Accolades
Fortunate to have received many accolades throughout her career, Otara thanks the many who have inspired and contributed to her journey, one that is far from complete.
Sri Lankan Accolades
- 2000 – Jaycees’ Most Outstanding Young Person in Sri Lanka Award (TOYP Award)
- 2001 – Federation of Chambers and Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) Entrepreneur of the Year 2001 Award.
- 2002 – Zonta Woman of Achievement Award.
- 2007 – Face of Alankara: Luxury Jewelry Brand.
- 2009 – Colombo Jewelry Stores, Dior Brand Ambassador
- 2010 – Lanka Domain Registry Office www.otara.lk (www.otara.lk) won ‘Best Personal Website’
- 2013 – Echelon Magazine’s ‘Most Powerful Woman in Sri Lanka’
- 2014 – Selected and honored as one of the ‘Prominent Women of the Country’ by the Women’s Parliamentarians’ Caucus, for her achievements in business and for her service to the country.
- 2017 – The Passionate Award, Business Today.
- 2018 – Appointed as Non-Executive Director for Singer Sri Lanka.
- 2018 – Brand Ambassador BioFoods.
- 2018 – Woman of the Year Award, Women in Management (WIM) in partnership with IFC, member of the World Bank Group.
- 2018 – Featured in LMD’s 2018 A-List of Sri Lankan Top 50 Business People.
- 2019 – Sri Lanka Tamil Women’s Union Women’s Day Award in recognition of outstanding excellence, dedication and kindness to all animals.
International Recognition
- 2008 – Woman of Saabstance by Saab Cars, Singapore.
- 2008 – Inducted into the Dallas-Hamilton Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame, as an Outstanding Innovator at the Bowling Green State University, Ohio USA.
- 2008 – South Asian Association for Regional Corporation’s (SAARC) Woman of Achievement Award.
- 2008 – Retail Leadership Award, Asia Retail Congress, India.
- 2008 – Appointed World Animal Day, Sri Lankan Ambassador.
- 2009 – Appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Habitat for Humanity.
- 2010 – Best Female Entrepreneur Award at the Seventh US Stevie Awards for Women in Business.
- 2012 – Swarovski’s ‘Gem Visions India.’ Invited to design a piece of jewelry and participate in a special edition of the ‘Swarovski Gem Visions 2012’ trend book – the first Sri Lankan designer to be recognised by Swarovski.
- 2014 – Ambassador Earth Hour Sri Lanka.
- 2017 – Speaker – Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) on theme ‘Women First, Prosperity for All’ hosted by Ivanka Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Hyderabad, India
- 2018 – Attended the Economic Times Women’s Forum ‘The Power of Half a Billion’ that was held in partnership with Facebook. Was part of a panel discussion on ‘Beating the Gender Bias in South Asia.’
- 2018 – Invitation to speak at the Ladies Study Group for their conference, ‘Shakti Beyond Borders’- a platform to celebrate success stories of women from the 6 SAARC countries who have made significant contributions to their country in different fields.
- 2018 – Appointed Honorary Consul General of Sweden
- 2019 – Invited as an honorary guest by the Rwandan Government, as one of 25 international celebrities, to name a baby gorilla at the national Kwita Izina naming ceremony, to celebrate the importance of conservation and the role of sustainable tourism in protecting Africa’s rare and endangered wildlife species.
2015 © Otara Gunewardene All right Reserved
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