CWE TEAM
CWE’s CORE TEAM OF AMBASSADORS, ADVISORS, TRAINERS AND MENTOR-CATALYSTS
Our core team comprises successful entrepreneurs, who have experience working with:
- The for-profit and non-profit sectors
- Local, state and national governments
- National and international institutions and organizations
- Running diversity initiatives
- Other women as mentors, advisors, trainers and guides
- Personally experiencing- and then overcoming the 6 Access Hurdles described above.
OUR PEOPLE
Our team brings an unrivalled depth of knowledge, technology and breadth of skills. Combined we have more than 500 years of experience in finance, technology, sales and marketing, and entrepreneurship.
AMBASSADORS
Under her dynamic leadership, the $1 Billion enterprise has become one of the largest exporters of home textiles globally with a footprint spread over 50 countries. It supplies to 17 of the world’s top 30 retailers and has established a leadership position globally based on its superior products and customer centric approach to business. By developing internationally recognized brands like Christy and Hygrocotton and leading domestic brand Spaces, Dipali has been seminal in her dynamic and forward looking approach to put Welspun on the global map.She has been recognized as the 16th most powerful woman in Asia and the 4th in India by Forbes in 2016. She is a member of SAAS, a body certifying Social Accountability globally. She was Co-chair at the India Economic Forum in 2017. She is a graduate in Psychology and a Harvard alumnus. She has a strong focus on women empowerment and has undertaken significant initiatives to promote skill and entrepreneurship development in local communities.[/member]
CAMS (Computer Age Management Services Pvt. Ltd. focusing on IT services and platform based services to the Mutual Fund, Insurance and Banking industries in India. He is currently President of TIE Chennai. He is involved in Public and Angel Investing, as well as in mentoring for startups and mature organisations.
An Engineer from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and a Post Graduate in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
In 1988 Shankar founded CAMS (Computer Age Management Services Pvt. Ltd.) to provide Platform based services to the Indian Mutual Fund industry. In 2000 the HDFC Group became an investor in CAMS, and in 2013 the National Stock Exchange also became an investor.
The CAMS Group is presently a professionally managed 6000-person strong provider of IT services and platform based services to the Mutual Fund, Insurance and Banking industries in India.
He has been conferred Entrepreneur of the Year award by TIE Chennai, Distinguished Alumnus Award by Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and Distinguished Alumnus Award by Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
He is a Rotarian, a member of TIE Chennai, The Chennai Angels, The Institution of Engineers, Cosmopolitan Club and Madras Club. He is currently President of TIE Chennai. He is involved in Public and Angel Investing, as well as in mentoring for startups and mature organisations.[/member]
Tattva group is headquartered in Chennai, India. With his dynamic outlook, Rahul has charted the growth of the Tattva Group and its subsidiaries and divisions. A Post Graduate in Commerce with over 16 years of professional experience, he is the driving force behind the formation and growth of the Group.
The Tattva Group currently have businesses in:
• Oil & Gas Engineering, Project Management and Consulting Services and
• Healthcare.
The oil and gas businesses of the Tattva Group are:
Results Engineering (RE) based in Chennai, offers support for execution of multi-discipline offshore engineering projects. RE supports throughout the entire development of the field with a wide set of engineering services for Topsides, Hull Structures and Subsea Structures.
Project Development International (PDi) based in Aberdeen, UK. PDi are a dynamic and experienced company offering development solutions to the oil and gas industry from discovery to production and decommissioning.
Mr. Narayanaswamy has also conceptualized and formed Tattva Home Healthcare Private Limited who operate under the brand name “One Life” offering exclusive home healthcare services, to cater to the growing needs of the Health Care sector in India.
Mr. Narayanaswamy’s vision for Tattva O&G engineering services is to be a boutique independent Global Engineering, Project Management & Consulting entity offering integrated engineering solutions from Subsea to Topsides and facilities.
He is also an Independent Director of Amara Raja Batteries Limited (Listed Public Ltd. Co.) headquartered in Hyderabad, India.[/member]
In recognition of her leadership at TCS, she was nominated to the World Economic Forum as a “Young Global Leader” which recognizes top 250 young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world. Ms. Haque is also the recipient of the “INDIRA” Super Achiever Award 2008. Ms. Haque is a Charter member of TiE. She is the Co-Founder of “Stree Shakti”, a platform for women entrepreneurs in India.
Ms. Haque is a frequent speaker on topics covering leadership, building global brands, and innovation. Besides, being on boards of few foundations.[/member]
For nearly 20 years, she has been a catalyst for women’s economic self-reliance through small business training, financial education and professional development. Pastore and her team have helped launch and grow thousands of businesses locally, nationally and internationally.
In 2010, Pastore travelled with the Business Council for Peace to help female genocide survivors launch and operate a micro-business. She visited Costa Rica where she trained rural women in financial management and micro-entrepreneurship. In 2011, Pastore was appointed to President Obama’s National Women’s Business Council which provides counsel to the President, Congress and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues important to women. Pastore is a board member and Policy Co-Chair for the Association of Women’s Business Centers and serves on the Executive Advisory Council for Women Impacting Public Policy and the Advisory Board for the Akilah Institute for Women in Kigali, Rwanda. She is also a member of the Advisory Board for Bankwell in Stamford.[/member]
His recent involvement has been in companies like redBus (acquired by Naspers/Ibibo Group), Instahealth Solutions (acquired by Practo), Shotang, Shieldsquare, YourDost, Quess Corp and Sattva, among others. He’s a venture partner with Seed Fund, and associated with other early stage funds including a social venture fund.
Sanjay believes that entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial mindset can transform India: from job creation to innovation to socio-cultural change; he is actively involved with several such efforts.
Sanjay was a founding partner of JumpStartUp Venture Fund, a pioneering early stage US-India cross border VC fund that invested in technology and technology enabled businesses. Prior to JumpStartUp, Sanjay co-founded Neta, a Silicon Valley VC backed software company that became a part of Infoseek/Disney. Consequently, he returned to India and started Venturekatalyst, India’s first online magazine aimed at entrepreneurs.
He has written extensively in publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal (India Chief Mentor) to the Financial Express to various magazines and blogs. He lectures to students of INSEAD and B-schools from around the world and to corporate executives. He is a charter member of TiE Bangalore where he co-chairs entrepreneurship acceleration and education initiatives and is closely involved with NSRCEL-IIMB, NASSCOM initiatives in innovation and entrepreneurship, National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), Indo-US Council on Entrepreneurship in Academia, the Technology Development Board, Dept of Science & Technology, Govt of India.[/member]
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative an international NGO mandated to ensure the practical realisation of human rights within the Commonwealth.
Prior to joining CHRI, he was Director, Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi and also held the Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew Chair. He is the Founder and Managing Trustee of CNES which runs the pioneering boat clinics on the Brahmaputra in Assam.
As a journalist, he reported from South Asia for The New York Times and remains a contributing columnist to various newspapers and magazines. He was also Consulting Editor with The Statesman and The Sunday Guardian.
He is acknowledged as a specialist on migration and issues in the North East and his books include Writing on the Wall, Reflections on the North-East; Strangers of the Mist; Tales of War and Peace from India’s North East; among others. He also appears frequently on television programmes to address issues of rights, advocacy and the environment relating to the Northeast. In 2010, Hazarika was awarded the Dr. Jean Mayer Award for Global Citizenship by Tufts University for his advocacy of issues in India’s Northeast.[/member]
Shailesh Shah has 30+ years experience in leadership roles, managing businesses and providing advisory services. He has worked in companies and served clients in many industries on strategic, operational, financial and organisational issues. Shailesh was Group President at JSW and led a billion-dollar portfolio of businesses including energy, aluminium, cement, IT/BPO and transportation, chaired the Group’s technology businesses and was on the board of Group companies in energy, ports and information technology.
A priori, Shailesh was Director and Senior Vice President leading the enterprise solutions and consulting businesses and also Chief Strategy Officer of Satyam; Managing Director of Watson Wyatt India and global strategy head; partner with Price Waterhouse’s management consulting practice. He has worked in USA, UK, Brazil, Italy, Singapore and India and has served companies and clients on all habited continents. In these roles, he helped shape NASSCOM’s efforts to improve India’s presence in Europe; was also involved with the World Economic Forum leading efforts in strategy, technology and governance; served on the board of Singapore’s Economic Development Council and helped define its “Knowledge Economy” Vision for 2020.
Shailesh has read Mechanical Engineering at Bangalore University, Operations Research at Syracuse University and Business Administration at Drexel University and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA.[/member]
In the 1980s, she was Vice President for Public Policy and National President for the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) in the United States. She and her team turned the organization into a powerful force for women entrepreneurial advocacy. She organized NAWBO’s participation in the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business, and was one of the primary architects of the Women’s Business Ownership Act – referred to as “the Big Bang of women’s entrepreneurship” in the U.S. – which became law in 1988. Subsequently, she served two terms on the National Women’s Business Council, an advisory body created by the landmark legislation, to provide policy recommendations to the U.S. President, the head of the Small Business Administration and the U.S. legislature.
Virginia has served as Vice President of the World Association of Women Entrepreneurs. She was the OECD’s Senior Advisor for its pioneering best practice conferences on women-owned businesses in Paris in 1997 and 2000 and Istanbul in 2004. One outcome was creation of the Global Banking Alliance for Women, which she incubated.
Virginia founded Quantum Leaps in 2002, with two co-founders. Quantum Leaps has incubated WEConnect International, an organization of leading multinational corporations that want to get women’s business enterprises into the global supply chain. In addition, she serves as Lead International Consultant for the Women & Trade programme for the International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the United Nations and World Trade Organization in Geneva. She also serves as Global Strategic Advisor for Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) International.
Quantum Leaps is now creating national Roadmaps to 2020 and Beyond, focussing on accelerating women’s enterprise development globally. Virginia is the Principal Architect of the Roadmap 2020 impact study for India.
Her numerous awards include: Enterprising Women Hall of Fame; U.S. Small Business Administration’s first Women in Business Advocate of the Year Award; NAWBO’s Susan Hager Legacy Award; and Lifetime Achievement Awards from The International Alliance for Women (TIAW) and America-China Business Women’s Alliance.Virginia has lived, worked in and traveled to more than 85 countries.[/member]
CATALYSTS
Mr. Ladha volunteers as the business mentor.His skill sets include reviewing business plan and operations, target markets and revenue stream, cost and profitability evaluations, operational costs and processes for running business profitably, understanding accounting as a business decision making tool, taking business to the growth level, understanding the cash flow and fund flows of the businesses and laws of the land concerning SMEs.[/member]
For over 3 decades, Preeti Sawhney has been sector-agnostic in helping Makers forge lasting ties with Users and stakeholders, meet business goals and build robust brands by bringing wisdom and common sense to simplify and address knotty brand and business challenges.
Preeti Sawhney is a Brand Strategist who has helped brands address myriad business and brand challenges. From startups to industry heavyweights, from MNCs to NGOs, from targeting children to understanding seniors, from detergents to biotechnology, her career tapestry is rich with diversity of experience.
To each solution, Preeti brings wisdom, common sense and customer insight. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Preeti worked in Lintas (Lowe) Advertising for 13 years. She studied Mathematical Statistics in Delhi University, followed by a PGDM in IIM Calcutta where she specialized in marketing and consumer behavior- and finally honed her skills at Columbia Business School. Preeti recharges with her family, travel, fitness and reading.[/member]
She has worked in companies such as Bharat Electronics, SKF Bearings and Strides Arcolab, having last worked in 3M India Limited. While building a successful career as a Human Resources professional, Aparna notes Gender issues have been a passion for her and she has been active in corporate forums focused on gender diversity such as the CII India Women Network
Aparna has recently started her entrepreneurship journey as a Diversity and Inclusion Consultant is the founder of TOMOE Consulting.[/member]
Sanjay has 26+ years of experience in sales, marketing, technology and leadership roles in the high-tech industry. His expertise lies in process and organisational transformation, technology strategy and implementation, project management, new product development, financial restructuring, customer acquisition and market strategy.
He has four successful ventures from inception to successful acquisition to his credit. He also brings to CWE his entrepreneurial spirit that drives his desire is to build an idea from its inception, help nurture and grow it, to a size that would have an impact in the space that it was created to be in. He also sits on the advisory board of various companies in various domains to mentor and provide his management & business skills specially to start up’s and young entrepreneurs in India.[/member]
She has valuable corporate experience at NOCIL. She was also the Head of Corporate Customer Engagement at Landmark Education. She motivates entrepreneurs to create and deliver on ambitious goals for their enterprises.[/member]
Divya Hegde has substantial experience marketing to Indian and international consumers and believes in simplifying the sometimes confusing world of digital marketing to achieve sales results. She has built a company from a two-person start-up into a thriving full-service agency. TIP now services clients based in Bangalore, New York, Dubai, Paris and London to name a few. Apart from TIP, Divya is invested in developing heritage properties into profitable and eco-friendly home-stays in Karnataka’s coastal countryside to encourage tourism and foster the local economy. Divya is a Google alumnus with a Master of Science focused in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University.[/member]
Reenu has experience in the Automotive Industry. She has worked closely on projects related to Automotive electronics, OE branded Accessories and mechanical automotive components with Renault, Nissan, Maruti, Toyota, Honda, Daimler, Yamaha, GM, Ford, Hyundai, Skoda, Tata Motors, Force Motors and Fiat. She has worked on navigation aid, telematics, automotive batteries and infotainment business in her role as Vice President at Autocop. She understands the Automotive SME space and is passionate about adding value to the existing SMEs in this segment and helping them transition to the next level. She has held the post of President at SGAI, an SME in the automotive space engaged in manufacturing of forged and machined components to OEMs.
Reenu is the founder and Managing Director of V2Pack Pvt Ltd, a venture which she initiated in September 2016 and is engaged in manufacturing 15Kg Square TIN containers to be used in packaging of ghee and edible oils and Vanaspati. She is also the which manufactures metal cans for the paints, oil, lubricants and chemicals industry.
Reenu is an Alumnus of Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi and INSEAD Business School, France.[/member]
Shweta has 18 years experience in business development and investment analytics with The Coffee Day Group. Her interests lie in civil rights and social action and economic empowerment and is currently a mentor at Elder Aid a Social Enterprise focussed on the needs of the elderly.
She was President of Business Development & Head- International Business at Cafe Coffee Day. She currently is driving the Group’s Charitable Hospital project.. Shweta is an Alumni of Mount Carmel College and IIM Calcutta.[/member]
Smitha has over 15 years of experience in IT strategy consulting, full lifecycle solutions and product development. Her core belief is that to build an organisation it is essential to empower its people and provide a differentiated value proposition to our clients
In her career, she has large engagements involving complete IT lifecycle implementations. She has extensively worked on business and technology functions across verticals like Healthcare, Education, Retail, Insurance and Financial Service. She has played a pivotal role in building Noesys as a trusted and reliable IT services partner.. Smitha is an Engineer from University of Mysore, and MBA from SDM-IMD, Mysore.[/member]
She joined the business in 2008 after the untimely death of her husband Amit. Cico is the oldest brand in construction chemicals in India started in 1930. CTL boasts of brand TAPECRETE, the most preferred brand in waterproofing compounds and over two hundred products manufactured and developed in their factories across India. A homemaker, Anasuya took over the reins of CTL and has to her credit buying back 45% of shares from their erstwhile VC partners. Anasuya, has increased the distribution network as well as added infrastructure clients to CICO’s already robust portfolio. She also introduced new age IT tools for quick decision making for the company’s growth.
She is the Founder Trustee of the Amit Gupta Foundation which works for raising awareness for organ donation, health and education for the less privileged. She has been supporting women’s rights and entrepreneurship as an advisor to Dell Women Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) and WECONNECT and has been awarded for her work. She is committed to make a difference to the women entrepreneur ecosystem as Mentor to young entrepreneurs. She enjoys golf and horse racing and has a keen interest in music and theatre.[/member]
He primarily addresses on subjects relating to Roles, responsibilities, Rights, Duties & liabilities, CSR, Corporate Governance and Corporate Compliance for Board Members. He is a principal Faculty at the Institute of Directors where he has trained more than 2000 members and is rated as a “MUST HEAR”. He is a visiting professor at the Institute of Management & Technology (IMT) and teaches Corporate Governance. He is a regular speaker at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Company Secretaries of India and many other forums. He has launched an initiative DART, a Round Table for Boards & Advisors alongwith the World Trade Center, Bangalore.Heis a board mentor & compliance guru. He educates and trains Boards, Senior Management & Advisors on issues relating to Governance, Compliance & Risks. He has published a book titled ‘Board Anatomy’ that brings out the several gamut of Governance, Compliance & Risk.[/member]