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The Board of Governors

August 2021

  • Zhooben Bhiwandiwala

    Published 17/08/21, by Afsha Sethi

    Mr. Zhooben Bhiwandiwala is the Chairman of the UWC National Committee of India. He currently heads the Mahindra Partners division and additionally oversees the Group Legal function. The Mahindra Partners division is the 1 Bn USD Private Equity and Venture Capital division of the Mahindra Group and is the channel for the Group’s diversified new investments.

    Zhooben joined the Mahindra Group in 1985, and through a remarkable 34 year career has acquired a wide spectrum of experience across diverse roles in a number of key positions in several business sectors. As a long-standing veteran, he has traversed an interesting path across the Group during the past three decades, in terms of the diversity of roles, their geographic reach and location, as also the industry verticals.

    Currently, Zhooben is a Director on the Boards of a number of companies of the Mahindra Group including many of its overseas subsidiaries. Besides chairing the Board of UWC India, he sits on the Boards of Mahindra Intertrade, Mahindra CIE, Mahindra Holdings, Mahindra Susten, FirstCry and The East India Company. He is also a member of the Global Advisory Board of i-Probono, UK, and Safe Kids Foundation, India.

    Zhooben is one of the chief architects of Mahindra Partners. The Division adapts the Group’s unique strengths of constant innovation, prudence and creative business models with the mandate of incubating new ventures for the Group. Mahindra Partners accelerates value creation through a diversified global portfolio of emergent businesses spanning various industry sectors like Cleantech, Steel, Retail, Consulting, Healthcare, Boat Manufacturing, Conveyor Systems, AI & Analytics.

    While professionally qualified as a Chartered Accountant, he has through these exposures collected a rich basket of experience and made valuable contributions to the Mahindra Group.

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  • Nyrika Holkar

    Published 16/08/21, by Afsha Sethi

    Nyrika Holkar is an alumna of UWC Adriatic and the Executive Director of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd (‘G&B’). She leads Digital Strategy, Brand, Legal and M&A for G&B and its subsidiaries. In this capacity, she drives a company-wide strategy on building new digital interventions through online platforms and ecosystems to help improve customer experience, foster collaborative innovation, and enhance data-led decision making in business. A qualified solicitor, Nyrika is responsible for the company’s global legal strategy including supervising commercial contracts, structuring M&A transactions as well as the protection and enhancement of the organisation’s intellectual property across its 14 businesses. As the Brand Custodian, she works closely with the Sustainability, Marketing and Communication teams across G&B with a focus on building a responsible corporate brand. As a member of the G&B board of directors she is also involved with key decisions related to business strategy, talent management and corporate governance. During her tenure as Executive Director, Nyrika has helped significantly reduce the G&B Group’s financial exposure by streamlining the negotiation and contract management process through an end-to-end digitised contract life cycle management platform. She is also a director on the Board of Godrej Infotech, a subsidiary of G&B and is involved in key decisions with regard to IT security and technology platforms across the Group and is working to enhance G&B’s partnership with startups and technology partners to improve the digital ecosystem for G&B businesses. Nyrika began her career at legal firm AZB & Partners where she specialised in M&A transactions and advised foreign companies seeking to invest in India before joining G&B. She graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Philosophy and Economics from Colorado College, USA and obtained LL.B and LL.M degrees from University College London, UK. She is a member of the Bar Association of India and is a qualified Solicitor in the United Kingdom. She is an ardent supporter of the environment. As Chairperson of the G&B CSR Committee, Nyrika is actively involved in G&B’s community development efforts including education, skilling and the preservation and protection of Mumbai’s mangroves. Trekking, Wildlife and Photography are some of her abiding interests beyond work. Nyrika is a member on the Board of the Centre for the Advancement of Philanthropy and the United World Colleges Committee (UWC) India. She is a Fellow of the Ananta Aspen Centre’s Fellowship and a member of Aspen Global Leadership Network. She is married and lives in Mumbai with her husband Yeshwant and her daughter.

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