The inspiring stories of Indian students who studied abroad and made it big in India – Meera Sanyal

Meera Sanyal

Academics

Meera Sanyal graduated in commerce (B.Com.) from Sydenham College Bombay in 1982 and earned an MBA at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, in 1983. In 2006, she completed the six-week Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Her professional affiliation was with the Chartered Institute of Bankers (UK).

Career

In 2013, Sanyal stepped down as CEO and chairperson of the Royal Bank of Scotland India to focus on public service. At the bank, she mentored the MicroFinance program, which financed over 650,000 women in rural India. Additionally, she chaired the Foundation of the bank, which provided livelihood assistance to 75,000 women-led households in threatened ecosystems. She was a distinguished banker both in India and overseas. Later, she served as the COO for ABN AMRO in Asia. In addition, she launched and led the global BPO and ITes operations for ABN AMRO / RBS in India.

Sanyal served on the board of Pradan and was a member of the International Board of Right To Play, an NGO that utilizes play to empower and educate children facing adversity. In addition to serving on the Supervisory Board of Jaihind College, she was also a Board member of LiberalsIndia for Good Governance – the Indian Liberal Group. She served on various national committees of the FICCI and the CII. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton invited her to serve on her International Council on Women’s Business Leadership in 2011.

Sanyal ran for the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 as an independent candidate after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but lost. She and her husband campaigned and raised funds for the AAP in the 2013 Delhi elections. She served on AAP’s National Committee on Economic Policy.