Extraordinary assortments of talented and strong women, often unsung, have paved the way for the financial industry, transforming it for the better. Inspirational women in finance are expected to take on the responsibility of running innovative startups and revolutionizing the financial industry. The global financial industry is reshaping the landscape with the rise and remarkable transformation of influential women in corporate finance from breaking down gender barriers to driving innovation and promoting financial inclusion. Indian companies are starting to make gender diversity a priority in top management roles, and supporting this shift will help investors allocate capital to companies. Here are the top 5 women CFOs who have left an indelible mark on the industry.
Vidhya Srinivasan, Chief Financial Officer, Eicher Motors
Vidhya leads financial functions, including Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), financial management, investor relations, Banking and Treasury, regional finance teams, and secretarial functions. Vidhya is a veteran with over 25 years of professional experience in financial planning and analysis, business partners, corporate governance, legal advisory, and investor relations in India and the Asia-Pacific region. Before this, she worked at Bata India Limited as Chief Financial Officer. She has been involved in various financial aspects in his career with well-known brands such as Puma India, Sentiss Pharma, Aditya Birla Retail, Hypermark, and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals. Vidhya is a qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and has a post-graduate diploma in business administration from IIM Ahmedabad. She pursued her Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Madras (1990).
Tracey T. Travis, EVP, CFO at The Estée Lauder Companies
As Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Tracey is responsible for global finance, accounting, investor relations, information technology, strategy, and new business development. She is a co-leader of the Global Value Council and a member of the Executive Leadership Team and Investment Development Committee. Before joining the company in 2012, she was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ralph Lauren Corporation. She also held leadership roles in finance and information technology at Limited Brands, American National Can, and PepsiCo/Pepsi Bottling Group.
She began her career as an engineer at General Motors. Travis is a board director of Accenture PLC and Facebook. Treasury and Risk Magazine recognized Travis as one of the top 25 women in the financial industry, one of the 100 most influential people in the financial industry, and has won the Best CFO Award from Institutional Investor magazine. She has also been named one of the Top 100 African-Americans in Corporate America and one of the Most Powerful Women in Corporate America by Black Enterprise magazine. In 2019, she received the Achiever Award from the Cosmetic Executive Woman.
Paras Nayyar, Chief Financial Officer, True North
Paras joined True North in 2016 and leads the investor relations and finance division. Over the past four years, her role at True North has evolved significantly, and is currently leading corporate governance, human resources, and marketing initiatives at True North.
Before joining True North, she held senior leadership positions at organizations such as KPMG, Fidelity International, L&T Financial Services, and CRISIL. Throughout her professional career, Paras has played a key role in managing corporate strategy, fund structuring, finance, mergers and acquisitions, audit services, legal, regulatory, and compliance functions at True North, integrating and automating financial functions, strengthening systems and processes, financing, and end-to-end investor communications. Paras is a CPA in Merit Ranking and holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from the Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi. She also completed executive education at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Kamini Shah, Group CFO, Birlasoft
As a member of Birlasoft Limited's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Leadership Team, Kamini oversees the company's financial management, performance management, accounting, and process design. She has over 25 years of experience in finance, supply chain, Commerce, and business planning with Fortune 500 companies, and has led teams across multiple countries, cultures, and time zones.
Kamini's vision is to ensure growth and profitability while designing the right systems and processes to empower the business. She works closely with the team to strengthen the company's financial operations and long-term business strategy.
Kamini's expertise lies in business finance, which provides her with a deep understanding of all aspects of accounting and financial management. Shah prefers to be inclusive. She believes that the best results are achieved when everyone is on board and aligned with the vision. Shah holds a B.Com degree from Ethiraj College and has pursued chartered accountancy.
Rajani Kesari, CFO, Nayara Energy
Rajani, the current CFO of Nayara Energy, has extensive experience in this field and has global experience as well. She was the CFO of Ambuja Cements and before Ambuja Cements, she was a member of Thermax and served on the board of directors there. Rajani worked in the company for nearly four years. Before that, she was the CFO of ACC Limited. She graduated from the University of Osmania. Between 1991 and 1995, she was a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of India. Rajani also holds a degree from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.