An MBA from Harvard Business School, Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai brings in rich experience in the areas of banking and finance. She makes regular appearance on listings by Fortune and others of international women in business. A recipient of many awards and honours, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contribution to Trade and Industry.

Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai is presently the Chairman of Advent Private Equity India Advisory Board; a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of LafargeHolcim, Max Financial Services, Gland Pharma and Cipla; Trustee of Asia House in the UK; India Advisory Council member of the US-India Business Council (USIBC); and Past President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). She retired in December 2015 as an Executive Director from the Board of HSBC Asia Pacific and Chairman of HSBC India, and in April 2018 as Non-Executive Director on the global board of Nestle.

She has published several articles in mainline dailies and has authored 3 books, “Survive Or Sink - An Action Agenda for Sanitation, Water, Pollution and Green Finance”, “Contemporary Banking in India” and “30 Women in Power: Their Voices, Their Stories.”

Her interests in water, sanitation and the environment and empowerment of women are reflected in her engagements at Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, International Advisory Council of the Inquiry of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Commissioner for the Global Commission on Economy & Climate, Advisory Board Wildlife Conservation Trust, The Rockfeller Foundation Economic Council for Planetary Health, Chair of FICCI’s Water Mission and founder and Chair of the India Sanitation Coalition.

She chairs the Financial Services Working Group of the BRICs Business Council and is a member the INDO-ASEAN Business Council. She is also a member of the Army Group Insurance Fund’s investment advisory committee, Harvard Business School’s South Asia Advisory Board and Standard Chartered Bank’s International Advisory Council.

She has been a member of the Government of India’s Industry Task Force, the Prime Minister’s Trade and Industry Council, the National Manufacturing Council, the National Trade Council, and on the Working Group on Banking, Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission and the National Institute of Bank Management.

Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Lady Shriram College, Delhi University and Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, Boston, USA.