ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Dr. NEELAM SAXENA
Prof. (Dr.) Neelam Saxena is a distinguished academician, researcher, and mentor with over 30 years of experience in research, development, industry, academia, consulting, and startups. Holding double doctorates in Chemistry (as a BARC Scholar) and Entrepreneurship Education, she is a certified entrepreneurship educator from Stanford University and the Indian School of Business (ISB).
Dr. Saxena has mentored numerous ventures, focusing on curriculum design, startup mentoring, and fostering partnerships with governments and industry associations. She has contributed to over 50 enterprises and mentored more than 120 women entrepreneurs. Notably, she was a selected mentor for the 10,000 Women Entrepreneur Program by Goldman Sachs and the Cherie Blair Foundation. As a Master Trainer for the Wadhwani Foundation, she has led innovation, design thinking, and entrepreneurship boot camps with the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell and AICTE. She has authored over 50 research papers and co-authored three books on entrepreneurship.
Dr. Saxena’s work has made a lasting impact on entrepreneurship education, particularly in empowering women entrepreneurs, and she continues to shape the future of innovation and enterprise through her mentorship and academic contributions.
Dr. ARVIND DESHMUKH
Dr. Arvind Deshmukh is a certified entrepreneurship educator, corporate coach, and an author, with over 19 years of international work experience. Dr. Deshmukh holds a Ph.D. in management and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in International Business from Thunderbird School of Global Management, USA. Before transitioning to corporate learning and entrepreneurial education, he worked in multinational firms such as IBM, HCL, and Akamai Technologies in various corporate roles. As an L&D professional, he has worked with highly reputed academic institutions such as Thunderbird School Global Management, Arizona State University, and Amity University. Dr. Deshmukh has developed and delivered several in-person and online training workshops in developed countries and emerging markets. He has mentored several start-ups and family businesses to establish, scale and professionalize themselves. He runs his coaching brand – ‘Center for Connecting Learning and Innovation’ and provides coaching, consulting, and training services to his clients.