CEO & Founder, Versus Equity
Vinoda Basnayake is the founder and CEO of VERSUS Equity, an award winning multi-vertical lifestyle brand with best-in-class hospitality venues, a cutting-edge marketing agency and an innovative venture arm.
Upon featuring VERSUS in its Top 100 list, Innovate stated “VERSUS has become synonymous with innovation and disruption. This dynamic brand is not just about creating spaces but crafting experiences that resonate deeply with its diverse audience. VERSUS’s hospitality ventures are the crown jewels of D.C.’s nightlife and dining scene.” Every VERSUS venue has been recognized as best in class in its respective space and have become go-to spots for celebrities like Drake, Michelle Obama, Snoop Dogg and LeBron James. VERSUS venture fund has also collaborated with new media innovators such as Alex Cooper and Alix Earle.
Mr. Basnayake is ranked in the Legal 500 and has been recognized as Top 40 under 40 by the Washington Business Journal. He has also been named as The Hill's Top Lobbyists for the past several years, was and was honored as Top Lobbyist of 2020 by the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics. He has also been named Most Influential Under 40 for the past seven years by Washington Life Magazine. Mr. Basnayake and his business ventures have also been profiled in Complex, Vanity Fair, GQ, Washingtonian, Washington Post and numerous other international publications.
Mr. Basnayake has been nominated and confirmed for numerous political appointments. In 2020, Mr. Basnayake was appointed to be the first Chairman of Nightlife and Culture of Washington DC by Mayor Muriel Bowser. He was previously appointed Commissioner of the Small and Local Business Opportunity Commission for DC by former Mayor Adrian Fenty. He also served on Mayor Muriel Bowser's Transition Team for Economic Development and was named to the ReOpen DC Advisory Committee for safe reopening during the pandemic.
He has spoken in panels across the globe on the topic of finance including the Milken Institute’s Middle East and Africa Summit in Dubai, Abu Dhabi Finance Week and the US Department of Commerce’s Sustainable Technology Forum in Egypt. He also sits on numerous nonprofit and political boards. Mr. Basnayake was formerly the Chairman of the Board of DC Vote and sits on the boards of the Washington Institute, the Asian American Pacific Islander Victory Fund, Planet Reimagined, Soho House (Washington DC Committee), and Ned’s Club (Washington DC).
Basnayake was previously President and Senior Advisor on Global Partnerships of Aspiration, a multi-billion dollar leading financial and sustainability services Public Benefit Corporation. Prior to joining Aspiration, Basnayake was a partner at the international law firm Nelson Mullins LLP where he was the Chairman of the Sovereign Practice and the DC Government Relations Practice and prior to that at Patton Boggs LLP. He has previously represented the governments of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, India and Sri Lanka, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and numerous other sovereigns, funds, and international corporations.
Mr. Basnayake is an honors graduate from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business where he was a double major and double minor. He received the Dean's Citation for Outstanding Contribution to the Campus, received the Outstanding Student Leader Award and was selected student graduation speaker by his class. He received a joint degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Wharton School of Business.
Basnayake was a Global Justice Fellow at UPenn and Senior Editor of the Journal of International Law.
Mr. Basnayake is an avid art collector whose collection includes original pieces by modern artist Justin Bua, portraitist Shawn Michael Warren, street artist Mr. Brainwash, muralist MuckRuck and pop icon Kanye West. He was also the executive producer of the movie Sprinter with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. He is also the Founder and Managing Partner of international consulting firm VS Global.
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