Category: Most Influential Women

After a fruitful period of clinical practice which involved lots of travel and exposure to various lifestyles in the urban, rural and tribal parts of India, she realised that there was more need for preventive medicine than curative medicine. Dr Renuka also practiced as a frontier doctor in the paramilitary force and gave medical treatment to soldiers and war-affected women and children.

Learning from Diverse Life Experiences

Being the daughter of an Air force veteran gave Dr Renuka David chances to attend several schools as her father had to shift to different places across the country. She completed her high school from the prestigious PSG Krishnammal School in Coimbatore and pursued MBBS from Coimbatore Medical College in 1990.

Apart from academics, she also aced in extracurricular activities like basketball, Bharathanatyam, and dramatics. She is fluent in many languages namely English, Tamil, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi, Malayalam and Gujarati. Travelling to diverse places helped enrich her rich experience, expand her knowledge of various skills, and gave her a chance to impart her knowledge to several people.

After finishing her degree, she got married to Colonel David Devasahayam (an army personnel turned entrepreneur) and effectively balanced her personal and professional life. A personal experience of losing 22 kgs of weight by following a healthy lifestyle propelled her into the world of wellness in the early 2000s.

Building the Empire

Radiant Medical Services was founded in the year 2006 at Chennai by Dr Renuka David. It is a sub vertical of the Radiant Group of Companies. Radiant Medical Services comprises of four sub verticals:
1. The Radiant Home Health Services
2. The Radiant Wellness Conclave
3. The Radiant Wellness Forum
4. The Radiant Medi-Fitness Lounge

Empowering Others

Over the years, Dr. Renuka David has become a sought after motivational speaker by students and professionals across diverse backgrounds. She has addressed various forums, organizations and institutions to propagate and address the various lifestyle issues faced by people from all walks of life.

In August 2014, she was awarded “The Jaguar woman achiever award” in the field of Wellness. On the 10th of December 2016, which is the “International Human Rights Day,” Dr. Renuka David was awarded with the title of “India’s Most Exceptional Speaker Award 2016” for Health & Wellness.

Dr. Renuka also Hosts an inspirational talk show in Good News Television and on her YOUTUBE Channel showcasing stories of extraordinarily courageous individuals who have risen to become role-models in their communities. Her guests include inspiring people from all walks of life bringing their amazing stories. She inspires, motivates and addresses preventive health care and advocates healthy lifestyle.

Her love for her family had kept her grounded and focused. But do you know that now Mrs Ambani, Nita Ambani had
quite a modest beginning and hailed from a middle-class family in surburban Mumbai.

THE GENESIS

Nita Ambani has an undergraduate degree in Commerce from Narsee Monjee (NM) College of Commerce and Economics and had taken up a job as a school teacher when she crossed paths with Ambani family. And she loved her job. Having trained in Bharatnatyam for several years, Nita often travelled around the country for performance. And during one such, late Mr Dhirubhai Ambani noticed her and wanted his older son Mukesh to marry her. She might have thought that this would be what she would do her whole life. But fate had other plans for her. Nite met Mukesh and love blossomed. Mukesh popped the question and Nita said yes. But there was one condition.

Well, during that course of time, Nita was also used to work as a school teacher and wanted to continue her profession even after marriage. This condition was agreed upon and soon the two got married. This led to the weird
situation of a millionaire working in an ordinary school.

Meanwhile, during an interview, Nita Ambani shared a personal experience that occurred in the school. During the
1987 World Cup, one of her students’ parent had offered her two tickets to the stadium. Nita, however, refused and
was later seen seated in the VIP stand during the match. Reliance Group was in-fact one of the sponsors of the
series. It was only then did the family realise who Nita was.

Nita, however, left her job after a few years and started taking an active part in Reliance Group. Interestingly, in a recent interview, Mukesh Ambani also expressed an interest in being a teacher in the future. “With my wife
being a teacher, she is now saying that it is high time that you teach. Both of us will be involved in the education in the coming years, that is something that we want to do more for our own satisfaction than anything else,” stated Mukesh.

WEDLOCK OF DESTINY

Nita Dalal Mukesh Ambani (born 1 November 1963) is the chairperson and founder of the Reliance Foundation and a
non-executive director of Reliance Industries. With a family fortune estimated in excess of $40 billion, she is among the richest in India. She is married to Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani. She
is also an art collector and owner of the Mumbai Indians cricket team. Nita is the founder and chairperson of
Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai.

She was listed in 2016 in ‘the fifty high and mighty Indians’ list by India Today. and in ‘the most influential
women business leaders in Asia’ list by Forbes. She was also the first Indian woman to become a member of the
International Olympic Committee (IOC). Nita Ambani (née Dalal) was born on November 1, 1963 in a middle-class Gujarati family in Mumbai to Ravindrabhai Dalal and Purnima Dalal. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics. She studied Bharata Natyam, and performed frequently.

Ambani started out as the founder and chairperson of Reliance Foundation, the CSR arm of Reliance Industries. She is also the owner of Mumbai Indians. and in 2014 she was elected to the board of Reliance Industries. In 1997, Nita Ambani was involved in the project of building a company township for the employees of Reliance’s mega-refinery at Jamnagar. The project involved setting up a well-planned, tree-lined and an environment friendly colony that would house more than 17000 residents. Today, the Jamnagar complex has one of the largest orchards with nearly 100,000 mango trees that is also home to a variety of birds.

Reliance Foundation is an Indian philanthropic initiative founded in 2010 by Nita Ambani. Reliance Industries is a
patron of the organization. Ambani is also the co-owner of Indian Premier League (IPL) team, Mumbai Indians. She led the ‘Education for All’ (EFA) initiative as part of Mumbai Indians’ way of giving back to society. EFA has reached over 70,000 underprivileged children and created awareness for education using various media and digital platforms.

Mrs Ambani is the Founder & Chairperson of the Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai. DAIS has been ranked as one of India’s best schools by some publications.

On 3 June 2016, Ambani was among eight candidates nominated for membership in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by the Swiss-based panel. The election of these new members was held during the 129th IOC Session in the first week of August 2016. Ambani was elected as a member of the IOC on 4 August 2016, its first Indian woman member.

THE PAST

Nita is the daughter of Ravindrabhai Dalal and Purnima Dalal. She has a sister, Mamta Dalal, who works as a school
teacher. Ambani grew up in a middle-class environment in suburban Mumbai. She is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer. She met Mukesh Ambani when she was a school teacher and got married to him in 1985. After marriage, she worked as a teacher for a few years.

They have two sons and a daughter. Akash and Isha Ambani are the elder children and Anant Ambani is younger. Akash Ambani, who graduated in economics from Brown University, is now chief of strategy at Reliance Jio Infocomm. Isha Ambani, a graduate in psychology from Yale University, is now a director at Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance Retail.

For her initiatives on grassroot sports, Ambani received the ‘Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Award 2017’ from the President of India. She received the award on behalf of Reliance Foundation as its chairperson. She is the recipient of the award for Best Corporate Supporter of Indian Sports, given by the Times of India. Nita Ambani, wife of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, on Wednesday became the first woman to be appointed on the board of India’s largest private firm. The appointment helps RIL meet a new law requiring listed companies to have at least one woman in the boardroom to boost gender diversity.

Nita, 50, took the place of Mukesh’s uncle Ramniklal H Ambani, who retired from the board at the age of 90.
The RIL board, headed by Mukesh Ambani, 57, currently has his cousins Nikhil R Meswani and Hital R Meswani. Ramniklal H Ambani, who is the elder brother of Dhirubhai H Ambani, the late founder chairman of the company and father of Mukesh, was the other director from the promoter family. P M S Prasad and P K Kapil are the only non-family executive directors on the company board.

“Nita has been engaged in several initiatives that have strengthened Reliance, right from building the world-class township and the ecological development at Jamnagar, next-generation office campuses, designing customer touch points of Reliance Retail, healthcare initiatives, successfully setting up and running institutions such as Dhirubhai Ambani International School and Mumbai Indians to, most importantly, managing Reliance Foundation,” Mukesh Ambani said on the appointment.

Nita Ambani is a board member of Reliance Industries and East India Hotels, and leads the cricket team, Mumbai Indians, in the Indian Premier League. She is also the Founder and Chairperson of Dhirubhai Ambani International School, one of India’s best international schools. In 2015, Nita Ambani founded an organization called Football Sports Development Limited, which focuses on developing sports in India through grassroots programs.

Her journey is an inspirational saga that reminds the patriarchal world of the potential a woman entrepreneur has in her actions. Today, this 80-year-old billionaire has proved what a woman can do when she breaks the monotonous cycle of the stereotypical roles assigned to her by the society. Reaching ahead with a determined mind, she now focuses on creating more Indu Jains for establishing equilibrium in the society.

Ms. Jain’s enigmatic strength and astonishing achievements have certainly made an impact on the way people see women’s status in society. This epitome of women power graciously manages Times Group which is one of the largest media names in the country.

It is the result of her matchless determination that the Times Group has become one of the largest media moguls of the nation. The media publishing house of the Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd—owned by the Times Group—produces huge brand names in newspapers and magazines like the Times of India, The Economic Times, Femina, Times FM and the Filmfare. It also has a number of TV channels and radio stations to its credit like Zoom, Times Now, ET Now and Radio Mirchi.

Philosophies of Spirituality

Reflecting her spiritual philosophy in her own words, she once said, “In life whatever step I take, every step is for nothing but giving people the touch of spirituality.” This is what she aims to do through her initiatives.

Her spiritual heart also beats with the philosophies of peace and integrity. The Oneness Forum, formally launched by the President of India in 2003, also works under the leadership of Ms. Jain. In the year 2000, she addressed the United Nations at Millennium World Peace Summit. Spreading the message of Peace Within First, Ms. Jain spearheads a movement to spread the principles of peace across the world.

A passionate lover of art, she writes spiritual columns for Times Foundation. Ms. Jain is the sponsor of literature & culture and Founder President of the Ladies Wing of FICCI. She also works as chairperson of the Bharatiya Jnanpith Trust, which is India’s highest literary award giver.

Generosity Personified

Ms. Jain’s life reflects her passion, her zeal to reach for perfection and her dedicated soul. A role model for many women, she is one of the leading figures that actively support women empowerment and entrepreneurship. She motivates budding entrepreneurs & believes in their abilities to make way for themselves in the world.

Her versatility reflects through the initiatives she takes to bring positive transformations in the society. The philanthropic organization, Times Foundation, was the result of her sheer dedication towards the society’s welfare, running community services, research groups and relief funds for various disaster reliefs such as floods, cyclones, earthquakes and epidemics.

While her foundation has received numerous accolades on national & international platforms, Ms. Jain has also been felicitated with many prestigious awards. She has been awarded the International Life Time Achievement Award by the ICW. She was honored with the Padma Bhushan by the Indian govt. in 2016.

SUPREME INNOVATOR

Blame it on her lineage that she has the inborn instinct to introduce innovations, and assimilate her own style to run a business. Nisaba Godrej, a Wharton, and Harvard Business School alumni, has taken some of the most unconventional paths to bring about change in the company she heads. Younger daughter of Adi Godrej, she is the Executive Director of Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) and is a board member of GCPL, Godrej Agrovet and Teach for India. Nisaba has taken some tough decisions along the way that includes changing the senior leadership, taking new portfolio decisions and strategising global expansion of GCPL.

Through her commitment, she has changed the face of Godrej Agrovet, which has become one of the largest and most profitable arms of the Group. Godrej has effectively steered the boat and has positioned her company as an entity that embraces change with time. Moreover, she has dexterously amalgamated the modern techniques with the traditional ethos of Godrej – trust and integrity.
The company has come up with many products in the past in the category of hair colour, insecticides, and home and car fragrances. Under Nisaba’s leadership, Godrej has become synonymous with innovation!

AUTHORING FAME

Reem Al Hashimi shatters the entire preconceived notion about women in the Arab world. She is smart, meticulous and glides through her responsibilities with much ease. She is an Emirati Minister of State; Chairperson, Dubai Cares (a children’s education charity established by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2007); Chairperson, Emirates Competitiveness Council; and Chairperson, National Bureau of Statistics.

As a Managing Director of the Dubai World Expo 2020 Bid Committee, Hashimi was also the public face of the UAE’s successful Expo 2020 bid that helped UAE secure a global event. Hashimi’s speech during the UAE’s final presentation in Paris, which she delivered in both French and English, won her many applauds.

A Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and French from Tufts University, Al Hashimi pursued her Master’s from Harvard University before starting her first job as Commercial Attaché, and then as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the UAE in Washington, DC. There she was very much involved in the issues like security, trade, economic and social concerns, in regards to US-UAE relationship.

Dubai Cares is dedicated to primary education and she is working hard to improve the state of education and reach out to the children who have no access to primary education.
With several responsibilities, the lady consistently polishes her skills and is making a difference in the Arab society. She considers education a valuable tool to eradicate poverty. In her free time, Hashimi enjoys working out and spending quality time with her family.

ON A FIRM GROUND

If we go by an old saying “age equals wisdom”, this young woman has proved it wrong. Beating the odds of coming from a non-medical background, Zahabiya Khorakiwala stands tall as the MD of the Wockhardt hospitals across Mumbai.

At the time when family legacies were ideally passed on to the male heirs, Habil Khorakiwala bestowed the responsibility of the closely guarded hospital business on his daughter Zahabiya. Graduating from the New York University, aged 27 years, and learning about the pharmaceutical business despite having psychology as her major in graduation, she has always been ahead of the curve, and is intent on pushing on her father’s dream of a state-of-the-art hospital environment.

At such a young age she is no less than any strong-headed business woman who knows how to strike a personal chord with each patient. She understands hospitals as a delicate business invoking the moral consciousness of a service provider. This self-dependent woman has no role models and believes in surpassing her own self daily.

Zahabiya manages nine hospitals across Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. She is currently a salaried employee of the organization but soon aims to lead from the front.

PURELY GENIUS

You can learn a thing or two on becoming a roaring success from Lucy Peng! One of the founders of the Chinese e-Commerce business cluster, the Alibaba Group, Peng is ambitious and dogged, and her intelligence makes her one of the remarkable businesswomen of her generation. She knows the magic of thinking big, and has made the Alibaba Group one of the fastest expanding stand-alone e-commerce company. Peng’s stellar performance has been well received by the people across the world.

Though Lucy Peng started her career as a teacher, destiny made her choose something else. After earning a degree in Business Administration from Hangzhou Institute of Commerce, Zhejiang Gongshang University, she taught Economics for a brief period of time, but with the Internet making inroads into China, she was attracted to Alibaba and joined it as one of the founding members.
Under Peng’s guidance, her company is charting new territories, and with her innovative ideas and new initiatives she has sent the Alibaba’s cash register ringing!

WEALTH WITH RESPONSIBILITY

After having played an instrumental role in the real estate industry in California, Pollyanna Chu and husband Nicholas returned home to Hong Kong to form Kingston Securities. Not only is Chu responsible in laying the financial rules of investment in the company, but she is also an integral part of stock business to increase the investment chances for customers.

The investment-banking segment picked up in 1999 and Kingston Securities’ business began to move to areas such as the newly listed securities and the merger of the listed companies. Progressing from scratch, her company has now grown into a multi-business corporation.

Chu follows her father’s belief in diligence, modesty and thriftiness, and puts ample emphasis on modesty. She shoulders many social positions, thus is a strong believer in delegation, and makes sure that she ears every single escalation.

It does not stop here; she is a jewellery and watch collector and has bought 75% of stake in Sincere Watch, a distributor of Frank Muller watches in China. Pollyanna Chu never forgets to repay the society and consistently works for the benefit of the humankind in the education sector.

IN HER FATHER’S SHOES

First media and then business, Roshni Nadar Malhotra has been a good player of both the worlds. Though, leaving a full-fledged media job was not easy for Roshni, yet she decided to take her father’s advice to take over the reins of her family business, the HCL Corporation. Being the only child of Shiv Nadar, it was indeed important that she gave her family business the most needed attention. And she did not disappoint.

She has brought with herself a global outlook, premeditated vision and a passion for social enterprise. The ropes of business which she learnt from her father helped her build HCL Group as an institution that relies on the values of trust and commitment to a social cause.
As a CEO and Executive Director of the HCL Corporation, she is accountable for strategic decisions that would propel the corporation into a good direction in key areas like governance, investments, portfolio management and diversification. She is also a Director on the Board of one of the group companies, HCL Technologies, and also a Trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation. She has also been involved in a joint initiative with the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation to promote the education of the Dalit and Muslim girl child in the rural belt of UP.