jury 2021

Bharatendu is a multiple award-winning Communication specialist and former journalist. He is currently the Head of Corporate Communication and a part of the Leadership Team at Hero MotoCorp – the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, with a worldwide footprint spanning across more than 40 countries in Asia, Africa, Middle East and South & Central America.
Over the past 16 years, Bharatendu has driven the strategic communication mandate at the New Delhi-headquartered Hero MotoCorp, navigating through some of the most eventful and challenging years in the two-wheeler industry.
Prior to joining Hero in 2005, Bharatendu was a leading member of the Corporate Communication team at PepsiCo India, based out of the Company’s headquarters in Gurgaon between October 1999 and March 2005. Bharatendu has been honoured time and again with the best communication professional in the automobile sector by various publications and Awards including Fulcrum.

Chris Samuel leads global communications for the US Soybean Export Council. Chris has 20+ years of experience in global communications, public affairs and sustainability, having served Bayer, Monsanto, P&G, J&J, Wella, Siemens, the Institute on Science for Global Policy, and Madison PR.
Prior to US Soy, Chris consulted for the UN Food Systems Summit, The Nature Conservancy, and USA Dry Peas & Lentils Council. Earlier, he led Global Corporate Preparedness and Engagement at Bayer (formerly Monsanto) based in St. Louis, USA; and was Head of Corporate Affairs for Asia-Pacific based in Singapore, following roles in Monsanto India, and growing from trainee to General Manager at Madison PR India.
Chris has been a speaker at PRovoke’s global PR summit and jury member for Asia-Pacific PR awards. Chris is also a Board Trustee at STAGES St. Louis, Co-founder of Thespo (India’s #1 youth theatre festival), and QTP Entertainment. Chris holds executive development certifications on people leadership, sustainability, and change management. Chris is based in St. Louis, USA, having previously lived in Singapore, India, and Tanzania.

Deep Ghatak is a Communications Leader and Change & Engagement pioneer with over two decades of leadership experience, including international assignments. Presently, he leads the Corporate Communications function at BNY Mellon, India.
Deep started out as a mass communicator and journalist, went on to become a PR professional and eventually completed B-school to better understand how organizational communications can impact business imperatives. He was part of the team that developed the world’s first independent standard for change management in 2013. He believes that it is possible to influence outcomes by understanding the drivers of how stakeholders think and behave. Deep is a published author, blogger and lecturer on globalization and cross-cultural integration.

Gayathri Sharma is a communications specialist with 20+ years of experience in corporate and brand storytelling, leadership profiling, crisis communications, content and digital media. She is currently the Head of Communications at Rolls-Royce India.

She has worked in leadership roles across both, corporates and PR firms, leading reputation management for brands across several sectors. Some of the companies and brands she has worked with in her career journey include PepsiCo, Samsung, Hero MotoCorp, American Express, Boeing, Coca-Cola, IKEA, Domino’s, to name a few.

Harleen is a trained communications professional with over 19 years of experience spanning across commercial diplomacy, consulting world, and tech space. At Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), she leads the overall integrated communications strategy to support HPE’s business goals and reputation in India.
Prior to that Harleen led marketing and communications for Grant Thornton and spent almost a decade at the British High Commission where she led communications for UK Trade & Investment (Department for International Trade).
Harleen was recognised under the 40 under 40 PR and Communication Leaders award by a leading publication in 2019. An avid reader, Harleen believes that change is the only constant in life.

Hitesh has over 17 years of experience in technology journalism with leading names like CyberMedia and The Economic Times, although his bylines can also be seen across various other publications and TV channels. He switched roles and joined Swedish company Truecaller for Corporate Communications in September 2019. Truecaller is the world’s leading telephone search engine and caller ID service with over 270 million active users globally.
Hitesh is also part of the Reputation Today 40 Young Turks (class of 2020). After a recent elevation within the company, Hitesh now has the mandate for global communications at Truecaller.

Ira is a communications leader with extensive experience in Internal Communications, Employer Branding, PR, Social Media and Leadership Communications. In a career spanning over 16 years in various sectors such as Healthcare, Consumer Electronics, IT, Retail and Automotive leading communications at Philips, Wipro, Tesco and Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India, Ira currently heads Internal Communications globally for Freshworks Inc. and also leads DE&I for the India region.
As a communications expert, she has championed and led various programmes on Employee Value Proposition, Media Relations, CSR and is a Corporate social media expert. In addition, she has partnered with several sustainable business practices, diversity and inclusion programmes.
She hails from a small but beautiful state of Sikkim and is a founder member of Global Women in PR (GWPR) India chapter and mentors young women in PR and other areas. She was recently featured in PRovoke Rising Stars global listing and is among the Reputation Today 40 Young Turks, 2020.

K.M. Prashanth, Additional General Manager, NTPC is known as a very impactful professional in the field of Corporate Communications and Public Relations, as he has spent more than 30 years in NTPC Limited after joining in 1988 as an Engineer. Prashanth has successfully handled various prominent activities in NTPC such as IPO and FPO. He was also responsible for maintaining an effective and transparent communication bridge with national and international media.
He has also contributed to the growth of the corporate communication profession by taking leadership positions in various professional bodies like PRSI, DMA and DAC.
A keen quizzer and quizmaster, Prashanth is presently Head of HR at Vallur Power Station near Chennai.

Latika Taneja is Director, Public Policy & Government Affairs – South Asia for Mastercard.

She has over 18 years of work experience in corporate & marketing communications and public affairs functions. In her current role, she is leading external communications efforts for Mastercard in South Asia for almost three years.

Well versed with public affairs, media relations, leadership & internal communication and sales & marketing initiatives, Latika has been directly responsible in driving campaigns and narrative for the organization to the external stakeholders.

Prior to Mastercard, she was with DuPont for six years in the company’s public affairs function for the South Asia region. She has worked for leading communication firms and large multinational companies and has actively contributed to the defining and building of well-known brands & managing corporate reputation.

Latika has a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University, a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Relations and Marketing from YMCA, New Delhi and a PGDBM from Symbiosis Institute of Management, Pune.

At Sequoia, Payal is responsible for helping the firm and its founders find the most compelling ways of sharing brand, product and community stories across mediums. Payal is part of the founding team of Surge, Sequoia India’s rapid-scale up programme for early stage companies, as well as Sequoia Spark, a community-focused initiative for women founders in the region. She started her career with Ogilvy & Mather, moved into the corporate world with America Online and was an early convert to the startup world as Flipkart’s first communications lead. She also volunteers with ACT Grants, a movement by India’s startup ecosystem focusing on systemic challenges around health, education, environment and women empowerment.

Radha Radhakrishnan has over 25 years of experience in corporate communications and marketing across different industries and geographies. She is the founder editor of the podcast, Mrigashira that focuses on PR & Communications.
She currently heads communications for Wipro Enterprises. In her long career, she has worked with companies and media organisations like Wipro, Azim Premji University, The Hindu Business Line, indiainfo.com among others. Her array of experience cuts across ad agencies, media entities, starts up, corporates and PR consultancies. Industry sector experience spans automobile, technology, healthcare, not for profit, consumer and renewable space.

Rajesh Mani is the head of Marketing Communications and Corporate Communications of Ashok Leyland, which is the 2nd largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in India. He is currently working on building meaning and engagement to the Ashok Leyland brand.
Rajesh Mani earned his marketing spurs in the company that has in its fold the world’s most valuable brand: Coca-Cola. Now, as Head of Marketing Communications and Corporate Communications, at Ashok Leyland, Mani says his nine-year stint with Coke put him through the mill of brand management where he handled brands such as Thums Up and Limca.
Post his MBA from TAPMI in 1995, Mani worked three years with TTK Prestige, which, he recalls, taught him how to handle the durables category, especially those goods that are not top-of-mind such as pressure cookers. He spent seven years with TI Cycles since where the challenge for him was to push cycling as a lifestyle habit and in turn spur sales.

Rajnish Wahi joined Snapdeal in 2015 and is part of the leadership team responsible for anchoring all policy and communication-related activities at Snapdeal. In the last six years, Rajnish has steered Snapdeal through an intense & evolving media engagement phase, developing and nurturing close working relationships with regional, national and international media. He has handled strategic, operational and crisis communication for Snapdeal and other related entities. Across his tenure, he has also handled internal communication and CSR responsibilities.
Rajnish has also worked with various government authorities to help shape the regulatory environment for the e-commerce industry in India. He has been a part of various think tanks and working groups constituted by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and Competition Commission of India to examine various issues relating to the intersection of technology & policy. Rajnish has over 26 years of corporate experience spanning across technology, infrastructure, retail real estate and commodity trading.

Rohini Kute has almost two decades of diverse experience in the areas of corporate communications across highly-regulated B2B and B2C industries spanning sectors like Power, Real Estate, Healthcare, Education and BFSI. As the Head of Corporate Communication at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Group, she is in charge of strategy, reputation management, corporate communications, PR and media relations, brand positioning, public profiling, social media, internal communications, CSR communications, issues and crisis communications, communication policies & frameworks, media training, events, awards & speakerships.
For the past four years, Motilal Oswal Group has consistently maintained the top position in media share of voice vis-à-vis industry peers under her leadership; the Group has managed non-commercial tie-ups with all the top media houses for every important corporate event and the company’s presence in thought leadership space has increased exponentially. In the past, she has worked with National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange, Angel Broking, Indiabulls Group, Lilavati Hospital & Research Centre and Helen O’Grady International.

Shiwani Vyas Varma is currently Associate Director – Corporate Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Lowe’s India – the India operations of the Fortune 50 home improvement retail chain in the U.S.
Through her 17 plus year career across the consultancy and corporate side, Shiwani has partnered business leadership to drive a strong brand reputation and employee experience. Before joining Lowe’s, she was with Brillio (a digital technology services player) as Global Head of Internal Communications & Employer Branding. Earlier in her career, she has been an in-house communicator with Minacs (now Concentrix) and Xchanging (now DXC). Prior to that, as a consultant with various PR firms, she led PR and Comms programmes for brands such as 3M, GE, Microsoft, Accenture, and Raymond, amongst others. Shiwani is passionate about enabling Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace. She is a council member of the WICCI PR & Digital Marketing Council, set-up with the objective to enable, equip, and empower women within the communications business. The Council focuses on initiatives that encourage talented and capable women to stay on track in their careers all the way up to the most responsible leadership positions.

Snehhal has over 22 years of experience in communications, issues management and stakeholder engagement across diverse sectors and markets. She currently heads Communications, Sustainability & Public Affairs for L’Oréal in India. Part of the country management committee, Snehhal is also the Ethics
correspondent for the company.
Snehhal joined L’Oréal India in June 2010 and has also had a stint as Chief of Issues and Crisis Management based out of the company’s head office in Paris.

Sukanti Ghosh is Senior Vice President and Lead of the South Asia practice at Albright Stonebridge Group, the world’s premier corporate diplomacy firm set up by former U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright. Sukanti has significant experience advising leading corporations, alliances, associations, and civil society organisations on effective engagement with national and state governments. His expertise includes market access, tariffs and trade barriers, regulation, investment-linked policy incentives, economic development, healthcare, responsible food marketing to children, intellectual property rights,
education, and sustainable development.

Previously, Sukanti led the India operations of APCO Worldwide for close to a decade before which he worked in the banking industry across the Middle East and South Asia, where he built and managed award-winning corporate and product brands, launched new institutions, and supported M&A efforts.

Suniet Bezbaroowa has over 20 years of experience having helped organizations build impactful brands and implement successful Go-to-Market strategies. He currently serves as the India Marketing Director for Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in India and is responsible for their overall marketing and communication. In the past, he has worked with organizations like Deloitte, The Times of India Group, Genesis Colors Private Limited, and Concept Public Relations. He was a weekly columnist for The Indian Express and a contributory writer for Payscale.com and Lifepositive.com.

Tuhina is the Head of Communications for IBM India and South Asia.

Tuhina’s broad-based professional experience includes Business Journalism, Media Training that involves Presence and Presentation, Executive & Leadership communication, Marketing and Corporate Communication, Digital Communication and Business Intelligence and Analytics consulting & sales across industries. Tuhina is a ‘presenter’ and a ‘storyteller’ with global experience and understanding of diverse sensibilities. Prior to IBM, Tuhina was the Head of Global Corporate Communications & Public Affairs at Tech Mahindra.
She was the Vice President at Media Training Worldwide, and Associate Editor at Aegis News Network. Tuhina has also worked as an anchor and a business journalist in the capacity of an Associate Editor – Technology for NDTV PROFIT and NDTV. A person of many facets, she also founded and curated tucom.in, a well-known and renowned specialist firm that worked with CEOs, top-level executives, CXOs and Board Members on executive and leadership communications. She was also the founding member of an Analytics start–up, Ananto. Tuhina loves to write, photograph, observe and understand human behaviour. She has published work with University of Pune ‘Bullish on Business’- A study on Business and Economic News on Indian Television in post liberal India. Tuhina has a Masters in Communication studies, Media Research and holds a Major in Accountancy.

Tushar Makkar is the Group Chief Communications Officer at GMR Group. GMR is a leading infrastructure conglomerate with interests in aviation, energy, transportation and urban infrastructure. The group operates in Delhi, Hyderabad and Cebu (Philippines) airports and has various airports under development at various stages, including Goa and Bhogapuram (near Vizag).

Prior to GMR, Tushar was the Group Head for Corporate Communications with Arvind Group. He has also worked with global reputed brands like Microsoft, IBM, SAP and CSC amongst others.