Rajat Gupta is a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, India, and a founding member of McKinsey’s India office. With over 32 years of experience, he has led large-scale transformations across power, mining, metals, paper, oil, chemicals, and infrastructure, working closely with boards, CEOs, and top management teams. His expertise spans strategy, operations, sustainability, digital/AI, and organization building, and he leads McKinsey’s work with the Indian government and several top Indian conglomerates. He has founded and led multiple practices, including the Asia Sustainability Practice, Energy & Materials, Capital Projects, Operations, and Industrials.

‍

Rajat leads McKinsey’s social responsibility efforts as Chair of the Board of Generation, the world’s largest demand-driven skilling initiative, and is a member of the McKinsey Global Institute Advisory Council. A gold medalist from IIM Calcutta (1992) and BITS Pilani, he has contributed to McKinsey’s thought leadership, co-authoring reports on India’s decarbonisation pathways and the bestseller Reimagining India. He also serves on the boards of Childline India Foundation and the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP).

Rakesh Dosi is a distinguished leader at the intersection of digital transformation, financial services, and enterprise technology. With over two & half decades of experience across India’s technology landscape, Rakesh has consistently championed innovation and customer-centric growth.

‍

As Chief Business Officer at Protean eGov Technologies Ltd., he leads the company’s domestic business portfolio and spearheads its expansion into new sectors—leveraging next-generation technologies and platform-driven models to strengthen India’s digital public infrastructure. Rakesh’s leadership is defined by his ability to translate strategic foresight into actionable business outcomes.

‍

Prior to Protean, he served as Business Head at Sify Technologies, where he led the end-to-end transformation of the Network Services business, and as Business Head at Jio Enterprise, delivering sector-specific, tech-enabled solutions to clients in banking, capital markets, insurance, IT, and manufacturing. His career includes influential roles at Nxtra Data, Airtel, and Safescrypt, where he has driven innovation, scale, and resilience in complex business environments.

‍

A respected voice in enterprise strategy, Rakesh brings deep expertise in go-to-market execution, organizational transformation, and building future-ready teams. His academic credentials include Post Graduation from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research and SMP from IIM Calcutta.

Rakhshanda Jalil is a multi-award-winning translator, writer, and literary historian. She has published over 25 books and written over 50 academic papers and essays. Some of her books include: Liking Progress, Loving Change: A Literary History of the Progressive Writers Movement in Urdu; a biography of Urdu feminist writer Dr Rashid Jahan: A Rebel and her Cause; a translation of The Sea Lies Ahead, Intizar Husain’s seminal novel on Karachi, and Krishan Chandar’s Partition novel Ghaddar among others. She runs an organisation called Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularisation of Hindi-Urdu literature and culture.

Rashmi Arun Shami is a senior IAS officer of the 1994 batch, known for her leadership in governance, education, and rural development. Over her career, she has served in key administrative roles including Principal Secretary, School Education; Commissioner, Rajya Shiksha Kendra; and Collector in Dewas, Sehore, and Bhind.

‍

She is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Administration for the implementation of the Forest Rights Act.

An alumna of Loreto Convent and Lucknow University, she holds an M.A. in Medieval and Modern Indian History and a PG Diploma in Public Policy and Management from IIM Bangalore.

Rashmi is a keen reader, she has a deep interest in education, human resource management, and environmental issues.

‍

Reinu Shah is the founder of STEP, a leading incubator and accelerator in India supporting over 1,000 women-led startups. Her work empowers women entrepreneurs across India with her latest focus being women in climate action and rural women entrepreneurs. A Mason and John Galbraith Fellow from Harvard Kennedy School, Reinu has received multiple awards for her contributions to diversity and inclusion. Through STEP, she continues to shape India’s startup ecosystem and champion innovation in emerging markets.

Rekha Balakrishnan is a journalist and Editor at YourStory, with over 26 years of experience in storytelling that drives social impact. With a career spanning two geographies, she brings a unique cross-cultural perspective to her work, focusing on gender, equity, and social change.

‍

She leads HerStory and SocialStory—platforms that spotlight changemakers, entrepreneurs, and voices from the margins. Known for her empathetic and authentic approach, her work spans in-depth interviews, sharp editorial features, and meaningful on-ground engagement. 

‍

As a moderator and speaker, she creates spaces for thoughtful dialogue on leadership, equity, and purpose.

‍

A firm believer in the power of stories to shape culture and policy, she continues to champion narratives that matter—especially those that are often overlooked.

‍

As Partnerships Lead at The Udaiti Foundation, she builds high-impact collaborations across government, industry, and philanthropy to advance women’s economic empowerment and expand workforce participation nationwide. She drives strategic partnerships and multi-stakeholder engagement to scale Udaiti’s flagship platforms—the Close the Gender Gap (CGG) 30×30 Initiative and the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Index—positioning gender parity as a core driver of India’s $30-trillion Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.

‍

Rhea is also the Founder, Ecoware, India’s first sustainable packaging company, recognised for replacing single-use plastic with biodegradable alternatives. Her pioneering efforts have influenced both policy and consumer behaviour, positioning Ecoware as a leader in circular economy innovation.

‍

Her achievements include receiving the Nari Shakti Puraskar, India’s highest civilian honour for women, being named a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, an Asia 21 Young Leader of the Asia Society, and an Impact Hero 2021 of the Earth Company. She served as Chairperson of the Indian Women Network (Northern Region) and is a member of several national committees promoting clean air and gender inclusion.

‍

A graduate of the University of Bristol, Oxford, and Harvard University, Rhea’s career spans global pharmaceuticals, sustainable manufacturing, and social impact. Across all her roles, she continues to champion the intersection of sustainability, policy, and inclusion driving India’s transition toward a greener and more equitable future.

‍

Ridhima is a versatile business leader with experience across engineering, banking, product, and global technology. At Google Pay India, she leads multiple businesses, driving strategic partnerships and new product initiatives, taking ideas from concept to scale. Her career spans roles at Indifi Technologies, YES Bank and Infosys; blending entrepreneurial grit with financial rigor, strategic product vision, and engineering logic. An alumna of IIM Mumbai and NIT Nagpur, she is passionate about inclusive leadership and purpose-led growth.

‍