Founding Team
Namita Vikas
A senior business leader with 30 years of diverse global experience in climate strategy and sustainability across banking, technology and the FMCG industry. Namita was ranked one of the “Leading Women in Business Sustainability” by World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and was globally recognized as “Sustainability Leader of the Year” by Ethical Corporation, UK in 2017. In 2018, she was named one of “Asia’s Top Sustainability Superwomen” by CSRWorks International. In 2019, she was featured in the list of “India’s Top 100 Women in Finance” by Association of International Wealth Management of India.
She regularly features on Asia & global lists of leading women in Renewable Energy, Green Finance & CSR by renowned benchmarks. With comprehensive understanding of banking, investment sectors and sustainability, she has been instrumental in bringing many 1sts to the industry. Her well-rounded experience spans specializations & expertise in climate finance, ESG & Climate Risks, Responsible and Green banking, triple bottom line accounting, and large-scale sustainable development. She has a proven track record of leadership and institution-building aimed at deepening and mainstreaming sustainability, ESG and responsible investing.
Experienced in raising capital from DFIs and multilaterals, at a large Indian private bank, in 2012, she set up Responsible Banking, the first of its kind business practice, in an emerging market. She was instrumental in launching green and sustainable, wholesale and retail products and contributed to raising over USD 1 billion as capital and credit lines towards green finance. Among other feats, under her able guidance, the first ever Green Bond of India was issued in 2015 and accreditation from Green Climate Fund (GCF). Namita is currently serving on the global advisory board of Climate Bonds Initiative, UK, an international, investor-focused not-for-profit, working solely on mobilizing the $100 trillion bond market for climate change solutions.
\A prominent speaker at influential national & international platforms, she is invited to speak at the UN General Assembly, UN Climate Summit, Economist Summits and G20 amongst others. Namita has held a number of key advisory positions. Elected as Chairperson of UN Natural Capital Finance Alliance, she served as member of Global Steering Committee of UN Environment- Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) for 3 terms, in the past. She was one of the architects of UN Principles of Responsible Banking, which were launched at the UN Annual Climate Summit.
Namita has also served on advisory councils/governing boards of We Mean Business (a global nonprofit coalition working towards climate action), International Capital Market Association’s Green Bond Principles and Social Bond Principles Executive Committee, Black Jaguar Foundation, Brazil, Green Capital Study and YES FOUNDATION, India. Most recently, she has joined the advisory council of WOTR, a 25-year-old NGO in water management and conservation and Digital Green Foundation, a global development organization, empowering smallholder farmers through technology solutions and partnerships. She is regularly invited by International Governments to participate on topical expert review panels.
She has served in CXO and management roles with Yes Bank, Marico, Microsoft Corporation and Confederation of Indian Industry and has been on juries of several national and international awards. An alumna of Columbia Business School, THNK School of Creative Leadership, Netherlands, Svenska Institutet, Sweden, and Mumbai University, India, Namita lives in Mumbai with her husband.
Jasraj Singh Virdi
Jasraj Singh Virdi is a sustainability leader with over 23 years of experience in Sustainability, ESG Strategy, Corporate Citizenship, Policy Advocacy, Process Excellence, Corporate Brand Management, and Marketing & Communication. He’s led Global Citizenship and Sustainability at one of the world’s largest multinational healthcare companies, Abbott Laboratories, where he helped develop and implement sustainability, ESG and citizenship strategies to deliver responsible business growth, climate risk mitigation, improved supply chain efficiencies and EHS performance, and guided talent initiatives for a future-ready organization.
Jasraj has led diverse teams and engaged external stakeholders across geographies on executing ESG and Sustainability priorities and goals. Prior to his role at Abbott, he worked with a Hong Kong-based utility company, where he was responsible for building and implementing strategies for engaging Government agencies, policy-influencing bodies, media, communities and societies, on the company’s business and ESG performance. He has been a visiting faculty at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, a leading management institute in Mumbai and is an alum of IIM, Calcutta.