At Eswaran — Together We Rise:
Empowering Women at Every Level

At the heart of this progress is a strong commitment to people excellence, reflected in the organization’s continuous efforts to create a workplace where employees feel valued, respected, empowered, and inspired to contribute meaningfully to the business. Recognizing that sustainable business success is built on a strong organizational foundation, the company has placed significant emphasis on employee wellbeing, leadership development, capability building, performance enhancement, and inclusivity as key drivers of long-term success. With over 60 years of operational excellence and a workforce supporting more than 500 livelihoods, the company recognizes that its commitment to women’s advancement extends far beyond its own organizational boundaries, setting industry standards and inspiring other corporations to follow suit.

From year 2024 Under the visionary HR leadership of Nimali Adikari Senevirathne, Group Head of HR and Legal, Eswaran is advancing a meaningful cultural transformation across its group companies while preserving its long-standing family-oriented values. Through her leadership, the organization has, within a relatively short period, fostered a more people-centric workplace and embedded best-in-class HR practices that strengthen employee engagement, support talent development, enhance organizational effectiveness, and align the workforce with the company’s expanding global ambitions. This transformation goes beyond traditional HR management and reflects a broader vision of building a high-performance culture rooted in trust, accountability, continuous learning, and shared purpose.

“Value for women” — Eswaran Tea Launches Empowerment Programme for Women in the Tea Industry

Although women form the backbone of Sri Lanka’s tea industry as pluckers and field workers, their representation in leadership roles across plantations and export companies remains disproportionately low. Eswaran Brothers set out to challenge this long-standing imbalance by partnering with Value for Women (VFW), a global advisory firm specializing in gender inclusion strategies for businesses, with support from FMO, the Dutch development bank committed to sustainable private sector growth in emerging markets. This partnership marked the beginning of a meaningful transformation within the company.

Value for Women (VFW)- project officially commenced in October 2024, marked the beginning of a one-year deep engagement between Eswaran Brothers and brought a nuanced, culturally sensitive and impact-driven approach to organisational transformation in the company. we successful completed several pilot projects and the established of many key policies to strengthen its workplace for women.

The diagnostics conducted at the commencement of the project revealed a clear imbalance: while women formed a significant share of the workforce at the grassroots level, their presence was rarely reflected in leadership positions. Although women comprised 44% of the total workforce, their representation declined sharply at higher levels. Men were found to be 2.5 times more likely to hold leadership roles. While recruitment demonstrated a relatively balanced gender mix, the findings highlighted the need for policy and cultural changes to better empower women within the company.

Together with Value for Women, Eswaran Brothers prioritized five key strategies in its Gender Action Plan.

• 01

  Developing Women Leaders Through Gender-Responsive Succession
  Structured leadership training, sponsorship programmes, coaching, mentoring, and transparent pathways for advancement were introduced to ensure that women were not only considered for leadership roles but actively supported in reaching them. The most impactful shift has been the emergence of a sponsorship culture among the executive female workforce. Women selected for mentorship are now also being trained to sponsor their peers, creating a self-sustaining cycle of support and empowerment. In addition, the production team was provided with continuous on-the-job training to enhance their skills and capabilities. In a historic first for the company, 18 women were promoted to the next level. Beyond this, the company gives special priority each year to celebrating International Women’s Day as a platform to empower, encourage, and recognize its female workforce.
• 02

  Supporting Working Parents
  Policies such as five days of paternity leave, reintegration support for new mothers, and coaching for line managers were introduced. In addition, awareness sessions were conducted for factory employees to deepen their understanding of parenthood and the importance of supporting families by caring for both mother and child. To further assist mothers after childbirth, the company also introduced financial support by providing one-off payment of an additional 3.5 hours of daily overtime for a period of one month after returning to work.
• 03

  Enhancing Workplace Safety and Mental Wellbeing
  The company updated its anti-harassment policies to further strengthen reporting mechanisms and grievance resolution. Emotional and mental health support structures are also being embedded. strengthening mental wellbeing, particularly for female employees who often carry greater social and family responsibilities after work compared to their male counterparts. Recognizing this reality, the company introduced flexible working arrangements to support staff in service departments. In-house counselling is also provided to both production and back-office employees. The company further promotes health and wellbeing by covering after-office sports membership costs for staff members. This year, in celebration of International Women’s Day, we placed special focus on mental wellbeing by exploring how music therapy can support healing and help career women manage stress more effectively.
• 04

  Financial Empowerment Among Women
  Financial literacy initiatives were launched to enable female employees to better manage their personal and household finances, build savings and gain a stronger sense of independence and control over their economic lives.
• 05

  Influencing the Broader Industry
  By aligning with the globally recognized 2X Challenge Criteria and documenting its progress through a forthcoming public case study, the company hopes to become a role model for gender-inclusive best practices in the tea export sector.

She Transforms – A Transformational Leadership Development Journey at Eswaran Brothers

As ongoing commitment to advancing women’s empowerment and building a strong leadership pipeline, the company has launched “She Transforms”; a deeply impactful six-month leadership development journey. This initiative, designed and facilitated by award-winning leadership partner Senela Jayasuriya, is a customized launch of her signature program “Bring Out the Leader in You.

She Transforms is built on a 10-step leadership development journey, anchored on powerful themes that create meaningful transformation from the inside out. This program is not a conventional training course, but an intense, immersive, and highly practical experience. It equips participants with the skills, strategies, and confidence to lead with impact in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) business environment. This is Powered by HR leadership of Nimali Adikari Seneviratne, and strongly endorsed by the Board and senior leadership, She Transforms reflects the company’s belief that empowering women leaders is vital to sustainable business growth. The program focuses on women already holding key roles, those leading teams, as well as aspiring leaders preparing to take on greater responsibilities in the future.

Through She Transforms under their key initiative Value for Women, Eswaran Brothers is setting a benchmark for how organizations can strategically build leadership capacity while advancing women into leadership pipelines.

Empowered Growth Through Continuous Learning

Continuous learning is a core belief at Eswaran Brothers. The company recognizes that every woman is a self-leader, balancing many important roles in life, including sister, mother, daughter, wife, single parent, widow, and often the sole breadwinner of the family. With this understanding, all female executives were provided with a Self-Leader training programme designed to help them identify their potential and grow within the company. Through strategic HR initiatives, a strong talent pipeline has also been identified, with women representing 50% of the talent pool. Individual development plans have been prepared for each of these employees, and training will be provided accordingly to support their career progression.

Inspiring Stories of Our Women Leaders

Eswaran Brothers’ employer brand is further strengthened by the inspiring stories of its women leaders. Nimali Adikari Senevirathne, Group Head of HR and Legal, is a seasoned HR and legal professional with over 20 years of experience in the industry. She serves as a strategic HR business partner and trusted legal advisor to the Board, bringing a rare combination of people leadership, legal insight, and business acumen to the organization. Her professional excellence has been formally recognized through a series of prestigious personal accolades. She was honoured with the “Corporate Leader in Femina Award” and was also named among the top five finalists of the “Vanithabhimani” Award in the legal profession in 2022. In 2024, she received the “FLXO Global Legal Award” in Singapore in recognition of her role as an inspiring leader in Sri Lanka’s legal sector, highlighting her distinction, ethical practice, and influence in the fields of legal and corporate governance. In 2026, she was nominated to receive the Lak Vanitha Abhimani – Outstanding Female Leadership Award in recognition of her exceptional leadership, professional excellence, and significant contribution to the fields of Human Resources and Legal. These recognitions reflect her sustained impact, unwavering integrity, and outstanding leadership excellence. Through her achievements, dedication, and inspiring professional journey, she has become a true role model for the younger generation of emerging women leaders across the Eswaran Group of Companies. Her example continues to encourage and empower aspiring female professionals to pursue leadership with confidence, resilience, and purpose. She has also been featured in a range of print, television, and social media publications, including leading magazines and CEO-focused platforms, which have highlighted her passion for her work, professional expertise, depth of knowledge, and inspiring journey as a leader in the corporate world. As Project Head of the Value for Women initiative—the first programme of its kind in Sri Lanka to be successfully completed—she played a pivotal role in leading its implementation and driving meaningful impact across the organization. Her contribution has also received international recognition, with her leadership featured in a global case study that underscores both her influence and the company’s strong commitment to advancing gender inclusion.

Beyond her corporate achievements, she has made a meaningful contribution to the nation through her active involvement in social and community service. As a committed social worker, she serves as an Legal advisor to women’s associations and as an EXCO member of the Saubghay Foundation supporting initiatives that uplift and empower communities. She has also contributed to the advancement of responsible business practices through collaboration on the “Mother and Child Friendly” Seal for Responsible Business, in partnership with Save the Children and key stakeholders in Sri Lanka’s tea industry. In addition, she is passionate about mentoring the next generation, providing guidance and support to young graduates from the University of Colombo, the University of Kelaniya, and Uva Wellassa University.

Emerging female leaders of the company, Ms. Ishara, Ms. Hiruni, and Ms. Anjali, have represented Sri Lanka on the global stage by participating in international tea exhibitions, proudly showcasing the country’s heritage and capability to the world. The organization is also proud of Mrs. Nootan, a respected female leader whose journey reflects long-term growth, loyalty, and dedication. Having joined the company in a supervisory role and progressed to a managerial position, she has served the organization for more than 30 years. She is widely respected for the care, guidance, and unwavering support she provides to the female employees in the production division. Her wealth of experience and steadfast commitment have made her a valuable contributor to the company, and she has generously shared her insights and experiences with the Value for Women expert team. She is also highly regarded for the dedicated care, guidance, and support she extends to the female employees in the production division. This year, two young female leaders, Ms. Kanchan and Ms. Ishara, were recognized with the Great Manager Awards 2026, reflecting the strength of the company’s leadership pipeline. Adding to this momentum, the company’s Toastmasters presidency is currently held by a young female manager, Ms. Kanchana, symbolizing the confidence, capability, and voice of the next generation of women leaders at Eswaran Brothers.