Class I: Inaugural Class
Sumeeta Banerji
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Amit Bhatia
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Bunty Bohra
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Sanjay Chhabra
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Karti Chidambaram
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Mukti Datta
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Govindraj Ethiraj
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Sumita Ghose
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Sudha Iyer
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Sanjay Jaju
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Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu
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Prashant Khemka
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Ravi Krishnan
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Jesse Lentchner
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Shobana Mani
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Vishakha Mulye
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Sandeep Patel
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Anuj Poddar
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Anand Shah
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Renu Sharma
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Shivinder Mohan Singh
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Minal Vazirani
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Sumeeta Banerji is head of the democratic governance program at the United Nations Development Programme in India. Prior to this, she led a "Community of Practice" (CoP) on poverty reductions for the UN in India. She handles a portfolio of programmes providing technical support and policy advice to key Government of India ministries on a wide range of governance themes including right to information, access to justice, capacity development for local governance and decentralised planning, human development, and rights based social security interventions. Sumeeta also organized a second all-India CoP on microfinance in October 2006. Prior to joining the UN in India, Sumeeta spent several years with the Canadian International Development Agency leading projects in the areas of governance, human rights, child rights, inclusive education, livelihoods, and HIV/AIDS, focusing on building the capacity of local partners in addressing concerns of the poor in these sectors. Sumeeta did her undergraduate degree in history from the Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi and her masters in international relations from the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. She is also a linguist and has degrees in German, French, and Spanish. She lives with her husband and two children in New Delhi. She is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Amit Bhatia is founder and CEO of Aspire Human Capital Management, an Indian social entrepreneurial firm in employability education. Since 2007, Aspire has trained over 50,000 students in over 20 Indian cities across twelve Indian states for jobs. Amit has 20 years of management experience and until recently served as CEO of WNS Knowledge Services. Prior to WNS, he served as the founding country manager for FreeMarkets, Inc. He also conceived, founded and led McKinsey Knowledge Center in New Delhi, the consulting firm's global research centre, serving over 80 McKinsey offices worldwide. Amit has a bachelor's and master's degree in commerce from Delhi University and is a cost accountant. He is a Trustee of The Aspen Institute India, charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE), promoter member of The Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI), and is on the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Committees for Primary Education, Higher Education and Skills Development. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Bunty Bohra is CEO of Goldman Sachs Services India. Previously, he was global head of the structured product syndicate desk and oversees warehouse financing in the mortgage department of the fixed income, currency, and commodities division at Goldman Sachs. He is also co-head of the structured finance group for the Americas. Bunty is a member of the Mortgage Capital Committee. Bunty is also the co-captain of MIT undergraduate recruiting for the firm and serves as co-head of the firmwide Asian Professionals Network. Bunty joined Goldman Sachs in 1996 in the currency and commodities division, where he traded commodities for four years in New York and London, before becoming franchise manager of the commodities and futures services business units. He became a managing director in 2005. Bunty earned a BS in chemical engineering and management science from MIT in 1996. He and his wife, Charu, have three children. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Sanjay Chhabra is a partner in the law firm of Archer & Angel based in the firm's New Delhi office. He is a member of the firm's corporate practice and the head of the regulatory affairs and real estate practice as well as the Americas practice group. He recently co-authored a book on doing business in India, published by Sweet & Maxwell. He advises clients such as Yahoo Inc, Citrix Systems Inc., AMN Health Care Inc, Government of Singapore, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Compuware Pte Ltd., Creative Technologies, Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance, MTU Asia Pacific. He also acts as counsel and sits on committees for the India Youth Soccer Association and the Indian Society for Breast Health & Research. Sanjay is a member of the sub-committee on benchmarking of the International Trademark Association (INTA), the International Franchise Lawyers Association, Inter Pacific Bar Association, and the Bar Council of India. He was unanimously elected an executive member of Lawyers Associated Worldwide for the Asia Pacific Region. Sanjay obtained his LLB and BA in political science from University of Delhi in India. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Karti Chidambaram is a member of the All India Congress Committee. He was selected by the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) to observe the 2004 US presidential election. Karti has been politically and socially active in his home state of Tamil Nadu. He has played an active and crucial role as a campaigner in all state and national general elections since 1996. He is fluent in English and Tamil. He plays an active role in development of sports and participates in select management committees of cricket, tennis, and athletics. He is one of the founders of the Chennai chapter of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, a worldwide association of young entrepreneurs. Karti has co-founded an online social forum, "Karuthu" (which means opinion), which promotes freedom of speech. He is a founder-director of Chess Management Services Private Limited, a company actively involved in corporate governance and legal compliance management. He holds a business degree from the University of Texas, Austin and a law degree from Cambridge University, England. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Mukti Datta is secretary for Jan Jagran Samiti in Almora, Uttaranchal. Mukti initiated a weaving project for women that started with ten women and two trainers, from the leprosy rehab centre in one village. The project grew organically to over 700 trained women who were then able to make marketable shawls and accessories. The Panchachuli Women Weavers transformed into a private company with women as shareholders and on the board of directors, with upmarket hotels in India buying retail outlets, and a growing market in the US and Europe. This economically self-sustained industry is the largest in the hills of Uttaranchal and functions with a credit line from a bank. The second institution Mukti launched is the Dena Hospital, which today is the best-equipped secondary health care facility in the state. In addition, she also runs an intermediate college for girls, where 126 girls from rural families get the opportunity for vocational training after they graduate (as nurses, accountants, and weavers) as well five primary and two junior high schools. Her next plan is to start a women's movement in Uttaranchal to empower women politically, socially, and economically. She is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Govindraj Ethiraj is editor-in-chief of UTV News, the news arm of media and entertainment group UTV. Prior to this, he worked with Business Standard as new media editor. He continues to be a columnist with the newspaper on general business issues and technology convergence. He was previously at CNBC-TV18, where he was actively involved in most of the channel's initial growth and expansion initiatives. Prior to that, he worked with Economic Times and was actively involved in driving general business news and financial markets coverage out of Mumbai. He also worked with Business World and Business India magazines. His awards include: British Chevening Scholarships For Young Indian Print Journalists at The University of Westminster - 1998; Selected as one of 25 most influential personalities in media and advertising in Bombay by Mid-Day on its 25th Anniversary (2004); Nominated for Distinction in Communication at the Teacher's Achievement Awards 2004; BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt Indo German Young Leaders Forum 2005; Conferred Honorary Lifetime Member of the XLRI Alumni Association (2005), and Award For Outstanding Contribution To Media; Indira Award For Marketing Excellence 2006. He graduated from Elphinstone College, Mumbai. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Sumita Ghose is the founder and executive director of Rangsutra, an organization of craftspeople who own shares and have a stake in the company. Rangsutra's special contribution is design, technical and marketing support in order to enable rural artisans and farmers get a better deal in the market, both local and global. She has close to 20 years of experience of working with rural communities in remote areas of India in order to bring about social and economic change. From forming women's health collectives and self help groups aimed at economic self reliance, to mobilizing village communities to run primary education programs for their children, Sumita has worked extensively at the grassroots. Handicrafts and handloom weaving being one of the core competencies of rural communities, she has worked at organizing artisans into collectives and providing professional assistance, in order to get a better deal in the market place. Sumita has a masters degree in economics from Mumbai University, India. She has a second masters in conflict resolution from the Eastern Mennonite University in the US as a Fulbright Fellow. Sumita is also a recipient of the MacArthur and Ashoka Fellowships in India. She is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Sudha Iyer is chair and managing director of the Srijana Group, which specializes in web business, knowledge services, health services, storage maximization, and family services. She is also chair and managing director of Haritas Health Services, a company that focuses on delivering health education to people with diabetes and other chronic ailments. Sudha is also interested in combining current methods of health education and motivation from the West with traditional Indian approaches to have a unique paradigm that will promote health awareness and well being among Indians. As a member of the governing council of Young Indians, Sudha served as the national chair for youth affairs for two and a half years. She conceptualised and rolled out the YI Bridge program, working with students in schools and colleges in the country. She is the national chair of their IT platform over the last two years and conceptualised and built the e-YI platform for all YI members to use. Sudha previously spent 13 years in the US studying and working in institutions like The Johns Hopkins University and Sinai Hospital. She has MS degrees in molecular biology and genetics and a PhD in health education, with a focus on management of diabetes among Indians through knowledge and empowerment of the patient. She is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Sanjay Jaju is the secretary of information technology for Andhra Pradesh. He was previously commissioner of civil supplies for Andhra Pradesh and managing director of the state infrastructure corporation. He has been an ardent advocate for the use of information technology in development and has won several awards: the Golden Icon e-Governance Award; India's Best e-Content in the category of e-Governance from the Manthan-AIF Grand Jury; the Tony Zeitoun ICT Stories Competition Award; and the Cyber City Award of the UN Development Program. His projects have included civic services delivery and computer-base education. He has made presentations on e-governance all over the globe, including at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva and at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. He has participated in international and national conferences on the development of the information society. He has written many papers that have been published and awarded in national and international journals and publications. He was recently awarded e-Governance Champion by DataQuest Magazine. Sanjay is a post graduate mechanical rngineer and a cost accountant by background. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu is the director of Lakshmi Machine Works Ltd. Lakshmi Machine Works Ltd. is headquartered in Coimbatore, India and is one among the three in the world manufacturing the entire range of textile spinning machinery. He is also a director of many companies of diversified products in the group. He is the chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Tamil Nadu Council, and chairman of the India-ITME Exhibition Society in Mumbai. He was the immediate past chairman of the Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association of India. He is a member of the council of administration of the South India Textile Research Association and a member of the board of governors of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Textile Management in Coimbatore. He is a member of a charity trust, which runs a 450-bed hospital, an arts college, and a secondary school. Sanjay holds an MBA from Philadelphia University, USA. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Prashant Khemka is managing director and head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management research in Mumbai. Prior to moving to Mumbai in September 2006, he was a senior portfolio manager and co-chair of the investment committee for the Growth Equity team of GSAM in the US. Prashant joined Goldman Sachs in 2000 as an investment research associate. In 2003, he became a portfolio manager and in 2004, he was named senior portfolio manager and co-chair of the investment committee. Prashant became a vice president in 2001. Prior to joining the firm, Prashant worked as an assistant portfolio manager in the fundamental strategies group at State Street Global Advisors. Prashant earned a bachelors in mechanical engineering from Bombay University. He received his MBA in finance from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University and received the Matt Wiggington Leadership Award for outstanding performance in finance. He and his wife, Ritu, have one daughter and live in Mumbai. His hobbies include cricket and chess. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Ravi Krishnan is managing director and chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs India. His responsibilities include managing the Goldman Sachs services centre in Bangalore along with the CEO and supporting the set up of the India investment banking and broker dealer business in Mumbai. Ravi joined Goldman Sachs in 1998 as a vice president in the finance division in Hong Kong, assuming various responsibilities in that group before taking over as the financial controller for the Asia Ex-Japan region in 2002. In 2003, he was one of the key members of the team that helped conceptualize and set up the Goldman Sachs office in Bangalore and in that process relocated back to India in 2004. He is on the advisory board of Pine Street, the Goldman Sachs Leadership development program and also represents the firm on the American Chamber of Commerce of India. Ravi ran his own chartered accountancy firm for a decade and worked at investment banks such as Socgen Crosby and NatWest Markets before joining Goldman Sachs. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Jesse Lentchner is CEO of BTIG Hong Kong Limited. He was previously co-head of execution services for Asia and managing director, head of securities in India for Goldman Sachs. He moved to Mumbai in September 2006 from Tokyo, where he co-headed the equity sales trading desk since May 2000. Before joining Goldman Sachs, Jesse worked as an equity sales trader in Tokyo for two years at Nomura, in Hong Kong for two years and in New York for three years for W.I. Carr. Before that, he worked for five years in New York for a Japanese bank trading fixed income. Jesse graduated with a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in 1988, after spending his senior year studying in Japan. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Shobana is an executive director in the emerging markets products business at Goldman Sachs. She previously worked with WTO member countries on financial services liberalization and in the executive office of government affairs in projects relating to the Doha Development Trade Round. She joined Goldman Sachs in 2002 as an analyst in the special execution group. Shobana sits on the steering committee of the Goldman Sachs London Asian Professionals Network and has been an investment banking division representative since 2002. She is also involved in mentoring and recruiting efforts. Shobana is a member of the Evian Group international trade discussion group. Shobana received her master of science from the London School of Economics in law and accounting/finance. She studied finance for a year at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. She earned her BA in international political economy from The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs and spent one year focusing on international affairs at the London School of Economics. Her hobbies include dance, design work, and photography. She is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Vishakha Mulye is executive director of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, India's number one private general insurance company and the first general insurance company in India to be ISO 9001:2000 certified. She was previously group chief financial officer and before that chief financial officer and treasurer for ICICI Bank Limited. She also headed the structured finance business there, which led to the development of an active securitization market in India. During this period, she was also responsible for ICICI Bank's client-related treasury and markets operations, capital markets business and relationships with domestic financial institutions and multilateral institutions. Vishakha played a key role in conceptualising and implementing the merger of ICICI with ICICI Bank, which led to the creation of the second largest bank in India. She is a chartered accountant and joined the ICICI group in 1993. Vishakha was selected as a 'Young Global Leader' for 2007 by the World Economic Forum. She is the recipient of several awards, including "Most Powerful Women in Indian Business - 2007" from Business Today; the India CFO Award for 2006; and the Corporate Leader Award for 2008 from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in India, in which she was second in the Female Young Leader category. She is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Sandeep Patel is a managing director of investment banking at Barclay's Capital in New York and heads up the firm's global agriculture and bio-energy advisory effort. Prior to joining Barclays Capital in 2009, Sandeep was a managing director at Goldman Sachs, where he spent ten years as a member of the M&A and consumer/retail groups in New York, and head of corporate finance for Goldman Sachs India in Mumbai. Sandeep has extensive experience advising public and private companies, investors, and entrepreneurs across a range of industries, including consumer products, agriculture, energy, and chemicals, on their financing and M&A needs. He has also conducted research on environmental and agricultural issues in East Africa, India, and the Caribbean and has been a consultant to the Environmental Defense on climate change issues. Sandeep earned a JD from Yale Law School in 1999, a MS in economics from MIT in 1998, and a BA in economics and biology from Williams College in 1993. He was a Fulbright Scholar to India from 1993-1994, and worked as a summer associate at the U.S. Department of Justice, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Sullivan & Cromwell. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Anuj Poddar is the head of strategy and business development at Viacom 18 Media Ltd. He had previously been involved in driving strategy for MTV Networks across Southeast Asia. Prior to joining Viacom 18, Anuj had over a decade of experience in consulting and mergers and acquisition advisory with Arthur Andersen and KPMG. He also set up and ran his own entrepreneurial venture, Nirvana Services Pvt Ltd in 2000-2001. Anuj is a member of the Indo-German Young-Leaders' Forum set up by the BMW Foundation. He was on the Governing Council of Young Indians, part of the Confederation of Indian Industry, and is a member of the Asia Society. Anuj went to school in Michigan and Mumbai and is a rank-holding chartered accountant. He lives with his family in Mumbai. He is a Fellow of the second class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Anand Shah is co-founder and executive director of Indicorps in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Indicorps is an effort to promote and legitimize civic participation in India's development by engaging young Indians from around the world in grassroots development projects across India. In the process, Indicorps aims to nurture the leadership potential of each participant. Anand also serves as CEO of the Piramal Foundation, an innovative private foundation dedicated to developing the social infrastructure to enable India's youth to actively participate in national progress. He is a consultant for academic strategy for the upcoming Vendanta University, endowed by a $1 billion grant from the Indian philanthropist Anil Agarwal. He previously helped start the Media and Technology Charter High School in Boston. In addition, Anand is a member of the tt30, the Club of Rome's young think tank, was selected as a Reinhard Mohn Fellow, and serves on the board of KaosPilot International, a European school of creative business design and social innovation. He graduated from Harvard College. Anand is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Renu Sharma is joint secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India. She was previously head of the Bhagidari cell in the office of the Chief Minister of Delhi, where she was involved in the writing of the first Human Development Report for Delhi. Renu was selected as the international scholar in the prestigious National Foundation of Enterprise and Performance in Paris, France, which was concerned with management and administration in public and private enterprise. She has an MPhil degree in political science from Jawaharlal Nehru University and a diploma in public administration from the International Institute of Public Administration in Paris. She is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Shivinder Singh is CEO and managing director of Fortis Healthcare Limited and Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre. His passion is to create the world's best healthcare delivery company based out of India, and simultaneously contribute to the overall development of healthcare sector in India, in terms of quality of care available, and as a medical tourism destination. He previously held several senior management positions at Fortis, including group managing director, joint managing director, director of special projects, and chief operation officer. He began his career as a management trainee with Ranbaxy Laboratories. Shivinder is on the board of Step by Step School and the Indo-British Partnership Network and directs the board of Ranbaxy Laboratories, Religare Enterprises, and SRL Ranbaxy. He is an alumnus of the Doon School and graduated with honors with a degree in mathematics from St. Stephens College in Delhi. He holds an MBA with a focus in healthcare sector management from the Duke University Business School, for which he is now a member of the board of advisors. He lives with his wife, Aditi and 4 boys in their family home in Delhi. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Minal Vazirani is the co-founder of Saffronart, where she is responsible for managing all day-to-day activities of the business and planning the strategic direction of the company. Planet Saffron's flagship brand, Saffronart, has, over the last 2 years, become the largest auction house, globally, for modern and contemporary Indian art. At Saffronart, Minal has curated, planned, and organized exhibitions of Indian art in India and internationally. Minal is a regular panelist and guest speaker at Indian contemporary art events. Minal is on the board of advisors to the Friends of Sir JJ School of Art Trust and at Time Out Magazine in India. Prior to founding Saffronart, Minal was a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton in Mumbai where she worked across several industries in the US, South East Asia and India. Before her tenure at Booz Allen, Minal was with Andersen Consulting in Mumbai and Los Angeles. Minal received her MBA from INSEAD in France, where she received the Sasakawa Fellowship, and her BS in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Art History & Indian History from the University of California, Los Angeles. Minal has been an active collector of Indian Contemporary Art over the last 12 years. She is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
