Sifaan Zavahir

Sifaan Zavahir

Sifaan is a Change Agent who blends unconventionality in appearance and worldview with a highly structured and pragmatic work ethic.

By virtue of his strong analytical skills, he was well set for a distinguished career in technology, with medals at international programming competitions and a first class engineering degree under his belt when exposure to the non-profit sector helped him to discover a greater passion: helping people find purpose, meaning and true happiness in life. Over the last 8 years, he has gained respect as a innovative and resourceful trainer / facilitator, both locally and abroad.

Sifaan is also an armchair philosopher, amateur psychologist, raconteur, technophile, and comedian – sometimes all at the same time. He will eat almost anything of animal origin, and read just about anything (even the Telephone Directory if really desperate) provided it's in English - but his favorites are books by Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Ben Elton.

He speaks native English and fluent Sinhalese; and can say "Look, I have an elbow" in several languages.

Awards

  • Won 1 Gold, 1 Silver, and 1 Bronze Medal at the International Olympiad in Informatics
  • International Contribution Award from AIESEC in Estonia
  • AIESEC in Sri Lanka winning 3 international and 2 regional awards during tenure as President

Experience

  • Six years of practical experience in leadership, teamwork and organizational development in the non-profit sector; working for AIESEC in Sri Lanka and AIESEC in Estonia. [Areas of specialization: Leadership development, Conference Management, Strategy]
  • Ten years' experience Coaching the Sri Lankan National Team to the International Olympiad in Informatics – including syllabus design, training, and evaluation/selection
  • Eighteen months' experience in design and delivery of outdoor adventure-based team building programs at Adventure Asia Int.
  • Training/Facilitating at several AIESEC conferences, including 9 at regional/international level. [Topics: Leadership, Organizational Culture, Training]
  • Fourteen months' experience in Public Relations and Advertising at Cameron Pale & Medina

Academic and Professional Qualifications

  • Reading for Masters in Adult Learning and Global Change (expected graduation: 2010) at Linkoping University, Sweden
  • B. Sc. (Eng) – Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa (1st Class)
  • National Diploma in Human Resource Management, Institute of Personnel Management (Pending Research Project)

Interest Areas

  • Psychology (Cognitive / Adult Learning)
  • Psychometry
  • Organizational Culture & Development
  • Leadership Development
  • Cross-cultural communication