Brands
Win Lounge storms Davos 2026, putting indian women in the spotlight
DAVOS: Women Inspiring Network (WIN) is returning to the World Economic Forum week with a sharper, louder second edition of the Win Lounge, positioning Indian women leaders at the centre of global power conversations.
Billed as the only independent Indian platform at Davos, the Win Lounge will bring together 75 plus global leaders from 15 plus countries and 30 plus industries, with a special focus on 10 plus trailblazing Indian women spanning business, finance, policy, technology, media and social impact.
Curated by Women Inspiring Network founder Stuti Jalan, the day-long programme will feature panels, firesides and high-energy networking sessions on leadership, entrepreneurship, wealth creation, AI, geopolitics, health, climate action, storytelling and the future of capital.
“Last year I promised we would bring more Indian women to Davos. This year, we have delivered,” said Stuti Jalan. “Their presence marks a defining moment for India’s women leaders stepping confidently into global decision-making rooms.”
The Indian delegation includes Smriti Zubin Irani (The alliance for global good: gender equity & equality), Nivruti Rai (Invest India), Sangita Reddy (Apollo Hospitals), Dipali Goenka (Welspun Living), Priya Agarwal Hebbar (Vedanta), Radhika Bharat Ram (Shri Ram / Karm), Arti Gupta (Jagran Group) and Priti Rathi Gupta (IXME).
Alongside its own showcase, Win will also co-curate sessions at Indian state pavilions, including Madhya Pradesh, on women-led tourism, energy, equity and economic opportunity.
The international speaker roster features Wendy Diamond (IDP Ventures), Gaurav Bhushan (Accor), Martin Chungong (Inter-parliamentary union), Helga Flores Trejo (Bayer), Ranju Alex (Accor South Asia), Henk Rogers (Blue Planet Alliance), Silvana Koch-Mehrin (Women political leaders) and Masoom Minawala, among others.
Themes for 2026 include Impact 4.0, Women, wealth and global power, Health, climate and humanity, Geopolitics and power, and Powering the wealth shift, reflecting Win’s push to link influence with outcomes.
Win’s Davos partners this year include Masimo, Arushi Arts, QI, lXME, RSS Electronics, Sunray Corporation, BouleyGandhi, St Nicholas International Slavic University, Iwill, Dupri and Dasra.
Founded during the pandemic, Women Inspiring Network has grown into a five-year-old global not-for-profit community with 150 plus panels and a digital reach of 50 plus million, working with institutions ranging from the Gates Foundation to Ficci and the US embassy.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
