On the occasion of 8th March being International Women's Day, this article enlists the top women in the finance sector who are CAs. These distinguished women serve as an inspiration to all, especially to the girls and women pursuing CA or dreaming of working in the finance sector.
1. Akriti Chopra
Akriti Chopra joined Zomato upon qualifying CA in 2011. Before qualifying CA, Akriti did her articleship in PWC. After 10 years of dedicated work, she was appointed as Co-founder in 2021. The entrepreneur was working as Zomato's Vice-President of finance and operations when she was promoted. She later became the company's Chief Financial Officer at just the age of 32.
Over the years, Chopra played a big role in establishing and scaling Zomato's financials. She contributed to the food delivery app's in-house governance, legal, risk, and compliance teams. It was reported that after Zomato's IPO in 2021, the value of the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) held by Chopra was valued at Rs 149 crore.
2. Namita Thapar
Namita Thapar is a successful Indian entrepreneur who has an amazing academic background. She did her BCom and CA and topped off her academic achievements with an MBA from the renowned Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Namita Thapar is a successful Indian entrepreneur who has a net worth of about Rs. 600 crores as of October 2023.
Her diverse career which began at at Guidant Corporation in the USA, a medical device company has taken off to her becoming the Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals. She has also started her own education company and has invested in many startups. She is one of the judges on the popular show Shark Tank, a business reality show.
3. Vishakha Mulye
Vishakha Mulye is the Chief Executive Officer of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL), the holding company of the financial services arm of the Aditya Birla Group. Before joining the Aditya Birla Group, Vishakha, a career banker, was an Executive Director on the Board of ICICI Bank. In a career spanning thirty years, she has held many significant roles and led several strategic initiatives.
A Chartered Accountant by qualification, she has won countless awards including, 'Young Global Leader' in 2007 by the World Economic Forum, 'India CFO Award' in 2006 from IMA India, for 'Excellence in Finance in a Large Corporate' and 'CA Corporate Leader Award' in 2008 from the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
4. Dhivya Suryadevara
The Chennai-born Chartered Accountant Dhivya Suryadevara is the CEO of Financial Services at UnitedHealth Group. She was previously the Chief Financial Officer of Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the Internet. Before Stripe, she was the Chief Financial Officer of General Motors.
Suryadevara has been recognized for her career accomplishments including MotorTrend's 2020 Power List, Automotive News' 2019 All Stars, Fortune's Most Powerful Women to Watch, 40 Under 40 (Fortune magazine and Crain's Detroit Business), World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders and others. She is also a qualified CFA and has completed her MBA from Harvard Business School.
5. Naina Lal Kidwai
Naina Lal Kidwai is a well-known Chartered Accountant and Business Executive. She was formerly a Group General Manager and the Country Head of HSBC India. She is also a former President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). Naina Lal Kidwai was the first Indian woman to graduate from Harvard Business School.
Naina Lal Kidwai has worked in some of the biggest banks and companies in the world like PWC, Standard Chartered Bank, Morgan Stanley and HSBC. She also served as a non-executive director on the board of Nestle. Kidwai has received the Padma Shri award for her contributions in the areas of trade and industry. Presently, she is working closely with her husband, who is the founder of a non-governmental organisation called Grassroot Trading Network for Women, to change the lives of the poor.
6. Pooja Bansal
Pooja Bansal, who became a CA at the young age of 22, also became the first woman to be elected as Vice-Chairperson (2016-17) of the North India Regional Council of ICAI. She has worked with several well-known banks like ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank in the past.
She has also performed a successful stint as the Chairperson of NIRC. She is currently the Managing Partner of a chartered accountant firm.
7. Sripriya Kumar
Sripriya, a standing elected Central Council Member (2022-25) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. She had earlier served as a central council member in (2016-19) and in the South Indian Regional Council in (2012-15). She was the chairperson of the Continuing Professional of Education Committee and was also the Vice Chairman of the Peer Review Board in her previous tenure in the central council.
A chartered accountant since 1996, she commenced her practice in 2001 after her stints with Ford India Limited and PWC. She is a registered insolvency practitioner who is currently leading the corporate restructuring and insolvency practice as the managing partner of a chartered accountant firm.
8. Nandini Agarwal
Currently holds the Guinness World Record for World's Youngest CA having qualified CA in July 2021 and secured the 1st rank at the age of 19 years, 8 months and 18 days.
She is currently working at GIC Private Limited, a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund that manages the country's foreign reserves. Her previous place of employment was Boston Consultancy Group and she did her articleship in PWC.
9. Saroja Ramachandran
In contrast, but no less inspiring, Saroja Ramachandran is the oldest woman to qualify CA, at the age of 59 in 2018. With a post-graduate degree in Mathematics and a job as the branch manager of a private sector bank, she signed up for CA along with her first-born son in 2004.
She is currently a partner in a firm along with her husband and son.
10. R Sivabhogam (Ramasamy)
R Sivabhogam (born 23 July 1907 in India), was the first female chartered accountant of India. She qualified in the year 1933. Having participated in Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement and imprisoned for this, she picked up an interest in the course and started studying while in prison. She started her independent practice in 1937. On the formation of ICAI in 1949 Sivabhogam was enrolled as a member and became a fellow on 17th June, 1950.
Ms Sivabhogam was elected as a member in the very first year of the formation of the Southern India Regional Council (then Madras Regional Council) and was its Chairman for three consecutive years from 1955 to 1958. Thus, she holds the record for not only being the first lady Chairman of a Regional Council but also a Chairman of a Regional Council for three consecutive years. As a Chartered Accountant Sivabhogam carried out audits of several social service organisations on an honorary basis. She had been very active in the sphere of social service too and primarily championed the cause of women's education.
"Cheers to the women who excel in the world of finance, proving that strength, intelligence, and grace are a formidable combination. Happy Women's Day to the trailblazers shaping the future!"
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