Empowering Leaders: Conditioning, Conscious Choice and Calling it out - 5 October 2021

WOMEN'S BUSINESS FORUM

Empowering Leaders: Conditioning, Conscious Choice and Calling it out TUESDAY OCT 5, 2021 | 6.00 PM

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Ms Vishakha R M To Join, Click...

MD & CEO, IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Ltd

FOUNTAINHEAD OF EXCELLENCE

SYNOPSIS The talk will focus on:  Conditioning : Recognise the impact  Conscious Choice: Born out of clarity of thought  Calling it out: To make an impact!

6:00 PM

Welcome Address

Gp Capt R Vijayakumar (Retd), VSM Executive Director Madras Management Association

Opening Remarks by the Chairperson Address by the Speaker Discussion and Q&A with the Special Invitees

Ms Babita Baruah Managing Partner, GTB India. A WPP Unit

Ms Vishakha R M MD & CEO, IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Ltd

Ms Mythili Chandrasekar Consumer Behaviour and Brand Strategy Enthusiast

Dr Lata Rajagopalan Kumar Consultant - Communication for Development Member - IAICS

Concluding Remarks by the Chairperson 7:15 PM

Ms Babita Baruah

Vote of Thanks

Vishakha RM has helmed IndiaFirst Life as its MD & CEO since March 2015. Under her strong leadership, the company has recorded a significant growth rate and steadily risen in industry

Speaker

ranking. Leading from the front, Vishakha spearheaded the seamless transition of shareholding from former partner, Legal andGeneral to Warburg Pincus.

Vishakha has ranked among the Top 50 of Fortune India’s ‘Most Powerful Women’ in business three times in a row (2017, 2018 and 2019). Shehas also been bestowed with ‘Most Influential Woman’

by

theBusiness

World

magazine.

Recognising

her

achievements,

ICAI

bestowed

Vishakha with the prestigious award of CA Business Leader – Women (2017). Vishakha has been enlisted as a trailblazer amongst contemporaries across industries by prestigious publications such as Forbes India and Business Today.

A thought leader, Vishakha co-chairs the Pension and Insurance committee of CII. She is also an esteemed member of National Council on Insurance (ASSOCHAM), a committee member of FICCI, and a CharterMember of Exqualifi by AIWMI. She is an independent Director on the

VISHAKHA R M

board of NRB Bearings Private Limited. Shealso has been on the executive committee of Life Insurance Council.

Vishakha continues to guide and mentor the upcoming generation ofthinkers and leaders.

Some of her prestigious mentorship associations include International Insurance Society (IIS) Mentor

program,

WWB

Leadership

and

Diversity

for

Innovation

Program,

RGA

Leaders

for

Tomorrow and WILL Forum.

A

Chartered

Accountant

equipped

with

a

Post

Graduate

Vishakha is also a Fellow of the Insurance Institute of India.

Diploma

in

Computer

Systems,

In her 24th year in the industry and with WPP, Babita Baruah now leads GTB India as Managing Partner. She joined HTA ( Wunderman Thompson ) in Kolkata in 1996. Over the years, she took on roles in the agency’s Mumbai and Delhi offices, as well as working with the Wunderman Thompson Unilever team in Bangkok on Sunsilk and Lux. Her portfolio and experience extends across categories in FMCG, Finance, Technology. Besides being part of global agency teams on Nestle, Johnson and Johnson and Radiant & Knorr in Unilever.

She led the team on Nokia India, before moving on to setting up a dedicated integrated solutions team for PepsiCo, India, in 2016.

Babita is passionate about the intersection of consumer behaviour, culture and technology, leading to creative solutions that shift the needle for the brand and business. Collaboration with WPP and non WPP partners has been key to her business relationships. She believes in the power of influence of the communication industry towards a purposive future.

Babita Baruah

In 2004, Babita was one of the 12 Indian women to be selected for the prestigious British Chevening scholarship in the U.K, on Women and Leadership. In 2016, she was invited to Harvard Business School as a speaker on Trends in India Marketing, in the India Conference. In 2017, Babita was invited to speak on Women as Professionals, at the Women Influence Forum in Geneva.

Babita

is

driven

by

her

efforts

on

diversity,

mentoring

young

professionals,

engagement

with

management institutes, initiatives for making the workplace culture conducive to inspired talent and strong partnerships. She has initiated programmes like SheHour, with her team, to connect and empower women at work in her workplace.

She lives in Gurgaon with her husband, and her fifteen year old daughter, Joya.

Over 35 years in Consumer Behaviour and Brand Strategy. Recently retired as Senior VP and National

Special Invitees

Planning

Director,

J

Walter

Thompson,

India.

Currently

freelance

Strategy

and

Research Consultant.

Work spans cities across India, and categories ranging from talcum powder, deodorants and shampoos, through pesticides, sanitary ware and education to foods, beverages, telecom and cars. Clients include Ford, ITC, Unilever, Hero Motocorp and PepsiCo among many others.

Career Highlights: Created thinking frameworks, models and brainstorming tools in a variety of verticals: food and

beverage,

personal

products,

education,

technology,

automotive;

new

product

development, premiumisation, portfolio planning and digital strategy.

Created over 80 hours of training material.

Initiated and steered Coffee and Donuts with JWT Planning.

Published

Mythili Chandrasekar

over

75

articles

in

leading

Indian,

US

and

UK

media.

Repository

at

www.povfromindia.blogspot.com Created Brand Chakras ™ a first-of-its-kind proprietary toolkit.

Won the Patricia Mann Award for Women Marketers, UK, 2008, winning a bursary to the Executive Marketing Programme, in Stanford.

Co-authored "Voices Within"(with two leading South Indian musicians) a coffee table book on the maestroes of carnatic music.

Took short breaks from advertising to write for UNICEF and in dotcom

Specialties: cultural

and

Brand

strategy,

ethnography

integrated

research,

marketing

new

product

communication, development

knowledge curation, content creation, writing, teaching.

insight

and

mining,

portfolio

socio-

planning,

EDUCATION -PhD - Communication, Dept of Mass Media & Comm. Studies, University of Madras, 2007 -Research Methods, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata, 2004 -M.A. Communication, University of Madras – 1988

EXPERIENCE 2014 onwards: Founder – Director, Curious People (a C4D project) and free-lance advertising/ communication consultant 2001 onwards in Academia: Guest Faculty at CEG, Anna University, Dept of Science & Tech Communication, Madras University, WCC, Loyola, NIFT and MOP colleges. Subjects: branding, communication, advertising and creative strategy 1988-

2001

agencies

in

Advertising

industry:

Chennai,

Bangalore,

Worked Delhi,

in

the

creative

Coimbatore

&

departments Hyderabad

of

leading

across

advertising

leading

agencies

including Artig, Insight, Euro RSCG and Mudra Communications. Held leadership positions in the

Dr Lata Rajagopalan Kumar

creative depts.

Handled national accounts like Henkel, Cavin Care, TI Cycles, Kurlon, ICI, Wipro, Pricol, Nalli Silks, ITC,

Mysore

Silks,

Crocodile

and

HMT.

Won

awards

at

the

regional

and

national

levels

for

advertising creativity and brand communication.

PAPERS PUBLISHED Written and published papers in Communication, CSR & Marketing/Advertising for Development within India at national and international conferences.

OTHER INTERESTS Sports- Former ranked tennis player, represented Madras University and TN State. Won All India Inter University tournament & Bronze at the National Games. Keen interest in classical arts and reading.

CONNECT WITH US

Email Address mma@mmachennai.org

Phone Number 044 - 28291133 / 28291166

Website www.mmachennai.org

MADRAS MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

TEMPLE FOR KNOWLEDGE AND WI SDOM