Advisory BOARD

Mr. Deepak Parekh is the Chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), India’s leading housing finance company. Mr Parekh’s astute business acumen and far sightedness has not only made HDFC the leader in Mortgages, but has also transformed it into India’s leading Financial Services Conglomerate with presence in Banking, Asset Management, Life Insurance, General Insurance, Real Estate Venture Fund, Education Loans and Education. Mr. Parekh is the Chairman of most of the HDFC Group Companies. Mr. Parekh is on the board of several leading corporations across diverse sectors. He is the Non-Executive Chairman in India of Siemens Ltd. He is also on the board of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). Mr Parekh is on the international boards of DP World – UAE and Fairfax Financial Holdings Corporation – Canada. He is also on the international advisory boards of Investcorp International Ltd, Nomura Holdings Inc and Warburg Pincus LLC. Mr. Parekh was honoured with a Padma Bhushan in 2006.

Dr. lndu Shahani is the Founding President and Chancellor of ATLAS SkillTech University. Dr. Shahani was the Sheriff of Mumbai (2008, 2009), Member of the University Grants Commission (2011-14) and Principal of H.R. College of Commerce & Economics, Mumbai (2000-16). An Academician with over four decades of institution building experience. She has played the lead role in nurturing her students to become professionals with a heart. She was the first Indian to be appointed Vice-Chair on the Board of Governors of the International Baccalaureate (IB). She has been invited to leading Corporate Boards and key listed companies providing an impetus for ‘Academia – Industry Collaboration’, the subject of her PhD from The University of Mumbai. Dr. Shahani is an independent Director on the Board of Colgate Palmolive (India) Limited, United Spirits Limited – Diageo, HSBC Asset Management, Bajaj Electricals Limited, Clariant, Eureka Forbes Limited and Lighthouse Learning Limited.

Mr. Keshav Murugesh serves as Group Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors of WNS. He is also a member of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) CEO Council and has been the Chairman of NASSCOM for 2019-2020. Prior to WNS, he has held several leadership positions in global companies, including President and CEO, Syntel Inc. and ITC Ltd. (an affiliate of BAT Plc). Mr. Murugesh is a social evangelist, who introduced the first-ever Cyber Crime educational series for the Mumbai Police through WNS and NASSCOM. He was the founding Chairman of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) India, now known as Enactus, a global organization involved in educational outreach projects in partnership with businesses. He has been honoured as an ‘Outstanding CEO’ at the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards, 2015. He has also won the coveted ‘India Disruptor of the Year’ award at the CNBC-TV18 India Business Leader Awards, 2018.

Mr. Karan Singh is the Managing Director of Bain & Company’s India offices. He is a leader in Bain’s Healthcare practice. He was one of the founding partners who helped establish Bain’s India business and has more than 20 years of management consulting experience across Asia, Europe and the United States. His expertise includes transformation, turnaround and growth strategy, mergers and acquisitions, performance management and change management. He also has experience in supporting clients in the consumer products, financial services, industrial goods and services and private equity sectors. He has advised and been a knowledge partner to NATHEALTH – Healthcare Federation of India and works with the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation. He has also been a member of committees of leading business chambers such as CII. Karan is an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Anant Goenka is the Managing Director of CEAT LTD. Anant has over 15 years of experience during which he has worked in KEC International, Hindustan Unilever, Accenture and Morgan Stanley. He was also the Chairman of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA) in the year 2013. Anant has been recognised by Forbes as the “Next Generation Business Leader of the Year” in 2017 and as “India’s 40 under 40 Business Leaders” by Economic Times-Spencer Stuart. He also led CEAT to win the Deming Prize in 2017, one of the most prestigious global quality awards in the world. Anant is a fitness freak and an avid traveller, and when he is not managing affairs at CEAT, he can be found playing squash or testing the benefits of endurance running. Anant has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a B.Sc. in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Ram Raghavan is the Managing Director of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited (CPIL), and provides strategic leadership to Colgate-Palmolive, India and South Asia, since August 2019. Mr. Raghavan joined CPIL in 1997 as a Management Trainee and assumed increasing levels of responsibilities in Customer Development and Marketing. Over the years, he progressed through a series of leadership roles across Colgate-Palmolive. He has tremendous experience across Asia Pacific. In 2008, he became Marketing Director for C-P Canada. In 2010, he returned to China as Marketing Director. In 2013, he became the General Manager for the Latin America CIC, where he was instrumental in developing the platform-based innovation model driving organic growth. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from N M College of Commerce and Economics, and two MBA’s one from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and one from Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth.

Mr. Jamil Khatri who leads the Accounting Advisory Services practice of KPMG globally, is the only professional within the Big Four to head a global business unit from India. Mr. Jamil Khatri has been the face of KPMG’s accounting and international reporting practice in India for over 16 years. Mr. Khatri, is the Global Head of the Accounting Advisory Services practice of KPMG globally and is the only professional within the Big Four to head a global business unit from India. In his 20-year career, Mr.Khatri has assisted several Indian companies including ICICI, L&T, Wipro, Dr. Reddy’s, the Godrej group, MindTree and Tech Mahindra in transitioning to international accounting practices and in meeting their financial reporting and governance obligations for overseas listing. Mr. Khatri was also instrumental in shaping KPMG’s point of view on the Companies Act, 2013 and interacts regularly with regulators on transition challenges.

Ms. Avani Davda was the Founding CEO of TATA Starbucks and Former MD of Godrej Nature’s Basket. Growth Strategy & M&A: As a key member of Tata Consumer Products Ltd strategy team, she was responsible for driving strategies for growth. She played a pivotal role in setting up Nourish Co. a 50:50 JV between TCPL and PepsiCo that set the stage for expansion for mineral and fortified water portfolio beyond tea and coffee.Leadership: As Founder CEO for Tata Starbucks, she led the development of the Tata-Starbucks JV relationship. Her strategic direction and leadership ensured that this venture became the fastest growing market in the history of Starbucks, with over 85+ stores across 6 cities within 3 years of market launch. Turnaround: As CEO & MD of Godrej Nature’s Basket she led the transformation of the omni channel business over 3 years with a focus on positive store-level profitability and brand repositioning, which culminated in the strategic sale of the business to the Spencer Group. Stakeholder Management: She has extensive exposure to strategic decision making at the board level in her role as an Independent Director on the Board of Public Listed Companies. As a proven values-driven leader she supports the Companies on consumer insight-driven strategy, leadership coaching and team building.

Aryaman Vikram Birla, son of Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla and Mrs. Neerja Birla, hails from one of India’s most prominent business families. Having stepped into entrepreneurship and business, Aryaman founded Aditya Birla New Age, which has three main divisions, in the F&B, Pet Care and Venture Capital space. Aryaman has been instrumental in building this organisation from scratch. Aryaman also works alongside his father, with several companies of the Aditya Birla Group, including Fashion and Retail, Real Estate, and Paints on key strategic areas of the businesses including overall strategy, business and financial model decisions, M&A’s, budgeting, amongst other areas. Before entering business, Aryaman was a professional cricketer, having been the highest run scorer nationally in the U23s, and making his first-class debut in 2017. Aryaman went on to score a first class 100, before representing the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.

Prof. Russell S. Winer is the William Joyce Professor of Marketing and Deputy Chair of the Department of Marketing at the Stern School of Business, New York University. He received a B.A. in Economics from Union College and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University. He has been on the faculties of Columbia and Vanderbilt universities and the University of California at Berkeley. He has written three books, Marketing Management, Analysis for Marketing Planning and Product Management, a research monograph, Pricing, and has co-edited The History of Marketing Science and The Routledge Companion to Strategic Marketing. He has authored over 80 papers in marketing on a variety of topics including consumer choice, marketing research methodology, marketing planning, advertising, and pricing. He is a past Executive Director of the Marketing Science Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Professor Winer is Editor Emeritus of the Journal of Interactive Marketing.

Prof. Tim Marshall is a renowned international academic leader and innovation focused change-maker. Prior to RMIT University, Prof. Marshall was the Provost and Chief Academic Officer of The New School. Prior to his appointment as Provost, Prof. Marshall served as Dean of Parsons The New School for Design. Prof. Marshal has also served as a consultant to academic institutions in Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, China, and Singapore, and has been a visiting critic at the Köln International School of Design (KISD) and guest professor at the China National Academy of the Arts (CNAFA), Shanghai Institute of Design. Most recently, he has been a featured speaker at the Design Museum in London (“Design School: The Future of the Project”, 2016), Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Jockey Club Design Institute for Social Innovation (“Social Innovation Festival”, 2015), India Design Forum (2012), and inaugural Beirut Design Week (2012). He received his education at the City Art Institute and College of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales, Australia.

Mr. Sanjay Gurbuxani is the Vice President for Global Digital Innovations and the Regional CIO for Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa at Mondelez International. Sanjay is a Digital Enterprise Leader with over 24 years of experience working across North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa in a variety of Global and Regional leadership positions of Mondelēz International, focused on Digitally Transforming Sales, Marketing (Consumer) and Supply Chain organizations. Sanjay has delivered large-scale business and technology transformational programs including breakthrough business innovations that have impacted profitability of the business. Most recently Sanjay has been responsible for establishing Low Code / No Code, AR / VR, NLP, Computer Vision & Blockchain Centres of Excellence at Mondelez International. He is an engineer by training and has a M.S. in Engineering Management from Marquette University, Milwaukee and an MBA from Loyola University, Chicago.

Ms. Carol Kim is the Senior Vice Provost for Enrolment Management and Strategic Partnerships at The New School. Carol joined The New School in June 2015. Carol brings to her work more than 20 years of progressive achievement in building enrolments and creating external partnerships for international organizations and higher education. Before joining The New School, she served as vice president for Global Partnerships at Tenlegs, a technology company, helping higher-education institutions build online communities. Before that, she was appointed the inaugural vice president of Planning & Communications at YueCheng Education in Beijing, China. Her previous work in higher education includes senior executive leadership positions at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), first as the Dean of Enrolment Management and then as the Vice President of International Relations, and at New York University (NYU), as the director of Recruitment at the Tisch School of the Arts. Carol received both her MA in Higher Education and her BS in Management from NYU.

Vivek co-leads Mckinsey & Company’s Private Equity & Principal Investors Practice globally, serving the world’s leading investors and shareholders on investment strategy, operations, origination, transformations, and exits. Among shareholders, he serves family-owned businesses, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, private equity funds, and social impact and sustainability funds. Prior to this role, Vivek led Mckinsey’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice. Vivek’s engagements span launching and strategy formulation for sovereign wealth funds, investment strategies for private equity funds, sustainability transformations, holistic top-line and cost transformations of businesses, the application of digital and advanced analytics capabilities to drive a step-change in performance, service and product innovations, new business building, unlocking value via capital markets, M&A and divestitures. Vivek supports clients across a wide range of sectors, including technology, telecom, real estate, chemicals, cement, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, film production, cable TV, textiles, retail, IT services, consumer durables, automotive, and payments. His current research focuses on private-equity industry development, sustainability and social impact investing, and investor strategies that improve shareholder returns and persistence. Vivek serves as a trustee of the Aspen Institute India, as director of Magic Bus and St. Jude’s Cancer Care Centers, and served on the Board of Governors of Doon School. He is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute. He joined McKinsey in New York, where he was elected a partner, and has worked in oces across North America, Europe, Japan, and India.

Anita Dongre is an Indian fashion designer. She is the founder of House of Anita Dongre, an Indian fashion house.

Mr. Ronnie Screwvala is the Chairperson & Co-founder of upGrad. Ronnie is a first-generation Indian entrepreneur, philanthropist, opinion leader & author. He is credited with having pioneered Cable TV for all of India and went on to build UTV, one of India’s largest media and entertainment companies which he later divested to The Walt Disney Co in 2012. Newsweek has termed him as the Jack Warner of India, Esquire rated him one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century and Fortune as Asia’s 25 most powerful. Ronnie, along with his wife Zarina are the Co-Founders of The Swades Foundation, which is committed to empower one million lives in rural India every 5-7 years through a 360 degree model spanning Water, Sanitation, Health, Education and Livelihood to lift them out of poverty permanently. As a hobby and passion Ronnie loves to tell stories that must be told via movies with his new brand RSVP. He owns 3 sports teams under the brand U Mumba in Kabaddi, Volleyball and Football.

An education maven and accomplished entrepreneur, Mayank Kumar is one of the sharpest minds leading the edtech revolution in India. Mayank is the Cofounder & MD of upGrad, which within 6 years of its inception, has impacted over 2 million total registered learners over 100 countries. Mayank has spent most of his professional career in the education sector, where he has been involved in deals with over a billion dollars flowing into the sector. He has served as VP – Education at Bertelsmann and Senior Principal at The Parthenon Group. He has also worked at the Tata Strategic Group. An IIT Delhi and ISB alumnus, Mayank was named the ‘40 Under 40 Achiever’ by Business World in 2020. He was also recognised with the title of Influential Leaders of New India in 2021 by the Team Marksmen and is currently the Co-Chairperson at the India EdTech Consortium (IEC) – an IAMAI EdTech Committee.

Mr. Siddharth Shahani is the Co-founder and Executive President of ATLAS SkillTech University. Siddharth has been instrumental in working with the Government of Maharashtra to establish a future-focused framework for a new genre of innovation-driven, urban universities. At ATLAS, Siddharth is responsible for executing the vision and directing the overall performance and growth of the university. Siddharth has also worked with McKinsey & Co., at their London offices and played a foundational role in establishing McKinsey’s Higher Education and Health Analytics Practice. Siddharth has trained as a pharmacist from University College London, UK and completed his Masters in International Health Policy & Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. Siddharth has also completed his Corporate Finance from London Business School.