Chennai-based Sudha Shivkumar, an investment banker and lawyer, took over as the 40th National President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Ladies Organisation (FLO) on Monday. FICCI FLO is the oldest women-led and women-centric business chamber in Southeast Asia. According to a press release, Sudha Shivkumar as the National President would focus on empowering women by facilitating an enabling environment promoting entrepreneurship, industry participation and economic development of women.Sudha Shivkumar is an investment banker and a lawyer by profession. Currently, she is serving as a director at her family-run business focused on auto ancillaries. Shivkumar also served as the Chairperson of the FLO Chennai Chapter in 2016-17. FLO, at present, has 19 branches across India with about 3,000 businesswomen as a part of the organisation.Shivkumar, in 32 years of her career has worked for many large organisations, and mutual funds, managing international portfolios and spearheading no-profit ventures. According to the statement by Sudha Shivkumar, in her new role, she would focus on transforming the powers of womans voices into forward-thinking economic initiatives by changing perceptions and influencing policies.Sudha Shivkumars EducationSudha Shivkumar is an alumnus of the University of Madras and has completed her bachelors degree in English there. She specialised in Corporate and Bankruptcy laws to build her expertise in these fields and completed a Master of Applied Finance with specialisation in Investment Banking from Macquarie University, Sydney, with distinction.Sudha was not only an all-rounder student but also won many awards in sports and leisure activities. She has won the All-India Best Shot in Rifle shooting and has undergone advanced training in para-jumping. She also holds the state record for javelin throw.Sudha Shivkumars CareerSudha Shivkumar oversaw a respected non-banking finance company for 13 years before overseeing the operations of a mutual fund based in South India with Rs 25,000 crore in assets under management. Apart from this, she also has handled a Rs 350-crore portfolio of an international group of high-net-worth individuals for the time of seven years. She actively participated in the World Craft Councils “Abhushan” and “Kaivalam” initiatives. She presently serves as the Crafts Council of Indias joint treasurer. As a trustee for Navajothi Trust, Shivkumar contributes in her free time to the management of a vocational training facility for the mentally impaired.Sudha Shivkumars achievementsIn her early years, Sudha Shivkumar served as a leader in her school, as president of her college union, and as a state-level under officer for the NCC movement. She has demonstrated a preference for leadership in a variety of contexts throughout her academic and professional careers. Sudha Shivkumar has extended her leadership abilities to FLO as well. While serving as Chairperson at FLO, she was also co-opted to the Committee of FICCI Tamil Nadu. During her tenure at FICCI as Chairperson, over 175 toilets were built at an adopted village and four tuition centres were set up that are still functional. She also upskilled 380 women based on their interests, out of which, 93 percent were economically empowered earning between Rs 4,000 to Rs 9,000.All About FICCI Womens WingFLO is the womens wing of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry. FLO is an all-Indian forum for women with its headquarters in New Delhi and 19 branches that span the countrys many geographical regions. Almost 8000 female business owners and professionals are represented by FLO. The organisation has been advancing female entrepreneurship and professional excellence through workshops, seminars, conferences, training, capacity-building programmes, etc. for more than 38 years.The organisation works at three levels, Grassroots, which take care of the skill development to make women more employable, other one is Middle level, which helps women to set up their own business and the Senior level, which works towards promoting more women in leadership and board positions. The organizations goal is to support and enable women to demonstrate their abilities across all economic sectors and verticals to promote a truly inclusive growth trajectory.
