Bangalore, March 28: Haworth India hosted a leadership roundtable in Bengaluru, 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 was structured as a moderated panel discussion featuring senior architects, design leaders, and project stakeholders. It was followed by an audience interaction segment, with a focus 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 Bengaluru panel, hosted at Haworth India’s Indiranagar experiential centre, featured Varsha Kempaiah, Director, Spacelab at RC Architecture; Devanshi Patel, Corporate Real Estate Leader; Reema Bhandari, Director at M Moser and Aruna R, Director at Space Matrix. Opening with reflections on Personal Journeys and Turning Points, speakers discussed early influences, defining breakthrough moments and professional challenges that shaped 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, highlighted practical steps such as fostering inclusive decision-making, implementing balanced policy frameworks, and encouraging leadership behaviours that create measurable impact. The session concluded with Nuthan Prabhu, Associate at M Moser, sharing perspectives on resilience.
Commenting during the discussion, Reema Bhandari, Director, M Moser, said, The workplace today is far more than a physical setting, it is a strategic enabler of culture, performance, and growth. The real opportunity is to create environments that are human-centric, adaptable, and aligned with the changing needs of both people and business.
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.
