MAM
This International Women’s Day, KLAY Schools through their #BackForBetter campaign, captures Extraordinary Stories of Extraordinary Women
MUMBAI: On the occasion of International Women’s Day, KLAY Schools ran a week-long video series campaign featuring remarkable women from different walks of life in the first week of March 2020. The #BackforBetter tribute series captured the stories of women who managed work-life integration on their own terms, while dealing with life-altering milestones such as childbirth, sending their children off to college work, or even caring for their aging parents. Through sharing, the campaign aims to inspire more women to take the plunge and do what they believe in, while building the best of support systems in place.
The series features stories of women from different professions including an entrepreneur, an author, a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, a social media influencer, a movie producer, a Lawyer, a Product Evangelist and a Consumer Communications Lead. The series portrays inspiring tales of women who took charge of their lives and decided to follow their dreams such as a homemaker turned athlete in her fifties, a management employee turned fitness guru and an engineer turned farmer.
KLAY Schools was started with the objective of bringing women back to work 8 years back. In this time, this chain of pre-schools and day care centres has managed to bring over 10,000 women back to the workforce (just as part of the full day care centres). The actual number is much more. As the work-life dynamic evolves, KLAY is looking to join hands with companies and dig deeper into the reasons why women drop-out of the workforce. While maternity is a well-known barrier, today’s multi-generational workforce has different needs that change at every stage including schooling, college, and aging parents. For instance, an analysis by Infosys pointed out that around 5000 women quit in 2019 owing to Class X and Class XII board exams of their children.
Commenting on the campaign, Priya Krishnan – CEO, KLAY Schools said, “The objective of this video campaign is to extend our support and motivate all women out there who are considering returning to the workforce in order to pursue their dreams. These phenomenal women who have been identified and featured in these videos have displayed some extraordinary courage and grit towards building a strong ecosystem for women to thrive in their careers as well as their family lives. Through this year's theme, Back for Better, we would like to encourage women to stand up for each other and be each other's biggest cheerleaders”
Along with the hashtags #backforbetter, #bridgethegap and #eachforequal, the video series were featured and promoted across all of KLAY’s social media assets, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Here are the links to the videos from the campaign –
● Nidhi Agarwal – Co – owner, RealSteel Fitness – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9ODSEGpPh-/
● Namrata Sadhvani – Editor, Momspresso – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Qd-jypTtr/
● Shreya Krishnan – VP – Marketing and Communications, Anviti Insurance Brokers – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9TZrUKJpU7/
● Savita Sastry – a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9WLC_CpkVx/
● Nish Amarnath – New York based author and journalist, Warburg Pincus – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9YG6uOJkAJ/
● Abhilasha Padhy – co-founder, 80 dB Communications – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9YdgjJpFQp/
● Goda Raghavan – corporate transactional lawyer and partner of AK Law Chambers – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9YgrgnpnXy/
● Karen Annunciation – Lead Consumer Communication at OYO Hotels and Homes – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9a02I0Jjxk/
● T. Rukmini Devi – Secretary of the Chennai Masters Athletic Association – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9a1Ub5JwKJ/
● Kuppulakshmi Krishnamoorthy – Product Evangelist, Zoho – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9a2ygGJehc/
● Abirami Dusshyanth – Producer and Co-founder – Eshan Productions – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9bRrHkpucO/
● Krupalini Sreenivasalu – Engineer turned Farmer – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9dYBFFpwNe/
● Lakshna Chaddha Jha – Founder & CEO, sRide – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9dYP60p3up/
● Pooja Talwar – Co-founder, KLAY London Learning Centre (LLC) – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9dYdTfJKVz/
● Priya Krishnan – Priya Krishnan – CEO, KLAY Schools – https://www.instagram.com/p/B9dZ3LvpHUA/
Brands
Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen to step down after 18 years in role
Board begins CEO search as Narayen prepares to move to chair role
SAN JOSE: After nearly two decades at the helm, Adobe’s long-serving chief executive Shantanu Narayen is preparing to pass the baton.
The company announced that Narayen will transition from his role as chief executive officer once a successor is appointed, ending an 18-year run that reshaped Adobe from a boxed software seller into a global cloud and AI powerhouse. He will remain chair of the board following the leadership transition.
Adobe’s board has formed a special committee to oversee the succession process, led by lead independent director Frank Calderoni. The committee will evaluate both internal and external candidates.
“Shantanu’s leadership has been instrumental in Adobe’s transformation and in positioning the company for the AI-driven era,” Calderoni said in a statement. “As we begin the next phase of succession planning, our focus is on identifying the right leader for the company’s next chapter while ensuring a smooth transition.”
In a note to employees, Narayen described the moment not as a farewell but as a pause for reflection after a long journey with the company.
“I love Adobe and the privilege of leading it has been the greatest honour of my career,” he wrote, adding that he will continue to work closely with the board over the coming months to ensure a seamless leadership change.
Tributes from the technology industry quickly followed the announcement. Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella congratulated Narayen on what he described as a “legendary run” at Adobe.
“Congrats Shantanu, on a legendary run at Adobe! You’ve built one of the most important software companies in the world, and expanded what’s possible for creators, entrepreneurs, and brands everywhere,” Nadella wrote on LinkedIn.
“What has always stood out to me is the empathy you’ve brought to the creative process and the example you’ve set as a leader. Grateful for your friendship, mentorship, and for all you’ve done for Adobe and for our industry.”
Narayen’s career at Adobe spans nearly three decades. He joined the company in 1998 as vice president and rose steadily through the ranks before becoming chief executive officer in December 2007.
During that time, he orchestrated one of the most significant reinventions in the software industry. In 2013, Adobe made the bold decision to abandon traditional boxed software sales and move its flagship creative tools such as Photoshop to a subscription-based Creative Cloud model. The shift initially rattled investors but ultimately transformed Adobe into a predictable recurring revenue business and a case study in digital reinvention.
Narayen also pushed Adobe beyond creative tools into the world of marketing technology and data-driven customer experience, spearheading acquisitions such as Omniture and Marketo. Those moves helped build Adobe’s digital experience division and broaden its reach far beyond designers and photographers.
The numbers tell the story of that transformation. When Narayen took over in 2007, Adobe generated roughly $3 billion in annual revenue. Today the company reports more than $25 billion. Over the same period, its workforce expanded from around 3,000 employees to more than 30,000.
In recent years, Narayen has steered Adobe into the generative AI era with the launch of Adobe Firefly, aiming to keep the company ahead in a rapidly evolving creative technology landscape.
Born in Hyderabad in 1963, Narayen studied electronics and communication engineering at Osmania University before moving to the United States for a master’s degree in computer science from Bowling Green State University. He later earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Widely regarded as one of Silicon Valley’s most steady and effective leaders, Narayen has earned multiple honours during his career, including India’s Padma Shri in 2019.
For Adobe, the upcoming leadership change marks the end of a defining chapter. For Narayen, however, the story is far from finished. As he told employees, the company’s next era of creativity, powered by AI and new digital workflows, is only just beginning.
