New Delhi: Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI) today announced the launch of its Public Relations and Digital Marketing Council under the leadership of Kavita Lakhani, Executive Director, Lintas Live, to be supported by twenty council members. The Council has been set-up with an objective to enable, equip, and empower women within the Communications Industry. WICCI’s Public Relations and Digital Marketing Council will focus on initiatives that will encourage talented and capable women’ stay on track in their careers all the way up to the most responsible leadership positions.
Gender differences when properly harnessed can result in immense growth and multidimensional progress for companies. Women are playing an increasingly important role in the sustained success of companies. Unlike most other professions, women already form a very large part of the workforce in communications and other creative professions. 34%, compared to a national average of 14%. However, the challenge before this industry is the high dropout rate. The ratio drops to just 11% at senior management positions and a mere 3% in boardrooms.
Kavita Lakhani, Executive Director, Lintas Live and National President, WICCI Public Relations and Digital Marketing Council commenting on the launch said, “Women think more about the purpose, meaning and impact of their work…it’s not just a job for them. Our strategy will involve ‘Celebrating the Difference’ that women bring to the table and explore new approaches for cultivating, engaging, and retaining this critically important talent. The WICCI Council will focus on 4 key areas in 2020/2021 – National and local events to create a platform for the existing talent to network and share their experiences; Mentoring the promising talent pool to create leaders of tomorrow; Upskilling to equip existing talent or talent on maternity/senior care breaks with new-age skills; Client Roundtables to educate and bring to focus the issue of gender management and an exploration of best practice in the private sector. I am excited to be working in the Council alongside such a diverse set of highly respected, senior women leaders who come with rich experience in Communications.”
The WICCI Public Relations and Digital Marketing Council comprises of senior women professionals, young women achievers, and entrepreneurs across industries with experience in Corporate Communications, Public Relations, Digital Marketing, Journalism, Personal Branding, and Leadership Mentoring. The tenure of this appointment is with immediate effect until the end of Dec 2021, and extendable with mutual consent.
Anjali Mehra, (VP Marketing, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts) will support as Vice President of the Council, Aahana Dhar (Communications and Media Lead, Asia, The Rockefeller foundation), Aruna Balkrishna (VP Public Relations & Content, Edelweiss Financial Services), Carolina James Bajaj (Global Brand and Communications Strategist), Charu Raizada (Communication Strategist, Brand and Crisis expert), Divya Narayan (Senior PR Manager, Amazon), Mou Chakravorty (Marketing Communications Manager, Deloitte), Namita Ramani Sharma (Senior Marketing Manager, Tata AIG General Insurance), Neha Mishra (Founder, NehaTalks), Nikita Abhanave (Partner Digital, DDB Mudra), Nimisha Tiwari (Editor, ET Panache Travel & Media Solutions, The Times of India), Nishtha Arora (Independent Digital Marketing Consultant), Prasidha Menon (Vice President & Global Head of Communications, OYO Hotels & Homes), Preeti Binoy (Lead Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health India), Priti Srivastava (Sr. Vice President, Corporate Affairs – Reliance Industries and Sustainable Growth Mentor at Navratan Foundations), Priya Bendre (PR Manager, West Zone, Fortis Healthcare), Radha Radhakrishnan (Global Head, Corporate Communications, Wipro Enterprises Limited), Shakun Sharma (Managing Partner, The PRchitects), Shiwani Varma Vyas (Global Head, Employee Communications & Employer Branding, Brillio) and Tarunjeet Rattan (Founder, Nucleus PR).
The Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI), established alongside ALL Ladies League (ALL), Women Economic Forum (WEF), and economy are an institutionalized National Business Chamber for women in India. The Chamber works closely with government and key stakeholders across various countries to improve bilateral trade relations and facilitate ease of doing business and competitiveness for women-owned businesses. WICCI has manifold Sector Councils at National and State levels; Bilateral Business Councils in 90 countries internationally; Coordinating Councils at Regional and State levels; and cross-sectoral City councils, representing 150+ diverse sectors. The diverse Councils develop different areas of focus to mainstream women’s voice and uphold women’s interest in policymaking: helping women better incentives, improved access to finance, and other measures that empower the competitiveness of Businesswomen, Entrepreneurs, and Professionals.
