Russell Reynolds Associates and WinPE Launch Pioneering Mentorship Program for Women in Investing
New Delhi: Recognizing the need to address the gender diversity gap within the Indian investing ecosystem at the leadership level, Women in PE (WinPE) and Russell Reynolds Associates have partnered to launch WinPE ProClub, a mentorship program for future women leaders.
At the helm of affairs is a seasoned advisory board of industry leaders, Ms. Shyamala Gopinath, former Deputy Governor, RBI; Ms. Matangi Gowrishankar, certified coach and former Global Head of Capacity Development, BP; and Ms. Ester Martinez, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, People Matters. The panel of mentors for the program boasts of stalwarts like Arvind Thakur, former Vice Chairman and Managing Director, NIIT Technologies Ltd.; Deepak Kapoor, former chairman and CEO of PwC India; Ms. Geeta Mathur, Independent Director, Info Edge India Ltd.; Ms. Lalita Gupte, Independent Director, ICICI Lombard; Ms. Manisha Girotra, CEO, Moelis India; Ms. Neelam Dhawan, Supervisory Board member, Royal Philips Netherlands; Ms. Nithya Easwaran, Managing Director, Multiples Alternate Asset Management; Ms. Padmaja Ruparel, Co-founder and President, Indian Angel Network; Ms. Roshini Bakshi, Managing Director, Everstone Capital; Ms. Soumya Rajan, Founder, Waterfield Advisors; Sujoy Bose, MD & CEO, NIIF and VT Bharadwaj, Co-founder and General Partner, A91 Partners.
This is the first time that such a women centric program is being launched for the PE/VC community in India which aims to nurture high performing mid-career women from the investing ecosystem, creating a much-required gender balance in leadership and shaping the future course of the industry.
Women in PE (WinPE) was founded by Nupur Garg, a leading private equity investor among India’s top 100 women in finance, with the objective of closing the gender gap in investing. WinPE’s other highly successful initiatives include leadership skills training series, networking platform for young women in finance and technical masterclasses. Elaborating on the mentorship program, Nupur stated, “Mentorship is acknowledged as one of the most powerful tools driving professional success. In the case of women, researchers find that mentorship can be a key success factor as women deal with workplaces largely dominated by men. At the same time, research shows that while 67% of women rate mentorship as highly important in their career advancement, 63% report they have never had a mentor.”
Talking about the partnership, Sachin Rajan, Country Manager India, Russell Reynolds Associates, said, “Diversity and Inclusion has been a strong area of focus and we have been the frontrunners in advising our clients extensively in this area.”
WinPE and Russell Reynolds Associates will co-design and co-execute the program, with Russell Reynolds Associates bringing its extensive knowledge and best practices in design, implementation and administration. The program is a joint effort where the PE/VC industry is being invited to participate by nominating high potential women from investing firms, advisory firms and PEVC funded companies as mentees. These mentees will receive dedicated one-on-one mentorship over a period of 12 months. The program also includes group events and networking platforms that will provide an opportunity for the mentees and mentors to connect with each other.
“The partnership with WinPE is an excellent opportunity to co-create a platform that would enable future women leaders in India,” said Vinita Katara, Consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates. “We believe the mentorship program will help develop best-in-class women leaders in the PE sector.”