PRADEEP PODDAR - CHAIRPERSON

Ex Global President Water & Functional Beverages, Tata Global Beverages and Ex MD & CEO Heinz India Ltd

Pradeep Poddar is a Chemical Engineer from UDCT Mumbai and an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad. A veteran of the consumer goods industry, he groomed himself as a fast track executive in Glaxo foods, Heinz and then Tata. He became the first Managing Director of Heinz for India and South Asia in January 1996 at the age 41. In 2000, he was ranked in the top 5 percentile of North American Executives by Personnel Decisions International, New York. Pradeep led Heinz successfully for nearly a decade by creating a robust and sustainable business platform. He established the Heinz Nutrition Foundation India and built the concept of 'wellness' in India. He was awarded the prestigious Udyog Ratna award by the Karnataka Government and Wisitex Foundation in 2001 for his distinguished contribution to the food industry.

Pradeep retired from Tata Global Beverages in May 2016. He led the Group's foray into healthy beverages and foods as Global President Water & Functional Beverages. He created a Virtual Organization across the world for Innovation and Incubation, establishing eight Global patents in products and process. He represented the Tatas on the Boards of Nourishco, the JV with Pepsico and the Rising Beverage Company (Activate Beverages) in Los Angeles (USA). Pradeep has played a strategic role on the Board of Monsanto India from January 2006, and is a Trustee and Board Member of United Way of Mumbai. He has, in the past, led the American Chamber of Commerce Bombay Chapter, working closely with American Ambassadors in India and the US Consul General Mumbai, supporting the strengthening business relationship between the US and India. Pradeep now advises Corporate Boards and sits on various Boards - Welspun , Polycab , UFlex and Sresta Bioproducts.

KARUNA BHATIA - VICE CHAIRPERSON

Head of Sustainability India & SA, Standard Chartered Bank

Karuna Bhatia has been the Head of Sustainability India & SA since March 2009. She has moved to provide strategic business direction to the Bank's Sustainability agenda. Standard Chartered Bank is the world's truly International Bank having a footprint in over 50 countries. The Bank is ranked among the Top 25 in the FTSE 100 and employs over 85000 employees representing 100 nationalities. Prior to this role, she was the Business Head Microfinance, Standard Chartered Bank since 2008.

Prior to joining Standard Chartered Bank, Karuna worked with ANZ Grindlays Bank and Modi Xerox during a career spanning almost 20 years. Early in her career, following tenure with Modi Xerox Ltd in Sales, Karuna joined ANZ Grindlays where she held positions across the Consumer Banking business in functions in business strategy, managing P&L; sales, product and operations management. She has led several SBUs with revenues in excess of several million dollars, led wealth management teams and managed high net worth private banking client relationships. She has a rich experience in sales management and branch management and is a core member of country leadership team in role as leader of sustainability initiatives. Karuna has worked across metros in Delhi, Mumbai & Chennai Karuna did her MBA in Marketing and Finance from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune. Karuna's interests include reading, swimming, traveling and listening to music.

RAMAN MADHOK - TREASURER

Managing Director, Kahani Designworks Pvt. Ltd.

Raman Madhok is the Managing Director of Kahani Designworks Pvt. Ltd. He is a business strategist, master negotiator, prolific networker, executive coach and mentor and a role model leader with over 40 years of experience in Human Resources, Sales & Marketing, Project Management and as a CEO since 2001. In early 2020 he superannuated from CMI FPE Limited, a John Cockerill Group Company, Belgium as Managing Director and Group Head of South Asia. He has held several leadership positions including those at Al Ghurair Iron and Steel in UAE, JSW Steel, Cyanamid, Parke Davis, Pfizer, Voltas and Taj Group of Hotels. He is one of the very few HR professionals who has managed a large manufacturing company and turned around successfully more than once.

Raman attended IIT Delhi as a National Science Talent Scholar and received a gold medal in Labour Economics from XLRI Jamshedpur. He has also attended Senior Executive Course at the Manchester Business School. He has been a recipient of the Chevening Fellowship (UK)and Eisenhower Fellowship (USA). He is the past President of the Indo-Belgian Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce and current President of the Association of British Scholars, Mumbai.

ARUN KUMAR MALHOTRA - BOARD MEMBER

Auto Industry Expert/Visiting Faculty / Former MD Nissan India

Arun completed his MBA from IIM-Calcutta in 1983 and joined the automobile industry when it was at a nascent stage in India. For over the last three decades has been a part of the growth of the Indian auto industry having worked with Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Nissan India. His last corporate assignment was as Managing Director, Nissan Motors India (2014-2018). In his corporate journey, he has travelled extensively through the length and breadth of India. He has been deeply involved in areas of brand building, strategic marketing, retail network expansion, training, rural marketing, customer-centric initiatives, industry policies and formulating group-level strategies. He has attended Executive Management programs in Kellogs School of Management, Chicago (2009) and Harvard Business School, Boston (2011) and served as an Executive Council member of SIAM, the apex body of the Auto Industry and was the Chairman of Auto Expo’18 held in Delhi. Presently Arun is a strategic consultant and advisor in the auto industry domain. He is an independent director on the board of Lumax Auto Technologies Ltd., Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd. and NBS International Ltd (Mahindra Group Company).

He was also a keynote speaker at management /industry forums such as ETAuto, National HRD Forum, NASSCOM, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM and in corporate conferences across different industries. He has acted as a guest speaker in prestigious business/engineering schools (MDI Gurgaon, IIM Bangalore, IIT Kharagpur, Columbia Business School, New York) and is presently part of the visiting faculty in IIM Kolkatta and IIT Roorkee.

GAYATRI YADAV - BOARD MEMBER

Chief Marketing Officer, Peak XV Partners

As CMO at Peak XV Partners (formerly known as Sequoia India & SEA), Gayatri leads the firm’s marketing mandate and also work closely with Sequoia’s portfolio companies to help them scale and create legendary brands from the region. Prior to joining Sequoia, Gayatri led Marketing and also served as President, Consumer Strategy & Innovation for Star India (now a part of Disney), where she led a series of high impact marketing moves, including the network’s launch of Star Sports, Hotstar and the "Nayi Soch" brand plan on Star Plus, which aimed to drive women’s empowerment. Before Star India, Gayatri was the CMO for General Mills where she launched and scaled the Pillsbury brand in India. She started her marketing career with Procter & Gamble.

Gayatri is a highly recognised brand builder and has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.

S.K. MITRA - BOARD MEMBER

Chairman, QSK Advisory Pvt. Ltd.

S.K. Mitra is currently on the Board of several reputed companies in diverse industries as an independent Director. He is actively associated with several international NGOs, Committees and Chambers in India. Mitra was instrumental in setting up the Merchant Banking Divisions of Bank of India in 1977 and then in 1978 for Standard Chartered Bank in Mumbai. In 1985 joined American Express Bank as the Head of Corporate Banking and Investment Banking in India. In 1990, he set up the GIC Mutual Fund, sponsored by the Government owned General Insurance Corporation of India.

In June 1994, he joined the Aditya Birla Group as Director, Financial Services and was responsible for setting up the highly respected and successful financial services activities for the Group. The Group is one of the early multinational conglomerates from India with worldwide revenues exceeding US $ 30 billion. He has been on the Board of Aditya Birla Management Corporation Ltd, the supervisory Board of the Group. He is on the Advisory Board of Arka Credit Fund, and on the PMS Investment Committee and the Board of AIF Investment Committee of Ace Lansdowne Investments Services LLP. Mitra holds a Master of Science from Calcutta University and a M.B.A. His hobbies include yoga, reading, golf, swimming and tennis

NUSRAT HASSAN - BOARD MEMBER

Managing Partner - Dentons Link Legal

Nusrat Hassan is the Managing Partner of Link Legal with three decades of experience as a corporate lawyer. Link Legal is a full service law firm with pan India presence which has recently combined with Dentons, the world's largest law firm. Mr. Hassan is a Chevening Scholar and is dual qualified to practice in India and England and Wales. He is a thought leader who regularly publishes articles with reputed Indian and foreign journals and speaks on various industry issues and national and international fora. Mr. Hassan serves on the Advisory Board of Agricultural Law Section of the International Bar Association. He is an ex-President of the Association of British Scholars, a Member of Congress of Fellows of Centre of Legal Studies, Austria and is also empanelled as a Arbitrator with Beijing Arbitration Commission, NCDEX Mumbai RAC and MIAC. He also a Director of the Indian Branch of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) United Kingdom, which is an international centre of excellence for the practice and profession of alternative dispute resolution. He is a leading member of Bombay Bar Association and Society of Indian Law Firms.

Over the years, Mr. Hassan established his reputation in the industry with accolades, including being recognized as one of India’s Top 100 Lawyers consecutively for 5 years in India Business Law Journal's ‘A-List’ of India's Top Lawyers.

SANJEEB CHAUDHURI - BOARD MEMBER

Chairman - IDFC First Bank

Sanjeeb Chaudhuri is a Board member and Advisor to various organisations across Europe, the US, Middle East and Asia. He has over four decades of senior multinational business experience across global banks and consumer companies. Sanjeeb has developed products and created numerous iconic, global brands like Unilever’s Taj Mahal Tea and Citibank Cards. He has deep knowledge of consumer and commercial markets for products and services across major developed and emerging markets of Asia, US, Middle East, Africa and Europe. He has been Regional Business Head for India and South Asia and Global Head of Brand and Chief Marketing Officer at Standard Chartered Bank. Prior to that, Sanjeeb was CEO of Retail and Commercial Banking for Citigroup Europe, Middle East and Africa. Before entering the financial services industry, Sanjeeb held senior roles at Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive and Procter & Gamble. Mr. Chaudhuri is currently Chairman of IDFC First Bank. He is a Global Advisor to Intellect Design Arena and Board Member of Puravankara Ltd.

He is Global Mentor at the Center forTechnology Management at the Columbia School of Business,New York. He is International Advisory Board member of The Open University School of Business and Law, UK. He is a visiting faculty on Business Strategy, Financial Services and New Age Marketing at Wharton School of Business and Judge Business School, Cambridge. Sanjeeb has an MBA in Marketing and has attended an Advanced Management Program. He is a featured speaker at premier global marketing and media events in Europe and Asia. He has been listed among the Top 25 Media Visionaries in Asia Pacific.