Chennai-based Sudha Shivkumar took over as the 40th President of Ficci Ladies Organisation (FLO), the oldest women-led and women-centric business chamber of Southeast Asia.
As the 40th National President of FLO, Shivkumar will focus on empowering women by facilitating an enabling environment that promotes entrepreneurship, industry participation and economic development of women.
“Development of entrepreneurship among women has been central to FLO’s philosophy and mission. Taking this vision forward my focus during her tenure would be to transform the power of woman’s voices into forward thinking economic initiatives by changing perceptions and influencing policies," Shivkumar said.
Shivkumar is a lawyer and investment banker by profession. Her career spans over 32 years. She has worked for large organisations and mutual funds, managing international portfolios and spearheading non-profit ventures, all while keenly mentoring and inspiring women from all walks of life.
Shivkumar completed her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Madras. She specialised in Corporate and Bankruptcy laws to build her expertise in these fields and completed a Master of Applied Finance with specialization in Investment Banking from Macquarie University, Sydney, with distinction.
For 13 years, Shivkumar headed a leading non-banking reputed finance company, following which she led the operations of a South-India-based mutual fund with assets under management of Rs 25,000 crore. For seven years, she handled a Rs 350-crore portfolio of an international group of high net worth individuals.
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Currently, Shivkumar is the Director of her family’s business of manufacturing auto ancillaries. She was the managing director of her family-owned foundry, a role she held for five years.
She was the Chairperson of FLO Chennai Chapter in 2016-17. FLO at present has 19 chapters across India with about 3,000 businesswomen as its members.
