“Where Others See Wall, I See a Door”
Walls transformed into doors, doors of opportunity, doors of wisdom, doors of learning, doors of fun. And out came an army of bright, motivated, achievement oriented young women. With dreams in their eyes, courage in their hearts, ready to take charge of their lives!
On 30th July at 7th Katalyst annual convention at Country Inn & Suites conference room, 150 Katalysts were all eyes and ears ready to absorb all that a power packed panel and esteemed guests had to share to enrich their lives! The atmosphere was charged with energy, enthusiasm and thought provoking messages enlightening the minds of these budding engineers.
Katalyst was privileged to have following leaders from various sectors as part of the panel imparting pearls of wisdom through their life experiences.
1. Mr. Luis Miranda, Dot Connector, Chairman of CORO and Centre for Civil Society, Ex MD, IDFC
2. Ms. Paula Mariwala, ED Seedfund
3. Dr. P. S. Pasricha, Ex Director General of Police
4. Lt. Gen. Rajendra Singh, CEO DLF Foundation
5. Ms. Vibha Paul Rishi, Independent Director, Former Head of Marketing and Group Strategy at Future Group and Max India
We appreciate their time and effort to be there and share their journey of converting walls into doors, challenges into opportunities, and overcoming obstacles to achieve success. Some of the messages the Katalysts walked away with:
– if you hit a wall turn to the other side and find a door
– take a ladder and climb over it
– be a team player
– be opportunistic
It was our first ever such large convention and we were fortunate to have several stakeholders participate. Special thanks to our donors, Mr. P. K. Joseph, DLF Foundation, Dr. G. V. Rao, The Hans Foundation, Ms. Megha Jain, Schindler, Ms. Poulomee Ghosh, Third Sector Partners (TSP); mentors / trainers Ms. Noopur Desai, Mr. J. Dwarkanath Naidu, Mr. Niranjan Waghmare, Ms. Rupa Kothari, Ms. Sunishi Gabhawala, Mr. Mahesh Gupta; corporate partner, Ms. Aruna Ananth and Ms. Tomonica Chandran, Siemens; college partner, Ms. Amruta Deshpande, College Of Engineering Pune; Directors, Ms. Shital and Mr. Sunit Mehra and our advisor Mr. Vijay Mahajan.
Shout out to Katalyst team for working round the clock for past couple months to ensure that not only every detail was taken care of but also that all eligible Katalyst girls had confirmed and were prepared, punctual and responsible. We would like to thank Third Sector Partners, Barefoot Talent Solution and Go Barefoot team, for always being ready to volunteer before and during the convention.
And last but not the least, a note of appreciation for the staff of Country Inn & Suites who immaculately managed 200 odd people with their courteousness, smooth check-in and check- out, useful suggestions, willingness to help, and being available round the clock.
Every year Katalyst organises a national convention in Goa, where Katalysts from all the centers get an opportunity to interact with each other, with leaders from the industry who are invited for the panel discussion and with the mentors and supporters who attend the convention. During this convention, the prestigious Katalyst awards are presented and the Katalysts also get to showcase their talent through the cultural performance.
Katalyst believes that exposure to inspiring leaders who have gone through the trials and tribulations to achieve their goals would motivate the Katalysts to relentlessly work towards their own personal and professional goals.