Ms. Parveen Mahmud is a chartered accountant by qualification and has an illustrious career as a finance professional. She is the Council member and Past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB). In her diversified professional career, Ms. Mahmud worked in the development sector and was a practicing chartered accountant.

Ms. Mahmud started her career with BRAC, and was the Deputy Managing Director of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF). She was a partner of ACNABIN, Chartered Accountants. She was the first female President of ICAB for the year 2011 and also the first female Board member in the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), the apex accounting professional body of the SAARC. She is the Chairperson, CA Female Forum, ICAB. She was the member of National Advisory Panel for SME Development of Bangladesh and founding Board member of SME Foundation and Convener, SME Women’s Forum.

Ms. Mahmud is also a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Bangladesh. She is the Managing Director of Grameen Telecom Trust. She received “Women at Work-2017” Award from BASIS and “Women of Inspiration Awards”-2017 from the BOLD Bangladesh. She was awarded Begum Rokeya Shining Personality Award 2006 for women’s empowerment by the Narikantha Foundation, Bangladesh.

Pawan is a Chartered Accountant (2000), and a B.Com (Hons) Graduate (1999) from St. Xavier’s college, Calcutta. Pawan has about 2 decades of leadership experience across various finance verticals like Financial Planning & Analysis, Corporate Finance, Treasury, Investor Relations, Taxation & Commercial functions in the FMCG domain.

He joined Marico in 2004 as Regional Operations Manager for South Sales Division in Hyderabad. He has spent over 16 years with Marico and contributed in areas of Business Finance, Strategy Business planning, Cost optimisation, International Business operations, setting up Internal Control architecture, Business Process Transformation and major Taxation transition. Prior to Marico, he worked with Eveready Industries (I) limited for 4 years in Internal Audit and Sales Commercial functions across many locations.

In his 20 years of long career, he has had successful stints in areas of Business Finance and Corporate Finance. Backed by strong leadership skills and experience of managing diverse people, he has managed operations comprising both scale & complexity and has driven transformational change agenda for the organisation.

Ashish Goupal currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer for International Business at Marico Limited. In this role, he oversees the company’s international operations across multiple geographies, including Bangladesh, South-East Asia, the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), South Africa and Exports Markets. Within the Marico Group, he plays a pivotal role as a member of the Executive Committee and serves on the Board of Marico Bangladesh (MBL).

His journey with Marico began in 2006 when he joined Marico India as Area Sales Manager. Over the years, Ashish consistently demonstrated outstanding leadership and was subsequently appointed as the Managing Director of Marico Bangladesh Limited (MBL) in July 2018. Under his leadership MBL with listings on the Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchanges since 2009. has rapidly emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast-growing FMCG companies in Bangladesh. In February 2022, Ashish assumed the role of COO for the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) business, as well as New Country Development (NCD) business, in addition to his responsibilities in Bangladesh. In October 2023, Ashish assumed role of CEO International Business and will be responsible for driving Marico’s business and people growth journey in international markets.

Throughout his impressive 18+ years at Marico, Ashish excelled and delivered remarkable results in various domains, including Revenue Management, Brand Management, New Product Development, Trade Marketing, Shopper Marketing, and Demand Planning. He has successfully introduced new brands and spearheaded transformative initiatives in areas such as Business Transformation, Talent value proposition, Governance & Sustainability, and Cost Management.

Under Ashish's leadership, Marico Bangladesh achieved the significant milestone of crossing the 1000 Crores business mark. The company also earned numerous industry accolades for its outstanding brands, exemplary corporate governance, and contributions to corporate social responsibility in Bangladesh.

He holds a degree from the Jamanalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and started his career as a management trainee with the global consumer durable leader, Samsung, in 2004.

Beyond his commitments at Marico, Ashish has held positions on the boards of prominent organizations, including the American School of Dhaka, FICCI Bangladesh, and the Indo-Bangla Chamber of Commerce, further exemplifying his dedication to community and industry involvement.

Ms.Sheela R.Rahman is a lawyer with experience in practising and working in Bangladesh since 1990 mainly in the areas of commercial, corporate finance, foreign investment and banking laws. She was in-house legal counsel for a project finance company and a foreign bank, and lead a law office, Maxima.Legal. Since 2020, she is Director Legal & Compliance in BRAC, a large civil society organisation in Bangladesh. Ms.Sheela was a consultant with International Finance Corporation (IFC) for corporate governance advisory services in the South Asia. She worked with corporate boards, SMEs, family owned businesses, financial institutions, institutes and regulators, and experienced in corporate governance assessments, board evaluations, and generally strengthening corporate governance practices. She co-authored a comparison of corporate governance laws in South Asia and a code of corporate governance published by the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute. Ms.Sheela holds an LL.M. degree from University College London, and was called as a barrister-at-law from Lincoln’s Inn. She is an Advocate, Appellate Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh.

Legacy & Expertise

Sumitava Basu brings 25 years of extensive FMCG experience, having held significant roles at Heinz, Perfetti Van Melle, and Himalaya. His profound understanding of the Bangladesh market, honed over a decade, has driven substantial market share growth and notable brand development. Sumitava's leadership is marked by his ability to anticipate market needs and respond proactively, ensuring business success and customer satisfaction.

Strategic Vision

Sumitava's foresight in market trends and proactive responses have guided businesses through seeding, development, and market leadership. His empathetic leadership style has been instrumental in building high-performing teams and fostering a culture of trust, accountability, and continuous improvement. Sumitava's strategic initiatives have consistently led to enhanced business performance and sustainable growth.

Operational Efficiency

Committed to operational efficiency and sustainability, Sumitava continually enhances processes to minimize environmental impact and ensure regulatory compliance. His strategic initiatives are designed to optimize operations while maintaining the highest standards of regulatory adherence. Sumitava's approach to operational excellence ensures that Marico not only meets but exceeds industry standards.

Harsh C. Mariwala leads Marico Limited (Marico) as its Chairman. Over the last 3 decades, he has transformed a traditional commodity driven business into a leading Consumer Products Company, in the Beauty and Wellness space. Marico markets leading brands such as Parachute Advansed, Saffola, Mediker, Revive, Setwet, Livon among others. Today one out of three Indians is a Marico consumer. Marico has also established strong consumer franchises in its overseas markets in Asia and Africa.

Harsh’s passion for innovation, enthused him to establish the Marico Innovation Foundation in 2003 which works towards nurturing innovations in India. As an expression of his Personal Social Responsibility, in 2012, he launched ASCENT Foundation - Accelerating the SCaling up of ENTerprises - a peer-learning entrepreneurial platform.

He is also Chairman & Managing Director of Kaya Limited. Sharrp Ventures is the Family Office of the Harsh Mariwala Family. He also founded the Mariwala Health Initiative (MHI) in 2015, with the philanthropic aim of giving back to society.

He was recently bestowed the EY Entrepreneur of the year award 2020 for India which is the world's most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs.

Saugata Gupta serves as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Marico Limited. He joined Marico in 2004 as the Head of Marketing and was elevated to CEO of India Business in 2007 and in 2014 he took over as Managing Director of the company.

A dynamic leader, he is responsible for driving the company’s growth and strengthening its presence both nationally and internationally. He has helped transform Marico into a high performing business with a commitment to sustainable development and best in class governance.

Known for his performance-oriented approach, Saugata drives Marico to be a future-ready organization committed to consistent profitable and sustainable growth combined with societal value creation. Under his guidance, Marico today has expanded its presence across 25 countries spread across emerging markets of Asia and Africa. During his tenure, Marico’s market capitalisation crossed over USD 8 billion in 2021 and it recorded a turnover of over USD 1 billion in FY20-21.

During this period, Marico has been recognised across various forums for its commitment to sustainability and accountability in business operations. Marico ranked highest amongst FMCG companies in the Crisil ESG performance score - ESGuage 2021 and has been ranked amongst the Top 10 in corporate governance among all constituent companies of the S&P BSE 100 Index. Marico has also been featured in the ‘LEADERSHIP’ category on the IFC-BSE-IiAS Indian Corporate Governance Scorecard as assessed by IiAS in December 2020. Marico ranked 6th among India's most sustainable companies with an A+ rating by SUSTAIN LABS PARIS in association with BW Businessworld and was awarded the Best CSR Practices award at Responsible Business Awards 2021. Marico is amongst India’s 5 Best Workplaces in FMCG as per Great Place to Work® Institute (India) and one of the 25 Most Desirable Companies To Work for across sectors, as per the Dare2Compete.

Saugata was ranked #4 and #47 in the FMCG sector and Pan-India respectively in the Business Today-PWC list of India’s Top 100 CEOs in 2017 and was ranked as ‘India’s Most Valuable CEOs’ by Businessworld in 2016 and 2018. He has been recognised as the Best CEO - Private Sector at Forbes India Leadership Awards 2019. He was also featured in the top 100 Business Leaders List 2020 by Impact Digital Power 100 and in 2021. He was recognized as one of India’s best leaders in the times of crisis 2021 by Great Places to Work. Recently, Saugata Gupta has been awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award 2022 by Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.

Outside Marico, Saugata is on the board of Ashok Leyland as Independent Director and is a member of Audit Committee, Nomination and Remuneration Committee and ESG Committee. He is also associated with Delhivery as an Independent Director.

Saugata is an alumnus of IIM Bangalore and holds a chemical engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur.

Nikhil Khattau is an experienced investor, entrepreneur, and banker. At Mayfield, Mr. Khattau has been leading investments since 2007. As an entrepreneur, he was the founding CEO of SUN F&C, one of India’s first privately-owned mutual fund houses. His investment banking experience was with EY’s corporate Finance Group in London and New York.

Mr. Khattau believes that the Indian consumer is changing habits and he works with entrepreneurs at the forefront of this change. Food, online brands and consumer financial services are areas of his particular interest. Among his board positions are Kaya Limited (listed, specialty skin care), Marico Limited (listed, packaged consumer goods), Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited (listed, pharmaceuticals), Securens (remote monitoring and surveillance), Licious (online meat brand), EatClub (online QSR restaurant chain) and GOAT Brand Labs (online house of brands).

Mr. Khattau is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Mumbai.

Milind Barve is the former Managing Director of HDFC Asset Management Company (HDFC AMC), one of India’s leading asset management company. He was responsible for setting up HDFC AMC and was appointed as its first Managing Director with effect from July 4, 2000 and after over a two-decade-long stint, he retired in February 2021. Almost his entire career, he has been associated with the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) group.

Under his leadership, HDFC Mutual Fund pioneered India's only socially oriented Mutual Fund Scheme which finances, through the Indian Cancer Society, free treatment for Cancer patients in various hospitals in India. He also served as a member on the Governing Advisory Council of Indian Cancer Society.

In the past, he has also served as the Chairman on the Board of Association of Mutual Fund in India (AMFI). He was awarded the "Maxell Award for Excellence in Business Leadership 2015".

Barve is a chartered accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and holds a Bachelor’s degree in commerce from University of Pune. He has been a keen badminton player and has represented the College, University of Pune and the Maharashtra State in various tournaments.

Barve is also an Independent Director on the Board of NSE Indices Limited.

Rajendra Mariwala has done his Masters in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University, USA. He is currently the Managing Director of Eternis Fine Chemicals Limited, a leading exporter of specialty chemicals - specifically chemicals for fragrances and personal care products. He brings with him a rich experience of over 16 years in leading a competitive global business in specialty chemicals. He has been on the Board of Directors of Marico Limited since July 26, 2005.

Rishabh, a second generation family business entrepreneur is a graduate from Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University, New York, USA. He is an avid learner and has undergone different executive courses from various universities. His engagement at Kaya Skin Care (chain of Dermatology Clinics across India) from 2008 - 2011 gave him an opportunity to gain holistic organizational experience. In 2010, he launched a new business line "Soap Opera" catering to the masstige and luxury consumer segment. His passion for innovative product formulations and the deep consumer insight was instrumental in introducing the luxury range of skincare products called "PureSense" in 2016. Rishabh founded Sharrp Ventures - the Mariwala Family Office, and presently heads the same. Sharrp Ventures is engaged in public markets, private equity and start-ups. This experience has provided him great insight into India's vibrant start-up space and immense learning about global best practices. Having undertaken various responsibilities, Rishabh has acquired overall entrepreneurial hands-on experience across all aspects of the business.

Ananth Narayanan is an Investor and an Entrepreneur in the consumer internet space in India. He is the founder of Mensa Brands. Mensa brands looks to invest into and work with founders of digital first brands and scale them globally. Most recently he was the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Medlife, one of the largest e-health company in India, with business verticals including pharmacy, diagnostics, and e- consultation. After scaling the business, he successfully merged it with Pharmeasy creating a billion plus dollar business which is a clear market leader in the healthcare technology space.

Prior to this he served as the CEO of Myntra, the country’s largest platform for fashion and lifestyle products and part of Flipkart/Walmart. Under his leadership, the company witnessed 6x growth in a span of 3.5 years, while improving profitability, with the right foundation for long term success. He was also instrumental in buying Jabong and consolidating Myntra’s market leadership.

Featured as one of “India’s Hottest 40 under 40 Business Leaders” in 2014, Ananth has deep expertise in driving performance improvement and digital transformation. Prior to joining Myntra, Ananth was a Director at Mckinsey & Company for 15 years and has worked across four offices (Chicago, Shanghai, Taipei, and Chennai). He serves as an Independent Director on the Board of Marico and is an active member of YPO, the Global Community of Young Leaders and Chief Executives. He is a part of the Champions of Change, Transformation Conclave set up by Niti Aayog, under the aegis of Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. He is also on the Board of Arghyam, a foundation set up by Rohini Nilekani to improve access to safe water. He also is passionate about the topic of Mental Health and Serves as a Trustee for Deepika Padukone’s Live Love Laugh foundation. He is an active member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and is also on the Industry Advisory Board of the University of Michigan.

Rajeev Vasudeva has over two decades of global experience as a counsellor and trusted advisor to boards and CEO’s of global organizations on leadership and governance issues. He had a career spanning 25 years with Egon Zehnder International in India and the UK, which culminated in his appointment as the global CEO of the firm in 2014. Egon Zehnder is one the leading global executive search and leadership advisory firms with 70 offices across 40 countries. He also founded and co-led the Firm’s global Family Business Advisory Practice, addressing the unique challenges faced by family-controlled companies in matters of next generation transitions, family and business governance.

He currently serves as the Chairman of Centum Learning Ltd, an e-learning and skill development company and also serves on the Boards of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (listed on NYSE & TSX) and Pidilite Industries Limited (listed on BSE). His initial career was as a management consultant with Touche Ross & Co. in the US and, thereafter, established his own consulting practice in India, which was merged with Egon Zehnder in 1995.

Rajeev Vasudeva is an MBA from the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and obtained his law degree from the University of Delhi. He completed his Bachelor in Economics from St. Stephens College.

Apurva Purohit is an Indian Businesswoman with over three decades of experience in the corporate world where she formed significant partnerships with private equity firms and promoters to build and scale up a diverse set of businesses - from early-stage fledgling businesses, to setting up new ventures and to supervising turnarounds in mature and declining organisations.

She has worked across a variety of media businesses from radio to print to digital and was responsible for building and scaling up Radio City to become a leader in the FM radio space, and subsequently listing it on the stock exchanges in 2017, one of the more successful IPOs in those years. She was responsible for setting up Lodestar, which is today one of the largest media buying agencies in the country, and envisioning Times of India’s entry strategy into television, and has also worked on famed turnarounds like Zee TV and Midday, pivoting it from a traditional print business to a marquee and respected print and digital brand.

Under her people-oriented leadership and focus on building a great culture, one of her portfolio companies, Radio City was consecutively featured in the Great Place To Work survey for 7 years in India and amongst the Best Places to Work in Asia and has become a case study on building high impact cultures which have a direct correlation on profitability.

She is an Independent director at Mindtree Ltd, L&T Technology Services Ltd, Navin Fluorine International Ltd and an advisor to private equity fund Amicus Capital.

She has been a leading voice in the Indian business landscape, advocating gender diversity, what ails it, and what organisations and leaders can do to improve this critical imperative. She is also the author of the two national bestselling books “Lady, You’re not a Man” – the Adventures of a Woman at Work and Lady, You’re the Boss! Through her books, Apurva aims to empower women and encourage them to achieve their full potential.

Over the years, She has won multiple business awards and has been repeatedly named as one of the Most Powerful Women in Business as per the India Today Group and Fortune India. She was amongst LinkedIn’s Top Voices and YourStory’s Top 10 digital Influencers of 2020. She was recently awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from IIM Bangalore in 2022.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Science (Physics) and completed her PGDM from IIM- Bangalore. She was a state-level hockey player and played for Tamil Nadu State and Tamil Nadu University.

Nayantara Bali serves as an Independent Director on publicly listed Boards including Starhub: a leading Telecommunications company in Singapore, Torrent Pharma, a leading Indian Pharmaceutical company, and Inchcape Plc (UK) the leading independent global Automotive Distributor. She is also Director/ Co-owner of ANV Consulting Pte: a boutique Management Consultancy that specializes in PE advisory, data analytics, and business/marketing strategy.

She has had a stellar career as a business leader with over 28 years of FMCG experience at the international marketing powerhouse Procter & Gamble driving strong business and category growth across Asia Pacific. Her roles included BU head of the Asia-Pacific Beauty Care, Global Skin Care business, Gillette Asia business, and Baby/Feminine Care. Geographic scope over the years has included, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Australasia, Japan, Korea, and China.

Nayantara has a strong track record of successfully launching new brands, categories, and business models to explosive growth. Notable examples include Whisper India, Ariel India, Pampers India, Whisper Choice, Pantene 3-minute Miracle in Asean which has since been expanded globally, H&S Indonesia and Gillette Guard.

Nayantara was among the early Indian members of P&G’s Global Business Leadership Council. She was the Asia sponsor on P&G’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Council, and also served as a Director on the Boards of P&G Gillette India (2011-13) and P&G Health & Hygiene India (2003-05).

Nayantara has a PGDM from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a B.A in Economics from Stella Maris, Chennai.

Mr. Rajan Bharti Mittal is the Vice-Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s leading conglomerates with diversified interests in Telecom, Space Communications, Digital Solutions, Financial Services, Real Estate, Agri-Processed foods in addition to other ventures. Bharti has joint ventures with several global leaders: Singtel, AXA, Del Monte, SoftBank, and the UK Government. Bharti Airtel, the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises, is a global telecommunications company with operations in 17 countries across South Asia and Africa.

Born in 1960, Mr. Mittal joined Bharti Enterprises after graduating from Panjab University. An alumnus of Harvard Business School, he is actively involved in overseeing the activities of the group at the corporate level. With his rich experience in the marketing function, he is also involved in many of the new business ventures of the Group.

Mr. Mittal serves as a member of several industry associations and policymaking bodies. He is currently an Honorary Member of the Board of Trustees of Brookings Institution, the world’s oldest and most prestigious think tank, and a member of the President’s Council on International Activities (PCIA), Yale University.

Mr. Mittal is among the Champions of EDISON Alliance at the World Economic Forum (WEF) - a cross-sector platform to accelerate collaborative action for digital inclusion. Mr. Mittal is a leading member of the WEF initiative on Alliance of CEO Climate Action Leaders India - a high-level platform for business leaders to support concrete plans and ideas to step up India’s climate action and green transition efforts. He is also a member of the India-France CEO Forum and India-Singapore CEO Forum.

Mr. Mittal served as the President of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) India in 2012-13. He was also the President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the year 2009 - 2010 and is currently a Member of its Executive & Steering Committees. Mr. Mittal has also served as the President of Association of Basic Telecom Operators (now known as Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India - AUSPI) for 1999-2000.

Mr. Mittal has been honored with the “Indian Business Leader of the Year Award 2011” by Horasis, The Global Visions Community, and has also been awarded the “Leonardo International Prize 2012” by Comitato Leonardo, the Italian Quality Committee.