-
Assignment by World Health Organization (WHO) –Sep-Dec 2012 (completed)
Other Consultancies
• Sub Sector Analysis on SME Potentials in 03 Districts – Caritas, 2008
• Business Development Services (BDS) assessment in Sabaragamuwa Province, Ministry
of Youth Affairs, 2009
• National BDS Market assessment / together with ILO,GTZ & Swiss-contact, Ministry
of Enterprise Development, 2002
• Introducing a Career Guidance system to the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, in
collaboration with WUSC, 2011
• Labour Market Assessment in the Batticaloa District, Child Fund Sri Lanka, 2011
• Knowledge Sharing with international partners on Sri Lanka Youth Employment
National Action Plan preparation process in Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Thailand,
Nepal and Mongolia; sponsored by ILO Geneva, (2008-2009)
• Field Project Assessment; Hambantota, Nuwaraeliya, Polonnaruwa and Dambulla-
Child Fund – Sep - Oct 2012
Voluntary Engagements
• Represented Board of Directors in IDB – 2001-02
• Represented Board of Trustees – Welisara Economic Centre
• National Steering Committee Member- Youth Employment Working Group
• National Advisory Committee (NAC) Member – Janasaviya Trust Fund (JTF)
• National Advisory Committee Member- Entrepreneurship Culture Development
Program – Ministry of Enterprise Development
• National Steering Committee Member- ILO-SIYB program
• Visiting Lecturer- Management Faculty-University of Ruhuna
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