Diversity and Inclusion in the Start-Up Ecosystem

Surekha Routray is a Certified Sustainability Assessor (From UBB, Europe), Certified Valuator (IBBI), and an MBA in Finance and Marketing. She has worked and has expertise in designing and implementing programs with 4 main sectors of the startup ecosystem namely -- agriculture & allied services, animal husbandry, climate & environment, livelihood and diversity & inclusion -- and has worked with more than 100 start-ups. She has an interesting amalgamation of 10+ years of corporate exposure (from India & US), 5+ years academic interfacing and 6+ years of startup ecosystem. She has extensively worked on many national and international projects (US and EU) for promoting social entrepreneurship and diversity & inclusion. She is an ardent promoter of technology that can create large scalesocietal impact. She is also closely working with FPO's and self-help groups in several programs for creating inclusive growth and a sustainable circular economy. She runs the Founder Start School for Women Entrepreneurs and is one of the session experts for the Sustainability Course for Professional being conducted by All India Management Association (AIMA).

Nayan Mitra works and contributes in the space of Sustainability, CSR and Responsible Leadership. She is the series editor of Responsible Business and Sustainable Management by Springer, is the editor of the books 'Corporate Social Responsibility in India: Cases and Development after the Legal Mandate' in India (2017), 'Mandated Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from India' (2019), 'Corporate Social Responsibility in Rising Economies: Fundamentals, Approaches and Case Studies' (2020) with co-editor, Dr. Rene Schmidpeter (Germany) that has been published by Springer International (Switzerland); is Academic Council member and Science Board member in International Academic forums. Dr. Mitra is the recipient of the prestigious Author Award at the Indian CSR Leadership Summit three years in a row: 2017, 2018 and 2019; adjudged as one of the 25 most impactful CSR Leaders in India 2019 and many other international awards for her contribution to CSR and recognised as an Exceptional Woman of Excellence at the Women Economic Forum, 2019 & 2022 (New Delhi, India); the Global Excellence Awards as the Top 40 Female Leaders of the Year, 2020-2021; The Restore Awards, 2021; Womennovator Award 2021; Most Impactful Sustainability Leader Award 2023. She feels deeply for women's issues and is the National President of the Women's Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI) Sustainable Businesses Council; G-100 for Circular Economy; - where she continuously strives to bring in innovative programmes to contribute to the impact of SDG 5. She is also a pro-bono member of the Advisory Councilan