Lila Poonawalla was born on September 16th, 1944 in Hyderabad Sindh and came to India as a refugee. She was one of five siblings and moved from a camp to Pune with the support of relatives. She was the first female mechanical engineering student at the Government College of Engineering, Pune. Being a woman in a male-dominated engineering field made Lila even more determined to prove herself. She graduated with a First Class Degree, in 1967.

She went on to be the first lady Mechanical Engineer in India, and rose from being an apprentice to becoming the Chairman and Managing Director of a Swedish multinational company, Alfa Laval, in less than twenty years.

Her rich professional experience and dynamic leadership have resulted in steady engagements with companies, institutions and NGO’s that seek her advice. She has been sharing, and ensuring that they build on her leadership values and successful management strategies. She is currently on the Boards of a number of Companies.

She has undergone many management-training programs at IIM Ahmedabad, Sweden, and Harvard and Stanford Universities in USA

She is recipient of many awards, most important being the Padmashree conferred on her by the President of India in 1989 and Recently, in August 2003, she has been recognized internationally. His Majesty, The King of Sweden, has conferred the Royal Order of the POLAR STAR, naming her as an Officer of the Royal Order for her valuable services to Sweden in many ways and through many years.

She also runs her own foundation, the Lila Poonawalla Foundation, which gives financial support for post-graduate studies to first class girls who are economically needy. “I wanted to motivate women to step into the next millennium with confidence and encourage them to meet the challenges. I recognized the need to provide financial assistance to deserving girls in pursuit of higher education, and in shaping their own destinies. It was this consideration that motivated me to institute the foundation”

This Foundation is unique in a way that it makes an all out effort to communicate regularly with all the past Lila Fellows through a quarterly newsletter called ‘INSPIRA’ and also through an E-group, no matter in which part of the world the young girls are either studying or working. Also the Foundation is arranging various Training Programmers, Personality Development Programmers, Picnics, Study Tours, and New Year Party etc. Through phone calls, email and personal meeting the Foundation encourages Lila Fellows to participate in various programmers. The Foundation has distinctive approach towards keeping touch with the Lila Fellows. Every Lila Fellow receives a birthday greeting and those in Pune also receive a small gift from Mrs. Poonawalla.

In short, as our Lila Fellows says “It is the Foundation which has human face and heart.” Its motto is Leading Indian Ladies Ahead (LILA)