HBA Mumbai Chapter Launch – Unveiling Our Story

The HBA Mumbai Chapter and IQVIA's Women Inspired Network India Chapter joined forces to celebrate International Women's Day with an engaging event. The gathering saw over 90 enthusiastic registrations from IQVIA, HBA members, and industry delegates from 11 companies. Salima Kazi, President of the HBA Mumbai Chapter, kicked off the session with a warm welcome to speakers and participants, sharing the fascinating growth stories of HBA.

Dr. Deepa Desai, HBA Global Board Member, spoke about HBA's impressive footprint, membership growth, and ambitious 2025 objectives. She recounted HBA India's journey from 15 members in 2023 to over 500 in 2024, with a vision to impact 5,000 women by 2030. Deepa's passion for creating opportunities for women shone through as she discussed the future, including Think Tanks, Academies, and the HBA Foundation.

Tina Khadloya, Lead of IQVIA's Women Inspired Network India Chapter, delivered an inspiring keynote address, highlighting the remarkable growth of WIN India as one of IQVIA's most prominent and rapidly expanding ERGs, boasting 9,000 members across 25 chapters in the Americas, EMEA, and JPAC. She emphasized the shared vision of WIN and HBA in empowering women and fostering invaluable networking opportunities.

The Mumbai leadership team introduced themselves to the entire team and shared their vision for chapter leadership along with reflections on why they were inspired to join HBA. It was insightful to learn about their inspiring journey from members to leaders, and how they are now rapidly expanding in terms of engagements across chapters, growing to over 150 members. The foundation laid by ILS2024 helped them create and expand further, amplifying HBA's voice within the industry.

Following this, Vihanga Deshpande and Rashmi Awasthi Sadekar engaged the audience with a lively quiz, while Ujala, DAL Programming, Jai, DAL Volunteer Engagement, and Mamta, DAL Membership Engagement led a speed networking session. Participants formed groups, introduced themselves, and shared reflections on how networking had helped them expand their contacts, hone their skills, and enjoy the process.

The event concluded on a high note with closing remarks from Suchela Srivatsa, Senior Director at IQVIA, followed by cake cutting and lunch. The seamless execution was credited to the HBA Mumbai Chapter Leadership and IQVIA WIN Chapter committee members. Overall, it was a huge success, setting a benchmark for future events and laying the foundation for other chapters within the HBA India Region.