Best of Best Conference & Awards Mark 10 Years of Driving Workplace Inclusion through BCWI

Avtar Honours Transformative Leadership: Intercontinental Hotels Group Leader receives the Male Ally Legacy Award at the Best of Best Conference & Awards, 2025 Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (NewsVoir) Avtar Group, India’s leading workplace culture consulting firm, hosted BOB – the Best of Best Conference & Awards, India’s prestigious gathering of workplace culture & inclusion experts and thought leaders, at ITC Grand Chola. Best of Best is an annual conference conducted by the Avtar Group, that celebrates the winners of Avtar & Seramount Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI), the Most Inclusive Companies Index (MICI) and Best Companies for ESG (BCESG) and the Male Ally Legacy Award (MALA).

BOB 2025 stood as a milestone moment – it commemorated the tenth anniversary of BCWI which was launched in 2016. Across its revolutionary ten-year journey, Avtar & Seramount Best Companies for Women in India’(BCWI) has guided over 400 organizations in embedding inclusive policies, serving as a compelling tool in shifting mindsets and steadily elevating the benchmark for workplace inclusion nationwide. Breaking new ground, women’s representation in leadership among the Best Companies rose to 20% for the first time, with overall female workforce participation steady at 36%, up from 25% in 2016.

Reflecting on the milestone, Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President, Avtar Group said, “Twenty-five years ago, Avtar set out to make inclusion a reality in Indian workplaces. Ten years ago, BCWI became our way to measure that change, to see how intent turns into impact. Today, as we celebrate its tenth edition, we see not just statistics but stories of women who found opportunity, of leaders who chose empathy, and of organizations that turned intent into action.” The Male Ally Legacy Award (MALA), which celebrates male leaders who have led efforts to transform workplace attitudes and foster inclusion for women, was presented to Mr. Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, South West Asia, Intercontinental Hotels Group. The choice of jury awards were bagged by COO & EVP, Financial Services SBU, Capgemini Technology Services India Ltd and Mr Mohit Sood, Regional Managing Principal, ZS.

Centered on the theme Unbox Inclusion, BOB 2025 explored topics such as lighthouse leadership, innovative inclusion practices, organizational vitality, and redefining leadership through a new understanding of power.

Speaking about the event and its theme, Dr Saundarya said, “As the world of work continues to evolve, with AI reshaping work, hybrid teams becoming the norm, multiple generations working side by side, and global challenges like climate change affecting us all, inclusion needs a new lens. Unbox Inclusion is about doing just that: breaking open old ideas and seeing inclusion as something that lives in our everyday actions, choices, and conversations. The future belongs to workplaces that unbox new ways of thinking and make inclusion a daily habit. And male allyship is a powerful example of how inclusion can become part of our everyday actions. The Male Ally Legacy Award and benchmarking initiatives like Best Companies for Women in India, MICI and Best Companies for ESG help organizations translate intent into real impact.” Addressing the value of workplace inclusion, the Chief Guest at the event on Day 1, Ms. Thamizhachi Thangapandian, poet, orator and Member of Parliament for the Chennai South, said, “Best of Best Conference is an inspiring community of changemakers who have gathered together to create a community of care. Avtar and Seramount’s Best Companies for women in India study marks a platform that records the evolution of companies and their pursuit of gender inclusion. The onus is on these frontrunner companies in empowering generations of women and reassuring them their careers and worlds do not end at the altar of motherhood or other life stage events. Tamilnadu has a strong legacy of delivering social justice and advancement of women is a key priority for the state. Driven by the able leadership of our Hon’ble Chief Minister Thiru M.K.Stalin, the Dravidian model government has made phenomenal strides in women empowerment through welfare schemes such as Pudhumai Pen, Vidiyal Payanam and Kalagniar Urimai Thogai. Under the purview of the changemakers - both government and organizations, is to focus on true inclusion, and empower historically marginalized groups - LGBTQIA+, PwD, socially marginalised et al. True inclusion means building together, leading together and winning together. BOB 2025 provides this platform for recommitting to the cause of inclusion. Let us remember, when women rise, workplaces thrive and when workplaces thrive the future does not just become human, but humane!” Ms Aruna Sairam, celebrated Carnatic musician, who was the Chief Guest on Day 2 of BOB 25, noted, “It is so easy to let go off things that are important for you. But staying course with relentless focus is what gets you ahead. Just like it takes 25 years to master new ragas in music, Avtar in its life of 25 years has beautifully brought to life the music of inclusion. I take this opportunity to congratulate Avtar and not giving up on their vision, their dream.

Life is not about you but about everyone else - these frontrunner organizations understand this philosophy and ensure they deliver their inclusive commitment, emphatically. It is wonderful to be part of BOB 2025, celebrating each of you, who empower each other.” For the complete list of winners of all benchmarking studies, visit: www.avtarinc.com/enrich/best-companies-for-women-in-india-bcwi About Avtar Avtar, founded in 2000 by Dr Saundarya Rajesh, is one of India’s leading workplace culture consulting firms, supporting hundreds of companies in creating diverse and supportive workplaces. Avtar is also the country’s largest provider of second career opportunities for women.

An ISO 20700 certified firm, Avtar’s biggest research projects are its annual benchmarking studies – the Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI) and the Most Inclusive Companies Index (MICI). Done in partnership with Seramount, BCWI and MICI are India’s largest workplace inclusion benchmarking studies, which have paved the way for the employment of more women and other under-represented groups. Avtar also promotes inclusive hiring through MyAvtar, India’s first job portal for under-represented professionals.

A snapshot of Avtar’s work in the last 25 years: • Provided advisory services in inclusive practices to 800+ organizations • Conducted 5000+ workshops and training programs in companies of different sizes, spanning industries and locations • Facilitated the re-entry of 1,00,000 second-career women into the workforce through MyAvtar.com • Engaged with 200,000+ women through career enablement programs • Offered unique skilling programs such as DigiPivot (a prestigious course in digital marketing, conducted in partnership with Google, HUL, and ISB) to hundreds of women.

• Provided career intentionality training, employment guidance, and access to industry leaders every year to 10,000+ girls from underprivileged backgrounds through Project Puthri, an initiative of the Avtar Human Capital Trust (AHCT).

• Impacted 4000+ schoolboys through MITR (Men Impacting Trust and Respect), an initiative by AHCT that mentors boys to be advocates for women.

For its transformational impact in the realm of DEI, Avtar Group was listed in the prestigious Steward Leadership 25 Listing by Strait Times & INSEAD at Singapore in 2022. To know more, visit www.avtarinc.com | www.myavtar.com.

About Seramount Seramount is a strategic professional services and research firm dedicated to supporting high-performing, inclusive workplaces. Over four decades, we've established a strong, data-driven understanding of the employee experience, which lays the groundwork for everything we do. Seramount partners with over 450 of the world’s most influential companies, large and small, to offer pragmatic solutions including best practice DEI research, workplace assessment, employee learning and development, and talent sourcing.

These offerings empower companies to navigate a dynamic corporate environment and to cultivate a resilient, connected workforce that achieves extraordinary outcomes.

Learn more at www.seramount.com.

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