Our speakers

Meena Ganesh, Co-Founder, MD & CEO, Portea Medical & Partner - GrowthStory

Meena is one of India’s foremost business leaders and most successful entrepreneurs with nearly three decades of experience in industries including healthcare, consulting, technology, outsourcing, education and e-commerce.As the MD & CEO, Meena heads Portea Medical, India’s largest and fastest growing home healthcare company, which she co-founded in July 2013.

Till February 2013, Meena was a promoter and board member of TutorVista, and CEO and MD of Pearson Education Services.As a partner of the platform, Growthstory.in, she is also co-promoter of nearly a dozen, new-age Internet / Technology enabled start-ups. A few of them that are leaders in their category include Bigbasket.com - India’s premier e-grocery retailer, home solutions company - HomeLane, Food Tech company - FreshMenu, and Bluestone.com – India’s leading online jeweler.

Meena has also co-founded Customer Asset, one of India’s pioneering BPO companies which she sold to ICICI OneSource. She also had a five year stint with Microsoft India‚ during which she set up multiple business units including Microsoft Consulting‚ Internet and Application Development/Business services units. During the initial 11 years of her career, Meena was with PricewaterhouseCoopers and with NIIT.

Meena is a PGDM holder from IIM Calcutta has a graduate degree in Physics from the Madras University.In 2015, Meena was among the 7-member jury for the inaugural Economic Times Startup Awards and in November of the same year, was selected by Fortune India as one of the 50 'Most Powerful Women in Business.'

Meena serves as a member of the CII-Innovation & Entrepreneurship Council.

@meenaganesh

Meena Ganesh, CEO, Manipal K 12

Meena Ganesh is the CEO of Manipal K-12 Education, which is a joint venture between TutorVista.com and Manipal Education and Medical Group. TutorVista through its global business provides Supplemental education services for international markets using its proprietary technology platform and the services of teachers from India. The solutions offered by Manipal K-12 Education include ICT based solutions to enhance the teaching learning process in the domestic education sector in India. These solutions come from the 10 year old group company Edurite Technologies. Under her leadership, Manipal K-12 Education has entered into the space of school management and supplementary education.

Prior to this, Meena was the CEO of Tescos operations in India, the Tesco Hindustan Service Center. The Tesco HSC is the core IT and back office support organization for the entire global operations of the business.

Before coming on board Tesco Meena co-founded one of India's pioneering BPO companies; CustomerAsset which she sold to ICICI OneSource. She was the Chief Operations Officer of CustomerAsset and helped build the organization to nearly 4000 people servicing large corporate customers in UK and US markets.

During her five-year association with Microsoft India, she set up multiple business units for them including Microsoft Consulting Internet and Application Development/Business services units. She was with PricewaterhouseCoopers and with NIIT during the initial 11 years of her career.

This PGDM holder from IIM Calcutta has a graduate degree in Physics from the Madras University.

Meenakshi Vajpai, CIO, Vodafone

Ms Meenakshi Vajpai has more than 25 years of experience in IT strategy, architecture, core telecom and enterprise IT operations.  She has envisioned and led various organisations from diverse sectors in their efforts of organizational transformation through the use of technology spanning internal functions, customer experience as well as innovation for revenue.

She has held a number of senior management positions across industries wherein she has driven strategy and execution of new business initiatives. Her initiatives have won her several awards, including CIO 100, Digital transformation Icon and at international forums.

At Vodafone Idea, Meenakshi leads IT strategy and policies across all businesses and partners.

Meera Chopra, VP & Global Head of Advertising Sales, Vuclip

Based in Delhi, Meera runs Vuclip’s global ad business. Specifically, she develops strategic account plans for the partners with eye toward identifying creative, revenue?generating initiatives. As part of the Vuclip management team, she also works across internal cross-functional teams to develop and execute programs to increase the accessibility, relevance and preference of Vuclip.

Prior to joining Vuclip, Meera was the National Sales Head with Times Internet Ltd. She has more than a decade of experience in business development and corporate sales having worked with leading media houses such as Networkplay and Komli Media.

Meera Sanyal, Member, AAP

Former CEO & Chairperson of RBS India, Meera is a Senior Executive who is a Non- executive Board director of Financial services firms, NGO’s and Educational Institutions. She was invited by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to join her International Council on Women’s Business Leadership (ICWBL), is a member of the Global Board Ready Women’s group (GBRW) and of the National Executive Committees of FICCI and CII. She is also a Board member of Pradan,  AIESEC India, Jaihind College and LiberalsIndia for Good Governance – the Indian Liberal Group. Meera has been a banker for over 29 years, with a wide array of experience ranging from Investment Banking to Operations & IT. She has a keen interest in Public Policy &Governance, Financial Inclusion and Women’s Empowerment and a deep understanding of the economic, social and political situation in India. She has recently stepped down as CEO of RBS India to devote herself to social, economic and political causes that she is deeply passionate about.

Meera Shankar, Former Ambassador to the United States of America, GOI

Ms. Meera Shankar has had a distinguished career in the Indian Foreign Service which she joined in 1973. Ms. Shankar was India’s first woman Ambassador to Germany from 2005 to 2009. From 2009 to 2011, she served as India’s second woman Ambassador to the USA; the first one being Vijay Laxmi Pandit. As Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, Ms. Shankar headed the Division dealing with International Organisations and Security issues.  She has long experience of dealing with India’s neighbours, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and SAARC in the Ministry of External Affairs and of economic diplomacy as Minister (Commerce) in the Indian Embassy in Washington in the nineties in the early days of Economic Reforms . As Director, Ms. Shankar worked in the Prime Minister’s office for six years under four Prime Ministers. She has also headed the Indian Council of Cultural Relations as its Director General. Ms. Meera Shankar now serves on the Boards of several Companies as an Independent Director and on the Governing Body of a not for profit think tank.

Megha Aggarwal, Founder and CEO, Leap Skills Academy

Megha is a skill development specialist and has been associated with several international and domestic organizations like the University of Pennsylvania, Asian Development Bank, the Planning Commission, the Azim Premji Foundation and the Wadhwani Foundation. An ex-investment banker who worked in London and New York for several years, she was a Chevening Scholar at the London School of Economics and is an alumnus of the University of Oxford and St Stephen's College.

Michael Andrade, Head Agri Finance, HDFC Bank

MICHAEL ANDRADE is the Business Head for Agriculture at HDFC Bank, one of India's leading banks which is rapidly expanding into rural area's. At HFDC since 1997 and experience with two multinational banks before that, he has over 25 years in the banking sector. His work has seen him involved in banking in rural markets since 2001 as well as managing and developing businesses in the area of co-operatives, warehouse receipts, farm lending and rural payments systems supporting agri-supply chains. He holds a Bachelors of Science and an MBA from Mumbai University.

Michael Fernandes, Partner, Leapfrog Investments

With 20 years of experience in operations, consulting and investing, Michael co-leads LeapFrog’s work in South and Southeast Asia.

Michael has led several of LeapFrog’s landmark investments, including Northern Arc Capital (formerly IFMR Capital) in India and Reliance in Indonesia.

The former Country Head for India for Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia’s sovereign fund, Michael led the global healthcare team, also focusing on financial services and infrastructure. Michael was responsible for over $700 million of investments in India, including Yes Bank, L&T Finance and Uniquest; and served on the boards of IDFC,and Apollo Hospitals. He managed the Khazanah healthcare portfolio, ranging from hospitals to health insurance providers, that was consolidated under IHH Healthcare and listed in Singapore for a $7 billion valuation.

Previously, Michael led the $250 million global custom manufacturing business for the Piramal Healthcare Group, focusing on global acquisitions, business development, supply chain management and talent.

Michael was a partner and spent 12 years with McKinsey & Co, where he focused on healthcare and consumer sectors across South and Southeast Asia, and also worked out of the firm’s offices in the UK, Singapore, Israel and South Africa.

Michael Holland, CEO-Commercial Real Estate, Embassy Office Parks

Mike Holland is Chief Executive Officer of Embassy Office Parks, India’s first and only listed REIT, sponsored by Embassy Group and Blackstone. Embassy REIT listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange in April 2019. At April 2020, the business had a market capitalisation in excess of US$3bn.

Embassy REIT is Asia’s largest office REIT by area, comprising over 33 million square feet of business parks and city center offices across Bangalore, Mumbai, Noida and Pune. Home to over 160 international corporate occupiers and over 200,000 people, tenants in the portfolio include Google, Microsoft and IBM from the technology sector, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan and SwissRe from the banking and financial services sector and Rolls Royce, Mercedes Benz and VW from the aerospace and automotive sector.

Mike has worked in Asia since 1995 and has lived in India for close to two decades. He currently resides in Bangalore. He is also a board member of a number of charitable organizations with a focus on disability and education.