Head of Finance and Administration of the World Bank for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Melanie Kanaka, created history by being the first Asian woman to serve on the CIMA Council, the global governing body of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants for a second time.
Kanaka has been invited by the CIMA Council to serve on the global governing body of the Institute for a second, three-year term from 2017 to 2020 as a Co-opted Member. Her appointment came into effect at the AGM on June 2.
Her first term on the Global Council was from 2013 to 2016 as an elected member for South Asia (Area 14).
Melanie Kanaka is a Fulbright Scholar who holds an MBA from Emory University USA, specializing in International Finance and Corporate Strategy. She is an accredited SAP consultant and a fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants - CIMA (UK) with a 28 year career in Accounting, Finance, Treasury, SAP, Strategy and General Management.
She is an alumni from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura where is obtained her B.Com. (Hons.).