Page 28 - The Indian EYE 031524

NORTH AMERICAN Newsline MARCH 15, 2024 | The Indian Eye 28

Five Indian-American Women figure in

the CNBC Changemakers list

OUR BUREAU have really implemented in the way
that I work across the business,”
New York, NY
said Aradhana Sarin, Executive di-
ccording to the CNBC re- rector & Global Chief Financial
port, women in leadership Officer, Astrazeneca. Sarin took on
Aare reaching a level of suc- the CFO role in 2022, joining from
cess that is not only exceptional but biopharma Alexion, and worked
highlights novel approaches to old on Wall Street in investment bank-
business problems and identification ing for two decades before moving
of new market opportunities. Wom- into the pharmaceutical industry.
en Transforming Business list this She trained as a medical doctor and
year includes five Indian-American treated patients in Tanzania and In-
women - Revathi Advaithi, Sandhya dia earlier in her career, and has an
Ganapathy, Dr Geetha Murali, Ritu MBA from Stanford.
Narayan, and Aradhana Sarin. The report further mentions
The report says that the wom- that there is still a distinct need for
en named to the inaugural CNBC more coverage of innovative women
Changemakers list are creating a leaders, and more support from the
pattern of what it takes to defy the capital markets. Women leaders are
odds, innovate and thrive in a vola- “True success is a function of the has transformed my outlook and way still rare — they’re less than 10%
tile business landscape. From startup legacy you build,” said Dr. Geetha of working. One is ‘think of not just of S&P 500 CEOs, while women
founders to S&P 500 C-suite growth Murali, the chief executive officer the finance function, but the entire founders draw about 2% of venture
drivers, from personalities shaking (CEO) of Room to Read, a lead- company as your team,’ and that I capital dollars.
up the media industry to figures tak- ing international education organi-
ing women’s sports further into the zation that believes World Change
mainstream, the 2024 Changemakers starts with educated children. Room
have broken new ground and set the to Read transforms the lives of mil-
stage for others to follow. lions of children through education,
“I learned to be adaptable, de- creating a world free from illitera-
veloped a thick skin and embrace sit- cy and gender inequality. As CEO,
uations where I felt out of my league, Geetha has been a driving force
” said Revathi Advaithi who is an behind the exponential scale of
Indian-born American business ex- Room to Read’s quality programs –
ecutive. She is the CEO of Flex and achieving presence in 23 countries
an advocate for women in STEM and benefiting more than 39 million
and in the workplace. Prior to join- children to date.
ing Flex in 2019, Advaithi worked in Ritu Narayan struggled with
various leadership positions at Eaton managing her career while making
and Honeywell. Advaithi has helped sure her kids could get from point
build the company into one of the A to point B. So, she started Zūm, a
most trusted manufacturing partners transportation company that focuses
across a variety of industries. She on students while using technology
was also named by US President Joe to create more efficient and envi-
Biden to the advisory committee for ronment friendly routes. Zūm raised
trade policy and negotiations. $140 million in series E financing in
“Seize every opportunity and do early 2024, putting the company’s
not look back,” said Sandhya Gana- valuation at $1.3 billion. The com-
pathy who is the Chief Executive pany currently serves thousands of
Officer for EDP Renewables North schools, including school districts in
America (EDPR NA) and a member Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seat-
of the Management Team of EDP tle. Artificial intelligence has helped
Renewables (EDPR), the fourth the company optimize drive times,
largest renewable energy producer leading kids to spend less time on the
in the world. Sandhya has extensive bus. “Most decisions are reversible.
experience in renewable energy eval- The real skill is knowing which ones
uations as well as leading acquisi- aren’t,” she said.
tions and evaluation of investments “I have received some very valu-
enabling geographical and asset class able pieces of advice from mentors
diversification. along the way and adopting those

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