Ireena Vittal enjoys a deep understanding of the Indian consumer segment—both urban and rural—distilled through years of experience with some of the biggest consumer brands in India.

Currently an independent director on the boards of four top Indian companies: Wipro Ltd, Titan Company, HDFC and Godrej Consumer Products, she has previously been on the board of Axis Bank, Indian Hotels (which runs the Taj business), Tata Global Beverages, and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare. Ireena was also been a partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Company for more than 15 years.

Starting her corporate journey as a category manager (coffee/beverages) at Nestlé India, in 1995-96 she was the marketing head at MaxTouch (now Vodafone Idea) which had just entered the mobile service business in India.

Advising C-suite executives of India’s largest consumer companies has given her strategic insights into customer psychology and rural marketing. Working closely with retail companies exposed her to the many structural problems that made doing business less efficient. As a consequence, after leaving McKinsey in 2013, Ireena shifted her focus to public policy and began working pro-bono in the fields of urbanization and rural markets.

Among nonprofits and research entities, she serves on the boards of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, the Foundation to Educate Girls Globally and the Jal Seva Charitable Foundation.