Ms. Valerie Pinto, CEO, Weber Shandwick, India
Valerie Pinto is CEO of Weber Shandwick in India. Valerie has over fifteen years of experience in the field of communications and image management. She has been a strategic counselor to Fortune 500 companies and C-suite executives on shaping their reputation with influential stakeholders.
During her tenure with Perfect Relations, she has relentlessly built the agency to become one of the largest public relations consultancies in India with over 400 professionals and 200 prestigious clients. Under her leadership, the firm has grown to become a force to reckon with in business sectors such as consumer and lifestyle, corporate and finance, technology, litigation management, crisis communications and digital PR. Perfect Relations has won the Holmes SABRE Award for Agency of the year 2013 and several awards for consumer brand campaigns as well as for crisis communications.
She has a successful track record of entering new markets/businesses in India and turning them around and placing them on a growth and profitability trajectory.
Valerie holds a post graduate degree in communications from Xavier’s Institute of Communications. She has been a topper in Economics from Mumbai University. A National Level Heptathlon Athlete and a State level Basketball Player are her achievement in sports. In her personal life, she is described as an avid traveler for food, an animal lover and a talented pastry chef.
Mr. Asim Kumar, Director – Cerebrus Consultants
Asim has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Birla Engineering College, Anand, and a management degree from NMIMS, Mumbai.
Asim is part of the core team of Cerebrus and has been with Cerebrus since 2006. He has over 19 years of prior work experience as a Management Consultant and in line roles in Sales and Business development. He has worked earlier in AF Ferguson, QAI, Tata Exports and Sterlite. Asim leads Cerebrus in North India and also for the Development sector. He has worked across our service areas in a large variety of sectors. His unique mix of having done significant work for the public sector, private sector and Not for profit sector has brought many insights to his advisory work as well as a HR partner to clients. Asim also leads our work in Nepal. He has worked on several international assignments in markets like Africa, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Asim is a certified Coach.
Asim is an expert in the Development sector and has worked with all the major international NGOs besides a large number of local NGOs.
Mr. Chandrashekher Lala Das, Managing Director, Social Alpha
Mr. Chandrashekher Lala Das is the Managing Director of Social Alpha and a distinguished Director. An MBA from IIM Kolkata and B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from NIT Silchar, he combines technical expertise with strategic leadership.
With decades of experience, Mr. Das has built large-scale businesses, driving growth and profitability in healthcare, automobiles, electronics, and energy. Passionate about talent development, customer experience, and financial prudence, he excels in forging lasting partnerships and delivering positive outcomes.
As a functional head, he has transformed key areas including strategic planning, HR, marketing & sales, e-commerce, commercialization, and compliance, fostering innovation and success.
Harish Hande, Founder and Chief Executive – SELCO Foundation
Harish Hande is a renewable energy entrepreneur and social innovator with over 30 years of grassroots experience advancing sustainable energy access for underserved communities. He is the Founder and Chief Executive of SELCO Foundation and the founder of SELCO India, established to make decentralized renewable energy solutions accessible to low-income households.
His work focuses on addressing the energy needs of underserved populations through context-specific, financially viable solutions that improve livelihoods, strengthen essential services, and contribute to poverty alleviation. He has championed an approach that combines technological innovation with an understanding of local needs, demonstrating how sustainable energy can support inclusive development across sectors such as health, education, and livelihoods. Under his leadership, these efforts have collectively reached over six million people.
Harish holds a degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and a master’s degree and PhD from the University of Massachusetts, USA. His contributions to sustainable energy and social entrepreneurship have earned him several prestigious honors, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2011, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2018, and the Zayed Future Energy Prize in 2018.
Ganesh Satish Neelam, Founding Director – Social Alpha, CEO – Sustain Plus
Ganesh Satish Neelam is the Founding Director of Social Alpha and CEO of Sustain Plus, where he leads large-scale, ecosystem-driven initiatives to strengthen livelihoods, build resilience, and advance economic prosperity for underserved communities in India.
With over 25 years of experience working with rural and tribal communities, Ganesh brings deep understanding of community needs and extensive expertise in designing scalable, sustainable development programmes. He has consistently connected grassroots perspectives with institutional capabilities to drive lasting impact.
A key contribution to his work is the design and leadership of the Lakhpati Kisan programme, which has reached nearly 200,000 households by supporting small and marginal farming families in building sustainable incomes.
Ganesh’s experience combines community-led problem identification with technology and innovation to develop practical solutions across livelihood value chains. He holds a Master’s degree in Geology and is based in Pune, India.
Mr. Raju Kumar Ojha, Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Mr. Raju Kumar Ojha is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, with over 15 years of professional experience in financial management and assurance services.
Prior to joining the Centre for Health Research and Innovation (CHRI), he worked with the Development Assistance group in Price Waterhouse India’s Assurance Services, handling key assignments for Not-for-Profit Organizations and funding agencies such as the Global Fund, Asian Development Bank, USAID, WaterAid, WHO, UNDP, and ICMR. His expertise includes audits, operational and financial reviews, internal audits, capacity assessments, progress evaluations, and budget/work plan reviews.
Mr. Ojha’s extensive background in financial monitoring, audits, and capacity building ensures strong financial governance and organizational sustainability.