Hyderabad : Haworth India hosted a curated leadership roundtable in Hyderabad, under the theme ‘Give to Gain’ to celebrate women who shape tomorrow. The curated session brought together senior women leaders from architecture and design (A&D) firms, corporates and project management consultancies (PMCs). The session structured as a moderated panel discussion followed by audience interaction with senior architects, design leaders and project stakeholders, the session focused on the business impact of women’s leadership.
The discussion explored how thoughtfully designed workplaces, mentorship, collaboration and support enable women to thrive, while positioning inclusion as a key driver of organisational performance rather than a social initiative.
Commenting on the initiative, Manish Khandelwal, Managing Director, Haworth India, said, “When women lead with intention, progress accelerates. Through ‘Give to Gain’, Haworth brought together diverse industry perspectives to examine how inclusive leadership and workplace design can move beyond social intent to become performance drivers for organisations. Conversations around mentorship, collaboration and return-to-work pathways are critical to building workplaces where women can contribute meaningfully across different stages of their professional journeys.”
The Hyderabad panel, hosted at Haworth India’s experience centre at HITEC City, featured Haripriya Ashwin, General Manager at Turner & Townsend; Srujana Nalam, Director at Turner & Townsend; Priyanka Bhat, Workplace Design and Build Leader; and Sabina Reddy, Director at M Moser Associates.
Opening with reflections on Personal Journeys and Turning Points, speakers discussed early influences, defining breakthrough moments and professional challenges that influenced their leadership approach.
The discussion then progressed to Winning in the Workplace, focusing on how mentorship, collaboration, professional networks and structured support systems such as return-to-work programmes and knowledge sharing strengthen leadership capability and business performance.
In the third arc, Workplaces That Help Women Thrive, the panel explored how inclusive policies, leadership culture and supportive workplace solutions enable creativity, trust, innovation and sustained participation.
The final segment, How Workplaces Can Actively Support Women, focused on tangible actions such as inclusive decision-making, balanced policy frameworks and leadership behaviours that drive measurable impact.
Commenting during the discussion, Haripriya Ashwin, General Manager at Turner & Townsend, said, “As an architect of both physical and cultural spaces, I’ve always viewed leadership through the lens of design and collective approach. It is deeply inspiring to see women map out their personal topographies…the defining moments that form their foundations. My own career has been built across diverse sectors and transitions, teaching me that the most resilient structures are those that adapt. Seeing these dialogues evolve reinforces my belief: when we design our professional environments with empathy and clarity, we create the scaffolding necessary for women to not only occupy space but to transform it”.
As part of a larger initiative, the ‘Give to Gain’ leadership roundtable series was hosted across five major cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai engaging a diverse cross-section of industry leaders and fostering meaningful dialogue around inclusive leadership and workplace transformation.
The ‘Give to Gain’ theme positioned inclusive workplace design as a strategic driver of productivity and innovation, while reinforcing Haworth India’s role in advancing cross-sector leadership dialogue across the architecture and corporate real estate ecosystem.
