APPLICATION FORM

Local Committee Vice President

GCDPi - 2014/2015

Colombo South

Kavindu Thishakya Jayawardana

Section 01 Personal Information Contact Information

Surname Jayawardana

First Name Kavindu

Nick Name Kavi

Nationality Sri Lanka

Date and Place of Birth 30.10.1991 Galle

Permanent Address No 16/1, Elliot Road, Galle

Permanent Telephone 0912227071

Mobile Telephone 0716639149

E-mail kavindu.jayawardana@aiesec.net

Skype kavindu.jayawardana

AIESEC Telephone / Fax 0716639149

Academic & Professional Qualifications 1. Please provide details of your highest academic level achieved, studies completed

and other relevant academic backgrounds.

Date Academic level Institute

2011 – Present Undergraduate University of Moratuwa

1997 – 2010 G.C.E. Advanced Level Mahinda College, Galle

2. Please mention details of all relevant practical and professional experience in

chronological order (starting with the most recent). Indicate whether it was full-time, vacation work or another type of position.

Date Work/Employer Description Responsibilities/experience and knowledge gained

2012 November – 2013 June

Sri Lanka Unites Team Leader Southern Coalition (Part time)

Team Management, Logistics, Conference management, Event management.

2012 September – 2013 February

Esoft Computer Studies, Galle Branch

Lecturer – Computerized Accounting (Part time)

Meeting deadlines, Actual working environment, Reporting progress, Working with management.

3. Please list your specific Software / PC skills (outlining packages used) in the table

below.

Software Skill Level (Basic,

Intermediate, Expert) Packages of which you

have experience

Word processing Expert MS Word

Spreadsheet Expert MS Excel

Database Expert MS Access, SQL

Presentation Graphics Expert MS PowerPoint, Adobe

Photoshop Internet (usage per week)

30 – 40 Hours per week

4. Please list your language skills.

Language Level (Basic, Good, Excellent, Native)

Speaking Understanding Writing Sinhala Native Native Native English Excellent Excellent Excellent

AIESEC Experience 1. List all positions held and for which year, your key achievements and your key

learning

Date Position & Country Key Achievements Key Learning

2014 January - Present

External Relations Manager

External Relations

2013 August – 2013 November

Organizing Committee Vice President Logistics, NLDS 2013, AIESEC Sri Lanka

Raised an Gold partnership, Managed logistics of the conference

Logistics management, Event management, Conference management and handling,

2013 March – 2013 August

Organizing Committee President, FEEL Lanka 3.0, AIESEC Colombo South

Partnered with 3 companies

Managing partners, Project management

2012 September – 2013 February

Organizing Committee President, FEEL Lanka 1.0, AIESEC Colombo South

Introducing a new tourism initiative to local committee as “FEEL Lanka”

Team management, Planning, Team work.

2. Please list the National and International Meetings / Conferences you have attended

in the table below; your role; what you contributed and what you learned.

Meeting / Conferenc

e Country

Role (Delegate, OC, Faci, Chair,

etc.)

Key Contributions

Key Learning

NLDS 2013 Sri Lanka

OC VP – Logistics Managed logistics Team work, Event Management

Nat Con 2013

Sri Lanka

Delegate CS representation AIESEC 2015

3. Give a brief description of the most valuable moment/experience in AIESEC. Explain

why you hold that valuable and what you have learnt from that. The most valuable moment in my AIESEC career is the moment of the standing ovation

given by all the membership of AIESEC Sri Lanka at NLDS 2013 when we received the

award for “Most outstanding LC”. It was once again proved that my LC is simply

unbeatable. Though I was a team leader at that moment, the results of those little things

matters a lot. I was so proud of that feeling and felt I am also a part of the award.

Section 02 General Questions Why AIESEC? 1. What is your understanding towards the CoW (Clarity of Why) of AIESEC? The mission of AIESEC is Peace and fulfillment of humankind’s potential. AIESEC is

working in a global environment and a global perspective. So we address global issues.

To address these global issues, a set of leaders who can make a change is essential. That

leadership is formed by exchange programs and AIESEC is responsible for developing

the leadership potential in them. Also to deliver the highest quality performance in

everything. That will be the overview of CoW of AIESEC

2. What is “AIESEC 2015”? Explain how AIESEC would become the most credible and diverse global youth voice.

“AIESEC 2015” is the ultimate goal which we have to achieve by 2015 aligning with the

core principles of AIESEC. It is about improving our current programs with a high

visibility with an engagement of every young person in the world. Also it includes to

empower young people for “Peace and Fulfillment of Human Kind’s Potential” and how

we deliver that in a unique way.

We should ensure that we are delivering an impactful experience adding quality to

everything we do, to be the most diverse youth voice globally. Expanding network is

also very important. All AIESECers should maintain their level of excellence and

competence that is expected.

3. What motivated you to apply for the Executive Board?

AIESEC is the best organization I have ever joined. In AIESEC I have the opportunity to

work with real time challenges and work practically with those challenges. Also AIESEC

made the platform to develop my capacity in Leadership.

I have worked with two Executive boards of Colombo South and the inspiration I got

through those personalities is the main motivation to apply. The level of competence

they had when compared with other individuals and the level of strategic decision

making they are doing towards the success of the LC is marvelous.

Being a member of the most prominent LC in AIESEC Sri Lanka I want to be a part of the

generation who wants to take CS to the next level as a well-recognized LC in the

international network.

Team Culture 1. Mention two (02) changes you want to see in AIESEC Colombo South team

culture.

Equal commitment and dedication from all the members which in turn will help their personal development as well.

Cross functional team bond

2. What is your understanding on the accountability of the Executive Board on

Local Committee performance? Executive Board is the responsible entity in a Local committee for the performance of

the LC. It includes strategic planning for the local committee and managing all the

opportunities and threats towards the local committee performance. Also executive

board is the driving force of the whole LC. They should ensure all the potential members

are contributing their maximum towards the organizational goals. EB should also

ensure that all the activities of the LC is running smoothly and in any instance where a

quick decision should be taken in a critical moment, the best sustainable solution is

taken in align with both LC and AIESEC in Sri Lanka context. Also each and every

decision taken is directly connected with goals of the LC.

External Awareness

1. As per your perspective, list down the major focus areas of AIESEC Colombo

South for the term 2014/15. Give reasons for your selection.

Talent Management As a local committee we should ensure the Member Development of our members. While they are working towards the goals of the Local Committee and AIESEC Sri Lanka they should add a value for themselves which is a value we believe in AIESEC. Member Retention should also be considered as well. With the tough academic schedule in the university there is a tendency of members to leave AIESEC. This should be considered because the experience they have functionally is important. GCDPi At the moment we are doing really well in GCDPi function. Still there are aspects we can touch. In project planning we should go for new ventures in an innovative way. Additional to the projects we are currently doing there are fields we can touch. Achieving big numbers with a diverse set of projects would be awesome.

2. Discuss two (02) threats presented to AIESEC in the Sri Lankan context. Suggest action points to neutralize those threats. Other institutions There are many other institutions operating in Sri Lanka in the same context like AIESEC with exchange programs. Also there are some programs which are very popular comparing with AIESEC and some programs starts their operations from school level. So they have a higher visibility and a popularity with AIESEC and their operations are a threat which can manage with proper strategies. Tough academic schedule Almost all the members in AIESEC Sri Lanka are university students. Tough schedules in universities are a major threat. Especially the university examinations which falls during peak time will reduce the growth in numbers. But that issue can overcome with a strategy in motivating members. So they have an incentive towards their responsibility in AIESEC

Section 03 Role Specific Questions

Vice President – Incoming Exchange (Global Community Development Program)

1. Explain three strategies that could implemented to achieve a sustainable growth in the function

Increase the quality of the project Through delivering quality projects it is possible to achieve a sustainable growth. The news of quality projects spreads in the network and it is possible to build the visibility of the project. The matching process and attracting sponsorships too becomes easy because stakeholders know about the project. Simply when we repeat the project annually there is a set of interns who are keen on participating for the particular project.

Intern management When it comes to intern management we should specify the job description properly. So that exchange participants are well aware of our expectations and they are also aware of their job role in the project. It avoids the conflicts and grievances of them during the project period. Also as a function we should ensure the exchange participant’s development while satisfying them with a quality experience.

Skill inventory of members GCDPi is a challengeable function. From project planning to the end there is a chain of tasks to do depending on the nature of the project. Members have diverse skills and different expectation. Those skills and expectations should be identified well and when assigning members to teams a better interview process should carry on depending on the nature of the project and members’ interest areas. So they are self-motivated to a particular extent and failures can be reduced.

2. Describe how we could enhance the quality of program through a better matching and reception process. Interview process should be restructured when matching interns. When several projects on different domains are running simultaneously it should ensure that the potential exchange participants are matched to the project they best suits for. Basically a structured interview should be done and the structure should change depending on the nature of the project. Then a set of capable and passionate set of exchange participants can be matched for a particular project. Moreover there should be a free environment for them to fully concentrate on the project they are working for. For that logistic requirements should be reviewed in a better way. 3. What is the importance of achieving a good net promoter score? Explain two novel concepts that could create a positive impact on NPS. The main importance of achieving a good net promoter score is the goodwill we can build within the network. When a particular entity is rich with a good NPS other entities in the network tend to send their expected exchange participants recommending the entity with a high NPS. Also it is possible to attract quality EPs because a good NPS expose the quality of the programs we deliver. To make a positive impact on NPS we can make a cross cultural environment in the team by matching EPs from different cultures. One of the main objectives of EPs is to experience diverse cultures. So when they meet their objectives they are satisfied about the internship experience which will be reviewed by NPS. Also each EP should have a particular responsibility in the project. So they are not idle during the project period. They are applying for an internship expecting their personal development too. So in project planning stage we should ensure that each participant have a set of adequate tasks to do during the period.

4. Suggest ways to make the GCDP projects more externally relevant. Project ideas should be relevant to sponsors. Companies have particular areas in which they would engage with respect to social responsibility. Usually project planning is done in a way where firstly the ideas are brainstormed and then the market research is done focusing like-minded companies. But the process can be changed in a way where market research is done firstly and then brainstorming is done to cope with the CSR initiatives of stakeholders in order to make the project more externally relevant and to make the project more successful. To make projects more externally relevant we can plan projects around social needs. There are many aspects of society which are not that much considered in the community. For an example drug addiction of youth has become a social problem and no one pays attention about that issue. Also there are many other aspects like street children issue, issue of disabled etc. Though some of them are addressed by the community, those initiatives are not that much popular. But as AIESECers we have the potential and capability of addressing them effectively which serves the community in return. 5. Develop a project outline including goals, targets, timeline and potential stakeholders. Project Description Project will focus on skills development of the children who are living in children orphanages Exchange participants will be assigned to orphanages. They are responsible to deliver their sessions on skills development and train children for the concert where they will perform to showcase their talents Goals

- Develop skills of children in orphanages. - Provide them the opportunity to move with people from different cultures. - Make a platform for them to showcase their hidden talents to a larger audience.

Target – 25 exchanges, 5 orphanages Measures of Success

- Number of exchange participants matched successfully according to the circumstances.

- Percentage of sponsorships raised with respect to the timeline. - Determining the ideal logistic requirements and orphanages best suits the

project.

Timeline

July August 2nd Week

3rd Week

4th Week 1st Week 2nd Week 3rd Week 4th Week

Arrival Of EPs Induction session for EPs

Partnership hunt, Deliver sessions on skills development and train children for the final concert.

Final concert and the conclusion of project

*The partnership hunt will be done additionally to provide EPs the opportunity to develop themselves working with the corporate in Sri Lanka and develop their leadership skills. Potential Stakeholders

- DSI - Atlas - Sarasavi book shop - Maubima Newspaper - Cargills Food City - Ceylon Biscuits Limited - Sampath Bank - MAS holdings