Optum India, with Avtar Career Creators Limited as knowledge partner, hosted a powerful day of conversations on sponsorship, culture and accelerating women’s leadership journeys.
More than 100 leaders, industry experts, and changemakers came together at the exclusive invite-only event, EmpowHer – From High Performance to High Impact, hosted by Optum India in collaboration with Avtar Career Creators Limited at Optum Gurugram. The summit, held on May 13th, was aimed at exploring the realities of inclusive leadership in today’s rapidly evolving workspace.
The summit commenced with a keynote from Uma Ratnam Krishnan, Managing Director, Optum India, who set a compelling vision for the day’s discussions, emphasizing the importance of visible leadership in inspiring women to thrive, lead with confidence, and shape the future of work. She underscored that building inclusive, high-impact organizations requires leaders to move beyond intent and actively create pathways where women can grow, lead, and influence outcomes at scale.
An event highlight that brought a powerful personal lens to these themes was an engaging session with Gul Panag, Actor, Producer & Entrepreneur. Drawing from her multi-faceted journey, she spoke about reinvention as a constant, the role of resilience in navigating transitions, and the importance of staying curious in an ever-evolving world. Her reflections went beyond inspiration, reinforcing that sustained success is built on the courage to continuously adapt, challenge self-limits and carve out one’s own path in high-performance.
One of the key highlights of the conclave was a fireside chat titled “Beyond Intent: What Does Inclusive Leadership Really Mean When the Quarter is on the Line?” with Dr. Saundarya Rajesh, MD, Avtar Career Creators Limited and Ritu Tushir, Head of Human Resources, NatWest, moderated by R Ramasubramanian, VP and Head of Technology, Optum India. The discussion offered thoughtful perspectives on sustaining inclusivity as a critical enabler of long-term growth and underscored the importance of leaders making intentional investments in people and possibilities to unlock enduring value.
Key takeaways from the session included:
- Women are often evaluated based on demonstrated capability, and not their potential.
- Career-defining inflection points emerge when leaders make deliberate and strategic investments in talent.
- Sponsorship plays a critical role requiring leaders to actively champion talent while women proactively seek out and engage with sponsors.
- It is essential for women to confidently claim their space, voice and leadership opportunities.
The first panel, titled “The Navigator’s Playbook: The Inflection Points That Decide a Woman’s Senior Trajectory,” featured Harish Gudi, Senior Vice President, Optum Insight; Jaspreet Bakshi, Partner & India HR Leader, Marsh; Leenika Khattar, Director – Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (DIB) Charter at NASSCOM; and Shreya Krishnan, Managing Director, AnitaB.org as speakers. This panel, moderated by Sameera Siddiqui, Sr. Director, Operations, Optum India, delved into the nuanced moments that shape women’s progression into senior roles, highlighting the importance of enabling environments and conscious leadership support in influencing long-term career advancement.
The second panel titled “Advancing Women’s Leadership: When Inclusion Becomes Influence,” brought together Harsha Vardhan, VP CIO, Optum Health; Inderpreet Kaur, Chief People Officer, NAB Innovation Centre India; Prachi Rastogi, D&I Lead, IBM APAC & UKI; and Shveta Verma, Managing Director, PwC. Ashish Madan, SVP Operations, Optum, the session focussed on the importance of embedding inclusion within organizational culture, strengthening leadership accountability and fostering equitable environments that drive sustained impact and influence.
The event concluded with an introduction to the Optum flagship Women in Leadership (WIL) program, which aims to build a strong pipeline of women leaders, followed by a felicitation ceremony, celebrating leadership journeys and emerging women leaders within the organization. EmpowHer reinforced a powerful message — inclusion is no longer a separate agenda. It is a leadership responsibility, a business imperative, and a defining force shaping the future of workplaces.
