ILSS Batch: December 2018

Previous role(s): Executive Director, DBS Singapore

Current role: Chairperson, FICCI FLO Mumbai Chapter

Maloo Natarajan from the December 2018 cohort of the ILSS Leadership Program has been named Chairperson of  the Mumbai chapter of FICCI FLO.

A banker, entrepreneur and now a social sector professional, Maloo, who is a qualified chartered  accountant, has experience across a variety of sectors, geographies and organisations, including Citibank NA and DBS Singapore (where she was Executive Director). She was actively associated with the start-up space in Singapore, including mentoring young entrepreneurs.

She is currently a trustee of an NGO called Soul2Sole that focuses on promoting sports amongst girls. She is associated with Sanctuary Asia and is COO at Roti Bank, which focuses on solving for the hunger problem in our cities. She is also on the advisory board of Meljol, an NGO dedicated to financial literacy.

“The decision to switch from the corporate to the social space is not an easy one and, based on my experience, the ILSS Leadership Program is the best step forward,” says Maloo.  “At the end of the nine days, you realise that this is a space which is not in the business of selling hope but hope is what drives it. In this chaotic world, there is no dearth of problems and certainly no dearth of opportunities for those who want to solve them and make this a better place to live in.”

In her new role at FICCI-FLO, Maloo will be driving the organisation’s efforts in the sustainable development space, with a focus on livelihoods, women empowerment and rural initiatives.

“The UN Sustainable Development Goals talks about the need for equality and women empowerment to alleviate poverty, to promote peace and harmony and of course to protect the world,” she says. “We have made a huge progress in this space but have missed opportunities to take bold steps that could impact millions of women who need change rather than a few thousands.

“That is where organisations like FICCI-FLO can play a role in empowering women through dedicated efforts on enhancing policies and  focusing on sustainable livelihood in urban, semi-urban and rural sectors in a holistic manner.”