Ms. Saakshi Kulkarni has started her journey as an entrepreneur in the exports and construction fields in 1994 onwards and she has joined SME Chamber of India in 2000. Since then, she is handling various matters related to international cooperation, collaborations, export promotion and business development as well as resolving the issues and grievances of the business sectors. She has been on the forefront for organising business activities for the benefit of SMEs, entrepreneurs, manufacturing industries, start-ups, young and women entrepreneurs to enhance their connectivity for business growth and expansion. Under her active leadership, SME Chamber of India has initiated Women Entrepreneurs Development Council (WEDC) and now she is taking care to accomplish the objectives and activities of the Council as an Executive Director.

Mrs. Manjusha Bhave has been appointed as a Chairperson of Women Entrepreneurs Development Council (WEDC) for Maharashtra State for 3 years to accomplish the objectives of the Council. Mrs. Bhave is a successful global entrepreneur and Managing Director of M/s. Giiava Group involving manufacturing activities & spread across India & Singapore and based in Pune, having Rs.100 crores turnover of her own company and her family-owned business is also having approximately Rs.1,000 crores in BIOTECH & AGRITECH products. She has been regularly organizing training and educational programs under the CSR activities & encouraging women to become entrepreneurs and empowering as well as skilling existing women entrepreneurs for sustainable growth.

Dr. Madhumita Patil has been appointed as a Chairperson of Women Entrepreneurs Development Council (WEDC) for Mumbai Chapter for 2 years to accomplish the objectives of the Council and organise various activities, business conferences & events, knowledge sharing sessions, training and educational programs for the benefit & empowerment of women entrepreneurs and supporting them to enhance business contacts & growth, Channelise finance and investments, supply and procurement, identify advanced technology, strategic business alliance for marketing, promotion, branding, distribution, franchise and mentoring young women entrepreneurs and start-ups for the better skilling and scaling their businesses for more profitability and sustainable growth. The main objective of the Council is to encourage potential women to become entrepreneurs and strengthen their family-owned business for better growth. The Council is founded by Shri Chandrakant Salunkhe, who is Founder & President of SME Chamber of India and Start-ups Council of India and successfully functioning under the dynamic leadership of Ms. Saakshi Kulkarni, who has been putting efforts as an Executive Director for the last 15 years. Dr. Patil possesses a wealth of diverse experience of over three decades in the areas such as Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Human Resources, Management Education and Cultural Studies both nationally and internationally. Dr. Patil is also known for her creativity and commitment to the quality and her active involvement in WEDC will be beneficial to women entrepreneurs and start-ups to enhance their knowledge, contacts and skill for better scaling their business ventures.

Sandy Nathan, director of BDB Brand Management LLC (www.bdbme.com), spearheaded the branding and PR of many multinational brands under her company. Working with the best, her company’s clientele enlisted some of the most prestigious brands like Mercedes-Benz, Electrolux, Hoover, Russel Hobbs, Gerard Darel, Alfa Romeo, Saab and Volvo (Geely), Western Auto, Manlift, furniture brand 2XL, leading Japanese skincare brand Sensai, popular French lingerie brands Chantelle and Passionata, Loreal and Medcare Hospital among others.

A qualified Cost Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst, she began her career with the Al Ghurair Group in the engineering division and then moved on to Interconsult, working in close association with big names in the industry like Merrill Lynch, Solomon Smith Barney, Lazard Freres and CIBC as a Portfolio Manager and Financial Consultant of high net worth groups in UAE and Oman.

She ideated and published weekly articles on ‘International Money Markets’ for 7 years published in ‘The Times of Oman’ under the title of ‘Money Markets’ that mapped out the changes in the US, Europe and Japanese financial market trends, the financial markets she specialized in.

Her role at BDB is multifaceted, where she Directed the complete operations of all aspects of the company, from financial management to creative output and the smooth functioning of all departments. As part of brand management, Sandy directed market research for multinationals and planned their product launch platforms with her qualified team of professionals, and planed the promotion of brands using a wide spectrum of media vehicles involving retail promotions, pricing analysis and creative campaigns.

Taking forward her love for design and her professional expertise in Cost and Project Management she set foot in the foray of interior design and projects by setting up her own Interior Design unit called Dot Ten Interiors that focuses on fusing high tech solutions within the retail and corporate structures to make retail marketing promotions much more effective and scalable and corporate settings that much more new age.

Leading on from her passion in business, she is the Co-founder / Director of Diplomat’s Summit, a UK, UAE and India company which is a global consortium with satellite offices in UK, India and Africa and global trade association connections aiming to foster private and public sector partnerships and bringing forth innovative events and exhibitions.

She has been felicitated with many awards, like the Peace price on Adams Day for fostering peace in corporate settings, the Business Gems Award by the Ismaili Foundation for exceptional growth in Entrepreneurial fields of business. Her company was featured in the Forbes top 100 and also nominated for various Media Awards. Her recent appointment was with the G100 most powerful women globally as country chairperson for Advocacy and Communication. She speaks in various international conventions on how we can command our reality by having a command over our mind - As putting Mind over Matter among many other topics.

In her free time she is a writer and loves interviewing celebrity brands with an unquenchable thirst to unveil engaging brand stories through her recently launched PR channel registered in the UK called ‘The Label Sticks’(www.thelabelsticks.com).

She is also a Life Coach in Corporate, Health and Nutrition Fields, a Hypnotherapist, an NLP expert, Master coach in Mindfulness and overcoming trauma and Access Consciousness Facilitator Coach, being invited by Corporates as a motivational and transformational speaker on special days and occasions.

A well-known business entity, Sandy has been featured in various magazines and interviews for her work and is graced with the status of mentoring her employees and has mentored various youth and women with her fiery approach to professionalism and excellence in accomplishing the highest possible pinnacle in Entrepreneurship, Project, Finance and Asset Management.