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SEVA VANITHA 227
Kasturi Chellaraja

Wilson IRON LADY IN THE SRI LANKA’S BUSINESS

ARENA AND THE FIRST FEMALE GROUP CEO

OF A PUBLIC QUOTED CONGLOMERATE IN

SRI LANKA

Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Hemas Holdings PLC. Kasturi joined
Hemas in 2002, where she held many senior management positions, including Chief Process Officer
and Managing Director of the Hemas Transportation Sector. In 2016, Kasturi took over as Managing
Director of Hemas Pharmaceuticals, Surgicals and Diagnostics, where she was responsible for
driving the company’s local and regional expansion. She also functioned as the Managing Director
of Hemas Mobility Sector prior to being appointed as Group CEO in October 2020. Kasturi is a
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and is an alumni of the Senior
Executive Leadership Program at Harvard Business School. She serves on the Board of Capital
Alliance Limited as a Non-Executive Director, along with several other Hemas subsidiaries in the
healthcare and consumer industries. Kasturi is an active member of several industry associations,
and is currently the first female President of the Sri Lanka Chamber of the Pharmaceutical Industry,
and serves on the main committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Kasturi also serves as a
committee Member of the National Sports Council of Srilanka. She was recognized as one of the
twelve Top Women Change-Makers in the country in 2019, by the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Kasturi
also represented Sri Lanka as a member of the National Netball and Basketball Teams. Over the
years, Kasturi has bravely faced and overcome many challenges, and her story is an inspiration to
women everywhere. This article was prepared based on a discussion held with her on the sidelines
of International Women’s Day falling on 8th March 2021.

Your appointment as CEO of a leading public quoted company in Sri Lanka marked a turning
point in the business world for women professionals. What are your memories of the family,
school and higher education that paved the way for success?

Growing up I was the tomboy in the family. My mother never restricted my sister or me from doing