Aarti Sabhaney is an international technology communications leader with expertise in crafting integrated communication strategies to drive business results. In her current assignment at Dell Technologies, she heads enterprise communications for Asia Pacific & Japan.

With a background in journalism and academics, she lends an innovative approach to capturing mindshare in the digital and technology industry. She has won several awards and has been appointed a judge for the PRWeek Global Awards, International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Gold Quill Awards, and Digital Impact Awards Asia.

Aarti is passionate about mentoring and coaching women in STEM and is a founding member of a Women in Technology group for the Singapore Business and Professional Women’s Association. She has written a research paper on the underrepresentation of women in engineering and artificial intelligence.

She holds two Masters’ degrees including an Executive Masters from INSEAD Asia.

Katarzyna Sienkiewicz is from Poland and currently resides in Singapore.

With a curious nature and passion for science and engineering, she studied at AGH University of Science and Technology in Poland and the University of Stavanger in Norway. While working in the oil and gas industry, she worked in the North Sea and in the desert in the Middle East. She has worked for over seven years in technical operations and is currently managing container vessels that trade globally.

She enjoys working in a dynamic environment and prefers challenging herself by stepping out of her comfort zone. Having worked in a male-dominated environment for most of her career, she participates in initiatives to proactively include women in technical industries.

She is passionate about public speaking, personal development and learning about different cultures, especially cross-cultural communication. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, dancing, trying new sports and most importantly hiking, which helps her get recharged.

Kaumudi Goda (KG) is Founder of The Human Conversation, DEI Director and Board Member of the Data Visualization Society, Co-Founder of the Inclusive Leaders Institute, and Senior Advisor for Human Capital and Sustainability in Business SIGs at the Indian School of Business.

As a people and culture strategist, DEI consultant, conflict mediator, and lawyer, KG has helped transform organisations in APAC, EMEA, and North America. She serves as a non-executive director and C-Suite advisor.

KG has MBA from ISB, LLM from the University of Virginia and practiced as an attorney in the US. She is pursuing doctoral research at the intersection of public policy, people, and business. She is an ICF certified coach, a Newfield certified Ontological and Performance coach.

KG has been featured in the Financial Times London, Channel News Asia, The Hindu, and Times of India. She is an award- winning speaker, bestselling author, and facilitator.

Melanie Voskamp describes herself as honest with a hint of Dutch directness. She loves an intense and bold conversation. Such passionate conversations have a common overarching theme “Shattering the Stigma”. Melanie’s intuitive and sometimes confronting observations about the world as shared through her talks and writing will intrigue you and leave you with a desire to change the narrative together.

“I have dyslexia, and I always had to work 5 times as hard to learn what my pears understood without any effort. I worked hard, I struggled but didn’t give up, despite the long-held opinions on those faced with a learning difference.”

Melanie works as a Revenue Controller for the Asia region and has over 14 years of experience within prestige law firms. She chairs the Women in Business Community at ADB-Dutch Cham in Singapore.

Originally from the Netherlands but she has lived and worked in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. She speaks 4 languages. She has a bachelor’s degree in Hotel Administration from the Hotelschool The Hague. This has engrained in her a “getting things done with a smile” approach that serves her well in the industry she now works in.

Nayantara Som is a curious millennial with an insatiable thirst for ideating and storytelling. Add to that cauldron: a square peg in a round hole, always challenging the status quo.

She is a content strategist with over 15 years of experience across: journalism; digital communications and leadership visibility. Armed with a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication she started her career as a journalist with the Indian Express Newspapers and has worked for some of the leading media houses in India.

With the rise of social media, Nayantara subsequently moved to the corporate world and has worked with organisations such as PricewaterhouseCoopers in India and PayPal in Singapore. She continues to help brands and leaders drive strategies that are equipped for a digital world.

Nayantara is passionate about motivating other women, and volunteers with organisations such as the Lean In Network in Singapore and She Loves Data.

She currently lives in Singapore with her husband and 6-year old daughter.

Chapter Title: To Have My Cake And Eat It Too

Richa Tibarewal is a HR Transformation and people manager at a Consulting Firm and the Co-Founder of The Bulletin Box (TBB), a media publishing platform that celebrates writers and speakers. Her passion is spreading awareness about social issues, and she brings it to life with TBB. One of their new campaigns “She Can” is about ‘A Woman can do anything’

Passionate about volunteering, mentoring and women’s empowerment, Richa also heads the Global Operations and Signature programs of the Singapore based global not-for-profit social enterprise ‘She Loves Data‘. She is a mentor with Europe-based My Odyssey and a couple of other mentorship platforms that help people find a way to upskill and keep themselves relevant and motivated.

Richa is currently an expatriate in Singapore though a digital nomad at heart. She has travelled to 23 countries and lived in 12.

Sadhna Upadhya is a Yogi based in London, United Kingdom with 2500 hours of teaching experience and is currently pursuing her Masters degree in Arts & Humanities. She comes from a professional background in hospitality and management with 12 years of experience.

Born and bred in Singapore, she travelled extensively in the last few years pursuing her passion for teaching and has amplified this with a wanderlust for exploring European cities at the same time.

Her portfolio includes working with many luxury hotel brands such as the Far East Hospitality Group, Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton and many other corporate organisations providing yoga training services.

She is actively engaged in bringing her own wellness app “Shunya” to life, which is to be launched in late 2022. Her purpose is to give back to the community through yoga and believes that one’s quality of life is determined by their daily habits with discipline in place.

Sherryn Hancock is an Australian Accountant, CPA (Aust), with almost 30 years experience specialising in budgeting and management accounting. Known for her ability to “look at the whole picture” she works with people to help them understand their relationship with money and how this has affected them in their past. Sherryn strives to give them the tools and confidence to be financially aware for life.

Sherryn is making a difference in championing women to have a voice and be confident when dealing with financial matters, which expands into all other facets of their life.

Sherryn has a husband who is a pilot and three young adult children. She has lived in Hong Kong for over 25 years. In her spare time, she is studying Psychology. She is a Past President of Hong Kong Netball, a Junior Rugby coach and has been a passionate netball player and umpire since the age of 10.

Shobha Nihalani has been writing for over twenty-five years and continues to follow her passion. In the early part of her life, she lived in countries around Africa, Asia, North America, and Europe. After marriage, she settled in Hong Kong.

She had a dream of becoming a published author but prioritising family needs, and being unsure of herself, she didn’t pursue her dream. Eventually, when the burning desire to write a book overcame her, Shobha made time for herself and wrote determinedly. In her early forties, her debut novel, Karmic Blues, was translated and published in Denmark. She has not looked back since.

Now in her mid-fifties, Shobha is recognised for her adventure and thriller novels and two non-fiction books.

Besides being a multi-genre author, Shobha is also a ghost writer, scriptwriter, speaker, and writing coach. She recently launched her writing consultancy business – SN Consulting.

Shreemati Varadarajan has established herself as one of the brightest professionals in the Financial Advisory industry. Accredited with a strong academic record and an analytical mind, she is well versed in various disciplines of investment management, financial planning, and business consultancy. She has a proven track record of identifying strong commercial synergies and creating long term mutual partnerships.

She has spent more than 15 years in various financial institutions in Singapore and India. Shreemati is a Qualified Cost Accountant, an MBA Holder and is currently pursuing her final level of CAIA (Alternate Investments) Qualification.

She is passionate about early financial education for children, and financial empowerment for women and is frequently invited as a guest speaker on a variety of topics in her alma mater in Singapore and often helps to mentor graduates from various Singapore and International Universities.

A mother of a curious and persistent six-year-old, a connoisseur of emerging artists, she enjoys dancing and cooking in her free time.

Stephanie Naudo is an online entrepreneur in the wellness industry, the podcast host of It’s a Journey and a certified Women Circle Facilitator for Global Sisterhood. With a background in Arts Management and Digital Marketing, she had 15 years of global experience in the US and Singapore before founding Ujjivati, both a reliable source of holistic wellness and a community platform.

As a passionate entrepreneur, Stephanie is dedicated to making a positive impact and inspiring people to embrace holistic wellness and develop a daily wellness practice.

In her personal life, she is the mother of two happy boys, and she enjoys travelling, kayaking, running, meditating, and listening to people’s stories from all corners of the world.

Tidimalo Shabalala is a 35-year-old lover of life, Born and raised in South Africa her upbringing was filled with so many life-altering experiences, that even as an adult she remembers her childhood with lots of gratitude, sacrifice and joy.

Tidimalo’s passion lies in connections and helping others bring their creative ideas alive. She is the Founder of Tidi Consulting, a brand enhancement boutique agency based in Hong Kong. Her purpose is to share all her diverse experiences, connect with people, and most importantly assist SMEs and influencers in creating cool brands using PR and Marketing.

She is the mother of two beautiful children who enjoys meeting passionate women and learning about their experiences of moving abroad. Tidimalo loves hiking, family trips, exploring the Hong Kong shopping scene, visiting some islands and breathtaking beaches.

Dr. Yoga Sreelesh Nambiar has always battled fear, ridicule, prejudices and labels of shame. She was shunned for not being “normal”. Having the odds stacked against her, and encouraged by her parents, she excelled academically. Dr Yoga completed her PhD in mental health, making her the first Indian transgender person to do so.

Her transgender community is deprived of the fundamental rights of other Indian citizens. Dr Yoga has made it her life’s mission to make her people visible. In the last two decades, she has taken tangible steps in creating forums to define and create a roadmap for proactive work and dialogues within the marginalised communities and with the stakeholders of society.

Dr Yoga is a trained classical dancer and has been performing on national and international platforms through her institute Kalasiri Academy of Art and Culture.

She has combined Indian dance to create dance movement therapy and mental health through a set of breath control practices called Bhutashudhi – A Meditation, which rejuvenates cells.

Mawada Alwazir is a Life Coach living in the UAE. She is the mother to three boys, owner of “Me Myself and I Life Coaching” and a woman who is devoted to helping people live their best life possible. She created Me My Self & I Life Coaching, to help her clients reach a fulfilled and happy life. She believes that there is always room for improvement or redecorating as she puts it.

Each individual has the ability to choose to be happy therefore the name, Me My Self & I – it all starts with you. Blaming others for your misfortunes will not lead to any results.

Mawada has travelled and lived in different countries, including Lebanon, the USA, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia. She moved to the United Arab Emirates 15 years ago.

The experience gained through travelling and living in different countries has helped her achieve a greater understanding of cultures and has been beneficial in serving and coaching members of multinational communities.

Dr Noura Al Obeidli is a research fellow at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). Through her research work as an emerging ethnographer and academic author, she observes the journalistic practices and newsroom norms to highlight specific themes including gender dynamics, tribal patriarchalism, and the media culture in the Emirates.

Prior to joining academia, she worked as a PR professional for nine years, in which she developed promotional marketing plans, created crisis communications policies, and managed stakeholder relationships.

Through her work and interests in gender equality and feminism, she has published numerous news features about empowered Emirati women in male-dominated sectors such as aviation and engineering, lectured at undergraduate level on gender politics, organised campaigns to raise awareness on women’s health and welfare, and received professional internships on news reporting at Al Rai News Centre in Kuwait and The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in England.