Board of Directors

Nisaba Godrej is the Chairperson and Managing Director of Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL). She has been a key architect of GCPL's strategy and transformation in the last decade.

She is also the Chairperson of Teach for India and sits on the board of Godrej Agrovet, VIP Industries and Mahindra & Mahindra. She has a BSc degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Nisaba is passionate about education, the human mind, trekking and equestrian sports. She is currently focused on navigating the coronavirus crisis for the organisations she serves with humility, hustle, clarity
and love.

Sudhir Sitapati is the Managing Director and CEO of Godrej Consumer Products Limited.

Prior to this, Sudhir was the Executive Director - Foods and Refreshments at Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). In his 22 years at HUL, he led teams across several categories and functions in India, Europe, South East Asia, and Africa to create significant value for the business. Sudhir was appointed to the HUL Management Committee as an Executive Director in 2016, making him one of its youngest ever members.

Under Sudhir’s leadership, HUL built up its Foods and Refreshments business as one of the largest in India. This included the USD 5 billion merger and integration of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare with HUL, the largest deal of its kind in the FMCG sector in India. In his previous roles, Sudhir was instrumental in creating a world-class Tea business for HUL in India and leading HUL’s Soaps business in the country.

He is a past Co-chair of the CII National Committee of Food Processing and the FMCG Committee. He was also a member of the advisory board of Flipkart in 2015. Sudhir was awarded the ‘Young Alumni Achiever’ by his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, in 2017. He is also the author of the best-selling book 'The CEO Factory: Management lessons from Hindustan Unilever'.

Sudhir has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a B.Sc. in Math with Economics Honours from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. He is the author of the best-selling book ‘The CEO Factory: Management lessons from Hindustan Unilever’. Sudhir is married to Ketki and spends his free time trying to get his children, Sahaana and Kabir, interested in his own hobbies — tennis, Hindustani music, farming and scrabble. So far to not much avail.

Mr. Nadir B. Godrej is the Managing Director of Godrej Industries Limited & Chairman of Godrej Agrovet Limited. Mr. Godrej has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

He has been a Director of several Godrej companies since 1977 and has developed the animal feed, agricultural inputs and chemicals businesses of Godrej Industries and other associate companies, and has been very active in research. Mr. Godrej is a member of the South Asia Advisory Board of Harvard Business School.

Mr. Godrej’s outside commitments include: President of The Alliance Francaise De Bombay, CII National Council, Member, Past Chairman CII National Committee on Chemicals - Past Independent Director of Indian Hotels Company Limited and Mahindra & Mahindra Limited for many years. He is a member of the South Asia Research Centre Advisory Board of Harvard Business School.

Mr. Godrej has been awarded the Chevalier de Legion d'Honneur, Globoil Life Time Achievement Award - 2012, OTAI Life Time Achievement Award - 2012, Chemtech CEW Leadership & Excellence Award - 2013, and Chemexcil Life Time Achievement Award - 2013. He also received the Porter Prize 2013 for Creating Shared Value awarded to Godrej Industries Ltd. Mr. Godrej recently received the prestigious CHEMTECH Leadership & Excellence Award 2017 - Hall of Fame.

Also, the Board of Management of Manav Rachna University has unanimously conferred Mr. Godrej with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. And recently Mr. Godrej was presented the award in Business Excellence at the IBG function on 31st January, 2018.

Tanya serves as the Executive Director and Chief Brand Officer of Godrej Industries Ltd., and is responsible for the Godrej Group's brand and communications function, including guiding the Godrej Masterbrand.

Tanya is also a Director on the Board of Godrej Industries Limited, Godrej Consumer Products Limited and Godrej Agrovet Limited.

She also serves on the boards of Britannia, Escorts, Go Airlines, AIESEC and India@75.

Tanya was a member on the Board of the Bharatiya Mahila Bank between November 2013 and May 2015. She was a trustee of Brown University between 2012 and 2018 and continues to be member of the Brown India Advisory Council and on the Watson Institute Board of Overseers.

Tanya was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2007. She is AB cum laudé, Economics & Political Science, Brown University, USA, and an alumna of the Harvard Business School.

Pirojsha Godrej is a Non-executive Director, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), and Executive Chairman of Godrej Properties.

In the years that he has led the company, Godrej Properties has been one of the fastest growing real estate developers in India and for the first time in fiscal year 2016, emerged as India's largest publicly listed real estate developer by sales.

He is the recipient of several recognitions in recent years, including the 'Green Champion Award from the Indian Green Building Council' in 2016, 'Best CEO of the Year at the Construction Times Awards' in 2015, and 'Best People CEO Award by the National Human Resource Development Network' in 2014.

Pirojsha holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, a Master's degree in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Ireena Vittal is a Lead Independent Director, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL).

She is recognised as a thought partner to global and local consumer-facing companies eager to build large-scale, profitable businesses in emerging markets. With a perspective across both developed and emerging markets, she helps companies define dynamic growth portfolios, assemble effective local top teams, and re-craft business models.

She has also served governments and foundations to design and implement solutions core to India’s development, such as sustainable rural growth and inclusive urban development. She was a founding member of the McKinsey global emerging markets practice and of the economic development practice. She is also a much valued counsellor to leaders, who seek her practical judgment and empathetic coaching in an always evolving, often tough market.

Ireena graduated in electronics and has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.

Omkar Goswami is an Independent Director, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL).

He is the Founder and Chairman of CERG Advisory Private Limited. CERG is the acronym for the Corporate and Economic Research Group. Its objectives are to use Indian as well as international resources to provide best in class:

•  Corporate advisory and consulting services for companies and industries in India & abroad.

•  Research and analytics on markets, industries and businesses.

•  Economic and policy analyses of different markets, regions, countries, industries, as well as trade, monetary, fiscal and exchange rate regimes.

•  Strategic profiling of countries, regions and international institutions for clients.

•  Research, surveys and analytical work for governments, companies, banks, investors, international multilateral institutions and NGOs.

•  International and national workshops, conferences and roundtables on focussed policy areas.

Pippa Tubman Armerding is an Independent Director, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL).

She is a lawyer and business professional with 20 years of experience operating across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Throughout her career Pippa has worked in multi-cultural, global environments, providing sophisticated legal and strategic advice to multi-national clients. Pippa is passionate about Africa and opportunities which enable her to use her broad experience to contribute to the development of the continent and make a difference in the lives of its people.

Pippa is currently Director of the Harvard Business School (HBS) Africa Research Office where she is the primary lead for HBS activities on the continent. In her role Pippa is focused on developing and strengthening relationships with business and academic leaders across sub-Saharan Africa, enabling HBS engagement and activities on the continent and supporting the deepening of HBS faculty understanding of African management issues, trends and practices, to develop locally relevant case studies and materials for use in business education around the world.

Prior to joining HBS, Pippa was an independent legal & strategy consultant engaged in projects including those designed to empower and educate young Africans, particularly girls. She was also Legal & Corporate Affairs Director for Microsoft South Africa where as chief legal officer and member of the leadership team she was responsible for all the company's legal and corporate affairs matters.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Pippa held several leadership roles with The Coca-Cola Company across Africa. She served as Director of Pan-African Strategic Initiatives driving the acceleration of still beverages across the continent through exports. In this role, Pippa was also responsible for management of the Pan-Africa System Council of senior Company and Bottler leaders. While at The Coca-Cola Company, Pippa also served as General Counsel for Coca-Cola East & Central Africa based in Nairobi, Kenya where she was responsible for the company's diverse legal affairs across more than 38 countries in the region.

Pippa began her legal career as an attorney with the corporate law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York and Paris where she represented U.S. and international corporations and financial institutions in cross-border securities, mergers & acquisitions and banking transactions and provided analysis and advice to clients on complex and novel aspects of international corporate law.

Pippa is admitted to the New York State bar and received her J.D. in international law from New York University School of Law. She received a B.A. in Government cum laude from Harvard University and is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School General Management program.

Pippa is a member of the board of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls and of the Harvard University Alumni Association of South Africa, She is also the author of "National Jurisprudence in International Tribunals", in International Law Decisions in International Courts, published by Transnational, 1996.

Ndidi Nwuneli is an Independent Director, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL).

She is the managing partner of Sahel Consulting which works across West Africa, unlocking the agriculture and nutrition potential in the region. She is also the co-founder of AACE Foods, which was established in 2009 to fight malnutrition, reduce post-harvest losses among smallholder farmers and displace imports. She is the founder of LEAP Africa which inspires, empowers and equips a new cadre of principled, disciplined and dynamic young leaders in Africa.

Ndidi started her career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, working in their Chicago, New York and Johannesburg Offices. She holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She was a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at the Harvard Kennedy School and an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow.

Ndidi was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and received a National Honor from the Nigerian Government. She was listed as one of the 20 Youngest Power African Women by Forbes. Ndidi serves on the boards of Nestle Nigeria Plc., Nigerian Breweries Plc. (Heineken), Fairfax Africa Holdings Canada, the World Vegetable Center, Royal DSM Sustainability Board, Netherlands, and the Center for Memories.

Ndidi is the author of “Social Innovation in Africa: A Practical Guide for Scaling Impact," published by Routledge. She is a TED Global speaker and her work has been featured on CNN, BBC and a range of international and local media outlets.

Sumeet Narang is an Independent Director, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL).

He is the Founder of Samara Capital, an India focused investment firm with strong focus on growth buyouts. Prior to founding Samara Capital in late 2006, Sumeet briefly worked at Goldman Sachs, New York, in their Proprietary Investments Group. From 2001-04, he worked with Citigroup India across various functions based out of Delhi and Hyderabad. He has also worked with the Fiat Group in Italy and India. Sumeet earned a Master's in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar and John Loeb Fellow. He also has a Master's in Business from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, where he was an Aditya Birla Scholar, and a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. Samara Capital has a strong focus in the consumer space and Sumeet has had the opportunity to evaluate and/or invest in multiple companies in the sector across different segments such as retail (including food and grocery retail), quick service restaurants, branded apparel, personal and beauty care, etc. Sumeet sits on the boards of many of these companies and has actively contributed in their growth journeys, some of which have now become market leading companies in their respective segments.

Ms. Shalini is a Senior Director - Country Head for Google Customer Solutions, where she is building the digital ecosystem for India. Her previous roles include Category Director with Amazon India and CEO for Lehar Foods Business for PepsiCo. Ms. Shalini did her bachelors in engineering from IIT, Madras, Personnel Management from XLRI, and MBA from INSEAD.

Ms. Shalini is a leader with deep expertise in marrying digital with physical gained through transformative leadership across Tech, e-commerce and FMCG in multiple geographies across the world.

She has been honoured as ‘Young Global Leader’ by the World Economic Forum. She has also been awarded the ’40 under 40 Influential Leaders Award’ by Economic Times and Spencer Stuart in 2014 and recognised as one of the ‘Women Leaders to Watch in 2015’.

Ms. Shalini is a keen champion of women’s rights. She has been working in the area of women’s empowerment and prevention of female foeticide for the last 25 years.