Women still have to prove themselves at every career juncture — and the boardroom is no exception. This panel brings together senior women leaders from finance, social enterprise, and research to examine gender participation in India and globally, through both personal experience and structural analysis.
The conversation covers the full arc of gender disadvantage: girls who dropped out post-COVID and never returned to school, first-generation tribal women trying to enter the workforce, and senior executives navigating the quiet but persistent calculus of “will she take a break for children.” Panellists draw on work across Educate Girls, women’s entrepreneurship, and South Asian e-commerce to trace how economic participation interacts with entrenched social assumptions.
A recurring theme is that the fight for equality cannot be fought by women alone — it requires fathers, husbands, and sons who believe in it. The panel also interrogates how Western feminist frameworks don’t always map onto Indian realities, and argues that India’s own mythological tradition actually positions gender roles far more equitably than modern institutions do. Personal stories, from IIM women’s networks to a cancer researcher becoming the face of Sloan Kettering, ground the discussion in lived reality.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Ganesh Natarajan
Chairman of 5F World and several leading companies, Dr. Ganesh Natarajan is a distinguished industry leader, former CEO of APTECH and Zensar, author of 13 books, and a member of NASSCOM and AIMA councils.
Eika Chaturvedi Banerjee
Founder of Eikam Resonance, Eika explores ancient wisdom to solve modern challenges. A former CEO of Future Learning, she is also an author and advocate for purpose-driven leadership.
Kiran Manral
Kiran Manral is an award-winning author of 17 books across genres, columnist, podcaster, and TEDx speaker, recognized among India’s leading contemporary voices in literature and media.
Sunita Wazir
An HR and leadership expert with 29 years of experience, Sunita Wazir leads Global Health & Wellbeing transformation at Unilever, focusing on mental health, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Roma Balwani
Co-founder of RB Foundation, Roma Balwani is an Independent Director and former CEO of the Indian Deaf Cricket Association, committed to mentoring, ethical leadership, and inclusive growth.
