good is the new cool presents

goodcon sri lanka

Saturday, July 29, 2023

10 AM – 6 PM
Lunuganga, Bentota, Sri Lanka

Good is the New Cool invites you to GOODCon Sri Lanka: An exclusive one-day retreat for 40 like-minded changemakers, entrepreneurs and creators who are all united in their purpose of using business and culture as forces for good.

The programming for the day will feature leaders from both in and out of Sri Lanka exchanging ideas, insights and inspiration in the unique setting of Lunuganga – the stunning country estate of Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka’s premier architect.

GOODCons are festivals of inspiration, innovation and impact that have been held around the world – in Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Melbourne and New York (in association with the United Nations). For the first time, we are bringing the series to Sri Lanka.

Please click here to view past events.

AGENDA

10:00 AM

10:30 AM

11:00 AM

11:30 AM

12:00 PM

12:30 – 1:30 PM

1:30 PM

2:00 PM

2:30 PM

3:00 PM

4:00 PM

Guests Arrive

Welcome & Opening Ceremony: Everyone Introduces Themselves

Romola Ratnam from Endeavor Impact on Hollywood & Changemaking

Dr. Sam Prince on Entrepreneurship & Philanthropy

Fiona Korwin-Pawlowski on Project CETI: Using Artificial Intelligence to Speak to Whales

Lunch

Nihal Arthanayake, Radio Five Live Host on his new book, Let’s Talk: How to Have Better Conversations

Anjali Watson on Wildlife Conservation in Sri Lanka

Closing Ceremony: Reflections on the Day, hosted by Ashley Davis

Garden Tour of Lunuganga & Ena de Silva House

Afternoon Music from Jesse Gamage
Followed by a Happy Hour

PLEASE NOTE: This event will be photographed and these photographs may be used for publicity purposes, to promote this and other events. Please tell our photographer, who will be clearly marked, if you do not want to be photographed.

YOUR HOST

Afdhel Aziz

Afdhel Aziz is the Chief Purpose Officer of Conspiracy of Love, a global purpose consultancy (and certified B Corp) with Fortune 500 clients like Adidas, PepsiCo, Mondelez, Microsoft and more.

He is also the Co-Founder of Good is the New Cool, a creative studio and incubator focused on creating positive stories that fill the Hope Gap.

Born in Sri Lanka, he is also the director of the recent documentary about architect Geoffrey Bawa, ‘The Genius of the Place’, which you can read more about in Wallpaper.

Featured Speakers

Romola Ratnam, SVP, Head of Impact and Inclusion at Endeavor

Romola Ratnam is a SVP, Head of Impact, Inclusion and Advocacy at Endeavor, the global operation that owns Hollywood talent agency WME. Endeavor is a global leader in sports, entertainment and fashion operating in more than 30 countries. Named one of Fortune’s 25 Most Important Private Companies, Endeavor is the parent of a number of subsidiaries with leadership positions in their respective industries, including WME, IMG and UFC, and event properties such as Frieze and New York Fashion Week. She joins us to speak about the intersection of Hollywood and Impact, including her work on the Inclusion Rider.

Dr. Sam Prince, Executive Chairman and Founder, Prince Group

Of Sri Lankan descent, Doctor Sam Prince is a medical doctor, philanthropist, and one of Australia’s most accomplished entrepreneurs. He is the Executive Chairman and Founder of the Prince Group, a portfolio of businesses spanning a diverse range of sectors, including, not-for-profit (One Disease), technology (Next Practice, Zapid Hire), hospitality (Zambrero, Sam Prince Hospitality Group) and FMCG (Shine).

Today, Zambrero has 245 restaurants, across 5 countries and is the largest Mexican restaurant group in Australia and the 8th largest in the world. Through Zambrero’s philanthropic plate-for-plate program, the business has donated over 65 million meals to those in need around the world.

He also founded aid organisation, One Disease, to help tackle health problems within Australia’s First Nations communities. The mission was to eliminate Crusted Scabies as a public health concern by 2022 which they achieved by the target date, and gave Dr. Prince a great sense of pride that the collective power of everyday people can deliver extraordinary public health outcomes.

In 2012, he was awarded ‘Australian of the Year’ for the ACT and the EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year.

Fiona Korwin-Pawlowski, Chief Strategy Officer, Project CETI

Fiona Korwin-Pawlowski is Chief Strategy Officer at Project CETI, a nonprofit organization on a mission to listen to and translate the communication of whales. From 2016-2022, she served as lead on programs at Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF). During her tenure, CLF distributed over $45 million in funding in 2020 alone and received a variety of honors including selection as one of Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas for its Climate Resilience Initiative. With over 20 years of experience building programs and partnerships within the social impact space, Fiona is a specialist in structure and strategy for new organizations and initiatives. Fiona currently serves as a subject area expert at Untraditional Philanthropy, which helps donors identify and scale effective nonprofit models. She is a member of the Board of Directors for Operation Triple Threat and the U.S. Advisory Panel of Earth/Percent. Fiona is committed to storytelling as a tool for social change and in 2011 she co-founded Project Istwa, a nonprofit organization that produced photography and youth development workshops across Haiti.

Nihal Arthanayake, Award-winning Broadcaster, Journalist, & DJ

Nihal Arthanayake (of Sri Lankan descent) is an acclaimed broadcaster and TV presenter. Formerly at BBC Radio1, he currently presents a daily daytime show on BBC 5 Live, and his unique interviewing style was recently recognized at the BBC Radio and Music Awards where he won Interview of the Year. His book ‘Let’s Talk’ about how we can have better conversations with curiosity and empathy has just been released to rave reviews.

Anjali Watson, Managing Trustee, The Wilderness and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Sri Lanka

An ecologist by training, Anjali Watson has over the past 20 years focused much of her work on wildlife research and conservation. She is the Co-founder and Managing trustee of the Wilderness & Wildlife Conservation Trust (wwct.org) which was initiated in 2004 and was preceded by The Leopard Project which was begun in 2000. Part of a husband and wife zoologist/ ecologist team, Dr. Andrew Kittle and herself have apart from researching the leopard in Sri Lanka also worked on other species (primates, sloths, martens, wolves, lions, hyenas) across multiple habitats (Panama Canal island forests, Costa Rica, Canadian boreal forest, Serengeti Tanzania).

A member of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commissions since 2000, she sits on many government advisory panels and all work is carried out under the relevant government department permissions. Published internationally in scientific journals, their work has also been widely showcased locally and internationally in all media forms, including a recent CNN report.

Ashley Davis, Courageous Leadership Coach, Ashley Davis Collective

Ashley Davis is that rare leader who is unafraid to be tender, raw and real. Her presence simultaneously inspires confidence, trust and the freedom to seek transformative, compassionate solutions for the most intractable challenges faced by both individuals, and society at large.

For the last decade plus, Ashley led corporate responsibility at Cole Haan and Nike, where she coached, guided, developed, and implemented leadership practices and business operations as a means to create a more sustainable future, by fostering shared values across the value chain and the business ecosystem.

In 2021, Ashley transitioned from being a siloed player in corporate social responsibility to becoming an empowered coach working with individuals and companies committed to and ready for real change. Her work and style consistently upholds equity and inclusion for all and Ashley is especially grateful for and proud of her coaching with BIPOC leaders and impact oriented professionals, supporting leadership and living with curiosity, courage, compassion, and creativity to navigate and co-create landscapes of leading and being that challenge the status quo and work for all.

She is as at home at The Aspen Institute, where she is a First Movers Fellow, Leadership Coach, and Advisory Board Member, as she is surfing the waves in Sri Lanka, where she nurtures emerging social entrepreneurs and rekindles her own soul’s flame.

MUSICAL TALENT

Jesse Gamage

A Soul singer/songwriter from South London who has been performing for over 12 years. He picked up a guitar as a teenager and has never put it down ever since. As a self taught artist, his influences span through many genres including Folk, Rock and Hip Hop but his sound finds roots in the realm of Soul and Blues, from modern day to the times of Motown.

Opening for the likes of Ed Sheeran and Jamie Woon, over the last few years Jesse has recorded unforgettable EP’s from ‘Courage’ featuring tracks such as ‘3 Meals A Day’; a song about finding the beauty in life no matter the circumstance and ‘Turbulence’; a darker tale of love and despair. More recently the catchy yet haunting singles ‘4am’ in 2019 and ‘In Circles’ in 2020.

With critical acclaim for his live shows, crowds have witnessed his unique take on the Boss RC300 Loopstation as he weaves complex harmonies and guitar riffs, producing tracks of great depth from start to finish in front of amazed crowds.

Already gaining a strong following after his EP release, the South London born artist is already being compared to the likes of Lynden David Hall, D’angelo and Maxwell, proving one to watch out for in the coming months.