Meta’s Sandhya Devanathan tops IMPACT’s 50 Most Influential Women List, 2024

Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President and India Head of Meta has topped IMPACT’s 50 Most Influential Women in Media, Marketing and Advertising List, 2024 for her exemplary leadership of the India wing of one of the largest technology conglomerates in the world. During her watch, Meta India in FY24 saw its gross advertising revenue touch Rs 22,730 crore compared with Rs 18,308 crore in the previous year.

Tribes Communications was the Presenting Partner, and Alakh Advertising was the Co-partner for the 12th edition of IMPACT’s 50 Most Influential Women List. This year, the list saw a healthy representation of women leaders from across domains. The eminent jury has handpicked 16 new faces and voices that are shaking up the industry right now. The number of women on the list from news media companies is four. There are 17 women in the list from the agency side like Creative, Media, Digital, and Design, while eight are from platforms. And the remaining 22 are from a marketing background, out of which six are from Digital-first businesses. Also, we have one influencer on the list this year.

“The winners’ achievements are a testament to what is possible when passion meets purpose. Each of them represents the pinnacle of excellence in their domain, pushing boundaries, shattering stereotypes, and redefining what it means to lead. From shaping groundbreaking campaigns to setting new standards in communication, strategy, and storytelling, their work not only drives business success but also creates a lasting cultural impact,” said Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison World, who was also the Jury Chair.

The list was put together by a jury of most esteemed industry leaders, led by Sam Balsara, Chairman and Founder, Madison World. Other eminent names on the jury this year were Rajeev Beotra, Executive Director, HT Media Ltd; Shashi Sinha, CEO – India, IPG Mediabrands; Aparna Purohit, CEO, Aamir Khan Productions; Gaurav Tayal, Chief Executive of the Matches & Agarbatti Business (MAB), ITC; Rohit Ohri, Former Chairman & CEO, FCB Group India; Subhasis Ghosh, CEO, Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Ltd.; Gauravjeet Singh, Director - Agencies & VC Partnerships, India, Meta; Neena Dasgupta, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, The Salt Inc.; Anjana Ghosh, Managing Director, Scale Sherpas; Megha Tata, Strategic Advisor; Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Former Head - Hindi & Kids TV Network, Viacom18; and Nawal Ahuja, Co-founder, exchange4media.

Past toppers of IMPACT’s 50 Most Influential Women List include Anupriya Acharya, CEO, South Asia, Publicis Groupe; Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18 (2022); Kalli Purie, Vice Chairperson, India Today Group (2020); Tanya Dubash, Executive Director and Chief Brand Officer, Godrej Industries (2019), Nadia Chauhan, Joint Managing Director & Chief Marketing Officer, Parle Agro (2018), Malini Agarwal, Founder & Creative Director, MissMalini Entertainment (2017), Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director and Creative Director, Balaji Telefilms (2016), Kirthiga Reddy, then Managing Director of Facebook India (2015), Rama Bijapurkar, market strategy consultant and acclaimed business author (2014), Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director HT Media Group (2013) and Vinita Bali, then Managing Director of Britannia (2012).

Please find the full list of winners below: