GCC Chapter

Enthusiastic and people oriented, Sumangla Jacob has a decade long experience in the Retail Banking Industry, working with some of the leading banks in India.  She took a sabbatical from work life for fulfilling family responsibilities, little knowing that the sabbatical would actually lead to the opening of new doors in her professional life.  Trying to get back on her feet, she found a new life in Image Management and Soft Skills Training.  It is an amalgamation of learning for herself as well as imparting it to the lives she can touch. She strongly believes that all of us may not have equal talent, but all of us have an equal opportunity to develop our talent. The bottomline of her work is to harness the potential within. 

Lakshmi Venugopal is an executive leader, entrepreneur, and business strategist with ten years of diverse experience across the GCC. She excels in human resources leadership and is known for her ability to lead and motivate high-performing teams. Currently she is working as a Commercial Manager in an infrastructure company based in Dubai. She is the host of the Iceberg Podcast, available on Spotify, a podcast dedicated to fostering women's well-being and nurturing healthier relationships, both with themselves and others, with an emphasis on the significance of mindset. Lakshmi also conducts goal-setting workshops designed to empower women to grasp their mindset, values, and belief systems, equipping them with a structured approach to attain work-life balance by prioritizing their most important goals. Lakshmi's educational journey is extensive, featuring a Bachelor of Engineering in Information Technology from Amrita School of Engineering, a master's degree in Business Administration, and a second master's in Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Technology from University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Her commitment to lifelong learning is evident through her continuous pursuit of professional education, honing her expertise in marketing, business strategy, and continuous improvement methodologies. She is also pursuing a certification of being an image consultant and soft skill trainer at the Image Consulting Business Institute (ICBI). She successfully finished the Purpose Mastery of Business (PMBA) program at Jay Shetty Certification School in March 2021. In 2023, she also completed Trainer Mastery Program and powerful sales presentation skills, earning a gold certificate from the Blair Singer Training Academy. Furthermore, she completed a practitioner course in NLP in June 2023 in the Himalayas under Thought Lab. From 2010 to 2013, Lakshmi served with the Indian Community Welfare Committee in Dubai, collaborating closely with expatriates, women, and children. Her role involved organizing events to support the families of Indian citizens in prison. She notably led the "Project Eagle," resulting in the release of 18 citizens from incarceration, and managed the "Women and Children" project in 2012, aiding over 500 women and children facing distress./p> Lakshmi possesses a wealth of experience in various Human Resources roles, which has given her a sharp insight into how employees behave and what makes an organization thrive. Lakshmi is also an expert at project management and team leadership, and she co-founded an IT Consultancy firm in 2007 and later sold her share in the firm to her cofounder. In 2018, she was honoured for her exceptional contributions, receiving prestigious awards such as the Silver Scottish Innovative Students Award and the Gold Strathclyde Enterprise Pathway Certificate from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Lakshmi's mission is to prepare young children for the challenges of daily life and enhance their collaborative skills through education.