Thushan dharmawardana mcvp_application

Thushan Sameera Dharmawardana

AIESEC CS |AIESEC PERA | AIESEC MoC |AIESEC SL

+94 714 767379

[email protected]

Skype: thushan.live

mailto:[email protected]

Thushan_Dharmawardana_MCVPGCDPi_Application Page 2

1. What are the conferences you have attended/facilitated in AIESEC, and why were they important?

NLDS 2011 is the first conference experience for me as it gave me the momentum to have a spark in my

AIESEC career. “Transformers” was also one of the conferences, which come across my AIESEC career.

Then it was the NLDS 2012 which was engaged with lots of knowledge, exposure and fun. Even though I

couldn’t be a part of NLDS 2013 full time the small time I was with the OC and the members made me

realize how AIESEC is expanding with lots of energetic members.

AIESEC conferences are the knowledge centers for AIESECers as the knowledge that can be obtained is

so vast. Conferences are so much important in providing the spark, the motivation for the AIESEC

members. It is amazing to see how members evolved after participating in a conference.

AIESEC Colombo South is my second family as I developed myself a lot through the time period I was a

member of the LC. Even as a team leader I had the chance to facilitate sessions to the members. As I

become the LCVP GCDPi, I had so many chances to deliver sessions to the GCDP members where functional

training sessions and matching training sessions were among them. One of the best facilitating experiences

is being the chair of the project development day held by CS GCDP.

Those facilitating experiences made me more capable of delivering sessions. All the sessions were not

perfect as after reminiscing I got to know what the areas I should improve and what the best ways to

attract a crowd are.

One of the great challenges I faced in my AIESEC career is the restoration of the AIESEC in Peradeniya

chapter. During this time I facilitated few inductions and certain other sessions in the process of

establishing the newest AIESEC chapter.

2. What are the three main areas in which you have had the most experience? Highlight your

knowledge/skills/ passion in each.

GCDP function

It is almost three years for my AIESEC career. I joined AIESEC as a GCDP member and in all these years

I was involved with developing and initiating many PBOXes. I was able to witness the extreme

transformation of GCDP function and I must say it is greatly influenced by “Earth Hour” project and

“Ayubowan China” project. I am happy as to be a part of the initiation of “Earth Hour” project which was a

result of the hard work put by the Gurugedara team members.

One of the best experiences I have had is the realization of my first project which was a challenging one as

it happened in the somewhat secluded city in Trincomalee. I still remember the words my first EP spoke to

me which were not sweet at all. I was cited as liar as I screwed the whole expectation setting part. I got it

all wrong as it was also my first time in Trincomalee. That was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my

AIESEC career as from moment that on I was one of the best in handling the EP s as I haven’t had much

problems dealing with them and if by any chance a problem occurred I was capable enough to overcome it.

I am not a “matching machine” but I believe that I have the experience of matching enormous number of EP

s in my own as I have developed special skills in matching. There were many LC to LC partnerships that were


formed during my time as the VP GCDPi. That is one of the reasons in achieving the commendable 150

exchanges achieved during the term. I believe that the EP s had the best experience as CS GCDP

experience is always been felicitated.

In this time period there were several corporate partnerships achieved specially with Expo Lanka Holdings,

99 X technologies, Dialog, IDM. In the process learned a lot about the ER raising and was able to train

members to achieve those feats.

Being the country partnership manager with MoC is one of the different experiences I have had. I was able

to deliver a good partnership as I was able to have a constant flow of EP s even at the hardest possible times.

Project Development is one of the core areas I have developed myself as CS GCDPi there were numerous

projects initiated by us. Some projects such as Hodiya, Feel Lanka, YEP, SPARK and Fuegosticka were able

to provide better GCDPi experiences in a new dimension. Although there were many projects implemented

my heart was always with one special project which is Gurugedara. That’s where I started and I believe

that’s where the optimum impact can be achieved. My passion is always with creating an impact to the society as almost all the time I tried to achieve that.

Organizational Development

I was lucky enough to engage with one of the challenging AIESEC missions. That is the mission of

reinstating AIESEC in University of Peradeniya. This is not the first try in the process as it was always a

great challenge with the student union ruling the university activities. After a rigorous series of activities

we were able to form the entity even after dissolving the first elected leadership body. Since the problem

arose when organizing the Y2B event I was tactical in my approach as I took more consideration about the

external effects. There is a saying, “The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.”

As per the saying I was deliberate enough to make sure the things are occurring slower and as to a plan. I

had to talk with the authorities and had to implant the idea of AIESEC to them. I was lucky enough to hop

over those hurdles and make sure the university registration is successful. Throughout this mission I was

able to meet people from diverse backgrounds and I was able to handle them and strive forward towards the mission of making AIESEC Pera expansion an official local committee.

When I was appointed as the VP GCDPi, there weren’t many members, those were active at that time but at

the end of the term I was able to have more members retained and sustained for the betterment of the

next term.

Talent management

Meeting new faces and working with them is one of the passions in my life. Throughout my AIESEC career I

was involved with developing members and one of the core things I focused was the member retention. I

tried to reward the members in spite of the restrictions and that made them work hard and strive to

achieve those goals. This is one of the areas I haven’t had a specialized position but where my passion is.


3. What are you 5 biggest achievements in your AIESEC career so far, and what were the measurable

results?

There were many individual and functional achievements I’ve had all these years in AIESEC. Throughout my

time as VP GCDPi many milestones were achieved and the re-instigation of AIESEC Pera chapter was one of

the biggest achievements I had as I know the commitment it took to achieve that. As a summary highest

achievements can be mentioned as follows.

1. 150 Exchanges for the term 2012/2013 as the functional VP for GCDPi

2. Best Young Leader award at Natcon 2013

3. 82 GCDPi Realizations for the month January 2013, which is the highest by any LC in the world as the

closest competitor was AIESEC Delhi University with 56 Realizations

4. Best GCDPi Program at NLDS 2013

5. First TN realization in AIESEC Pera

Five options are not at all enough to summarize the achievements but I value one achievement a lot. There

was a time when only few realizations were achieved for the term in the GCDPi function. CS was not been

categorized as the best in GCDPi as the GIP function was booming at that level with the introduction of

Excorp. Due to the commitment of the members of Gurugedara function, we were able to turn the tables

with the inception of the Earth Hour project. Being able to obtain that partnership to CS is one of the

biggest achievements I had.

When I start the term the target for the term 2012/2013 for CS GCDPi is 106 and it was the biggest

target for any function in any LC. Relative over achievement of 44 exchanges is one of the best

achievements I had as I was able to make sure to set a trend and make my successors to strive for greater

targets and ultimately achieve more.

Apart from that I was always lucky enough to be felicitated at LC level and National level in certain

occasions. Being selected to NST in MoC is one of the challenging experiences I have had. Working with

native Chinese AIESECers is always a challenge and working for them was a nice experience.

4. What is driving you to continue in AIESEC? Why have you decided to stand for Member Committee

Vice President of AIESEC in Sri Lanka? And what do you want to take out of this experience?

I still wonder where I would place myself if not for AIESEC. Life would be so different and so meaningless.

There is a drastic difference comparing where I am now and before joining AIESEC. I developed myself a

lot through AIESEC and it is indeed a life exchanging experience. As I always tell in my sessions I haven’t

been to any other country but I have brought the world closer to me. The experience I had with

AIESECers from diverse backgrounds is fascinating and scintillating. The impact that can be created

through AIESEC is enormous. I always wanted to make the AIESEC mission a reality by having the

activities linked with it. The experience got through managing all those teams is really huge as for today I

believe that I have the capacity to face bigger challenges and to achieve bigger goals. Those things drive

me to be in AIESEC and one of the reasons I have decided to apply for Member Committee Vice President


of AIESEC in Sri Lanka as to make sure that the experience, transformation I have had can be transferred to numerous lot of members by being a part of MC.

I hope MC experience would be a challenging one as I always want to surround myself with new challenges.

The challenges are always making me move forward with life. It will be a nice experience to be a part of a

national team and work together towards national objectives inspiring each and every AIESECer in Sri Lanka.

I have the strong urge of doing wonders in AIESEC and as the Member Committee there are many chances

that are available to make sure I achieve that target. AIESEC Sri Lanka is in a triggering point as if proper

development strategies are made, AIESEC Sri Lanka can be driven to an optimum level of visibility and

impact to the youth. With the amount of exchanges that are happening at the moment there should be a

proper plan to make sure there should be quality assurance plan to make sure AIESEC Sri Lanka don’t reach the position where AIESEC India is at the moment.

I want to see AIESEC expanding all throughout Sri Lanka and specially one of my dreams is to see the expansions in outstation to develop into a level of the local committees such as AIESEC Colombo South.

5. How do you explain the impact model of AIESEC?

Each and every aspect we do in AIESEC has a meaning. The externals might wonder about the meaning

about doing so many AIESEC exchanges, conferences and etc. All of these things are sensible in a

different way. There are two basic questions to be asked for.

1. What are the challenges the world is facing now?

2. What can be done as youth to overcome those challenges?

In the impact model of AIESEC, it describes how AIESEC address those challenges. Fundamentally

AIESEC creates this impact by developing leadership. As the AIESEC mission says, we develop

“Leadership” for a positive impact on society for peace and fulfillment of humankind’s potential. Therefore

AIESEC is relevant as long as the world needs better leadership.

There is a way we do that as we believe by living a powerful exchange experience, develops strong

leadership. Both GIP and GCDP internships have a different value proposition attached to it and it delivers

different kinds of experiences to the members. There is an inner-journey and outer-journey attached to

the exchanges we do. Factors such as introspection, self-awareness and values are attached to the inner

journey while factors such as people, environment and challenges in work are attached to the outer-journey.

By having all this aspects what we envision is the growth of ultimate leadership experience as to make sure

that the impact is achieved.

By doing the TMP and TLP program we believe that creating exchange experience to others develops strong

leadership. We create leadership through our Experiential Leadership Development Programs. Our impact

is indirect as we develop leadership in students so that they can impact the world.

6. What will be the role of AIESEC in Sri Lanka generation 14/15 in achieving the midterm ambition of

2015?

In achieving the midterm ambition of 2015 it is critical in AIESEC in Sri Lanka’s perspective to make sure

proper strategies are taken at the right time. One of the main attributes of the AIESEC 2015 is to

develop 1 million young people through our experiences for a positive impact on the society.

Strategically AIESEC Sri Lanka can always take actions to increase customer understanding by making sure

AIESEC Sri Lanka Is the best choice among all other alternative student organizations. Strong leadership

is essential in deploying these strategic decisions.


As an entity AIESEC Sri Lanka should be financially viable and sustainable by taking certain measures in

attaining that. If there is any legal obstruction to continue the operations those should be eliminated at

immediate effect to make sure that the organization is driven smoothly towards the AIESEC 2015 goal.

Customization of the products according to the local markets is also important as for the sustainability of

the programs.

Apart from that as to conceive the midterm objectives of there are certain approaches that can be taken.

One of the objectives is to make sure that GCDP function is financially sustainable as to have bigger

projects initiated with more impact. Another thing is to clearly differentiate GCDP program as to GCDP

program to make sure that different tactical decisions are taken at different levels. Every member who is

part of AIESEC is for a reason. We do have a liability to make sure that we give them the best experience

and at the end attract more and more members and be the pioneers in youth organizations.

AIESEC has four different programs and we should be able to differentiate among those programs. Each

program has its values and we need to specifically illustrate that the TLP and TMP programs are not

internal things of the exchange functions but which is having a different path and different approach.

7. What is the role of the MC in AIESEC? How should the MC evolve in 14/15 to better serve and add

value to the national plenary and our stakeholders in Sri Lanka?

The basic role of the MC is to take strategic decisions in approaching the national goals that are to be

achieved by the functional LCs. When it comes to AIESEC Sri Lanka it is essential to coach the LC s and

get them into right track when the performances are not up to the standards. MC is liable in providing the

best experience for all the AIESEC members and exchange participant. MC should also be liable to all the

project stakeholders, TN takers and specially the National partners. Self-sustainable MC is essential in

the sense it should not be depending on the Local Committees. The budget for member development should

be there for the members but not for the utilization of the MC. Each gathering and occasion held by the

Member Committee should be in high standard and it should be made sure that the members have their

gratitude towards the MC.

As per my opinion as a Member Committee there are many opportunities to deliver and take AIESEC Sri

Lanka to the next level. Apart from the target of realizing 1000 exchanges for the term 2014/2015 there

should be strategic decisions taken to make sure that the members are properly developed and the LC s in

Sri Lanka are recognized not locally but internationally. The role LCD- Local Committee Development is very

important in achieving these targets. Proper member tracking not especially to analyze what the members

have done but to analyze to what level the members have developed. Maybe it is the time that we initiate a

score similar to NPS to evaluate the experience of the members.

One of the weaknesses AIESEC Sri Lanka is having at the moment is the concentrated Local Committees in

the Colombo District which is a very lesser proportion of the demographic distribution of Sri Lanka. It is

essential that in this term, the expansions come into full flow and come to the level of other local

committees. As per my opinion the strategic decisions that will be taken about the outstation expansions

will be in higher importance.

8. What is the importance of having National Partners, and how do we deliver value to these

stakeholders? What are the opportunities you will capitalize on in your term?

National Partners are vital in the sustainability of the organization though we are not having a good history

of delivering the National Partnerships. AIESEC Sri Lanka is in a decisive state where the need for higher

caliber National Partners is highly there. I must say that the partnerships such as Unilever should have

been managed more effectively. It is needed to be understood that Unilever will not be depending on us as

there are other competitive organizations. Nevertheless fulfilling the contract obligations is highly


essential as most of the time we were not able to live to our full potential and to deliver value. If proper

National partners can be raised MC can be independent and will not have to depend on any LC.

AIESEC is having certain values which can ultimately attract more and more partners. None other

organization has this much of diverse aspects. Exchange Participants are the gems that sheens, making the

AIESEC events more colorful ad attractive that we could easily have National Partners for national events

if there is a proper plan in coordinating the events.

We have done several Youth to Business forum as those forums could have been enticed more and more

national partners but as per my opinion we were highly unsuccessful with the coordination and the effort we

put in making those events a success. If those events could have been organized properly we won’t be

having drought of national partners.

There are many LC events organized and almost all the time the events are run by zero funds as the

partners mostly are non-monetary partners. Events such as “Dragon de Danza” can be organized nationally

and there will be more chances in getting proper partners on board. If not a proper plan should be driven in

order to achieve the cohesiveness and unity among LC s as if it happens all the LCs will participate in every

LC events as those events can be promoted as one single package.

The two GCDP peaks are the best opportunity to inspire the National Partners and also we need to organize

quality Youth to business program as it would be the gateway to the corporate world.

9. What kind of leadership do you demonstrate and how do you think it will help you in the MC team

and AIESEC in Sri Lanka?

I am not a born leader but I hope that I have developed necessary leadership abilities to drive AIESEC Sri

Lanka to the next level. I always work with the team and lead by example and as a policy I believe that the

leader should know the heartbeat from the lowest level to the uppermost level. Leader should know, feel

what his co-workers think and what their challenges, feelings are.

As per example the GCDPi leaders should know and feel the difficulties of planning projects and each and

every aspect that is part of it. If the leader can understand those he can act wisely in the perspective of

the members. The strategic actions that are taken by the MC will be reasonable for the members if the MC

members properly identify the nature of the dealings.

I am always open to discussion as I will be focusing more on cohesive development strategies rather than

bureaucratic development strategies.

10. Briefly explain your top 3 strength and top 3 weaknesses. How will they help or challenge you and

your work as MC team member and leader?

Hard working and never giving up till the goal is achieved is among the top strengths I possess. It was hard

work which let me achieve certain feats in my AIESEC career as I was not a gifted person in different

fields. I have the endurance to accept the failure and the will to come up with the obstacles and lead the

team towards the glory. This is the quality which leads me in the achievements I’ve had in recent past. This

will enable me to strive for more in the MC term and be an essential part in leading AIESEC Sri Lanka

towards AIESEC 2015. When it comes to professional work, usually I am a well-organized and neat working

person as I always keeps track about each and every aspect. This aspect would enable me to lead a national


organization where it is essential to lead by example. I am good mentor, leader and a team player as I had

the opportunity to work in multiple teams as gained a lot of development through those team experiences.

This would be a better ingredient for a national level leader as there will be numerous amount of team to

lead.

However I am not a complete person at all as everyone has their weaknesses. When it comes to partiality,

inequality and any bad attitude will not be bore by me as I will be a bit aggressive in dealing with those

situations. I’ve had the experience of passing the limit several times as I’ll be focusing on mitigating those

qualities. I am a perfectionist as I will be focusing on finishing any work with the best way possible.

Therefore sometimes I will be wasting extra effort and time in being a perfectionist. Somehow this is also

a bad quality which is needed to be controlled. I am a sensitive person as I’ll get hurt even for tiny things.

Therefore sometimes when working with a team, the attitude of the team members can make me act weird

but somehow I make it not a reason for team failures.

11. What will be your top priorities for the term 2014/15 to ensure sustainable growth & credibility?

One of the top priorities is to ensure the member development. Especially considering the members in

upcoming expansions as the EB s in those expansions are needed to be developed very much in order to

drive forward the expansion to the level of Local Committees. Developing better GCDP projects would be a

good option in achieving that goal. After getting the through experience of being a mass project the members will be strong enough to have their own development strategies implemented expansion wise.

As the number of realizations are getting high it is necessary to make sure the quality of the exchanges

are preserved as the charging of TN fee from EP s should be minimized and the projects should more focus

on ER rather than the money collected from the EPs . If the quality is there to be shown it will be easier for the coming terms to match the huge number of TNs available.

International Relations should be given more attention as to make sure the partnerships that are driven

national wise are delivered in full swing. Special strategies should be implemented in initiating and managing country partnerships.

Building the cohesiveness among the members from different Local Committees is another initiative that

can be taken as to make sure the members get more and more chances with working and communicating with

members from different local committees. Especially joint GCDP projects will be initiated as each and every LC gets the chance to work with other Local Committees.


Functional Wise Questions

1. What is main issue that prevails in AIESEC Sri Lanka with regards to GCDPi function, Please prove

your answer with several situations that rose recently and highlighting why you select this issue?

Considering the GCDPi function there are many problems existing but from all issues from Raising to

Realization, the quality of the internship is the biggest issue as per my opinion. Those days in year

2010/2011 the GCDPi internships were in superb quality as there were only few EP s and all those EP s were

provided with good facilities and a single cent was not charged from them. Since the Mass customization of

the projects the quality seemed to be fading away as charging the TN fee from EP s became an essential

part in realizing GCDPi exchanges. However the experiences EPs were getting developed in a way as they had the chance to involve with many EP s from all over the world.

At the moment the quality of the projects are not at all in a satisfactory level. When it comes to the

raising part we do have a big loophole in finding proper sponsors for the projects. Making it worse the

biggest concern is the dreadful relationship management with the project partners. In this aspect I do

respect JLC and their “API” project which has been able to re-raise the partners by managing the

deliverables properly. It’s a sad scene to see in most of the AIESEC projects the partners were not

satisfied with the outcomes. Considering the YEP 2.0 national project, though we were able to attract

sufficient funds the reach of certain projects was at a dreadful level. Over in all it was a successful

project but there were those aspects which needed to be modified. The issue of the inability of finding

partners has become a major threat for the sustainability of the function. Charging the TN fee from the

EP s should be minimized and we must make sure that is kept to minimum and EPs are delivered with the best experience.

Of around 500 exchanges that are been realized for the current term, the percentage of exchanges which involved the TN fee charged from the EP s is too extreme.

2. What will be the most important affective problem for GCDP function in three years?

Again it is the same issue that would be prevailing in the coming years. The quality of the GCDP experience

will essentially be a problem in years to come. There are certain occasions where certain entities couldn’t

provide the desired experience. Even there are some web articles regarding low quality internships


especially in MoC and India. As Sri Lanka is escalating towards higher growth targets the aforementioned

quality aspect is at a huge risk. There should be a sound policy to make sure that the experience that is

obtained is uniform which would eventually help the sustainability of the GCDP function. It is not always the

numbers but the quality of the experience counts a lot. It can be said that with higher number of exchange

participant the experience gets multiplied exponentially but we need to understand that with a large

amount of EPs, even a small issue can have the multiplier effect and turn out to be a big issue. Hence there

is always a margin of safety. As per my belief the members in AIESEC Sri Lanka still haven’t been able to

define that level as still there are problems with project implementation.

“Expectation Setting “is one of the main attributes as to deliver the best experience. Most of the EPs are

not AIESECers as most often they have had a tiny exposure to AIESEC way as they might not be aware of

the huge effort AIESEC members are putting on to realize project.

The focus should be on defining the margin of safety as too many constraints would hold up the exchange

growth. Hence it is necessary to be careful in defining the margin of safety.

Standards should be introduced and followed upon in mitigating the risk of a degrading the quality of the

exchange experience.

3. What would be your focus area, to guarantee member learning in the project implementation?

Margin of Safety

Safe Project

Risky Project

Exp

ecta

tio

n S

etti

ng


When it comes to project implementation there are several aspects that we need to focus in guaranteeing

member learning. Project raising part is one of the core aspects as to make sure members are getting the

best experience. The attitudes about GCDP of certain members are not that good considering the fact that

they believe that GCDP doesn’t give the members the relevant corporate exposure. It is important to let

know the members that GCDP is a very balanced program which includes everything, including some part of

the GIP experience. The focus is to raise standards in reaching corporate partners for the projects. By

working hard towards finding corporate partners will enhance their interpersonal skills by specially dealing

with corporate partners. That is one of the core areas where I would have more focus on.

It is very hard to differentiate one focus area as each and every aspect of the project implementation

phases, provides the learning environment to the members. The focus should be to make sure each and

every member gets the opportunity to achieve more and gain more. No member should be kept idle or

isolated. Each and every member is important as all should gather the prime experience.

The best thing about the GCDP function is the part of taking risk. It is a huge risk planning for big projects

as sometimes it is needed to be bolder in order to achieve great result. The GCDP experience should be

promoted as a challenging one as the experience the members are getting will make them formidable in achieving any goal in their lives.

4. What the first 5 countries that you think, it's critical to establish partnership with for manage the

supply. Please sup-port your answer with compressive analysis?

Brazil, Pakistan, Indonesia, Germany and Egypt are the countries that were selected based on several

specific reasons. Below illustrated is a chart of how the growth has taken place for the AIESEC in

respective countries.

Brazil

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2011 2012 2013

Brazil

Pakistan

Indonesia

Germany

Egypt


As per my experience, quality wise the best EP s are from Brazil. The EPs that were from Brazil had a

great passion and ability to do their best in the projects. Also considering the growth they have had upper

hand as depicted in the above chart.

Pakistan

It is one of my favorite countries when considering the EPs. The quality of the EPs is also very high but

should be careful at certain times when selecting the EPs. At the recent past they had a great growth and

their special liking about Sri Lanka is an added advantage.

Indonesia

As we have so many Chinese EPs, Chinese TNs have so many Indonesian EPs. Most of the Indonesian EPs are

willing to go to China but as per my opinion Indonesia is one of the treasures that we haven’t touched. We

only had the privilege of hosting few EPs but if we could come up with a proper strategic plan, this is a

potential bonanza to be chance upon.

Germany

Another Member Committee with quality EPs and higher growth rate in the recent past. If properly

managed this is a country which can be taken as a prospecting one.

Egypt

Though we have had certain bad experiences working with the Egyptian EPs, It can be considered as one of

the best in OGX. Most EPs are in good quality as it is one of the best entities for a longer term

partnership.

5. Develop a plan to manage EPs learning in the section of project implementation?

The plan is to ensure EPs are getting the best learning in this phase. I have divided the project implementation part into five sub parts.

Induction

Induction about Sri Lanka culture – Before and after the arrival

Induction about the project

Project Training

The initial week of the internship can be allocated for the project training that is required by EPs with the

help of AIESECers and Alumni.

Project Planning

This is essentially about the events that are going to be organized under the specific projects. It is

essential that EPs and the OC get together in planning the events. This will give the EPs an intense

experience.

Project Implementation

This relates to the each and every contribution EPs are putting on the projects can be analyzed using a

tracking tool. This would make sure that the EPs are always getting the best experience. If there is any

issue related to their project we would be able to know beforehand as to make sure there won’t be any

problems arising.

OC Gatherings

Considering EPs as a part of the OC and work together in achieving goal will be an inspiring experience. To make it more wonderful OC gathering can be organized as small things can create a huge impact.


Career

Thushan dharmawardana mcvp_application