Naina Lal Kidwai

Chair
, Advent Private Equity India Advisory Board
Profile / Bio: 

Titles: Commissioner, The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate; Chair, Advent Private Equity India Advisory Board; Past President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, India; and recipient of Padma Shri Award, the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India.

Naina Lal Kidwai is the Chair of Advent Private Equity India Advisory board; a non-executive director on the boards of LafargeHolcim, Max Financial Services, and CIPLA; member Standard Chartered International Advisory Council and India Advisory Council of the US - India Business Council (USIBC); Trustee of Asia House in the UK and Past President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). She retired on December 2015 as Executive Director on the board of HSBC Asia Pacific and Chair of HSBC India, and in April 2018 as Non-Executive director on the global board of Nestle.

An MBA from Harvard Business School, she is regularly recognized by Fortune and others as a leader among international women in business. A recipient of many awards and honors, she was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India for her contribution to Trade and Industry. She is the author of three 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.”
Ms. Kidwai also serves as a Commissioner for the Global Commission on Economy & Climate. Her interests in water, sanitation, the environment, and the empowerment of women are reflected through her engagements at Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, International Advisory Council of the Inquiry of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Advisory Board Wildlife Conservation Trust, The Rockefeller Foundation Economic Council for Planetary Health, Chair of FICCI’s Water Mission and founder and Chair of the India Sanitation Coalition.

She chairs the India Financial Services Working Group of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) Business Council and is a member of the India—ASEAN Business Council. She is also a member of the Army Group Insurance Fund, and Harvard Business School South Asia Advisory Board.
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.

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