The World Fellows Program has literally changed my life. The combination of excellent leadership training, networking opportunities, and a tightly knit cohort of similarly intense and passionate change makers has given me a renewed confidence to continue to purse my dream of creating a more inclusive and LGBTQ friendly India and world.
2014
Parmesh Shahani
Author and Head
Godrej India Culture Lab
Parmesh Shahani is Vice President at Godrej Industries Ltd. and the founder of the award-winning Godrej India Culture Lab in Mumbai, which sparks conversations and collaborations about the changing face of contemporary India. Parmesh is a passionate advocate for LGBTQ inclusion in corporate India and has guided many of the country’s leading companies on their inclusion journeys.
Parmesh's first book, Gay Bombay: Globalization, Love and (Be)Longing in Contemporary India (Sage), was originally released in 2008 and re-released in 2020. His second book Queeristan: LGBTQ Inclusion at the Indian Workplace (Westland Books) was also released in 2020.
He is a member of the FICCI taskforce on diversity and inclusion and a board member of Khoj International Artists’ Association. Parmesh holds an MS in Comparative Media Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been a TED Senior Fellow and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
