Class III: 3rd Generation Class
James Abraham
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Indrani Bagchi
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Ashish Gupta
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Bhairavi Jani
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Rohit Kansal
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Hasina Kharbhih
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Shaffi Mather
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Rajan Navani
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Neera Nundy
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Arun Padmanabhan
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Meghna Rao
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Akshat Rathee
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Nikhil Sawhney
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Radhika Shapoorjee
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Shikha Sharma
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Karandeep Singh
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Dhaval Udani
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Amitav Virmani
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James Abraham is co-founder, managing director, and CEO of SunBorne Energy, which focuses on making solar energy as low-cost as other sources of power while building large utility-scale plants in India. The firm pulls in India's immense engineering talent to solve the engineering problems that have held back cost reduction in solar power. Since its founding, James and the team have led the development of solar policy in India and have launched the largest public-private partnership in solar R&D with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. James is currently a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry's Renewable Energy Council. Prior to SunBorne, James was a senior partner at The Boston Consulting Group in India. He started his career with BCG in Toronto before moving to India in 1998, and then founded BCG's New Delhi office. James has a degree in electrical engineering from the Univeristy of Waterloo, an MBA (Baker Scholar) from the Wharton School, and an MA (international relations) from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies. He is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Indrani Bagchi is senior diplomatic editor with The Times of India, where she reports and analyzes foreign policy issues for the newspaper. Indrani covers daily news on foreign affairs in the foreign office, as well as interpreting and analyzing global trends with an Indian perspective. She writes news stories; opinion articles; news features; a blog, "Globespotting"; and a fortnightly column for The Times of India Crest edition. She covers India, US, China, Pakistan, terrorism, nuclear weapons, and national security issues, among others. She joined the Times of India in 2004. Earlier, Indrani was associate editor for India Today, a premier news magazine. Indrani started her journalism career at The Statesman, where she was the weekend editor, before moving to The Economic Times in Calcutta to edit the Metro Magazine. Having graduated from Loreto College, Calcutta University with English honours, Indrani has been a Reuters Fellow at Oxford University. In 2010, India was awarded the Chang Lin-Tien fellowship by the Asia Foundation to study US-China relations at Brookings Institution, Washington DC. Indrani resides in New Delhi with her husband Pramit Pal Chaudhuri and their daughter, Tara. She is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Ashish Gupta is an inspector general of police and a director in the Prime Minister's office, where his work relates to advising the Prime Minister on policy matters of energy and internal security. Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1989 batch, alloted to his home state of Uttar Pradesh. He holds the rank of Inspector General of Police (IGP). He is currently working as Director in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) where Ashish joined PMO in 2006, prior to which he was senior faculty in the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy. He was also the Indian Contingent Commander to the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo. He headed the anti-terrorist operations in the Terai region of Shahjahanpur in 1991. Ashish has authored monographs on police operations and edited the Police Journal for three years. He is the recipient of President's Police Medal for Meritorious Service, Special Police Medal for Difficult Areas, and the UN Peacekeeping Medal. Ashish currently resides in New Delhi with his wife and two children. Ashish received his bachelor's degree in computer science from IIT Kanpur in 1987 and MBA from IIM Calcutta in 1989. He is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Bhairavi Jani is CEO of the SCA Group of Companies. She is also executive director of India@75, a grassroots and path breaking initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for realizing the dream of an inclusive, sustainable and developed India by the year 2022, when India completes 75 years of Independence. She previously set up a fourth party logistics company in India, exiting it in 2004. She began her career with KPMG Consulting in Washington, DC. Bhairavi is the immediate past national chairman of Young Indians in the CII. She is a charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and a founding member of the India Round Table of Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and continues to be involved with Beta Gamma Sigma, the business honor society in the US. Bhairavi has a bachelor of science in business magna cum laude from Miami University, Ohio, USA. She has completed the MyGlobe Executive Education Programme at INSEAD in France. She is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Rohit Kansal is chief of staff to the Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah. He has also headed the office of P. Chidambaram, earlier Finance Minister of India. He has been district magistrate and collector in some of the most difficult terrorist infested areas in the states of Jammu and Kashmir. As collector of Jammu in 2002 during Operation Parakram, he oversaw the relief and temporary resettlement of over half a million villagers displaced by the massive security build-up on either side of the Indo-Pak border. He has also been the additional chief executive officer (ACEO) of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine (Board) at Katra, India. A management postgraduate from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kolkata and a mechanical engineer from the Thapar University in Punjab, Rohit Kansal is also the recipient of the Chevening Gurukul fellowship at the London School of Economics. He has lectured on IPR issues for the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Geneva. He has also been invited by the Yale Law School and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore amongst others for talks. He has published case studies on administrative and strategic matters and has also written on tourism, economic and general issues. He is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Hasina Kharbhih is founder and CEO of Impulse Social Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. and founder, president, and team leader of Impulse NGO Network, a social organization working on issues of child trafficking, HIV/AIDS intervention, and livelihood support initiatives for rural Northeast India. Working through Impulse, Hasina developed the Meghalaya Model, a comprehensive strategy for combating child trafficking in Northeast India. In 2006, she traveled to the USA and Thailand to attend the Changing Faces Women's Leadership Program. In 2002, she was invited to participate in the International Visitors Program on NGO Management, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In 2002 and 2003, she attended a two-part "Women in Management" training course held in Sweden and the Philippines through a scholarship from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. She has received numerous recognitions, including the Asia Award for Excellence in Youth Work from the Commonwealth Youth Programme of the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat, the Woman of Substance Award from the Ryan Foundation in India, and the Rising Talent award from the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society held in France in 2007. In 2006, she was selected as an Ashoka Fellow. Hasina lives in Shillong, Meghalaya, in the northeast of India. She is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Shaffi Mather practices law, mainly in the Supreme Court of India, focusing on litigation of public interest matters. He specializes in governance transparency, use of public funds, human rights, civil rights, and constitutional primacy. Shaffi is also the Convenor of the Congress Party's Economic Policy and Planning Committee in Kerala State. He is also chairman of Ziqitza Group and vice chairman of the Mather Group. He founded Ambulance Access for All, Education Access for All, and a consultancy service to stop bribes and prevent corruption. He is a co-promoter of Moksha Yug Access, a rural supply chain organization and has raised close to US$12.5 million in venture funding for his social enterprises. Shaffi received a BCom from the Mahatma Gandhi University, an MBA in finance from the University of Bridgeport, an MBA in marketing and strategic planning from the University of Pittsburgh, and a certificate in leadership and excellence from the London School of Economics, where he was a Chevening Senior Scholar and is currently a visiting lecturer. He was also a Mason Fellow in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in 2007-08, graduating with a MPA degree. He is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Rajan Navani is managing director of the Indian arm of the Jetline Group of Companies with interests in packaging manufacturing, entertainment, software development, and new ventures in consumer products and organized retail in India. Prior to this, he worked with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, USA before returning to Thailand and then to India to enter the family business. Rajan is currently the national chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) Mission on India@75, the past national chairman of CII Young Indians (YI) and is a member of CII's National and Western Regional Councils. He was the founding chairman of the Emerging Presidents' Group, a forum for second generation industrialists and has been involved in addressing family business issues through different forums. He is actively associated with various other business and social organizations in India and Thailand. Rajan holds a masters degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University USA under a NASA grant majoring in digital satellite imaging and remote sensing, graduating with the award for outstanding academic achievement. A gold medalist achiever at the University of Poona in the bachelors of electronics and telecommunications program, India, he also holds a post graduate diploma in business management. He is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Neera Nundy is managing partner of Dasra, India's first venture philanthropy fund. Dasra provides capacity-building support and funding of US$6.5 million to over 140 organizations. She previously worked at Morgan Stanley and UBS Warburg. Neera has also advised international and domestic funders including LGT Venture Philanthropy, Godrej Industries, BMW Foundation, the Global Fund for Children, and social venture funds such as Aavishkaar, Acumen Fund and Bamboo Finance. She has worked with Women's World Banking and SEWA evaluating equity investment options in microfinance institutions. In addition to Dasra, Neera personally supports Disha, a rural development program for tribal children and women in Kharagpur, West Bengal and is a visiting lecturer for strategic planning and management in social enterprises at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies. Most recently, Neera was featured in the top 40 leaders in India Today's Youth Special Edition and showcased at the Women Mean Business Conference as a leading woman entrepreneur. She holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in statistical sciences and a BA in honors business administration from the University of Western Ontario. She is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Arun Padmanabhan is co-founder and CEO of Svasti Microfinance Pvt. Ltd., a startup microfinance institution based in Mumbai. Svasti is a non banking finance company that is working to provide people in low income communities access to loans and other financial services. Arun is a lawyer by profession and was an assistant general manager with ICICI Bank until June 2007, when he left to start Svasti. Over a period of six years at ICICI Bank, he acted as the legal advisor to the corporate banking, project finance, structured finance, private banking and treasury operations of the bank. He was part of the core strategic team that planned and executed the bank's foray into international markets and has extensive experience in successfully launching new businesses and new products in various geographies. Arun resides in Mumbai with his wife. He is a chemistry graduate from Vivekananda College, Chennai and graduated in law from Pune University in 2001. He is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Meghna Rao is country managing director for India at the Acumen Fund, a leading venture fund investing in companies that deliver affordable, critical goods and services for social impact. Previously, she was responsible for the turnaround of a packaging manufacturing company in India and spent several years at Microsoft's headquarters in the US and India. At Microsoft, she was responsible for global business planning to launch a new software product and to drive adoption of Microsoft offerings among small businesses in India. Meghna herself is a technology entrepreneur and co-founded a successful IT solutions company. She worked in the mergers and acquisitions investment banking department at Goldman Sachs in New York and was a venture capitalist at J.H. Whitney in Connecticut. Meghna has a strong mix of hands-on operating and investing experiences with a passion for entrepreneurship. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School and undergraduate degree from The Wharton School. She is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Akshat Rathee is managing director of the NODWIN Group, which operates eight group controlled companies-NODWIN Consultants, NODWIN Artist Management, Delicious Marketing, Earth-100 Biofuels, NODWIN Hotels and Hospitality, Launchpad Location & Events, G.O.D Calling Services and Diamonds in the Rough. The angel fund, Diamonds in the Rough, has also invested in eight other companies. He is mentor and juror on The Power of Ideas, a Confederation of Indian Industry and Economic Times initiative, and is on the Advisory Board of AIESEC. He was on the organizing committee of TIE Entrepreneurial Summit 2010. He also heads the Delhi chapter of The Start-Up Leadership Program, an initiative to groom the next generation of startup CEOs. He loves to travel and has travelled across the globe across all the habitable continents. He collects fountain pens, plays professional Starcraft (a strategy game) and teaches college students as hobbies. Before he turned entrepreneur Akshat worked with Ernst & Young, IBM Daksh and Columbia Tristar. Akshat completed his MBA in international business from ENPC Paris after graduating from MIT Manipal with a B.Tech in computer engineering. He is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Nikhil Sawhney is executive director of Triveni Engineering Industries Ltd. His current responsibilities include strategic oversight over all capital raising and investments, strategy and new ventures; and operational oversight over the water, projects, turbine and power development businesses of Triveni. Prior to joining Triveni in 1999, Nikhil had worked in India and overseas in the fields of finance, consumer goods, engineering products and capital markets. Nikhil follows a principle of responsible corporate citizenry and has initiated several community initiatives such as forestation, rural community-based self help programs, as well as the Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative in rural India. Nikhil is also an active trustee of the Tirath Ram Shah Charitable Hospital and the Emmanuel College India Trust, both in New Delhi, and is also a part of the Managing Committee of ASSOCHAM and the Governing Council of AIMA. Nikhil has a BA and an MA from Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Nikhil resides in New Delhi with his wife Zia and their son. He is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Radhika Shapoorjee is president of IPAN Hill and Knowlton, which provides direction to create strategic and innovative campaigns that help clients gain influence and thought leadership in the industry. She has also provided media training and conducted messaging workshops for various clients like Max New York Life, Sony, Goldman Sachs, industry associations, the government of Karnataka, and many more. She has worked with clients to manage issues and crisis across sectors including aviation, financial, media & entertainment and FMCG. Prior to IPAN Hill & Knowlton, Radhika was chief innovation and quality officer at Genesis Burson-Marsteller, where she provided strategic counsel to clients across sectors. Radhika has around two decades of hands-on experience that includes direct marketing, sales, film-making, advertising and public relations. Her early career included nine years in advertising at FCB-Ulka where she was involved in strategic planning and the creation of multimedia campaigns for large national and international brands. She writes on a regular basis for Marketing Whitebook brought out by Business World. Radhika is a graduate with honors in history from St. Stephen's College. She has played national level basketball and is an avid swimmer. She is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Shikha Sharma is managing director of Nutri-Health Systems, a disease prevention and nutrition company. The organization has seven clinics and a nutrition call center with over 100 full time employees. Shikha has a weekly column in The Hindustan Times. She has been quoted by several other leading newspapers, and magazines like The Times of India, Femina, and Cosmopolitan. She appears regularly on television channels like NDTV, CNBC, Delhi Doordarshan, Sahara and others. She has given talks for The Economist and ASSOCHAM. She currently is the National Health Chair for Young Indians, a subsidiary of the Confederation of Indian Industry. Shikha was included in India Today's article on the "Top 50 Young Achievers of the Country." Shikha also has a foundation called Divyashakti, working in the area of health and education of slum children .Shikha earned her medical degree in 1992 from New Delhi. Shikha is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Karandeep Singh is vice president and managing director for Sapient's India operations, based out of Gurgaon. Sapient is a global technology services firm. Prior to joining Sapient, Karandeep worked in finance and business operations functions of large corporations like Dell, Moser Baer, Ariba, and Yum Brands. Karandeep started his career with Andersen Consulting in 1992, where he spent three years doing management consulting and system integration projects, before joining Yum in 1995. He lived in Dubai and Singapore between 1998 to 2004. Karandeep serves on the board of Aspire Human Capital Management Pvt Ltd, which is run by Amit Bhatia, an India Leadership Initiative Fellow. Karandeep is actively involved in the running of CyberCity Welfare Society, an initiative supported by Nasscom to drive pedestrian safety and improve traffic management around the CyberCity Gurgaon area. Karandeep also supports a girl's orphanage in Kharar, Mohalli, Punjab, which ensures proper housing and education of orphaned girls. He resides in Gurgaon with his parents, his wife Mandeep, and their two children. Karandeep is a University Gold Medalist, having completed his bachelor of commerce with honors from Delhi University in 1989. Subsequently, Karandeep went on to complete his chartered accountancy from ICAI in 1992, making it to the Top 50 India merit list in both the intermediate and final exams of the CA program. He is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Dhaval Udani is CEO of GiveIndia. Prior to this role, he was chief investment officer and senior vice president and led the Internet Giving practice for GiveIndia. Dhaval has been associated with GiveIndia for nearly four and a half years now - starting as a volunteer for two and a half years and then as a full-time employee. He is also a member of the UnLtd India advisory panel which helps budding social entrepreneurs as well as the Asia Venture Philanthropy Network. Prior to GiveIndia, Dhaval worked for three and a half years as a management consultant with A. T. Kearney, Mumbai. During his stint there, he advised companies on strategy, marketing and operations across India, Middle East and South East Asia. Dhaval also worked for four years in information technology with Citicorp developing products and frameworks for internal use. Dhaval received an MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad in 2005 and graduated with a BE in computer science from VJTI, Mumbai in 1999. He is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Amitav Virmani is country director for Absolute Return for Kids (ARK), India, a UK based charitable organisation founded in 2002. Amitav previously worked as a general manager in the office of the CEO and managing director at Ranbaxy Laboratories. Amitav began his post MBA career in the USA working as a project manager for Bristol Myers Squibb & Co, a pharmaceutical company based in Princeton. He was also responsible for setting up their office in Mumbai in 2003. Amitav has been a part of his family-run food processing business since 1994. He now, in addition to his work at ARK, manages the development of a real estate project in Punjab. Amitav studied economics at St. Stephens College, Delhi University. He got his MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He sits on the board of several companies and is a managing committee member of the PhD Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is also a member of the International Board of Advisors for Kenan Flagler Business School, UNC, Chapel Hill. Amitav represented the Delhi State in Squash for 7 years and played at the National Level across Asia. Amitav is married to Sonali; they have two children and are based in New Delhi. He is a Fellow of the third class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
