Sri Lanka's MAS Holdings launches MAS Foundation for Change

Introduced in 2021, the Plan for Change encompasses 12 commitments under the focus areas of Products, Lives, and Planet. 

“The Plan for Change itself is an ambitious plan; and yet the world today is rife with challenges that require solutions of a scale that cannot be achieved by one organisation alone. While we at MAS will keep working to achieve our Plan for Change commitments, we also know that the challenges our world faces require solutions developed through collaboration, innovation, and scale. That is why we have established the MAS Foundation for Change, to expand and accelerate our efforts by building partnerships with programme implementers, innovators, and donors,” MAS Group chief executive officer, Suren Fernando said.

In its inaugural year, the foundation will focus on the expansion of the ‘Ocean Strainer’ pilot floating trash trap project introduced by MAS in 2020, in collaboration with customers and other like-minded partners, as well as scaling up biodiversity restoration initiatives through reforestation, invasive species removal and enrichment, the company said in a press release.

The MAS Foundation for Change establishes a unique operational mechanism in which 100 per cent of donor funding is directed towards projects in the field with MAS absorbing all overhead costs. The distinctive model has already attracted global and local partners including the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Parley for the Oceans, the Laudato Si Challenge Foundation, Solar Impulse (part of Sail Lanka Yachting Group), Clean Ocean Force Lanka, and the Galle Conservation Society. 

“Our aim through the foundation is to explore new ways of addressing some of the most significant environmental issues that we currently face in the world. We are strong believers of collaborative innovation, and we are currently working with a number of partners to find solutions to some of the most pressing challenges we see today. We are humbled to have the opportunity to kick off these efforts in Sri Lanka, and look forward to expanding across borders, as we find the right solutions and partners along the way,” director of the MAS Foundation for Change, Sharika Senanayake said.

The MAS Foundation for Change will be led by a board of directors, including Rajitha Jayasuriya, group director – corporate affairs at MAS Holdings, and Sid Amalean, head of sustainable business at MAS Holdings.