Rajesh Varghese | Ashoka Leslie Johnston | Executive Director, C&A Foundation
Stephanie Schmidt | Director, Ashoka Moderated by Pei Yun Teng | Global Director Social Impact, A.T. Kearney Neelesh Hundekari | Partner, A.T. Kearney
A personal story Ashoka
Meet the Fabric of Change Globalizer Fellows
Leslie leads C&A Foundation’s efforts to transform the apparel industry in four areas: accelerating sustainable cotton, improving working conditions, eradicating forced labour and strengthening communities. Prior to becoming C&A Foundation’s first executive director in 2013, she managed Argidius and COFRA foundations, and was deputy director for TechnoServe in West and Southern Africa.
Neelesh is a Partner in A.T. Kearney’s Consumer and Retail Practice and leads the Lifestyle Practice for Asia. He has 25 years of diverse consulting and industry experience across apparel, textiles, retail, luxury, lifestyle, and other sectors. Neelesh has also actively worked in social impact, including education and advising NGOs in textiles, crafts and adoption.
Stephanie is an expert on hybrid models at the crossroads of social and business. She leads Ashoka Changemaker Alliances in Europe, a Program aiming at accelerating the growth of social entrepreneurs and maximizing the “changemaking” potential of companies for greater impact.
Vasu Primlani is an international awardwinning standup comedian, actress, business school professor, triathlete, corporate trainer, somatic therapist, and environmentalist. She founded and led the award-winning non-profit Thimmakka’s Resources for Environmental Education.
Laguna Clothing manufactures and exports formal shirts to top international brands. Sarbajit previously worked with Unilever and the Tata group and is an engineer with a management degree from IIM Ahmedabad.
Ashoka Fellow, Alan Thomas Fellow, Canadian Environment Award Gold Medal, Wilburforce Foundation's Conservation Leadership Award, Nicole sits on several NGO boards and advisory groups, and has accepted several awards on behalf of Canopy including the Benny Award for Outstanding Corporate Campaigning.
Vivek is Co-founder of India’s first CarbonFootprint-Calculation and Reduction movement – the NO2CO2 project, Developer of India-specific Carbon ERP Tools and GHG Emission Factor Databases under the Climatenomics Platform, Co-Founder and Member of the Steering Committee for the First Ecolabelling Program in India – ‘The Green Signal’.
Renu presently drives social innovation at Danone India. Integrating sustainability into the business models is her passion. Renu strongly believes that businesses must build purpose that goes beyond acquiring consumers and market share, without taking the eye of business sustainability. And work on addressing social issues in the business ecosystem.
Promoting social impact through the firm's client engagements and pro-bono projects, Pei Yun concentrates on strategic partnerships and opportunities in the areas of economic development, energy and sustainability, and education and workforce. Pei Yun has worked with a range of social enterprises, non-profits, and multinational firms.
Combining Ashoka’s strengths in social entrepreneurship and driving changemaking, as well as A.T. Kearney’s proven track record in helping the world’s most influential organizations deliver immediate impact and growing advantage, Ashoka and A.T. Kearney have also partnered to create and deliver innovative programs across multistakeholder groups to scale social innovation and create positive system change. In the past year alone, more than 50 A.T. Kearney consultants have successfully led diverse projects with Ashoka Fellows. Ashoka and A.T. Kearney have also collaborated on thought leadership, including “Technology as a Catalyst to Scale” discussing technology as a key enabler for social enterprises unlocking growth, as well as “Rethinking K-20 Education” to transform education in a digital future. We’re proud to have been honored with Consulting magazine’s 2016 Excellence in Social and Community Investment Award for our joint achievements. A.T. Kearney is committed to helping businesses, non-profits, and governments take on the challenge and reap the rewards of becoming truly sustainable. With the they aim to unlock and build upon the collective power of social entrepreneurs and businesses, to transform the fashion industry as a force for good.