#TEDxHFSI
Speakers
Our Speakers For This Event
ANU AGGARWAL
“To feel strong, to walk amongst humans with a tremendous feeling of confidence and superiority is not at all wrong. The sense of superiority in bodily strength is borne out by the long history of mankind paying homage in folklore, song and poetry to strong women.”
This powerful quote by Anu Aggarwal, a former Bollywood Actress and Model, rightly articulates the type of person she is: a hardworking and self-made social activist, working towards bettering our society and the people that live within it.
Founder of the Anu Aggarwal Foundation, or AAF for short, she is an environmentalist who strongly believes in promoting, and advocating for, positive mental health. Her foundation is a testimony to her active work for society, which includes providing healthcare, nutrition and livelihoods for the underprivileged.
She has experienced setbacks, which have made her the person that she is today . She tells her story in Anusual, her memoir, which talks about her inspiring journey of self-discovery and self healing with the help of the revitalizing effects of yoga, meditation and a positive mindset.
We are elated to have her as a speaker for our event and we are sure that her TED talk would be engaging and inspiring!
Surendra Hiranandani
The Hiranandani group is one of the most prestigious real estate developers based in Mumbai synonymous with constructing architectural wonders. Our respectable speaker is the man who has played a monumental role in this process and helped the Hiranandani group rise to this status, Mr. Surendra Hiranandani.
Mr. Hiranandani is a dynamic entrepreneur and a gifted architect with an unparalleled ability of transforming even the simplest lands into vibrant and beautiful living spaces. All of his architectural projects are at par with the international standards, having set a benchmark in the country. He has mastered the art of blending creative beauty and innovation with practicality and sustenance.
However, Mr. Surendra Hiranandani is also an environmentalist by nature; he led his team to adopt measures to recycle sewage water and harvest rainwater for construction as well as consistently introducing native species of trees and shrubs into the fabric of urban communities. Another one of his revolutionary environmental contributions is the introduction of copper plumbing in India to the use of fly ash in concrete, which have made all his projects more energy efficient and sustainable.
Mr. Surendra Hiranandani’s talents and interests go further than his astute architecture and entrepreneurship; he is the President of the Unaided Schools Forum and is the Managing Trustee of House of Hiranandani Foundation, which operates two of Mumbai's best schools at Powai and Thane. His keen interest in improving the quality of Healthcare is evidenced by the fact that he is also the Managing Trustee of Dr. L.H. Hiranandani Hospital.
His numerous contributions have helped him garner worldwide acknowledgement, including being a part of the Forbes list of India's most affluent personalities, as well as being a part of major discussions, and receiving excellence awards, on the subject of real estate on global platforms.
Mr. Rajesh Thakur proudly introduces himself as the father of Partth Thakur (Founder of The Wishing Factory) - A Brave and Fearless Man of Thousand Voices. Mr. Thakur is the Chairman of The Wishing Factory and has vowed to take forward Partth’s vision of making India a 'Thalassemia Mukt Bharat'.
He is a fond animal lover and has a positive approach towards life. With his core entrepreneur skills, strengths of team building as well as a knack for understanding the technical subjects to the hilt ( in spite of not being tech-savvy himself), he believes that his presence in the group changes the overall atmosphere at all levels - Internal as well as External.
His journey of being a CEO and an entrepreneur of a sector very different from his current profession as the Chairman of a non-profit organization has brought new exposure and experience where he finds himself as the torchbearer of Partth’s dreams and aspirations. ‘The
Wishing Factory’ — a registered non-profit organization committed to working towards the welfare of young thalassemia major patients, started by Mr. Thakur’s son who was himself battling Thalassemia and which is why Mr. Thakur, who has seen the various aspects of management of his disorder is able to connect with and understand the challenges that every warrior and his family members face each day. He is constantly trying to extend support to the ones in need by means of the projects and initiatives of TWF, with the support of his team members and well-wishers.
He strongly believes in the saying “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” Just like Partth.
Mr. Thakur is in a constant attempt to make sure that with each passing day, the initiatives of the organization ensure the impact to the level where at least one more child with this deadly disorder is not brought into this world which will only ensure a life ahead full of challenges.
He seeks support from every individual to help fulfill Partth’s vision of complete eradication of this disorder and make India soon a Thalassemia Mukt Bharat by promoting getting actively tested for Thalassemia.”
Rajesh Thakur
Dr Indu Shahani
Dr. Indu Shahani - an educationist, a leader and the paragon of the phrase “use your power to empower” - has dedicated her life to helping in providing the finest of education all over the country, and she has countless titles to show for it. These include being the first Indian to be appointed Vice-Chair on the Board of the Governors of the International Baccalaureate (2001 - 2010), the current Chief Mentor of colleges of the HNSC board, as well as the founding Dean at ISME, Mumbai.
With Dr. Shahani having earned the 'Roll of Honor' award towards her outstanding contributions in leadership and to Education and Partnerships with Deakin University in India and the 'Excellence in Education Award' at the FLO Great Women Achiever Awards, her genuine passion and dexterity for education can be further quantified.
However, Dr. Indu Shahani is a multi-faceted, “jack-of-all-trades” individual and, likewise, her accomplishments are not limited by the field of education; instead she truly practices holistic growth and development. Having been appointed the prestigious title of Sheriff of Mumbai - a titular position of authority bestowed for one year on a prominent citizen of Mumbai - in 2008 and 2009, Dr. Shahani truly used her power to empower by launching helplines against domestic violence and harassment. This, and her countless other generous contributions towards society, make Dr. Indu Shahani a profoundly awe-inspiring leader.”
Ankit Singh is a testament to the notion that dedication and hard work transform even the most unbelievable dreams into reality. In a span of only 4 years with the OSCAR Foundation, he evolved from being a young kid in their football team to becoming their budding leader, who can now work with and encourage young children to reach their full potential.
From a young age, Ankit encountered countless hurdles but that did not deter him. Instead, it taught him to never let opportunities go and gave him the drive to help empower other youngsters like him. Despite difficulties, his family strived to make sure he grew up to become a capable young man. Now he helps skill others to communicate effectively as he feels it's essential in the job market.
He found his calling when he performed in a play in the 4th grade and ever since then he has dreamt of becoming an actor. Some of his work includes playing the role of Sardar Udham in a theatre play across India and he will soon also be appearing in a show on Sony.
However, his parents want him to complete this education and that is why he is undergoing the extremely challenging task of doing an MBA while pursuing acting. Despite that, he is trying his best to strike the perfect balance between his dreams and practicality.
As a young leader, he is grateful to OSCAR for the exposure and opportunity which has helped him develop his character and personality that he believes contributes to his acting too!”
Ankit Singh
Dr Balsing Rajput
As the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, a researcher, speaker, writer, and technology evangelist, Dr. Balsing Rajput has all the experience necessary to make a substantial change in the field of cybercrime investigation.
Dr. Rajput’s expertise comes from completing a variety of successful assignments, since the beginning of his career.
In 2019, Dr. Balsing Rajput was part of the Cyber Security Delegation of India to Estonia, where he studied e-government initiatives and cyber security measures. Additionally, owing to his strategic and technical mastery in the field of cyber security and cyber defense, he was able to build 51 cyber Crime Investigation cyber labs in Mumbai.
In the past, he worked on the Maharashtra Cyber Security Project for the development of an integrated cyber security environment for the state, and was also leading the implementation of Automatic Multimodal Biometric Identification System, while working as Superintendent of Police Maharashtra Cyber. While working in the Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai Police have exposed various scams and investigated many sensitive cases.
Another of his ongoing endeavours is the ‘Operation Blackface’, and the ‘Cyber Safe Women’ campaigns which help prevent online exploitation of women and children in cyberspace, which is an issue of grave importance in today’s cyberspace environment
Truly a man with immense intellect on this topic, Dr. Rajput has even written a book, titled “Cyber Economic Crime in India”, which sheds light on the cybercrime scenario in India.
Dr. Balsing Rajput has willingly taken up extremely challenging tasks and completed those to fruition, thereby making significant contributions in the realm of cyber security in India.
Sonal Panda is the Chief of Staff at Signos, a digital health startup. She entered the world of startups as an angel investor and former Venture Capitalist.
Sonal began her career in the Corporate Strategy team at Aditya Birla Group where she evaluated multi-billion dollar mergers and acquisitions, and helped develop growth strategies for the Group’s businesses. Thereafter she served as the Director of Business Development at Asian Heart Institute where she spearheaded new business development and CSR initiatives including free medical checkups for the Mumbai Police and free CPR training camps in the city. While in Mumbai, Sonal volunteered at Samaritans Mumbai, a suicide prevention helpline where she provided emotional support to callers and organized workshops and outreach programs with schools and hospitals.
Sonal completed her Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from VJTI, Mumbai and graduated with an MBA in Healthcare and Finance from Wharton where she was awarded the merit-based Kaiser Fellowship for exceptional professional, academic, and personal achievement.
She is passionate about health and wellness, animals and wildlife, and in her free time enjoys traveling and reading.
Sonal Panda
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Raell Padamsee
Raell Padamsee is an individual of many talents; she is an Indian theatre personality alongside being the CEO and Managing Director of ACE (ACADEMY for CREATIVE EXPRESSION) Productions and Numero Uno Productions. Furthermore, she has directed and produced several internationally acclaimed plays and spectacular mega musicals to stages across India, such as Shakespeare's Macbeth, Girish Karnad's “Broken Images”, Pulitzer prize winning “Death of a Salesman” and the iconic musical “Sound of Music”, to name a few of her directorial wonders.
At the tender age of 15, she set foot in acting; by 16, she directed her first production – Duet for One – and started her first production company Magnum Productions (which is now known as ACE Productions) when she was 19 years of age.
She owns Numero Uno Productions Pvt Ltd., a company which primarily focuses on bringing International talent to India. Raell Padamsee has also started The Edge Academy, which has certified courses that are tailored to meet all different levels of management, including the hospitality industry, BPOs, businesses etc. who want to improve their own image or that of their company.
Till date, Raell has directed and produced more than 25 adult plays. Apart from adult theatre, Raell has directed and produced several successful children's plays. Raell started theatre workshops for kids as an alternative to The Trinity College London. Her workshops focus on making theatre come alive for the Indian kids. One of the kids, Tanay Chheda, from the ACE Academy was casted in Oscar-winning movie – Slumdog Millionaire. She is currently running her speech and drama workshops at 40 centers all over Mumbai.