Company: EPAM Systems
Company Description: Since 1993, EPAM Systems, Inc. has leveraged its advanced software engineering heritage to become the foremost global digital transformation services provider – leading the industry in digital and physical product development and digital platform engineering services. . In 2021, EPAM was added to the S&P 500 and included among the list of Forbes Global 2000 companies.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Executive of the Year – Business Services –More Than 2,500 Employees
 Nomination Title: Shamilka Samarasinha, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2020 of the nominated woman, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below:
- Briefly describe the nominated individual: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 182 words used.
Shamilka Samarasinha, is Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at EPAM Systems. Shamilka’s career in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) began in Sri Lanka, where she designed and implemented a social responsibility program and its framework for the largest apparel company in the country. She was the Country Head for Tesco International Sourcing in Thailand before moving to the British High Commission in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, where she managed small grant programs and worked closely with civil society groups to support grassroots programs.
Shamilka joined EPAM in 2015, where she pushed us to think more formally about social responsibility. She is the creator and driving force behind EPAM’s CSR initiatives by creating, designing, and growing our social responsibility program. Having joined EPAM at a time when we were still a relatively young but growing company, the opportunity to explore CSR was limitless. Since joining EPAM, her specific role is to oversee the CSR/ESG program across our global locations. Our focus areas are Education, Environment, and Social Innovation. All our initiatives are designed and implemented keeping in mind these core pillars.
- Outline the nominee's achievements since July 1 2020 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 247 words used.
Shamilka believes corporate responsibility must evolve to become a crucial component of the strategy of any successful company. Profitability, expansion, and employee retention are all negatively impacted by a company’s failure to consider sustainability issues. Financial success and global goodwill will soon be inseparable and so must be integrated into a winning business strategy. Furthermore, to promote transparency, businesses should proactively provide their own ESG data, to communicate their sustainability initiatives to the public and investors.
During COVID, Shamilka initiated and led EPAM’s development of Health Buddy as part of our COVID response commitment. Working with UNICEF, Health Buddy touched 500,000+ people in 16 countries. EPAM’s Carbon Footprint Calculator makes it easy for people to measure their personal carbon contributions and make lifestyle changes to reduce it. In addition to expanding our eKids program from four locations to nineteen in the last two years, Shamilka launched our newest initiative Pathway to Tech in 2021. These and other initiatives require knowledge sharing and partnerships to support the most vulnerable communities.
Shamilka has successfully brought onboard every partner EPAM has to the table including large organizations like UNICEF. In 2020, Shamilka started a program to collaborate with our customers to help enable their ESG programs. A number of them are large manufacturers or multinational conglomerates that are interested in creating environmental and sustainability programs. In 2020, Shamilka forged the foundations for establishing and strengthening those connections. In 2022, we’ve started tailored ESG business cases around specific corporate programs.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 207 words used.
With EPAM’s Carbon Footprint Calculator, we make it easy for people to understand what their current personal carbon contributions are, and how to make simple lifestyle changes to reduce them. Other EPAM initiatives headed by Shamilka include an innovative mobile platform to enhance the web-based ‘HealthBuddy COVID-19’ chatbot app, developed by EPAM and the United Nations Children’s Fund/Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (UNICEF ECARO), as a reliable source of information and advice related to COVID-19.
EPAM is proud to have helped the Raspberry Pi Foundation continue providing over 60,000 young people with access to free learning resources to learn how to code and get creative with technology through their Pi Day 2021 matching campaign and activities. Partnering together, EPAM and our clients Liberty Global and Virgin Media supported the 2021 Raspberry Pi Foundation’s Coolest Projects online showcase with more than 1,000 young technologists and creators from 39 countries—and look forward to continuing our work together in 2022.
Making ESG Real
2021 Raspberry Pi Foundation’s Coolest Projects
2020 Pandemic Tech Awards – Health Buddy
Carbon Footprint Calculator
UNICEF and EPAM Partner to Build Trusted ‘HealthBuddy COVID-19’ Information Platform
2020 Design Week Awards
CSR Time Award 2021 – India: EPAM eKids
2022 Scratch Conference Gold Sponsor
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 242 words used.
Under Shamilka’s leadership, EPAM’s entire ESG program is volunteer-based. EPAMers are working in more than 50+ countries, volunteering over 33,000+ hours, and have many initiatives running across all our areas of focus. The overall goal for the last few years has been to map different partnerships in the service of diverse cultures. Engaging our EPAM communities to share knowledge and technology is key to the growth of our ESG programs. From teaching children around the world to code to running programs with the Urban League identifying promising students to award them scholarships to top-tier universities, volunteers are the backbone of our ESG initiative.
At EPAM, Shamilka is constantly finding new partners; including most recently, the Raspberry and Scratch Foundations, reinventing our ESG programs, and how we can solve the next big technical challenges in education, social responsibility, and governance. Shamilka believes ESG must be a key area of focus for EPAM, both internally and for our clients. As ESG has taken on a more significant role at EPAM in the last 20 months, Shamilka has been aligning our CSR strategy around it and worked tirelessly to produce a plan to achieve the transition from CSR to ESG as quickly as possible. While EPAM has grown exponentially in the ESG space, you’ll rarely see Shamilka’s name associated with our programs. She works continuously and quietly to improve the lives of children, adults, and the planet, one project, and partnership at a time.
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