Leonie Vaas has bagged Outstanding Women Award

Ms. Leonie Vaas, also known as the woman who fashioned her country’s name by the UN Global Compact as the 2021 SDG Pioneer for Responsible Production. Ms. Leonie as the Manager for Sustainability and Innovations, Hayleys Fabric PLC Sri Lanka, has developed many areas of Environment sustainability for a better tomorrow. Prior to joining with Hayleys, she worked as a Research and Development Manager at Brandix Apparel Solutions Ltd. She has nearly one and a half decades of superb experience in the Textile industry. Moreover she is an outstanding woman for avoiding the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance, which means sustainability.

She has been selected as a 2021 SDG pioneer by the United Nations Global Compact for Responsible Production. Surprisingly, she is one of the top ten in the world. This unprecedented achievement is not just a remarkable milestone in Leonie’s own career. This is the first occasion in which a Sri Lankan representative has been selected as a pioneer. 

However, her commitment to take positive action for sustainable development issues whilst promoting positive change, Leonie was selected from a highly reputed pool of candidates to be ultimately ranked amongst the top professionals, recognized for advancing sustainable development. 

With this victorious achievement, she has now sealed her position amongst a cohort of 10 SDG pioneers, who continue to set ambitious, scalable and impactful targets towards delivering on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. More importantly, her selection is emblematic of her breakthrough efforts to advance these global goals, through the implementation of the United Nations Ten Principles on human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. Once again it is an honor to be mentioned that she is the first Sri Lankan to achieve this prestigious recognition.

In point of fact, Ms. Leonie Vaas is not just an ordinary person; she is a great personality with the meaning of the perfect word. When talking about her other qualifications and achievements, she provides her service as a certified Sustainable Manager and a Lead Auditor for Environment Management Systems ISO 14001. Most importantly she shares her knowledge to next generation as a visiting lecturer – Sustainability for Brandix Corporate Campus – Sri Lanka

She has completed Chemical Engineering Technology awarded by University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka and Engineering Council UK. MBA from Cardiff Metropolitan University UK. Not only that, she Obtained a Diploma in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from City and Guilds UK and also Diploma in Textile Manufacturing Management from Brandix Corporate Campus Sri Lanka. As one who knows the value of learning, without ending her academics, now she is reading for Lean Six sigma Black Belt. In fact, it will be a perfect example for the success of a successful person.

Ms. Leonie has developed many projects during her career aligning with sustainability. Mainly she developed projects concerning water pollution, GHG emission reduction and biodiversity enhancement. 

Once she said that, she was extremely proud that she could convert her passion into reality through the sustainable and circularity project and also, she is humbly proud that these projects are being recognized internationally, which now gives her great courage and strength to take this journey.

In many times she has represented her company and Country in many symposia about Sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals. In each case she always honored the name of our country among the international community. 

Along with her busy professional life, she always pays a lot of attention to her loved ones. In her personal life, Ms. Leonie is a loving wife and a mother. She always stands as a great pillar for every individual in her life. She also dedicates a special place in the lives of her friends and everyone she meets and she loves to help others in any situation. The most significant thing is that she always maintains her life in a well balanced manner. However, the most fascinating thing is that she is a good singer and a pianist. It reminds us all that no one is perfect without art. Amids her busy schedule, the fact that she is with art means that she is a truly believable person. As a distinctive milestone in her music life, she has released her own song called ‘Ganadura’ in 2020. 

With the unrivaled title ‘Outstanding Women Award’, she took it as a blessing to continue her career, taking her confidence to the next level. She is also a great role model for the entire generation of women and she is doing a peerless service to strengthen up the potential of the next generation of women. With these things she always works to make her whole life a blessed one. At last but not the least, her passion for sustainability has led her to handle and develop new sustainability projects, whilst researching new technologies and eco-friendly methods. More overly, it will bring back a great world that protects and loves the environment.