Mathew Cyriac holds a Bachelor Degree in Engineering and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. He was awarded the IIMB Gold Medal for graduating at the top of his MBA class.

Mathew Cyriac is currently working with Florintree Advisors. He served as the Managing Director in the Corporate Private Equity Group of Blackstone India based in Mumbai for nearly a decade. He has rich experience in the Investment Banking Division of Bank of America in India and in the Engineering Division of Tata Motors. He also served as Head Corporate Development Strategy of iGate Global Solutions Limited.

Rama Bijapurkar is a recognised thought leader on business-market strategy and India’s consumer economy. She, an independent management consultant, is amongst India’s most experienced Independent Board Directors with extensive experience on the Boards of several of India’s Blue-chip Companies and Public Institutions and also is a Professor of Management Practice at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

She has been a dominant voice in the Indian media on business and policy issues, and is the author of hallmark books on Consumer India “We are like that only: Understanding the Logic of Consumer India”, “A Never-Before World: Tracking the Evolution of Consumer India” and “Customer in the Boardroom – crafting customer-based business strategy”.

Her over four decades of work experience in strategy consulting and market research includes her own consulting practice, and employment with McKinsey Company; MARG (now Nielsen India), Mode Services (now TNS India).

Rama Bijapurkar holds a B.Sc (Hons) degree in Physics from Delhi University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Pavitra Rajaram is the founder and Creative Director of Pavitra Rajaram Design, a multidisciplinary design practice that straddles the worlds of architecture & interior design, brand strategy and experience design and product design.

For 25 years, Pavitra Rajaram was the Lead Designer of the luxury retail brand Good Earth. She was also responsible for the Visual Merchandising, Creative Strategy and Communication strategy for the brand. During this time, she was also a key member of the core team that set up two ancillary brands: Nicobar and Paro.

Since 2004, Pavitra has run her own bespoke interior design practice and is the creator of iconic spaces including nine Good Earth stores across India, restaurants such as The Tasting Room, Slink & Bardot & Soufflé in Bombay, Domakonda Fort; a 200-year-old fortification in Telangana and several private residences.

For the past 15 years, Pavitra has advised clients in the retail space on creative strategy, design thinking and how to create holistic customer experiences through innovation in product, retail and below-the-line communication strategy. Client partners include the Taj Hotels, Zoya, Apollo Hospitals
and KEF Holdings.

Pavitra also drives brand strategy and storytelling at ‘Sarmaya’, a not-for-profit museum archive she runs along with her husband Mr. Paul Abraham. Sarmaya is committed to bringing awareness of India’s vast repository of historic and cultural art & craft traditions to underserved communities, through a digital presence, innovative programming, and outreach.

Pavitra is the Design Director for Asian Paints, India’s market leader in the paints industry. Since 2011, she has been a key stakeholder in evolving the brand’s strategy from being a paint company to a leader in design-led décor solutions. In this role, Pavitra oversees the creative strategy for various non-paint categories including wallcoverings, fabrics & furnishing, lighting, floor covering, fenestration,
flooring, bath and kitchens.

In the past two years, Pavitra has created her own bespoke design collections in collaboration with leading lifestyle and décor brands in India. Her collection of floor and wall tiles ‘Farsh’ for Bharat Floorings & Tiles was launched in February 2023 at India Design 2023 and her line of hand-knotted carpets “Majnun” for Jaipur Rugs will be launched at Salone Mobil in Milan in April 2023.

Along with other industry stalwarts, Pavitra is a founder patron of The India Design Fund, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on advocacy, collaborations and support to those whose lives and livelihoods are connected to craft and traditional practices in design. She has previously served as a founding Board Member of Women Weave, an organization that aims to connect women weavers with sustainable livelihoods. Many of the women have never woven before and WW therefore provides them with training and opportunities for progressive skills enhancement to maximise their livelihood opportunities. Pavitra regularly advises various NGOs in the craft space including the Kishkinda
Trust, KalaRaksha and Paramparik Karigar. During her time as an undergraduate in the US, Pavitra served for a year in the office of Patricia Schroeder (D-CO) and worked actively on the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues.

Pavitra is a recipient of the INTACH Urban Heritage Award, the EDIDA award for Product Design and is a five-time winner of the prestigious AD100, awarded annually to the 100 most influential designers in the Indian subcontinent.

Pavitra has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Art History and received magna cum laude from Smith College, Massachusetts, USA.

At Smith, she was President of her graduating class, the first International Student and woman of color to hold this position.