DIAN GOMES is a Business Leader with a passion for people!

Always a “people’s person”, Dian is a group Director of MAS Holdings; a USD 1 Billion enterprise, and provides leadership to the group’s largest Business Division, MAS Intimates. Employing over 45,000 people, MAS Holdings is south Asia’s largest apparel manufacturer and holds diversified interests in the areas of retail, education and IT. In addition to his role as the Managing Director of the Intimates Cluster, Dian is also the Head of Human Resources, Corporate Communications, Branding and CSR for the MAS Holdings Group.

Having commenced his career at KPMG, Dian later became the Finance Director of Saracen Interiors International, subsequent to which he took up the position of General Manager (Sri Lanka) for May Department Stores International Inc.

Dian’s well-rounded corporate experience compliments his sound academic background. A Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK) and Certified Practicing Accountants (Australia); he received his Executive Education at Wharton Business School, Ashridge Business School and Harvard Business School.

What sets Dian apart however, is his versatility. Having represented Royal College in boxing in the early seventies & emerging as Sri Lanka’s Junior National Fly Weight Champion in 1975, he was Sri Lanka’s youngest boxing judge at the age of 20.

Dian was the President of the Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association for 05 years (from 2004-2009) and currently sits in the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) Athletes and Youth Commission. He is also the Vice President of the National Association of Fencing, Sri Lanka as well as the Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka and has been the Chef De Mission for several international sporting events including the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Dian was President of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK) – Sri Lanka Division in 2001/2002 and presently sits on the boards of many private and government organizations.

He co-authored the book “Costumes of Sri Lanka”, which was awarded “best prose non-fiction” at the State Literary Awards, 2003. In 1999, he was profiled in the prestigious “Wall Street Journal”, bringing pride to the Sri Lankan apparel industry. Dian was awarded Business Leader of the Year 2003, under the large-scale category at the CIMA-Janashakthi Pinnacle Awards and was ‘Highly Commended’ by CIMA-UK at the Business Leader Awards in London in 2004. Recognized as one of Sri Lanka’s ‘Male Icons’ by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing in 2007, Dian was awarded the coveted ‘Brand Leadership Award’ under the Individual Category, in Mumbai, by the World Brand Congress in 2009.

Dian is zealous about developing the next generation of civic and corporate leaders of Sri Lanka and has presented a number of papers on organizational behaviour and delivered over 300 leadership and motivational lectures at a variety of Sri Lankan and international forums, including the prestigious Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK.