The MAS Foundation for Change was established in 2022 as an independent, non-profit organization aimed at tackling the social and environmental challenges that we face due to biodiversity loss, ocean pollution, and lack of access to clean water.

According to Sharika Senanayake, Director of MAS Foundation for Change, MAS introduced its groupwide sustainability strategy, the MAS Plan for Change, in 2021 and the MAS Foundation was created as an extension of the actions and initiatives implemented through the Plan for Change. “While the Foundation is a separate legal entity, our values and strategic intent are very much aligned with MAS,” Senanayake explains.

The MAS Foundation for Change has a unique operational mechanism in which 100% of donor funding is directed towards projects in the field, with MAS absorbing all overhead costs. This model has been attractive to a number of global and local partners who want to create a tangible impact.

Senanayake begins this interview by expounding the Foundation’s commitment to creating cleaner oceans, improving life on earth through biodiversity initiatives, and providing access to clean water.

Can you take us through your initiatives thus far and their impacts?

In our first year, we focused on the expansion of the Ocean Strainer initiative that was piloted by MAS in 2020.

While we see beaches littered with waste, research shows that approximately 70% of marine waste sinks to the seafloor. This means we cannot stop at cleaning up beaches, we need to stop waste from reaching the ocean in the first place. This challenge was the inspiration behind the Ocean Strainer—a trash trap solution that floats across inland waterways and traps plastic waste before entering the ocean. Piloted in the Dehiwala Canal, the first Ocean Strainer trapped 67,450 kilograms of waste in the first twelve months.

We are now working with different partners to scale this solution and install Ocean Strainers in canals all over Sri Lanka, with a total of 18 Ocean Strainers established to date. We estimate that the initiative has diverted 530,000 kilograms of waste by the end of 2022. We also empower resource people from local communities to collect, segregate, and resell recyclable waste.

What are some of the challenges confronting the Foundation’s work? And how do you align all your stakeholders to the vision espoused by the foundation?

The current global environment and economic climate have had far-reaching impacts, including how businesses and other donors are looking at funding and collaboration efforts. However, we are convinced that we must keep pushing forward on this agenda, as there is no time for ‘Plan B’ when it comes to the health of our oceans and planet.

We established the MAS Foundation for Change to expand and accelerate our efforts by building partnerships with program implementers, innovators, and donors. We work with innovators whose ideas have the potential to solve seemingly unsolvable problems, implementers who are execution partners with boots on the ground, and sponsors who can finance trials or the scaling up of developed solutions. We find that this partnership model has helped us to find the right kind of stakeholders who really align with our vision and long-term goals.

What are your future endeavours? What does The MAS Foundation for Change expect to achieve over the long term?

In the Cleaner Oceans space, our goal is to install Ocean Strainers and other pollution-preventing innovations in all of Sri Lanka’s most polluted waterways, to form a protective barrier for the oceans surrounding this island. We are also working on developing effective waste management and value enhancement solutions for the waste that is being collected through the Ocean Strainers.

As we step into our second year in operation, we are starting to work with some of MAS’ customers on biodiversity restoration initiatives stemming from our engagement with local and global partners.

In the long term, we want to enable systemic change by supporting public awareness, research, and policy advocacy for Cleaner Oceans, Life on our Planet, and Access to Water alongside our action-oriented work.

Amidst the ongoing domestic challenges – and headwinds from the global economy – why does MAS feel it has to focus on sustainability beyond the core business?

Sustainability has been part of MAS’ DNA since its inception, and the Plan for Change tackles challenges in changing Products, Lives, and the Planet for Good. While MAS will keep working to achieve these goals, we know that the challenges facing the world right now are too big to tackle through the efforts of one company alone.

We know we would be better equipped to create a lasting impact if we could expand and accelerate our efforts, and build effective, sustainable solutions through collaboration, innovation, and scale. That’s why we felt that the strength of a non-profit structure would benefit us and enable us to take this work outside of MAS’ core business.

We believe partnerships are the key to making these efforts come to life and welcome any interested parties to get in touch with us at [email protected].