12 industry leaders win Women to Watch Awards 2023

Hosted by PrintWeek/WhatPackaging?, for the Women to Watch Awards 2023, the work of 13 women across 12 categories was awarded. 

The Women to Watch Awards seeks to honour the women who lead and inspire excellence in the printing and packaging sectors.

In the inaugural year, the Awards received 70 entries from 48 participants.

Among the winners, KS Rajalakshmi of ITC-PSPD took home two awards in the categories Factory Champion of the Year and Mentor of the Year. Meanwhile, Sonal Seth of Sheth Printograph was nominated in a whopping five categories, winning the Award in the Fintech Leader category.

Also, two Special Jury Mention trophies were handed out in the Young Business Leader and Packaging Person of the Year categories.

In the Educator of the Year category, the winner was Lakshmi TKS, professor, Avinashilingam University, who brings over 25 years of teaching experience.

In the Business Leader of the Year category, Priyata Raghavan, Deputy CEO, Sai Packaging, was named the winner from a shortlist of 13 nominees. The reason she is Business Leader of the Year is: Sai has grown 30% in topline and 20% in 2022 with a consistent CAGR of 15% in the last three years. In 2022, the group raised USD 8-million from marquee investors.

In the Factory Champion of the Year category, KS Rajalakshmi of ITC-PSPD Unit Kovai and Usha Garg of Thomson Press were named joint winners. A total of 12 women were nominated for the Award.

In the R&D Captain category, the winner was Sanaa Vasi, partner, Triace. What impressed the jury the most was the R&D with CDCD (counter display cum dispensers) and 3D pop-up display units. The USP of this concept is: they are collapsible.

In the Rising Star of the Year category, there were 10 nominees. The winner was Shreya Mardia, executive director and marketing head, Unique Tags.

The winner in the Fintech Leader category was Sonal Sheth, director, Sheth Printograph. With over 24 years of experience in finance, marketing, production, and R&D, Sonal Sheth is a seasoned professional. Sheth, director at Sheth Printograph has an MBA in finance and marketing, and possesses a strong technical acumen. She believes in hands-on involvement, employee welfare, and creating a motivated work environment.

In the Designer of the Year category, the winner was Yugandhara Dalvi, creative director, Elephant Design.

In the Mentor of the Year category, KS Rajalakshmi, sales and operations planning head - Unit Kovai, ITC-PSPD emerged as the winner among the four nominees.

A total of seven women were nominated for the Sales Champion of the Year category, and the winner was Tania Hansoti, marketing director, S Kumar Multiproducts.

In the Young Business Leader category, the winner was Zeenia Khushru Patel, chief operating officer, JAK Printers. A total of eight women were nominated in the category. Meanwhile, Sampada Hiray, proprietor, Madhuraa Print Solutions, received the Special Jury Mention for Young Business Leader.

In the Packaging Person of the Year category, Preeti Jaiswal of Jupiter Laminators was named the winner. Ekta Chandan of Aaum Paper Products received a Special Jury Mention in the category.

In the Publishing Person of the Year category, the winner was Priti Parmar, CEO, Raj Publication.

The awards were announced by the members of the Jury panel, comprising Aashika Sadh of #ASHTAG; Benita Paul of Siegwerk; Bhavika Shah of Beyondesign; Divya Subramaniam of Haymarket Sac; Nita Uday Dhote of Nagindas Khandwala College and Shormistha Mukherjee of Flying Cursor Interactive. 

The Jury Day for the first edition of the Awards was held on 28 April 2023 where the Jury members selected the winners from 70 entries by 48 participants.

Opening the virtual Awards ceremony, Naheed Sorabjee, who is the director at Haymarket Sac and chairperson of the Women to Watch awards, said, “These Women to Watch Awards reflect PrintWeek’s and Haymarket SAC’s commitment to promoting gender equality in the industry.”

She added, “Each and every woman is important. For two reasons, one, it is very important for women in the industry to see women as role models, and two, hopefully when the industry leaders look at all these wonderful women – it will improve gender balance in our teams, our sales forces as well as the factory shop floor. I know, and indeed so do many of you, that the journey isn’t easy. In a predominantly male-dominated workspace, women can face multiple challenges – safety, access to hygienic sanitation and travel among others. Our focus with the Women to Watch Awards is how to create equal opportunities for women and to join roles, which have traditionally been a male bastion.”

The Awards was sponsored by Siegwerk.

The Nominees [with the winner marked in bold]

Category 1: Educator of the Year
1. Lakshmi TKS, Professor, Avinashilingam University
2. Madhura Mahajan, Head of Printing Engineering department, PVG’s College of Engineering and Technology & GKPWIM Pune

Category 2: Business Leader of the Year
1. Anu Bhargava, Director, Premier Paper Packaging Pvt Ltd
2. Dr. Sampada Hiray, Proprietor, Madhuraa Print Solutions
3. Ekta Chandan, Founder and Director, Aaum Paper Products Pvt Ltd
4. Meenal Bansal, VP Finance, EPL Limited
5. Meeta Shah, Owner, A&M Enterprise
6. Pooja Arora, Vice President - Procurement and Infrastructure, Blinkit Commerce Private Limited
7. Priyata Raghavan, Deputy CEO, Sai Packaging Co
8. Ramalakshmi Subramanian, Director - Global Packaging Artwork (UK) & Marketing, SGO Premedia Limited
9. Rupa Deshpande, Sole-Proprietor, Geekay Print and Packaging
10. Siddhi Shah, CEO, Printstop India Pvt Ltd
11. Silpa Lingareddy, Founder & Director, Encase Packaging Pvt Ltd
12. Sonal Sheth, Director, Sheth Printograph Pvt Ltd
13. Zeenia Khushru Patel, Chief Operating Officer, JAK Printers Pvt Ltd

Category 3: Factory Champion of the Year (JOINT WINNER)
1. Janvi Satija, Manager, Devi Graphics
2. K S Rajalakshmi, Sales & Operations Planning Head, ITC Limited - PSPD Unit Kovai
3. Mahima Kumari Kashyap, Executive Officer - QC & QA, Jupiter Laminators Pvt Ltd
4. Manasi Nishant, Executive Assistant to MD, Letra Graphix Pvt Ltd
5. Meeta Shah, Owner, A&M Enterprise
6. Nalani Wickramarathna, Director, Veepee Graphic Solutions Pvt Ltd
7. Priti Parmar, CEO (RP) / Owner (NPE), Raj Publication/N. Parmar Expositions
8. Silpa Lingareddy, Founder & Director, Encase Packaging Pvt Ltd
9. Smita Patel, Manager, Nand Printers
10. Sonal Sheth, Director, Sheth Printograph Pvt Ltd
11. Srishti Kaushik, Senior Manager, Nutech Print Services India
12. Usha Garg, Quality Manager, Thomson Press (India) Limited

Category 4: R&D Captain
1. Sonal Sheth, Director, Sheth Printograph Pvt Ltd
2. Sanaa Vasi, Partner, Triace

Category 5: Rising Star of the Year
1. Ayushi Keshri, Packaging Development Executive, Cargill
2. Dhwani Bhutwala, Owner, Creofoil
3. Kaveri Satija, Manager, Janvi Arts
4. Priyanka Rathi, DGM-Marketing & Communications, JETSCI GLOBAL
5. Sayali Arekar, Creative Designer, Tricycle Tribe Creative Ventures Pvt Ltd
6. Shreenidhi Govindaraj, Executive - Marketing, ITC Printing & Packaging
7. Shreya Mardia, Executive Director & Marketing Head, Unique Tags Pvt Ltd
8. Sonia Puri, Manager HR, Insight Print Communications
9. Ujjwala Upadhyay, Brand manager, Insight Print Communications
10. Zeenia Khushru Patel, Chief Operating Officer, JAK Printers

Category 6: Fintech Leader
1. Sonal Sheth, Director, Sheth Printograph Pvt Ltd
2. Yogita Singhal, Costing Incharge, Letra Graphix Pvt Ltd

Category 7: Designer of the Year
1. Tanvi Girkar, Creative Designer, Tricycle Tribe Creative Ventures Pvt Ltd
2. Yugandhara Dalvi, Creative Director, Elephant Design

Category 8: Mentor of the Year
1. Deepti Kshirsagar, Partner/ Director, Tricycle Tribe Creative Ventures Pvt Ltd
2. K S Rajalakshmi, Sales & Operations Planning Head, ITC Limited - PSPD Unit Kovai
3. Pooja Arora, Vice President - Procurement and Infrastructure, Blinkit Commerce Private Limited
4. Sonal Sheth, Director, Sheth Printograph Pvt Ltd

Category 9: Sales Champion of the Year
1. Anushree Agrawal, Sales and Marketing Manager, Letra Graphix Pvt Ltd
2. Dhwani Bhutwala, Owner, Creofoil
3. Ketki Sute, Sr. Manager Sales & Mktg., Jupiter Laminators Pvt Ltd
4. Rohini H S, Manager - Sales & Marketing (Preforms), Manjushree Technopack Ltd
5. Shreya Choudhury, Director, CDC Printers
6. Shreya Mardia, Executive Director & Marketing Head, Unique Tags Pvt Ltd
7. Tania Hansoti, Marketing Director, S. Kumar Multiproducts Pvt Ltd

Category 10: Young Business Leader
1. Dr. Sampada Hiray, Proprietor, Madhuraa Print Solutions (Special Jury Mention) 
2. Ekta Chandan, Founder and Director, Aaum Paper Products Pvt. Ltd.
3. Kaveri Satija, Manager, Janvi Arts
4. Sangeetha Kannan, CEO, K K Packaging
5. Shreya Mardia, Executive Director & Marketing Head, Unique Tags Pvt Ltd
6. Srushti Shah, Lead TA & TM - AMESA, EPL Limited
7. Tania Hansoti, Marketing Director, S. Kumar Multiproducts Pvt Ltd
8. Zeenia Khushru Patel, Chief Operating Officer, JAK Printers Pvt Ltd

Category 11: Packaging Person of the Year
1. Indumathi Krishna, Proprietor, Mandagini Agencies
2. Ekta Chandan, Founder and Director, Aaum Paper Products Pvt Ltd (Special Jury Mention)
3. Silpa Lingareddy, Founder & Director, Encase Packaging Pvt Ltd
4. Simran Sabharwal, Director, Ardour Group of Companies
5. Preeti Jaiswal, AGM - NPD & MR, Jupiter Laminators Pvt Ltd

Category 12: Publishing Person of the Year
1. Priti Parmar, CEO (RP) / Owner (NPE), Raj Publication/N Parmar Expositions

Watch the entire video of the Women to Watch Awards event here.