Rajini Sulochana Segera: Building Pathways for Women’s Leadership and Opportunity

From advancing women’s economic participation to opening doors for girls in space science, Sri Lankan entrepreneur and social advocate Dr. Rajini Sulochana Segera is working to connect talent with opportunities beyond traditional boundaries.

For more than two decades, Segera has focused on building platforms that enable women and young people to translate potential into professional achievement, entrepreneurship and social impact. Through leadership development, business mentoring and community initiatives, her work spans corporate recognition, rural enterprise, social welfare and science education.

As Founder and Chairperson of Women in Management (WIM), Segera has established a range of initiatives aimed at strengthening women’s participation in business and professional life. WIM’s flagship programmes include the Top50 Professional and Career Women Awards, the New Generation Awards and the Top10 Diversity Champions Awards. These platforms recognise achievement, encourage leadership and promote greater inclusion in workplaces and businesses.

The organisation has also expanded beyond Sri Lanka, with operations and initiatives extending to markets including the Maldives, Canada and Australia. Its activities reflect an approach to empowerment that combines public recognition with training, mentoring and practical professional development.

Segera’s work extends into rural communities, where she seeks to identify entrepreneurs with the potential to develop sustainable businesses. Describing these individuals as “diamonds in the rough”, she focuses on helping them strengthen their skills, build confidence and access opportunities beyond their immediate communities.

The emphasis is on enabling entrepreneurs to move from local potential to commercially sustainable ventures. Training, mentoring and business guidance can help small enterprises develop stronger foundations, reach new customers and contribute to household incomes and local economic activity.

Segera is a certified personality development trainer in Asia and has worked as a trainer for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, on sustainable private-sector investment. Her academic qualifications include a PhD in Women Empowerment from the Global University of California, USA, according to information supplied for this profile.

Her professional recognition includes the Global Banking and Finance Awards UK’s Business Woman of the Year title in 2022, alongside the Global CSR Excellence Award in 2018, the Women Super Achievement Award in 2017 and the Leadership Excellence Award in 2016.

International recognition has also included an honour presented at the UK Parliament in 2023 for her leadership and commitment to advancing equality and the empowerment of women and young people. The ceremony involved Fatima Patel, Editor-in-Chief of The Asian Standard newspaper, and UK Member of Parliament Imran Hussain. Segera has also delivered a keynote address at the Women’s Economic Forum in the United Kingdom, sharing her perspectives on leadership and empowerment with an international audience.

Beyond professional development, WIM’s community initiatives address immediate social needs. The organisation’s programmes include the WIM Free Kitchen and the WIM Single Mother project, which supports vulnerable families and educational opportunities for children from women-headed households.

Segera has also established free-food kitchens at multiple locations in Colombo, serving breakfast to people facing economic hardship between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. The initiative links the broader objective of empowerment with food security and community support. She is also Patron of Project T.E.A., a UK-based initiative focused on empowering Sri Lankan children.

Opening opportunities in science and technology

A more recent extension of Segera’s work has been the promotion of science and technology education for girls. As Sri Lanka’s ambassador for Mission ShakthiSAT, an international space education initiative organised by Space Kidz India, she supported Sri Lanka’s participation in a programme involving girls from 108 nations.

Sri Lankan student Seneesa Goonewardena represented the country at a milestone event held at Gautam Buddha University in India in August 2026. The initiative seeks to encourage girls to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), including pathways into space science.

The initiative is significant in a world where technological capabilities increasingly shape employment, innovation and economic competitiveness. Expanding girls’ access to STEM education can help broaden career choices and encourage their participation in industries that have traditionally been difficult to enter.

Segera has also called for greater emphasis on skills, innovation, technological adaptability and international exposure. At the launch of WIM’s Business and Leadership Night 2026, she highlighted the importance of developing capabilities that extend beyond academic qualifications in an increasingly competitive global economy.

For Sri Lanka, the challenge of making fuller use of its human capital remains closely connected to women’s economic participation, enterprise development and access to emerging industries. Initiatives that combine skills training, business mentoring and opportunities for young people can contribute to addressing these gaps.

Across leadership development, rural entrepreneurship, community welfare and science education, Segera’s work is built around a consistent objective: widening access to opportunity. Its longer-term impact will depend on how effectively these programmes help women establish businesses, advance in their careers and enable young people to pursue opportunities that might otherwise remain out of reach.

Her stated ambition is to empower women and children around the world, beginning in Sri Lanka. The measure of that ambition lies not only in the awards and recognition received, but also in the individuals and communities able to build more secure and productive futures through the opportunities created.