Events

Viji Venkatesh brings with her 36 years of professional experience in cancer patient care and support in her role as Region Head, India and South Asia at the Max Foundation. Viji began with the Max Foundation in 2002 by leading the administration of the Glivec International Patient Assistance Programme (GIPAP) in India. Today, she is in charge of the Max Access Solutions (MAS) Programme in the region, which has absorbed and taken under its umbrella of management all patients who were receiving support from the earlier programme.

During the last 22 years, alongside these access programmes, she has developed the Friends of Max (FOM) patient support group, which began in Mumbai and now has 35 local chapters throughout India with over 320 core group volunteer leaders representing more than 18,000 members.

Prof. Sesha Iyer will share how spirituality helped him navigate his professional journey. His career spans over 5 decades, with 15 years of industry engagement in materials and manufacturing and over 35 years of academic engagement with engineering and management institutions. An immensely passionate educator, he pursued teaching Operations and Supply Chain Management to MBA programmes at business schools and conducting Management Development Programmes (MDP) with corporates and institutions. In addition, Prof. Iyer has led senior administrative leadership roles and responsibilities as principal of an engineering college and director of a business school. He has been honoured with an award for his distinguished contributions to higher education.

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Mansi Jasani is a cheesemaker, cheesemonger and the founder of the Cheese Collective Bombay. Her cheese journey began in 2011 at Murray’s Cheese, New York. Since then, she has been constantly learning about cheese and mongering through her experiences at cheese conferences and festivals in the US, Italy, Spain and France. Her experience ranges from making, curating and selling cheese and boards to teaching workshops and co-authoring a chapter on India in the Oxford Companion to Cheese.

She is also the first and only ever Indian judge and super jury at the World Cheese Awards, which took place in Spain in 2021, Wales in 2022, Norway in 2023 and Portugal in 2024. Mansi is all about cheese and the ideas and items that go with it. She is also the first Indian to be inducted into the Guilde des Fromagers, an international cheese guild of French origins. She loves to share the story of cheese and find the next unique pairing.

Ruchita will talk about her journey through the SPJIMR Abhyudaya programme and how she entered the professional world despite the challenges. With seven years of diverse experience across departments such as MIS, Sales, and Administration, Ruchita Sail currently serves as an Assistant in the PGDM programme at SPJIMR. A proud alumna of Abhyudaya’s Sitara programme, she holds a Master’s degree in Commerce (M.Com) from the University of Mumbai.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, she is a classically trained dancer in Kathak and Bharatanatyam, showcasing a unique blend of academic, professional, and artistic excellence.

Aditya, SPJIMR alumni from the PGDM 2019, is the Marketing Lead at J&J with more than 5 years of experience in the Healthcare industry. He is a “One Young World” global ambassador for J&J. He is passionate about delivering good to society through both professional and personal initiatives. He is a guest faculty member at business schools and has a case published by Emerald Publishing House.

An inquisitive individual, Prakhar Nema is a PGDM student at SPJIMR with a diverse background spanning finance, public service preparation, and economics. With previous experience at an edtech company, he is passionate about mentoring, sports, and writing. He also enjoys exploring creative pursuits and contributing to NGOs.

A sportsperson by heart, Kevin Thomas is a PGDM(BM) student at SPJIMR. He was previously a digital specialist engineer at Infosys Limited. He enjoys acting in theatre and is an avid sports enthusiast. He combines his extroverted nature with a love for storytelling. In his leisure time, he enjoys writing and engaging in creative pursuits.