Nayanee Silva

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT NAYANEE SILVA

I am a chartered finance and business professional, sustainability specialist and founder with three decades of experience in business management, consultancy and global project leadership. A trainer for business and UN-certified courses at CIFAL Surrey and my own consultancy, I support organisations with training on strategic business and sustainability themes. My work spans the private, nonprofit and education sectors, with a focus on sustainability, organisational transformation and responsible business. As Managing Partner of my consultancy for over 25 years, I support organisations through strategy, transformation, entrepreneurship development, sustainable finance and sustainability management, combining applied research with practical advisory work. Founder of the Sustainable Business Futures Initiative (SBFI) bringing together academics, practitioners and youth towards solving challenges of climate change. Professional & Academic Roles -Associate Lecturer and Sustainability Fellow at the University of Surrey -Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Innovation Management, SBS -Senior Adviser in Corporate Sustainability & Strategic Partnerships at CIFAL/UNITAR Surrey, contributing to UN‑certified sustainability training -Founder of The Sustainable Business Initiative, a collaborative forum for sustainability best practice and knowledge exchange Qualifications & Expertise PhD in Environment and Sustainability (University of Surrey), developing a holistic framework for benchmarking and measuring organisational sustainability -Fellow: ICAEW, Chartered Management Institute, Royal Society of Arts -Business mentor and executive coach Impact & Engagement (Volunteer Role)-Mentor for environmental programme for The King’s Trust -Steering group member, Surrey Women’s Entrepreneurship Network -Founder President of a nonprofit foundation advancing women’s empowerment, youth education and community capacity building in Sri Lanka -Founder, Sustainable Business Initiative - a platform for business, researchers and practitioners to collaborate on solving the challenges of climate change and social/ gender inequity. My research and practice focus on corporate sustainability, CSR, employee engagement, the energy transition and collaborative approaches to sustainable development. I created the holistic 8E framework to support organisations with sustainability measurement and management. I am committed to advancing climate education, equity and responsible business, helping organisations and leaders create meaningful and regenerative impact.