It has been 46 years since our Association was incorporated in 1973. The SLAASC was realistically formed in 1970, when a few Sri Lankan Migrants decided that there was the need of an organization of its kind.

The SLAASC was the first organization of Sri Lankan expatriates to be formed in the United States and possibly the world.  We are the only organization of its kind to have a democratically elected President and Committee.

Since the SLAASC was founded, we have had many “firsts”, of events that were organized by the Association.  Some of the major accomplishments and achievements were: we held the first Perahera at Echo Park in Los Angeles; replete with a live elephant, the event was a great success, and was televised live on NBC.  The SLAASC produced the first Independence Day celebration. The SLAASC organized the first Sinhala/Tamil New Year celebration. The SLAASC was responsible for convincing the Sri Lanka Government of the need for having a Consulate General in Los Angeles. The SLAASC was also responsible for convincing the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister that the Consulate should not be closed.

The first Music Group from Sri Lanka to perform in California was organized by SLAASC in 1989 at California State University Dominguez Hills, on Sept 09, 1989. The Group consisted with Stanley Pieris, Chitra and PLA Somapala. The President of the SLAASC was Irvin Pieterz. Mr. Pieterz passed away in 2018.

In 1991 Stanley Pieris and Kalashuri Latha Walpola was invited to perform in California with the Band Fortunes. Vinitha Serasinghe was the President of SLAASC at that time.

Also, SLAASC is the first organization to bring the band “Gypsies” and the “Marians” to the United States.