Monika Navandar- Founder & Managing Director

Monika has 17+ years of multi-industry HR experience in both the emerging and developed markets. She has led various HR leadership roles in India, USA, Italy, Singapore, Dubai, and South Africa supporting the global C-suite leaders.

She is the Chief DEI Consultant of NeoSeven Solutions and has a dynamic partner team of senior leaders across the globe.

She is a Thought Leader in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Talent Management and Cultural Competence areas. Some of Monika’s projects were presented in the White House in 2016 and 2017 and she was felicitated by World HRD Congress with a Global D&I Leadership Award.

She is a part of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council for 5+ years. She has also worked on a book called Cultural Agility alongside the distinguished Professor and Author, Dr. Paula Caligiuri. Some of her DE&I insights have been captured in one of the upcoming DE&I books and she has also written a blurb for the book.

Monika is a frequent speaker at renowned regional and international forums including conferences, business schools & colleges. Her articles and cover stories have been published in various renowned magazines – the Economic Times, Human Capital, Rutgers, Interact Global, Times of PAMAC, Avtar, MIT, Talentnomics, Business Manager, etc.

Formerly, she has worked with Johnson & Johnson, Volkswagen, Merck Pharma, HSBC and IBM. Monika holds a Masters in Human Resource Management from Rutgers University, USA and a Bachelors in Computer Science & Engineering from MIT, India.

She is passionate about networking and mentoring, is an avid traveller and speaks 5 languages.

Peter Vermeulen

Senior Adviser

Peter is the Head of HR Worldwide Customer Care & Ops at Amazon and is based in Seattle, USA. Previously he was the Head of HR Americas for The Linde Group. He has 25 years’ experience in the

European, South and North American market zones, as well as in healthcare, including HR management and leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson. Peter has a Master’s Degree in Business Economics from the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven, Belgium. He is a results-driven Head of Human Resources with global experience championing process, system and resource optimization through talent management, employee engagement, and transformational change, with particular strengths in industrial relations and business partnering. He is a diplomatic multilingual communicator who naturally empowers and integrates individuals at all levels to promote a safe, accountable and effective working environment; driving best practice and governance with exceptional judgement, influence and integrity. A customer-focused leader who facilitates mutually beneficial solutions, training and continuous improvement to consistently achieve operational and strategic targets, championing accountability and inclusion.

Hari T.N.

Senior Adviser

Hari is an adviser and sounding board to numerous young entrepreneurs and startups. He is also a Strategic Adviser at ‘Fundamentum’, which is a homegrown growth phase VC fund set up by Nandan

Nilekani and Sanjeev Aggarwal. Hari also heads HR at BigBasket. He has studied at IIT & IIM and worked at an executive level with multiple start-ups/scale-ups and has been through four successful exits in different industries (Daksh, Virtusa, Amba Research, TaxiForSure). His passion is in scaling organizations through clear thinking and relentless execution. He writes regularly on LinkedIn. LinkedIn identified him as the one of the Top Voices in India for three years in a row (2016, 2017, and 2018). He has Co-authored three books. The last two books were “Cut the Crap and Jargon – Lessons from the Startup Trenches” was published by Penguin; and “Cutting the Gordian Knot – India’s Quest for Prosperity” was published by Bloomsbury.

Sukanya Badri

Consulting Adviser

Sukanya works with businesses and people to help them grow and prosper. She is an international consultant and utilizes her cross-functional exposure across finance, marketing and leadership

areas to holistically address diverse business situations. A major share of her assignments involved evaluating new business options, building strategies for various markets and customers, and developing leaders, for global corporates, SMEs and start-ups. Her career spans across Indian and international employers for whom she has enjoyed building and developing their business, delivering on complex assignments, managing global and local clients and leading global teams. A chartered accountant, Sukanya is now a partner at a boutique business consultancy. She is also a visiting faculty for International Business Environment for management students at BIM, Trichy.

Steve Harrison

Senior Partner

Steve draws on over 30 years of multi-functional and international FMCG and Financial Services experience with a proven track record in HR strategy, organization design & effectiveness and

change management.He was in Senior Director-level roles in 3 separate disciplines (Finance, Customer Management & HR) with experience split across two of the world’s most respected organizations (Unilever and Johnson & Johnson) and across 3 different countries (UK, Netherlands and Switzerland). His positions include Regional HR Director for Johnson & Johnson’s Commercial and Supply Chain functions and HR Director of Unilever’s European Supply Chain Company. Steven has a Executive Masters from HEC and Oxford Said.

Suri Surinder

Senior Partner

Surinder is co-Founder & CEO of CTR Factor, the CTR Factor Leadership Institute, QuantumFLY & MyRequest-US. He also serves as Chief Learning Officer of Diversity MBA, Expert at GLG & RSM,

senior board member of the CTR Factor Non-Profit Alliance, & strategic partner to Resiliti, Diverst, Trivie, RLC Diversity & Bold Business, serving a broad US & international footprint, including England, Canada & India. His experience spans 30 years as an executive, consultant, board member, author, entrepreneur & professor. He has worked in telecom, banking, non-profit, consulting, publishing, & healthcare at companies like Pfizer, Verizon, McKinsey, Centurylink, Capital One, & Barclays. He has been a member of 3 boards & Adjunct Professor of Strategic Management at Baruch College. He has been recognized as one of the Top 100 under 50 Senior Executives by Diversity MBA magazine, & been acknowledged by the US Government as a person of extraordinary ability in business. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering, MS in Structural Engineering, & MBA in Marketing.

Theresa Sigillito Hollema

Senior Partner

Theresa and her team facilitate multi-cultural teams and groups, coach teams and executives, design leadership and team development solutions, deliver culture change programs,

support virtual teams with programs and workshops, and co-create with clients for innovative solutions. With over 30 years of experience, Theresa has a thorough understanding of business, and therefore creates and delivers solutions appropriate for the business context of her clients. Her clients include Fortune 500 multinationals as well as SME’s and she delivers solutions across the world. She has also taught MBA courses to international students. Client requests have included: Cultural competence courses in company academies, extensive team coaching of international teams, leadership development across cultures, culture change and corporate values within organizations, leading international virtual teams, executive coaching, leveraging the diversity in an organization, connecting diversity to innovation and post-merger integration programs. Originally from the US, Theresa has lived in Europe since 1997. She received her MBA from University of Michigan, graduating with high academic distinction, including the receipt of the Henry Ford II Award for academic excellence.

Vikas Shirodkar

Senior Partner

Vikas is a Psychology Graduate, an M.A. in Organization & Industrial Psychology and a Fellow of IIM – C in PM & IR. He won 3 Gold Medals from University of Bombay for B.A.

and M.A. A regular writer and speaker on management topics, Vikas has received training on HRD practices in ICI, UK, J&J USA and on Assessment Centers in Singapore. He has also widely travelled in US, Europe, South East Asia and Australia to study HR policies & trends. Vikas has over 33 years of high quality and multi-dimensional experience in HR. He started his career with HCL at Delhi and then worked with Siemens at their Corporate office and Kalwa plant. He joined Atul Products Ltd in 1991 and was with them till 1997 as their GM Personnel. Thereafter Vikas joined Johnson & Johnson as VP HR & Admin rising to Asia Pacific Regional Director in 2009. His last employment was with General Motors India as their HR Head. Vikas has received several accolades and was awarded for Innovative HR Practices that drive Business Results at the hands of Shri APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India. He was also named in the “Top 40 HR Superstars in Asia” by HCA, Singapore and awarded for Excellence in HR by the Bombay Management Association & was the recipient of Indira Super Achiever awardee in 2012.

Andre Pandy

Senior Partner

Andre has worked in both Emerging and Developed markets over a 28-year period and has accumulated a wealth of insights on human and organizational dynamics in the

Automotive, Healthcare and FMCG industries. His experience includes living and working in Ethiopia and the United States. He has provided leadership at a Board as well as a Global level for several organizations. These include General Motors South Africa (previously known as Delta Motor Corporation (PTY) LTD), Pioneer Foods, Coca-Cola Sabco (PTY) LTD and most recently Johnson and Johnson where he has held several Senior Director roles amongst others: Senior HR Director EMEA Emerging Markets, Senior Talent Director EMEA and Senior HR Director North America Skincare. Andre has a B. Com (Cum Laude) from the University of the Western Cape and a B. Com (Hons) from the University of Port Elizabeth. Andre has recently become an author and has written a book titled Talent Value Management – Liberating Organisation Growth.

Varun Malik

Senior Partner

Varun is a member of the founding team & CEO at Konsälidön. Previously, he set up and managed businesses for large, mid-sized and small consulting firms including

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) where he established and headed an Operations Consulting team and lead operational improvement projects for clients in the MENA region. He set up and managed a consulting team at Protiviti, a global risk management and internal audit firm. He has managed operations consulting projects at Encreate Consulting, a start-up consulting firm in Dubai. Besides his "intrapreneurial" experience within these firms, he has also been an entrepreneur and has set up technology solutions companies (Lemon Interactive India, Konsälidön Digital) and a learning solutions company (ZigEdu) in India. He started his career in banking and is been a student of science and business.

Michael Kublin

Senior Partner

Michael W. Kublin is the founder and President of PeopleTek, a leadership coaching and development company specializing in helping leaders, teams, and organizations achieve their

full potential. Prior to founding PeopleTek, Mike worked for Electronic Data Systems and American Express in a variety of leadership roles managing technical teams and interfacing with internal and external business partners and vendors. Mike received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida, received his MBA from Nova Southeastern University and is an Alumni Member of Goldman Sachs 10K Small Business Program. He’s the author of 12 Steps For Courageous Leadership, The Leadership Journey, and Leadership Journey II – Moving Beyond The Barriers. He is also on the Board of Directors for a non-profit foundation Catch 81. He is ITIL v 3 certified, and a member of SHRM and ICF.

Ajit Bhide

Regional Head AMESA

With over 18 years of experience, Ajit specializes in global cross cultural and leadership development and facilitates multi-cultural teams and groups, coaches teams and executives, designs leadership

and team development solutions, delivers culture change programs, supports virtual teams with programs and workshops. Ajit has in-depth knowledge and understanding of business, and therefore creates and delivers solutions appropriate to enhance business performance. Ajit has worked with clients across the globe from North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Academically, he holds an engineering degree and PGDBM (HR) from Pune university. He has certifications in cross cultural programs, Process training and people skills. Formerly, he has worked with IBM, Tech Mahindra, Volkswagen and Fiserv. He is passionate about education and frequently contributes as a speaker and mentor at schools and colleges. He believes in coexistence and has been contributing for animal welfare along with NGOs, also he had contributed for the government initiatives like right to education “Every child count”, “Construction workers and their children.”

Mahesh Vakare

Director - Tech Services

Mahesh leads the Technology Arm for NeoSeven Solutions. He has 17 years of industry experience in creating and contributing to the development of computer software applications. He has worked

primarily in India and the USA. Mahesh consults with various start-ups, small and medium businesses, helping build IT products and setting-up the technology infrastructure. And through NeoSeven he and his team have served our clients in UK, USA, Netherlands, South Africa, Oman, Dubai and India. Some of his past organizations include United Health Group, Verizon Wireless, Travelers and L&T infotech where Mahesh worked as a Solutions Architect. He holds a Bachelors in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT India. With an excellent blend of core business domain understanding, technical expertise multiplied by deep knowledge of latest industry trends and technical innovations – Mahesh and his team provide a quality driven approach towards software development and end-to-end customized solutions. He has provided some of the most innovative and affordable Talent Assessment and Management solutions that are precise and bespoke to our client’s needs, behaviours and brands. From Ready to use tests to customized Test Development & Assessment platform, his team thoroughly supports an Organization’s Development. Mahesh has been providing IoT Solutions, Mobile Application Development, Software Development, Web Development, Web Design, Custom Application Development, Product Development and Social Media Management services to our clientele across the Globe. Mahesh is an avid traveller and speaks 4 languages.

NeoSeven Solutions | Talent & Technology

The Team

Monika Navandar- Founder & Managing Director

Meet the Advisers

Peter Vermeulen

Senior Adviser

Hari T.N.

Senior Adviser

Sukanya Badri

Consulting Adviser

Meet the Team

Steve Harrison

Senior Partner

Suri Surinder

Senior Partner

Theresa Sigillito Hollema

Senior Partner

Vikas Shirodkar

Senior Partner

Andre Pandy

Senior Partner

Varun Malik

Senior Partner

Michael Kublin

Senior Partner

Ajit Bhide

Regional Head AMESA

Mahesh Vakare

Director - Tech Services