NE BUSINESS BUREAU
CHENNAI, DEC 19
Avtar Group, India’s leading workplace culture consulting firm, commemorated its silver jubilee with a memorable celebration at Hotel Savera, Chennai, on Thursday marking 25 years of impact-driven work in enabling women’s careers and advancing authentic inclusion across Indian corporates. Founded in 2000 by Saundarya Rajesh to support women entering the workforce, Avtar has evolved into a national social enterprise that has helped over 100,000 women re-enter the workplace and guided more than 800 organizations in building inclusive systems.
25 Years of Impact: From Career Comebacks to Corporate Inclusion
Over two decades, Avtar has expanded its mission from career entry to research-led inclusion, benchmarking, partnerships, and systemic redesign to remove workplace bias. The silver jubilee celebration reflected this journey—of careers rebuilt, lives transformed, and workplaces reimagined.
Second-Career Women Honoured for Breaking Barriers
A key highlight of the evening was the recognition of trail-blazing second-career women placed by Avtar years ago and now holding leadership positions across industries. The award recipients—Anju Awal, Eswari Rao, Vyapti Trivedi, Elakkiya Chandrasekaran, and Sreeja Nair—were felicitated by Bharathy Bhaskar. Congratulating the winners, Bharathy Bhaskar said, “Restarting a career after a break means rebuilding confidence, skills, and credibility, often while managing disproportionate personal responsibilities. You persisted, delivered, and succeeded. And you proved that capability does not disappear during a pause. Your journeys set the bar for what’s possible after a break.”
Project Puthri Alumni Recognised: Careers Born From Opportunity
The second award segment celebrated alumni of Project Puthri, Avtar’s flagship CSR initiative and India’s first career-intentionality programme for schoolgirls from underprivileged backgrounds. Bharadwaj presented awards to Kamalisri J., Sneha K., and Sharon Kiruba N., who are now excelling in their corporate careers—testaments to the programme’s long-term impact.
Leadership Reflections and the Road Ahead
Addressing the milestone gathering, Saundarya Rajesh, Managing Director of Avtar, said, “When Avtar was founded 25 years ago, the goal was simple – to help more women begin their careers. But over time, this mission has grown into something much bigger, encompassing research, benchmarking, countless partnerships, and the complete redesign of systems to remove bias. Now, we celebrate 25 years of careers rebuilt, lives transformed, and workplaces changed for the better. Today’s award winners – second-career women, alumni of Project Puthri, along with every Avtarite, stand as powerful examples of Avtar’s impact. Congratulations to all the winners! Your resilience truly reflects the spirit of Avtar. As we look ahead, we remain committed to building inclusive workplaces and taking our model to over 25 cities by 2030. This is only the beginning.”
The event also honoured Avtar’s long-serving employees and top performers. Awards were presented by Geetha Ramamoorthy, Managing Director of KBR India, who said, “Standing by a mission for 25 years is no small feat. These employees have demonstrated resilience, focus, and determination, driving meaningful change that touches numerous lives and workplaces.”
Special guests P. Unnikrishnan and Balaji Nuthalapadi, Executive Director – Technology & Operations, Equitas Small Finance Bank, acknowledged the exceptional contributions of Team Avtar. Karthik Ekambaram, Chief Sales Officer, and Umasanker Kandaswamy, Chief Operating Officer, reflected on the organisation’s journey, spotlighting milestones achieved and challenges overcome. Priya Dayabaran, Chief of Staff and Head – HR, delivered the vote of thanks, closing the celebration with optimism for Avtar’s next chapter.
