KERALA: For the last couple of years, five women from Malabar have been treading a road not taken. Their hardwork and perseverance yielded big results and now they have become an embodiment of women empowerment and successful entrepreneurs. In recognition of their contribution to nation's growth and entrepreneurial skills, The New Indian Express in association with The HappyGrove Co is presenting five women icons of Malabar with the prestigious Verve 2018 Awards.
The New Indian Express Group has introduced the Verve Awards to elevate and advance the group's culture of appreciating and recognising woman entrepreneurs from Malabar.The awards are being given in five categories – Enterprising CEO, Life Time Achiever, Trail Blazer, Emerging Brand and Inspiring Icon. The winners were selected by a jury from a list of shortlisted women entrepreneurs who have made it big in the world of business through dedication and hard work.
The winners of Verve 2018 Awards are Alisha Moopen, executive director and CEO of Aster DM Health Care (Enterprising CEO Award), Ambika Ramesh, managing director, R G Group (Life Time Achiever Award), Anusha Vivek, design director, Kiara Lighting (Trail Blazer Award), Manjusha Mohan, executive director, G'Sons Apparels (Emerging Brand Award) and Shabana Faizal, co-founder and vice chairperson, Faizal and Shabana Foundation (Inspiring Icon Award).
Leading entrepreneurs in Kerala will attend the function which is being organised to celebrate the power of women as part of International Women's Day. Senior IPS officer ADGP B Sandhya will be the chief guest of the event which will take place at Raviz Kadavu resort on March 17 from 6.30 pm.
Atlas Jewellers and Matria- exclusive woman and child hospital are also associating with The New Indian Express in felicitating the woman leaders.
Shabana Faizal Inspiring Icon Award
Co-founder and vice-chairperson, KEF Holdings and KEF Infra, Shabana Faizal began her entrepreneurial journey in 1995, as a retailer for unique, speciality and luxury products. After eight years of successfully running the venture, she went on to support her husband, entrepreneur Faizal Kottikollon, in setting up and running the KEF Holdings Group and its flagship valve-manufacturing business based out of the UAE, Emirates Techno Casting (ETC).
Her deep interest in people development and community building saw Shabana take charge of all employee and administrative processes at ETC. She was instrumental in rolling out key operational and human resource programmes that had a significant impact in shaping the company’s business success. Her passion project was the establishment of a world-class employee community center at the state-of-the-art ETC facility.
Alisha Moopen Enterprising CEO Award
Alisha Moopen is the Executive Director and CEO of Aster Medcare Hospitals and Clinics GCC. Aster DM Healthcare, which is an integrated conglomerate of 30 years’ standing, has medicare facilities in nine countries (UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, India, Philippines, and Jordan). Aster provides primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary care services.
It today has more than 300 facilities. The group employs more than 20,000 people, of which 2,000 are doctors, 6,000 are paramedical and nursing staff besides the administration staff. Alisha Moopen is a chartered accountant from the ICAS (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland) and has worked earlier with Ernst & Young. She graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with distinction in finance and accounting.
Manjusha Mohan Emerging Brand Award
Manjusha Mohan started her career as a software engineer at Infosys in India and later moved to the United States, where she worked as an IT consultant for a financial company called Vanguard Financials. She returned to India as the global project manager of Headstrong Services - a multinational IT company.
Manjusha decided to quit her IT career in 2013 when she joined as the head of operation at G’Mall - The Wedding Planet, which is the first wedding shopping mall in Kannur. Playing a key role in setting up G’Mall was her first stint in the textile sector. It was Manjusha who was behind the opening of the flagship store “Anashwara Silks”, the largest multi-brand garment and textile outlet in the city of Kannur. She quit from her position as the head of operations of G’Mall in December 2015.
Anusha Vivek — Trail Blazer Award
Lighting designer and co-founder KIARA Lights in 2015 Anusha has worked with the Philips Lighting India, GE India and Strongly lighting Singapore before co-finding KIARA in Kozhikode in 2015. A lighting designer herself, she has worked in the lighting up a number of prestigious projects including Singapore metro and the Universal Studios.
After re-locating to Kozhikode, Anusha briefly worked as a lighting designer of De Earth, an architecture firm run by her husband Vivek P P and his partner Nishan M. She realised that there is a lack of proper knowledge on the immense possibilities of lighting and associated products in the industry. It was then that she started dreaming and nurturing the idea of a standalone store to introduce the best of lighting to Kerala. With this dream in mind, she co-founded KIARA in 2015 with the able support of both Vivek and Nishan.
Ambika Ramesh - Lifetime achiever
Ambika Ramesh is the managing director of the RG Group. She is also the managing partner of Gopal refineries & Oil Mills, besides being the partner of Leela Oil Industries, Mahe and the director of Pride India Exports. Ambika Ramesh is a dynamic personality who plays multiple and prominent roles at RG group. Married to Ramesh R G, Ambika has a unique ability in handling day-to-day affairs of the company and the three production units; Ambika Stores, Leela Oil industries and Gopal refineries and oil mills.
She has a passion for horticulture, floriculture, gardening and flower arrangement. Ambika is an embodiment of charity. Under her leadership, RG Group has been undertaking various initiatives to support the less privileged by providing free education, free healthcare support, free food and clothes, free study materials for students.