About the Awards

The Inspiring and Successful Leadership Awards (ISLA) were instituted by Pragati Leadership in 2022, to recognize corporate leaders in India who have motivated high-achieving teams and led their organizations towards success in business and social indicators.

The ISLA Awards have become a platform to celebrate stellar leadership qualities and aim to catalyze a culture of inspiring, successful leaders across sectors. They are known for being authentic awards judged by a jury of luminaries from industry, academic, and social spheres.

View jury members and winners of

The 2023 ISLA Awards presentation ceremony will be held on 13th September, 2023, at the Jio World Convention Center in Mumbai.

Event Details

Date: 13 September 2023

Time: 6:30 PM

Venue: Room 205A and B, Level 2, Jio World Convention Centre, Gate 20, BKC, Mumbai 400051, Maharashtra, India

Awards Category and Eligibility

This year, we seek to recognize eminent leaders from the following 5 sectors:

  • Manufacturing & Supply Chain
  • IT & ITES
  • Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance BFSI
  • Pharma & Chemicals
  • Fast Moving Consumer Goods FMCG

We request you nominate people whom you believe are qualified to join the list of India’s top leaders for the following awards in each of the above sectors.

  • Inspiring and Successful Leaders: CEOs or MDs from companies in the above-mentioned sectors, based in India.
  • Rising Stars: Leaders holding other positions at Indian companies.

Selection Process

Nominations will be accepted from any individual, organization, or institution – including self-nominations.

If shortlisted, you will be contacted for an interview. Carefully evaluated nominations will be presented to the Inspiring and Successful Leadership Awards Jury.

Chief Guest

Vaibhav-Dange-QR

Mr. VAIBHAV DANGE

We are thrilled and honored to announce that Mr. Vaibhav Dange a visionary leader and an inspiration to many, will grace our event as the Chief Guest at the Inspiring and Successful Leadership Awards!

Mr Dange is a Public Policy Expert on Infrastructure, Green Fuels & Sustainable Mobility. Formerly Private Secretary & Advisor to Union Road Transport & Shipping Minister, Government of India.

He brings a wealth of experience and expertise, making his presence at the event truly invaluable.

Inspiring and Successful Leadership Awards

Judges Spotlight

Meet the extraordinary people who have agreed to select the winners of the Inspiring and Successful Leadership Awards 2023.

Dr. Niloufer Aga

Facilitator, Consultant, Coach

Dr. Niloufer Aga has over 25 years experience in Education and Corporate Training. She has completed 650+ programs as a facilitator (8000+ hours) and almost 550 hours of Coaching.

As a researcher, teacher and a guide she won the NCERT award for “Innovative Teaching Techniques”. She co-authored and compiled the book ‘Creative Teachers – A Manual’ and presented papers on Systems Thinking (Levels 1 &2) in Singapore.

Dr. Aga is certified for a number of global certifications, including MBTI, six seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment, Master practitioner for NLP, Executive Coaching from the FastTrack Coach Academy, and for Systems Thinking (level 1 and 2) and Teacher-Training, Strengthscope, OPQ – Occupational Personality Questionnaire.

Niloufer has a PhD in Socioloty and a Post-graduate degree in Instructional Design.

Dr. Apoorva Palkar

Vice Chancellor
Maharashtra State Skills University Mumbai

Dr. Apoorva Palkar, the Founding Vice Chancellor of Maharashtra State Skills University (MSSU), brings with her a rich academic experience of over 28 years in Higher Education and a proven track record as an institution builder. Prior to her role at MSSU, she served as the Director of Innovation, Incubation, and Linkages at Savitribai Phule Pune University for four years, where she made significant contributions in the field of start-ups and entrepreneurship.

Having served as the Past National President of the Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS), Dr. Palkar’s expertise and influence extend globally, having worked with international agencies like ACBSB (USA) and EFMD (Europe) and closely collaborated with UNSECOSOC Council and UN Procurement Division.

Ninad Karpe

Founder & Partner at 100X.VC

Ninad Karpe is a Co-Founder & Partner at 100X.VC – a VC firm, which invests in early-stage start-ups and has invested in 130 startups so far.

Karpe was the MD & CEO of Aptech Ltd. for more than 7 years and previously served CA Technologies as Managing Director of India.

Karpe has authored a book on business strategies, titled “BOND to BABA”. He was the Chairman, Western Region of CII for 2017-18, an honorary position.

Karpe is passionate about supporting theatre and has co-produced 3 Marathi plays.

Pradeep Mallick

Chairman, The Listening Post
Former MD, Wartsila India

Mr. Mallick worked with Corporates for 36 years in the field of Power Distribution, Transmission, and Generation, the last being as MD Wartsila.

He was conferred Knight First Class of the Order of The White Rose of Finland by the President of Finland.

He is a Past Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Western Region and a Past President of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

He served as a professional independent Non-Executive Director on over 25 Corporate Boards since 1996.

Since 2004, he is an Executive Coach/Mentor to Corporate Executives and a Strategic Adviser cum Sounding Board to CEOs.

He is associated with several social causes and is a Trustee of Population First.

He graduated in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras and received a Diploma in Business Management from the UK. He is a ‘Chartered Engineer’, Fellow of the Institution of Engineering & Technology (FIET), London. He was honoured by IITM with the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Deadline for Nominations

16 August 2022

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Our Sponsors 

ISLA Nominees

Vinay Razdan

CHRO, HDFC Bank

Manish Bhatnagar

President : SKF India and SE Asia

Rajesh Rathi

MD: Sudarshan Chemicals

Rakesh Makkar

CEO: Bajaj Auto Consumer Finance Ltd

Falguni Nayar

CEO, Nykaa

Saurabh Gadgil

MD & CEO: Png Jewellers

Rahul Sinha

CHRO, Pidilite Industries

Jitendra Tanna

Founder, President, and CEO : Infobeans CloudTech

Vijay Sivaram

CEO: Quess IT Staffing

Prameela Kalive

COO Mastek Group

Rajat Raheja

Division President, Amdocs

Pirojshaw Sarkari

CEO : Gati-Kintetsu Express Private Ltd (GKEPL)

Veena Kohli

CEO: Vanguard Diagnostics

Anuradha Razdan

Executive Director, Human Resources (HR) and Vice President HR, Unilever South Asia

Karan Khanna

VP, BharatPe

Debadarshi Sengupta

Head L&D/ Talent Management and Employee engagement, Bajaj Allianz

Insta Influencer Laksh Maheshwari will present a unique experience

Stories and songs that resonate deep within, inspiring connection and sparking the flames of imagination.

Self-Nomination

Nominate Your Peer

Have Questions? Email us.