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Ramani Gallellalage

Ramani Gallellalage

Senior Lecturer

Nottingham Business School

Role

Dr Ramani Priyadarshani Gallellalage is a Senior Fellow in Higher Education Association (SFHEA) in the Department of Management at Nottingham Business School. She leads the "Developing Professional Impacts (Entrepreneurship)" and "Business Development in a Digital World", and she led the "International Strategic Management" and the "Strategic Management" modules, where she developed comprehensive module materials and established a learning environment aligned with her interests in the Participatory Action Learning Approach. These modules aim to enhance students' theoretical and practical knowledge, equipping them with the skills to develop strategies that support enterprises both nationally and internationally through digital technology. Additionally, the modules foster continuous professional impact, leadership, teamwork skills, and the ability to resolve complex and critical business issues.

Dr Gallellalage was awarded the "Best Module Performance 2022- Management Department" for her exceptional work on the Strategic Management module, reflecting her pedagogical expertise. She taught "Dynamic Entrepreneurship" and "Digital Entrepreneurship." She supervises BA final-year students' research projects and MSc students' Consultancy Experience Projects.

Academic Background

Dr Gallellalage obtained her PhD from Nottingham Trent University, where she was awarded the Nottingham Business School Dean’s Bursary. Her doctoral research led to the development of a Strategic Training Framework known as the Pop-up Pathway, which includes participatory action-learning activities designed to support women micro-retail pop-up owners in overcoming challenges and sustaining their businesses in the UK retail market beyond five years. She also holds an MSc in International Business Management from Ulster University, UK, and an MA in Anthropology and Sociology from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

Additionally, she earned a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Youth Partners in Development from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Youth Partners in Development (YPD) in Sweden. She also possesses a Postgraduate Diploma in Translation from the Official Languages Department of Sri Lanka and a BA in Economics, Sociology, and Geography from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

Recent Projects

  • Crisis Leadership Training Programme for School Students in Sri Lanka
  • Supporting Women Micro-Business Owners Engaged in Traditional Art, Fashion, and Design Industries in South Asia
  • Community Tourism in Sri Lanka.

Awards:

Nottingham Trent University Open Research Commendation Award 2026

Dr Gallellalage received the Nottingham Trent University Open Research Commendation Award in recognition of the project, A Collaborative Approach to Developing a Replicable and Sustainable Clean Drinking Water Model: An Open Research Case Study in Disadvantaged Rural Communities in Sri Lanka. The award recognises excellence in open research and collaborative approaches that generate meaningful societal impact. The project exemplifies co-created, interdisciplinary research by working in partnership with communities and stakeholders to develop sustainable solutions to improve access to clean drinking water. It reflects Dr Gallellalage's commitment to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), through inclusive, community-engaged research that promotes sustainable development, social innovation, and long-term community resilience.

The "Best Module Performance 2022 – Management Department, Module Leader, Strategic Management, Management Department, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Prize for one of the best three presentations: Gallellalage, R.P., Galanakis, K., Oxborrow, L., and Armannsdottir, G. (2020), "The Pop-up Pathway for Women-Owned Micro-Retail Pop-Ups in the UK," Doctoral Symposium, Marketing and Consumer Studies Research Group, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Prize for the Best Poster: Gallellalage, R.P., Galanakis, K., Oxborrow, L., and Armannsdottir, G. (2018), "Women-Owned Micro-Retail Pop-Ups: Acting as a Bridge to Survive in the UK Retail Market," Doctoral Research Festival, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK.

Awarded a scholarship to attend and contribute to The Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership at Oxford University, UK.

Career overview

Before joining Nottingham Business School, Dr Gallellalage was the Director of Ketagoda Energy Service Ltd, London, UK and worked for twelve years at the Ministry of Industrial Development and the Official Languages Department of Sri Lanka. She collaborated with the Board of Investment, Department of Commerce, Tourism Board, and Parliament of Sri Lanka to design, implement, and evaluate a five-year Strategic Framework to support Small and Medium Enterprises.

Prior to her government service, she served as a Programme Coordinator in the Poverty Eradication and Empowerment Division at the Sarvodaya Head Office in Sri Lanka, where she contributed to a Five-year Strategic Framework aimed at improving the living conditions of 5000 villages. With over thirty years of experience as a qualitative researcher, Dr Gallellalage has designed and implemented several action research projects aimed at improving socio-cultural and economic conditions in developing economies in the Sri Lankan community, and she contributes as an External Advisor and Resource Person, International Division of Sarvodaya, Sri Lanka.

Research areas

Dr Gallellalage's research programme examines how entrepreneurship can drive sustainable development, social innovation, and inclusive economic transformation, with a particular focus on women’s entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, and community-based enterprise development in the Global South. Her work seeks to understand how entrepreneurial ecosystems, innovation, and leadership can empower individuals and communities to build sustainable livelihoods, reduce poverty, and promote social inclusion, with a special interest in Sri Lanka and comparative perspectives from the United Kingdom.

Her research spans women’s entrepreneurship and empowerment, social entrepreneurship ecosystems, sustainable livelihoods, community development, crisis leadership, entrepreneurship education, higher education, and innovation for sustainable development. Guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those relating to gender equality, quality education, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities, clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, and partnerships for the Goals, her research explores how entrepreneurship and innovation can address complex societal challenges while creating long-term social, economic, and environmental value.

Dr Gallellalage is committed to interdisciplinary, collaborative, and impact-driven research that bridges academia, policy, and practice. Her contributions have been recognised through the Nottingham Trent University Open Research Commendation Award for the project, A Collaborative Approach to Developing a Replicable and Sustainable Clean Drinking Water Model: An Open Research Case Study in Disadvantaged Rural Communities in Sri Lanka. This award reflects her commitment to open research, cross-sector collaboration, and the co-creation of sustainable, community-led solutions that generate measurable societal impact.

Through her research, Dr Gallellalage contributes to advancing entrepreneurship theory and practice while informing public policy, higher education, enterprise development, and community empowerment. Her work seeks to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems that foster resilience, inclusive innovation, and sustainable development across the Global South, generating evidence-based solutions that support equitable and sustainable social transformation.

Sponsors and collaborators

Prof. Lynn Oxborrow, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Prof. John Hoffmire, Oxford University, UK.

Prof. Scott Hammond, Utah State University, USA.

Prof. Kostas Galanakis, Burgundy University, France.

Publications

Wijitnawin, P., Chollawit, D., Kerdaroon, N. and Gallellalage, R. (2024), Effects of Using a Creativity-based Learning Approach on Critical Reading Abilities Regarding Thai Literature and Attitudes Towards Learning about Thai Literature of Bachelor of Education Students in Thai Major, Journal of MCU Nakhondhat, 11 (8), pp. 261-270.

Kerdaroon, N., Chollawit, D., Wijitnawin, P. and Gallellalage, R. (2024), To evaluate an instructional technique following Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism and to see its impact on the problem-solving skills of undergraduate students in early childhood education undertaking a special education course, 7th ASNet International Multidisciplinary Academic Conference 2024, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Collie, C., Gallellalage, R., Hammond, S., and Curd A. (2023), Reimagining Crisis Leadership: Intersections with Search and Rescue, 6th International Conference for Missing Children and Adults, The University of South Wales, Principality Stadium, Cardiff, UK.

Gallellalage, R. P., Kazim, W., Remedios, R., and Wijitnawin, P. (2023), What are the challenges encountered by International Students in Higher Education in the United Kingdom? Psychology of Education Section, Annual Conference 2023, The British Psychological Society, John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.

Gallellalage, R.P. (2023), Putting Non-profit Research into Practice Research Symposium, British Academy of Management (BAM), Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK.

Hammond, S. and Gallellalage (2022), CRISIS: Management or Leadership, International Search and Rescue Conference, Iceland Association for Search and Rescue, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Gallellalage, R., Galanakis, K., Oxborrow, L. and Armannsdottir, G. (2022), A Strategic Training Framework for Women Micro-retail Pop-up Owners to Manage their Temporary Retail Pop-ups for the long-term, 19th International Conference on Business Management (ICBM), Sri Jayewardenepura University, Sri Lanka.

Gallellalage, R.P., Oluwole, A., Wijeyaratne, O., and Senadeera, B. (2021), "Development of a Knowledge Transfer Framework (Farmers’ Pathway) in Arable Farming: A Case Study in Sri Lanka," Business Models at the Crossroads of Responsible Innovation, Sustainability, and Resilience, Journal of Contemporary Administration, ISSN 1982-7849. (In preparation).

Gallellalage, R.P., Galanakis, K., Oxborrow, L., and Armannsdottir, G. (2020), "An Action Research Approach in the Development of an Action-Based Training, Namely the Pop-Up Pathway for Women Micro-Retail Pop-Up Owners to Survive in the UK Retail Market Beyond Five Years," British Academy of Management, London, UK.

Gallellalage, R.P., Galanakis, K., Oxborrow, L., and Armannsdottir, G. (2020), "The Pop-up Pathway for Women-Owned Micro-Retail Pop-Ups in the UK," Doctoral Symposium, Marketing and Consumer Studies Research Group, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Gallellalage, R.P., Wijeyaratne, O., and Senadeera, B. (2020), "Pathway to Accessible and Sustainable Clean Water for Communities in Developing Economies Through a Collaborative Support Model: A Case Study in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," Virtual International Conference, IESD Second Annual Conference: Aligning Local Interventions with the UN SDGs, Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK.

Wijeyaratne, O., Adeniyi, O., and Gallellalage, R.G. (2020), "A Development of a Conceptual Framework to Study Customer Buying Behaviour During a Pandemic Crisis," 18th Annual International Conference on Marketing, Athens Institute for Education and Research, Athens, Greece.

Gallellalage, R.P., Galanakis, K., Oxborrow, L., and Armannsdottir, G. (2019), "The Pop-up Pathway: A Collaborative Framework to Develop Women-Owned Temporary Micro-Retail Businesses (Pop-Up) Beyond Five Years," Images of Research 2019, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK.

Gallellalage, R.P., Galanakis, K., Oxborrow, L., and Armannsdottir, G. (2018), "Women-Owned Micro-Retail Pop-Ups: Starting, Managing, and Acting as a Bridge to a Permanent Retail Presence in the UK Retail Market," British Academy of Management Conference, Bristol Business School, Bristol, UK.