Archives: Speaker

Nicholas lives and breathes all things creative, he began his career as a celebrated actor and dancer before transitioning into the world of advertising, joining LIONS. Over the last two years, he has delivered stage talks at the Cannes LIONS International Festival of Creativity, introducing the new Entertainment LIONS for Gaming and the Luxury and Lifestyle LIONS.

As one of the hosts of LIONS’ The Work Webinars, Nicholas played a pivotal role in launching the initiative to inspire creativity worldwide. He has also toured with The Work Webinars Live in London and Paris, sharing insights with international audiences. As well as running a dance school with his mother, Nicholas leads partnerships between The Work and educational institutions, furthering his passion for inspiring the next generation of creative talent.

Dolly has been in the forefront of the agency production world for decades before founding MINTMENA to become the leading production consultant in the MENAP region.

The wealth of knowledge she brings to the business is immense, and best seen through her thought leadership on the work she does through MINTMENA, partnering with multinational clients out of the GCC, Pakistan, Singapore as well as Nigeria, on many brands including Coca-Cola, Danone and Nissan to name a few, to help them and their partner agencies elevate production quality while optimizing production costs.

Dolly is also a veteran for responsible production and is always thriving to ensure responsible production guidelines are followed not just on the projects she leads but across the industry.

Nadeem Zaman has more than 25 years of global marketing experience, including at Unilever, the Coca-Cola Company and Kimberly-Clark, where he is Marketing Head for their Baby and Child Care portfolio. He has extensive experience working in over 120 developed and emerging markets in Asia, Europe, Africa and the US. He is currently Kimberly-Clark’s Marketing Head for the Baby and Child Care portfolio, leading the turnaround of the $7 billion dollar portfolio to accelerated growth. While serving as the Country Marketing Head for the Coca-Cola Company in Pakistan, he also led the launch of Coke Studio.

Zaman has been an inspiring mentor for many at work as well outside work and takes pride in building some of the biggest brands and supporting most enterprising and successful talent along the career journey. He is on the Advisory board of Georgia State University, Alkaram Textile outfit as well as for AI CMO (an AI enabled end-to-end content studio platform).

Farheen Salman Amir has been associated with Unilever since 1999, leading a diverse range of categories throughout her career, including Personal Care, Ice Cream, Food, and Beverages. Her career trajectory saw her rise to the position of Ice Cream Brand Development Director for the North Africa & Middle East cluster, based out of Turkey, before she was confirmed on the board of Unilever Pakistan in 2016.

Since returning to Pakistan, Farheen has been instrumental in leading the Foods & Refreshment division as a board member for Unilever Foods Pakistan Limited, where she successfully revamped the portfolios of Lipton & Brooke Bond Tea, Knorr Foods, and Wall’s Ice Cream.

Currently, Farheen holds the position of President of Lipton Teas & Infusions, BSPAN (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan), making her one of the youngest female CEOs in the industry. Under her leadership, Lipton Teas & Infusions stands as the largest tea business globally, with renowned purpose-driven brands such as PG tips, Pukka, Lipton, T2, and Tazo. The company operates 11 production factories across four continents and maintains tea gardens in three countries.

In her role as President BSPAN & General Manager Pakistan for Lipton Teas & Infusions, Farheen oversees a business worth over €200 million and employs more than 300 people across the region.

Adding to her accomplishments, Farheen was recently elected as the Chairperson of the Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS) during its 26th Annual General Body Meeting held in December 2023. This position further solidifies her influence and leadership within the advertising and marketing industry in Pakistan.

Farheen is an alumna of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), where she completed her BBA and MBA. She is a strong advocate for women’s leadership in the corporate world, emphasizing that it is possible to achieve corporate success while maintaining a balanced family life.

Sudhir Sitapati is the Managing Director and CEO of Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL). GCPL is one of India’s largest consumer goods multinationals with a presence in over 85 countries, and serving 1.2 billion consumers. Sudhir is responsible for guiding the purpose and ambition of the company; to bring the goodness of health and beauty to consumers in emerging markets.

Prior to this, Sudhir worked at Unilever for 22 years where he led teams across several categories and functions in India, Europe, South East Asia, and Africa. His last job was as an Executive Director – Foods and Refreshments at Hindustan Unilever

He is current Co-chair of the CII FMCG Committee and a past Co-chair of the CII National Committee of Food Processing. Sudhir was awarded the ‘Young Alumni Achiever’ by his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, in 2017. He is also the author of the best-selling book ‘The CEO Factory: Management lessons from Hindustan Unilever’.

Sudhir has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a B.Sc. in Math with Economics Honors from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. Sudhir is married to Ketki and spends his free time trying to get his children, Sahaana and Kabir, interested in his own hobbies — tennis, Hindustani music, farming and scrabble. So far to not much avail.

Mr. Samar Hayat is the Chief Executive Officer of Tapal Tea (Pvt.) Ltd. and is leading Pakistan’s largest Tea company to consecutive years of extraordinary growth despite Pakistan’s tough macro environment. Prior to joining Tapal, Mr. Samar spent 20 years with Procter & Gamble based in Saudi, Switzerland & Dubai leading giant global brands such as Pampers, Gillette, Head & Shoulders & Pantene for Middle East, Africa, India, Pakistan region.

Amir Paracha serves as the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer at Unilever Pakistan Limited. Amir began his journey with Unilever in 2000 as an Assistant Brand Manager, advancing through various Marketing and Sales leadership roles in Pakistan and globally.

Amir spearheads the company’s “Unilever for Pakistan” vision, a purpose-driven movement aimed at strengthening Unilever Pakistan’s impact on the lives of Pakistanis through equitable opportunities and meaningful livelihoods. He has been recognized by the Government as a “Corona War Hero” and was awarded the Shan-e-Pakistan Award by the President of Pakistan for Unilever’s COVID relief work.

Amir served as the President at the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry (OICCI). He is on the boards of Shell Pakistan Limited, KVTC, Habib University Foundation and National Management Foundation. He also leads the Centre of Excellence for Responsible Business under the Pakistan Business Council and is a Male Champion of Change under Australia (MCC)’s Pakistan Coalition.

He obtained his MBA from the Institute of Business Administration. His professional journey began at The Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company in 1996. He has attended executive courses at Harvard, INSEAD, and London Business School.