Anup Sharma
Communication
Consultant

Anup Sharma is an Independent Strategic Communications Consultant with more than 18 years of experience in Public Relations, Political Campaign Management,Digital and Social Media Marketing.With a deep understanding of the challenges in the regulatory framework, Anup brings in abilities to decipher and connect with multiple stakeholder environments through strategicintegrated communication models.

As an external communication consultant for World Bank / IFC, Anup has been involved in designing &implementing the communication component for the Investment Climate Advisory(tax reform program) for the Government of Bihar. Prior to this he wasleading the design, management, monitoring and evaluation of strategic communication and partnerships for the UNICEF: `India Unite To End Polio Now’ campaign. He was closely associated with Google India as an external Consultantto their Communication team and involved in developing comprehensive media communications strategies to support the overall direction for promoting the B2B business (adwords/adsense) of Google India amongst key stakeholders with a focus on SMBs. He is also closely involved with the TEDxMehrauli and TEDx Walled City events.

He has worked with clients spread across sectors and has been associated with many leading Indian and global corporations including Tata Group, Coca-Cola, Government of Punjab, Government of Rajasthan, POSCO-India, Cairn India, SABMiller India, Godfrey Phillips India (GPI), Max India, CNBC, Seagatebesides political leaders. His key role involved Strategy planning for external & internal communications, Communication environment study, Image perception analysis, Project development, Coordinate & manage large teams for these clients.

In his prior assignments, Anup has been part of leading communication agencies. He was associated with the Perfect Relations group from 2005 to 2010 where he was leading the Delhi and the Gurgaon branch and helped it grow into a strong regional entity.

Aparna Sharma
Founder and Former CEO
India Brand Equity Foundation

Ms Aparna Dutt Sharma is a Brand Strategist and Communications Expert. She has been the Founding Member and Chief Executive Officer, India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), a Trust established by the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, to promote theMade in India label in markets overseas.

Ms Aparna Dutt Sharma has about 25 years of rich working experience spanning brand strategy, marketing communications, government relations, public affairs, media, international trade promotion and business advisory. Ms Sharma has led nation brand initiatives globally in more than 25 countries besides strategic sectoral brand promotion campaigns under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India.

Ms Sharma has been Vice President of World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) based in Geneva. WAIPA comprises investment promotion agencies from more than 160 countries in the world.

She began her career with the Embassy of Italy, New Delhi, where she was part of all strategic trade and cooperation initiatives between India and Italy. She has also notably contributed to the Economist Intelligence Unit India (EIU India), part of The Economist Group UK, by way of country strategy papers and leading its business information programme in her subsequent assignment covering over 200 multinational corporations in India. She is credited with having negotiated the first ever global partnership between The Economist Conferences and McKinsey & Co in India. In her subsequent assignment as Head of the CII Europe Division, she spearheaded international business promotion initiatives with each of the countries of the European Union and India.

Chandan Yadav
Spokesperson (National Panelist)
Gen Sec Incharge Media & Social Media (Bihar Congress)

Chandan Yadav is currently Spokesperson, (National Panelist), AICC and General Secretary, Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee. He was National General Secretary, Indian Youth Congress, August 2005 to January, 2009. Prior to that he was National Secretary from February 2004 to August 2005 and General Secretary for Bihar Pradesh Youth Congress, January 2004. He was member of the Young Congress leaders group to advise Hon’ble President, Indian National Congress Smt. Sonia Gandhi for Lok Sabha 2004. He was member of the organizing committee for the Students’ Parliament on HIV/AIDS conducted by UNAIDS and the Parliamentary Forum for HIV/AIDS. He was member of the organizing committee for the protest march to Parliament in the aftermath of the Gujarat carnage in 2002 and Part of Indian delegation to Venezuela for the 16th World Festival for Youth and students. He Participated in Dandi Yatra platinum jubilee celebration as part of a 79 member team selected by AICC participated in the demonstration. His articles titled “Bihar letting down its women?”, “Why tar all politicians with the same brush?’ and “The Maoists need to be fought ideologically too” were published in Open Page, The Hindu

Deepak Jolly
Vice president Premium and Emerging Brands
Coca-cola India

Deepak Jolly is Vice President Coca-Cola India and South West Asia. In his current assignment he heads the Emerging and Premium Brands portfolio. Deepak has also led the Public Affairs & Communications function for the India and Southwest Asia Business (including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives). Deepak specializes in the field of Corporate Communications, Public Policy, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability, Consumer Response Strategic Projects and Corporate Security. He has been working with Coca-Cola India since year 2005.
A Public Affairs professional with 30 years’ experience, Deepak has worked in service and manufacturing across diverse industries such as hospitality, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and Telecom. Deepak is an alumni of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Deepak is a part of the Leadership Council at Coca-Cola in India. During his 9 year period, Deepak has lead several communication initiatives and engaged with numerous NGOs and activists on issues relating to the soft drinks industry. His continuous engagement with opinion makers, regulatory bodies, media, and industry bodies has led to successful mitigation of crisis which was created by allegations of false pesticide contamination in the product. Deepak has also been a noted speaker on several topics including Reputation Management, Crisis Management, Corporate Governance and Sustainability, Consumer Response. He is also a member of various national committees and several industry bodies. He is currently the Chairman of American Chambers of Commerce (AMCHAM) India Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee and member of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Water Mission.
Deepak is co-chair of FICCI Sports Committee and is on the National Executive Committee. He is also the Vice-Chairman of AMCHAM Northern Region. Deepak has won awards on communication and leadership in his profession which include, Best PR Person of The Year 2007, CSR Leadership Award in 2013 by World CSR Day, etc.

Deepak Mukarji
Advisor
Communications & Public Affairs

Deepak Mukarji, has over 30 years of experience as a professional manager creating the space for business to grow in India. In leadership roles with various multinational organizations he has nurtured “license to operate” by driving strategic positioning of issues across industry profiles. He has worked across various industries and some of the brands he has been associated with are JWT, DuPont (both corporate and its product brands), the UN, Bell Labs (Lucent Technologies), MetLife and Shell.

Deepak is currently:

1. Member of the Governing Body of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi
2. Founder Member of the Club of Rome Indian National Association – a think tank

He has lectured at various management schools and has attended senior business leadership programs at Henley Management College UK and IMD in Switzerland. He is a published writer in both fiction and non-fiction and an erstwhile theater personality with over 350 stage performances and 2 TV serials to his credit. Having already published a book of short stories he is currently working on a novel while living in Gurgaon in the NCR of New Delhi with his wife and son.

Nupur Sharma
Youth Leader
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Nupur Sharma is one of the youngest leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party. A regular TV commentator and debater she is often seen extrapolating her party’s views on various news channels. A lawyer by profession she is also a columnist and regularly contributes to various publications.
Born in 1985 and raised in Delhi, Nupur belongs to a family of diplomats, educationists and businessmen and represented her home constituency (New Delhi or N.D.M.C.) when she stood runner-up against Delhi’s incumbent CM in the 2015 Assembly elections.
An alumna of DPS, Hindu College, Faculty of Law (Delhi University) and the London School of Economics, Nupur’s political journey started when she won the election of DUSU (Delhi University Students’ Union) President in the year 2008. She continued to work for her organisation even when studying abroad in 2010- 2011 and rose through the ranks of BJYM (BJP’s National Youth Wing) and BJP’s main body over the years.
Amongst the many feathers in her cap, Nupur also doubles-up as patron and mentor to various NGOs working amongst the less privileged and is often invited to deliver lectures in law and leadership to University students in and around Delhi.
Nupur’s field-work in Parliamentary and Legislative Assembly Elections makes her travel frequently and extensively to interiors of various states in India, which she believes is perhaps the best and only way to understand India and its problems.
As recognition of her efforts and contribution, Nupur was named amongst 10 most inspirational women in India by the leading National daily “The Hindustan Times” in 2009 and has represented India and her party at various international fora on state invitation of nations like the United States of America, Germany and Great Britain.

Paresh Chaudhry
Chief Executive Officer
Madison PR

Paresh is currently Chief Executive Officer of Madison Public Relations, a unit of Madison World, one of India’s largest 360 degree communication agency. Madison World is a 25 - year - old diversified communication group, with 24 units across 10 specialized functions employing over 1,000 communication professional across cities in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The gross billing of Madison World is Rs. 30 billion. Under his leadership, Madison PR was awarded the PR Agency of the year in 2013, as the fastest growing agency in India and also the Agency of the year award at the prestigious CMO Asia Awards, 2014. Madison PR has won many International, National & Indian industry awards for campaigns, across Brands, Corporate & Social.

Paresh had been given the honour to represent India on the Cannes Lions International PR Jury at the Dubai Lynx 2014. He also represented the Jury for the prestigious Sabre Awards 2014, Conference Chair for Global Marketing & Advertising Week, (DMAi), 2015 and is the Jury Chair, Goa Fest 2015 – Abbey Awards. With over 25 years of experience, he has worked in a number of blue chipped companies including Reliance Industries Limited, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Smith Kline Beecham, Wockhardt and Raymonds. Paresh has been a business communication partner to Mukesh Ambani, in Reliance, to Vindi Banga, Harish Manwani and Doug Bailie in Hindustan Unilever, D.S Brar in Ranbaxy, Dan McDonald in Smith Kline Beecham and Habil Khorakiwala in Wockhardt.

Paroma Chowdhury
Vice President, Public Affairs
SoftBank International

Paroma Chowdhury is a Journalist turned communications professional. She has worked in business journalism, management education, financial services, telecom and technology. Currently Paroma is Vice President, Public Affairs – SoftBank. Prior to that she was Director & Country Head, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs at Google India. She was also Vice President, External & Internal Communications at Bharti Airtel Limited where she headed internal & external communications for all four business units of Bharti Airtel- Mobility, Broadband & Fixed Lines, Enterprise Services & Direct-To-Home.

Pooja Pathak
Co- Founder
Media Mantra

A bachelors degree holder in philosophy from Miranda house, delhi university followed by post graduation from a university in Sydney. Pooja started working in Sydney in the communication industry and then came back to india to gain more experience in the field of public relations.

In Miranda College, she was the President of a Creative Writing Club and was actively engaged in the Student's Committee Board. While in Australia, she got a chance to represent the UNYA (United Nations Youth Association) as the first Indian Editor. Her job tasks undertaken in Australia also includes content writing for a popular Indian based paper titled "The Indian Link" and RJing for an Indian radio channel where a lot of infotainment based news was reported for mass consumption.

The vision and mission to start Media Mantra in 2012 was very clear. Along with her husband, Udit Pathak both of them aimed to create a difference in the PR Industry.

At Media Mantra, Pooja Pathak is responsible for managing and strategically managing a team of 30 members. The Media Relations along with content development work is performed by Pooja under her close supervision. In addition to this, Pooja contributes to the PR Industry as a regular speaker in a reputed Gurgaon Based communication college.

Going Forward, she endeavors to make her company, "Media Mantra" a successful PR venture by helping brands get more visibility and making team members more PRable.

Prateek Chatterjee
Vice President, Corporate Communications & Marketing
NIIT Limited

A seasoned communications professional with over 19 years of experience across diverse industries including – IT, Education, Real Estate and Hospitality – having expertise in Corporate Reputation Management, Social Media outreach, PR, Digital Media Marketing, Brand Ambassador communication & Brand management.

Prateek is currently working as Vice President, Corporate Communications & Marketing at NIIT Limited, a global leader in skills & talent development. His present job responsibilities include – formulating the communications strategy and promoting PR & brand awareness for NIIT, through focused stakeholder engagement spanning- media, investors, social and digital forums, industry-connect associations and employees.

A certified Social Media Marketing professional from IAMAI, his responsibilities also include formulating NIIT’s Digital strategy, managing the corporate website, and handling social media engagements to garner a holistic mindshare for the brand. Besides this, he is responsible for positioning NIIT University as a new model in higher education and driving Brand Ambassador communication with Chess Grand Master Viswanathan Anand.

Prateek's communications and digital initiatives have received industry acclaim like - ‘Best Educational Website’ award, 2015 from Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Best Brand Ambassador engagement from Exchange4Media at the Indian PR and Corporate Communication Awards (IPRCCA) 2011.

During his earlier stint at real estate major Ansal Properties, Prateek was instrumental in transforming the 40-year old brand identity of the organisation into a vibrant and younger avataar – `Ansal API’. Prateek is a regular speaker on emerging trends in Communications, at forums like IIMC (Indian Institute of Mass Communications), ITS Management College and Marcus Evans.

Senjam Raj Sekhar
Head of Corporate Communications
Flipkart

Senjam Raj Sekhar is the head of Corporate Communications for Flipkart, which has been ranked by Wall Street Journal among the five most valuable start ups in the world. He is responsible for driving the communication and reputation agenda of Flipkart as it sets the pace for transforming ecommerce in India.

Raj has over two decades of experience of communicating and building brand & corporate reputations across South Asia, United Kingdom and Africa. Before Flipkart, he has worked with Bharti Group, Vedanta and Samsung. In 2011 and 2012, Raj was named as part of Influence 100, the Holmes Report's compilation of the most influential in-house communicators around.

Xavier Prabhu
Founder & MD
PRHUB

Xavier Prabhu, Founder of PRHUB envisioned creating companies which strive across verticals to redefine the methodology/strategy for corporates, organizations and professionals approach in their long term brand building. To make this vision conceivable, Xavier started Businesshub under which a specialized PR, marcom and social media division named PRHUB, Mindsparks and PRHUB Digital, respectively were initiated.
Started on a small scale; PRHUB has come a long way with Xavier’s guidance and direction. Today, PRHUB is a national PR firm with fully functional offices across the country and affiliates in 60+ cities. PRHUB is the only Indian affiliate in the GlobalCom Network which consists of countries around the globe ensuring international expertise for local clients.
He is a leader who has “Lets’ do this” attitude which has made PRHUB a 50+ employee company. Xavier’s belief in the teams of each function (PRHUB, PRHUB Digital and Mindsparks)which in turn gives them the support, confidence to handle their own set of clients, independently. Hence, are furthering to a making PRHUB bigger and each employee a budding leader in their own right.
Xavier combines his unfathomable subject knowledge with his role as an entrepreneur over the past 12 years in founding and helping grow PRHUB - one of India's most promising boutique, consulting-led full services PR firms. Ranked among the Top 20 PR firms and Top 11 in Technology PR in India, PRHUB is one of the few independent PR firms today with national presence and offices in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi.
Xavier Prabhu is a Consultant, Writer, Social Media Enthusiast and Public Speaker besides being one of the top entrepreneurs in the PR industry. This leading thinker has imparted his expertise on communication and PR, globally. The expanse of knowledge Mr. Prabhu possesses is over-whelming, he delivers speeches on entrepreneurship, leadership, success, social media & digital, communication, branding to PR extensively. He has interacted with people across 3 continents and 14 countries. Xavier was chosen by the Leadership Institute, US as an outstanding achiever from India. He enjoys spending time with the youth of today, and has involved himself into betterment of education by being on the board at prestigious institutes such as ISB&M, Symbiosis Media and Communication, GICONS and COMMITS, to name a few. To further interact and inspire, Xavier lose any opportunity to be a visiting faculty.
Xavier to his colleagues is more known as a foodie, traveler, someone who enjoys meeting interesting people and writing.