Ravneet Pawha

Ravneet Pawha is currently the Vice President (Global Alliances) and CEO (South Asia) at Deakin University Australia.

Ravneet was awarded the prestigious Business Leader of the Year at the India Australia Business and Community awards 2018. She was also awarded Exceptional Woman of Excellence in Women Economic Forum 2019 and Women Empowerment Entrepreneur Award 2021 by AsiaOne magazine at the 14th edition of the Pride of the Nation Series Awards and Business Summit of the Asia-Africa Business and Social Forum. She holds various Vice Chancellor’s Awards of Excellence and outstanding contributions to building economic social and human capital. She is the president of the Australia India Business Council (Victoria). She has also been featured in the top 10 ‘Women of Indian origin making a difference in Australia.’

She has a Master’s in Education and Training and a Master’s in Business Administration. She is a gold medalist in her postgraduate studies.

With over 28 years of experience in the international education, research, training and upskilling sector, she has been instrumental in establishing global collaborations and strategic partnerships. She set up the Deakin University office in 1994, the first-ever international ‘University office’ in India of any foreign education provider. As the CEO (South Asia), she has developed 20+ strong holistic partnerships across Government, academia, industry and research specifically for Deakin University in India / South Asia and has contributed to its immense success globally.

As the Vice President (Global Alliances), she works on strategic interventions for Deakin University across the globe and advises the senior executive on innovative models of engagement across education, research and re-skilling. She has propelled Deakin University’s strategic initiatives in India leading to robust engagement with corporates like TATA, KPMG, Aditya Birla, NASSCOM, National Stock Exchange, and Infosys to name a few around the themes of smart manufacturing, healthcare technology, food, water, environment, future sustainable infrastructure and emerging technologies. She is an inspirational leader and a passionate entrepreneur.

Before her current appointment, she worked as Chief Executive Officer (South Asia and the Middle East) for Education and Training Pty Ltd. She held senior management positions with IDP Education Australia, British Council and Franchise Asia, a US-based company where she was responsible to establish and manage the network of offices across India for education and training purposes.

She brings with her varied international experience. She has also been contributing towards the building of skill framework and platform through association with Nasscom Future skills, Australia India skill forum & National skill development corporation.

She is the Chairperson of Business and Community Foundation (BCF), board member of India Australia Business and Community Awards (IABCA), Chair of education of Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce (IACC), Adviser to Australia India Institute, and member of various national and international associations and forums including the Rajasthan Royals, Confederation of Indian Industry, Federation of Indian Chambers, Australia India Chamber of Commerce, India Sports Council, ANZIBA to name a few.