Some people enter a room and immediately command attention. Others do something far more enduring: they leave the room having changed the way people think.

Onalie Dissanayake belongs to the latter.

Respected within both the academic and marketing communities, Onalie carries her accomplishments with an understated confidence. There is no theatrical display of authority and no need to repeatedly announce her position or achievements. Her influence is revealed instead through the standards she protects, the people she guides and the institutions she is determined to build.

Today, she serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Lakeland Academy and the Chief Academic Officer of Lakeland Inter-American School. Yet the story behind those titles did not begin in a boardroom, an academy or even a classroom.

It began in a household of four daughters, where discipline was balanced by encouragement and education was treated not merely as a pathway to employment, but as a foundation for life.

Before the Titles

Onalie grew up in a stable and supportive family. Her father was an electronics engineer, while her mother dedicated herself to managing the home and raising the family.

Within that environment, education mattered. Discipline mattered. But so did character.

Her parents taught their daughters to care for others, respect people’s rights and remain considerate in their interactions. These were not values reserved for formal conversations or special occasions. They became part of the way Onalie learned to view the world.

At Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya, she discovered that education extended far beyond books and examinations.

She debated. She sang in the choir. She performed in stage dramas. She competed in basketball, netball and athletics. She represented her school and accepted leadership responsibilities at an age when many young people were still discovering their identities.

Each activity quietly prepared her for a future she could not yet see.

Debating taught her to think critically and communicate with confidence. Drama and choir taught her expression, collaboration and presence. Sport taught her discipline, teamwork and the reality that victory and defeat must both be handled with grace.

Losing, in particular, became an important teacher.

Rather than allowing disappointment to define her, Onalie learned to reflect, correct herself and return stronger. It was an early lesson in resilience—one that would become increasingly valuable as her life moved through different professions, responsibilities and identities.

Her school leadership roles offered another form of education. They introduced her to the complexities of managing people, resolving disagreements and adapting her approach to different personalities.

Long before she held an executive title, Onalie was learning that leadership was not about controlling people.

It was about understanding them.

A Different Beginning

Before education became her profession, Onalie built her early career in marketing, advertising and sales.

It was a demanding environment, particularly for a woman working in the field during a period when such roles were far less accessible and accepted than they are today.

The work required courage in its most practical form.

She travelled by bus to distant locations, including Nuwara Eliya and other parts of the upcountry. Fieldwork meant unfamiliar places, demanding schedules and the constant need to remain independent, alert and professional.

There was no carefully curated corporate comfort surrounding those experiences. They required physical stamina, mental strength and the confidence to represent herself in spaces that did not always make the journey easy for women.

Yet she persevered.

Marketing sharpened her ability to communicate. Sales strengthened her understanding of people. Advertising taught her how ideas could be shaped, presented and made relevant to different audiences.

The experience gave her a professional foundation that would later prove invaluable in education. It taught her to organise, persuade, listen and respond—skills that remain central to meaningful academic leadership.

But life rarely moves in a perfectly straight line.

A personal decision connected to marriage eventually redirected Onalie towards teaching. Her husband preferred to marry a teacher, and the decision became the unexpected turning point that introduced her to an entirely new profession.

For some, such a transition might have felt like the abandonment of one identity for another.

For Onalie, it became an opportunity to rebuild herself.

The Courage to Begin Again

When Onalie entered education, she did not arrive with years of teaching experience or a collection of formal qualifications in the field.

She was beginning again.

That reality could have intimidated her. Instead, it activated one of the defining principles of her life: whatever she chose to do, she would do it to the highest standard she could reach.

She did not treat teaching as a convenient change of profession. She made a commitment to become genuinely qualified and capable.

She studied. She trained. She developed herself academically and professionally.

Rather than depending only on confidence or transferable experience, she acquired the knowledge required to perform with credibility.

The former marketing professional gradually became an educator. The educator became an academic leader. And the academic leader eventually became responsible not only for teaching students, but also for shaping institutions and guiding other educators.

Her transformation was not sudden. It was built through consistency.

That may be the most compelling aspect of her story.

A Decade of Regional Leadership

One of the most significant chapters in Onalie’s professional journey was her tenure of more than a decade as the Country Head for Sri Lanka and the Maldives at the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), United Kingdom.

The position placed her at the heart of professional marketing education across both countries, where she contributed not merely as an administrator, but as a leader responsible for expanding access, maintaining international standards and strengthening CIM’s regional presence.

Among her most notable achievements was initiating the delivery of CIM programmes in the Maldives. The initiative opened an important pathway for Maldivian professionals seeking globally recognised marketing qualifications and helped extend the reach of professional marketing education beyond Sri Lanka.

It was a role that demanded more than operational competence. It required an understanding of two markets, the ability to engage with professionals and education providers, and the discipline to protect the reputation and academic standards of an internationally respected professional body.

Her leadership was tested most profoundly during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As institutions closed, travel became impossible and traditional methods of education were disrupted almost overnight, students, lecturers and education providers faced unprecedented uncertainty. Onalie was responsible for navigating CIM’s operations through one of the most challenging periods experienced by the education sector.

Through careful coordination, adaptability and determination, she continued to manage operations and support the continuation of programme delivery during the crisis.

The period revealed more than her professional competence. It demonstrated her ability to remain composed when circumstances were unpredictable, to protect continuity when familiar systems were collapsing and to lead people through uncertainty without compromising the standards entrusted to her.

Her decade-long association with CIM also strengthened the bridge between her two professional worlds: marketing and education.

It was here that her commercial experience, academic commitment and leadership abilities converged. She was no longer simply participating in either field. She was helping shape the professional development of marketers across Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Leadership Beyond Certificates

Today, as CEO of Lakeland Academy, Onalie oversees programmes designed to support school leavers and working professionals as they build their careers. The academy also provides academic enrichment opportunities for school students, helping learners develop practical skills, knowledge and clarity about their future pathways.

Alongside this responsibility, she serves as the Chief Academic Officer of Lakeland Inter-American School.

In this role, she works to protect and standardise the quality of education delivered to students. She supports academic staff, monitors teaching standards and focuses on ensuring that learning produces meaningful outcomes.

But her philosophy reaches far beyond administration.

Onalie is deeply concerned about the difference between receiving a certificate and receiving an education.

To her, education cannot be reduced to paper qualifications, examination results or institutional branding. A student should leave an educational experience with greater understanding, confidence and capability.

A certificate may prove that a programme was completed.

True education should prove that a person was transformed.

This belief forms the centre of her leadership vision.

She wants students, school leavers and professionals to make informed decisions about their lives. She wants teachers to deliver education consistently and responsibly. She wants parents to understand that meaningful success requires more than pursuing outcomes without considering the depth of learning behind them.

“What excites me most about my work is the opportunity to work closely with people and contribute to their growth,” she explains.

For Onalie, academic leadership is not simply a profession.

It is an opportunity to leave a footprint of value in another person’s life.

The Woman Behind the Role

High-performing careers are often described through visible achievements: promotions, titles, institutions and public recognition.

The invisible structure beneath those achievements is rarely discussed.

For Onalie, that structure has always been her family.

Her parents remained a source of strength throughout her journey. Their support continued long after childhood, extending into the years when she was building her career and raising children of her own. During demanding periods, they helped with childcare and gave her the space required to continue developing professionally.

Her husband also encouraged her progress and ensured that she was not unnecessarily prevented from pursuing her goals.

Yet despite the demands of executive and academic leadership, Onalie is clear about one priority: her children come first.

She makes a conscious effort to be present for the moments that matter in their lives. She listens, guides and spends time teaching them the values she believes are essential to becoming complete and responsible individuals.

She does not allow her children’s important calls to become another unanswered notification in a crowded schedule. When they need her, she wants them to know that their mother is available.

This balance is not maintained through chance.

It is protected through discipline.

Onalie follows a structured schedule and creates firm boundaries between professional and personal life. She does not take work home, and she avoids working during weekends. When she is at work, she gives the role her full attention. When she is with her family, she chooses to be genuinely present.

In an age that frequently glorifies exhaustion as ambition, her approach presents a different definition of success.

Achievement, she believes, should not require the abandonment of the people who matter most.

Building an Institution of Trust

Onalie’s future vision for Lakeland Academy is both ambitious and deeply personal.

She wants to build an institution that becomes a benchmark for quality education—not an organisation that is merely recognised, but one that is respected for the value it creates.

She imagines an academy where learning is transformative.

It should be a place where students are guided with purpose, school leavers are given direction and professionals acquire the practical confidence to move forward in their careers.

It should be trusted not because its name is repeatedly advertised, but because its impact can be seen in the lives of the people who pass through it.

Her goal is to move education away from routine achievement and closer to understanding, application and personal growth.

This distinction matters.

Routine achievement may help a student pass an examination. Transformative education helps that student interpret the world, make decisions and build a meaningful future.

Onalie wants Lakeland Academy to stand for quality, integrity and lasting change.

Only when that vision has been firmly established does she imagine herself gradually moving into a quieter chapter of life.

Not retirement in the conventional sense. Not disappearance.

A transition.

She hopes to eventually live more intentionally and peacefully, knowing that she has built something capable of continuing its work beyond her direct involvement.

What Success Could Not Teach Alone

Looking back, Onalie wishes she had understood earlier that changing direction is not a sign of failure.

A person can begin again. A new profession can be entered. An unfamiliar challenge can become the beginning of a more significant journey.

She has also learned that setbacks are not evidence of weakness.

They are often the experiences that reveal strength.

Her years in marketing, the move into education, the pursuit of new qualifications and the challenge of balancing motherhood with professional responsibility all demanded different forms of resilience.

Each chapter strengthened the next.

She remains an advocate of lifelong learning, insisting that growth does not end when a qualification is awarded. Knowledge, skills and attitudes must continue to evolve because the world itself continues to change.

Yet perhaps her most important lesson has little to do with professional achievement.

Success means very little when it is gained at the expense of family, meaningful relationships or one’s own sense of balance.

No title can replace the moments a parent misses. No promotion can recover time that was never shared. No public recognition can compensate for the absence felt by those closest to us.

That is why Onalie’s story is not simply about ambition.

It is about proportion.

It is about knowing when to work harder, when to learn again, when to lead and when to put everything aside and listen to a child.

The Legacy of a Meaningful Life

To young people and aspiring professionals, Onalie offers advice shaped not by theory, but by experience.

• Build values before chasing recognition.
• Develop discipline alongside qualifications.
• Explore different paths without fearing uncertainty.
• Treat challenges as teachers.
• Continue learning long after formal education ends.
• Remain grounded, regardless of the position you achieve.
• Above all, do not aim only to succeed. Aim to make a difference.

Her own journey demonstrates the power of that philosophy.

The girl who learned courage through debating and resilience through sport entered the demanding world of marketing. The marketing professional stepped into education and rebuilt herself through study and determination. The teacher became a leader. The leader began building institutions designed to transform the futures of others.

Still, the sentence that best captures Onalie may not be found in her titles.

It is found in the way she describes her own journey:

Then, almost as though refusing to allow the seriousness of life to have the final word, she adds one more instruction:

“And smile a lot.”

Perhaps that is the quiet secret behind her journey.

To work with discipline. To lead with purpose. To remain present for the people who matter. To build something that will outlive one’s position—and through every difficult chapter, to keep moving forward with a smile.