- Among Top Ten Corporate Citizens for fourth consecutive year
- Also wins three category awards
Building its business on visionary sustainability principles that have been translated into tangible action, Citizen’s Development Business Finance PLC (CDB) was recognized for its commitment to People.Planet.Profit with a total of five awards at the Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Awards 2021 organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Championing each sustainability fundamental, CDB won the overall First Runner Up Award in the Companies with an annual turnover above LKR 15 Bn being evaluated alongside the country’s top most corporates and conglomerates.
In addition, CDB was chosen among the Top Ten Corporate Citizens for the fourth consecutive time, its best practices during the pandemic recognized with the award for Demonstrated Resilient Practices during COVID19, the Category Award for Employee Relations underscoring its extraordinary team and the Best Presentation of an Application showcasing CDB’s creative spirit.
“Each of the five awards this year have been very special to us because these awards recognize Sri Lankan corporates who have stayed true to the fundamentals of sustainability,” said MD/CEO Mahesh Nanayakkara. “Our beginnings 26 years ago were humble and not been easy. But today, we are a leader in the financial services industry etched among the top five largest NBFIs in the country. We have seen our team unite through innumerable challenges to grow both our top and bottom lines.’
CDB’s journey throughout has been built on sustainability and tech disruption as its key enabling pillars. “For us, it’s not just about putting figures on paper, it’s about walking the talk and ingraining the core principles of corporate stewardship into our business strategy. And this is why sustainability has always been a qualitative and quantitative driven core strategy in our business.”
It is the embracing of these core pillars of sustainability and tech disruption that have pushed CDB to look beyond the conventional norms of business in every single principle embedded in People.Planet.Profit. As CDB moves forward with its ambitions future aspirations, it remains committed to make that journey with the least carbon footprint, continuing its quest towards carbon neutral status, while being a highly socially impacting organization. CDB’s tech strategy in turn, complements its sustainability agenda by helping it expand its capacity devoid of brick and mortar distribution, contributing towards a more resource efficient organization. This tech focus helps expand CDB’s reach to the most remote, vulnerable and rural base of the pyramid markets, augmenting financial inclusion
CDB incorporates two strategic pillars under its sustainability agenda – going carbon neutral and inculcating a social consciousness driven by CDB Advance contributing to the green economy by 2030 and being a leader in sustainable finance. “We have established eight verticals prioritized on seven UNSDGs based on education, health, water, clean energy, responsible consumerism, life on land and partnerships,” explains Head of Sustainability and Talent Management Aroshi Ranatunga of CDB’s unique sustainability advocacy. “Our eight verticals therefore focus on renewable energy based mobility and household solutions, enabling a shared economy, contribution to biodiversity and conservation, financial inclusion, community impacting initiatives, engaged mindful team members and responsible and sustainable branding.”
She adds to these thoughts saying, “It is our responsibility as a corporate steward to pave the path, transform mindset and push boundaries so we leave a living planet for our future generations. To spearhead this, we provide opportunities for rural youth including graduates from challenging backgrounds to be a part of our team. And we are fortunate that this team has integrated a green mindset into the very core of our business fundamentals. This is why in our journey of empowering a smarter and sustainable Sri Lanka, CDB has indelibly etched and exampled that we can achieve, ‘extraordinary results through ordinary people.”
