Parmesh Shahani is the only Indian to make it to the prestigious TED Senior Fellow list in 2017

It is an extremely proud moment for the Godrej Group as Parmesh Shahani, Head of the Godrej India Culture Lab, who was previously selected as a TED Fellow in 2009, has been announced as a TED Senior Fellow for 2017. He is the only Indian to be part of this fellow programme this year. This honour will enable him to further cement his engagement with the TED community. He will have the opportunity to participate in four additional TED events and potentially the opportunity to deliver a talk from the TED stage.

This year’s class of TED Senior Fellows also includes a biologist using novel, low-cost materials such as legos, apples and asparagus to develop next generation medical innovations, a policymaker whose non-profit RISE worked with US legislators in 2016 to pass the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights, and a choreographer dedicated to the ancient art of Cambodian classical dance who founded Cambodia’s first all-male and gay-identified dance company. A full list of the new TED Fellows and Senior Fellows is available at ted.com/fellows.

Founded in 2009, the TED Fellows program has 414 Fellows from 87 countries, whose talks have collectively been viewed more than 145 million times. In its eight-year history, the TED Fellows program has created a powerful, far-reaching network – made up of scientists, doctors, activists, artists, entrepreneurs, inventors, journalists and beyond -- leading to many meaningful and unexpected collaborations including BRCK, the self-powered, mobile WiFi router that can work anywhere, even in the harshest conditions; Mappr, the data visualization platform recently acquired by Slice Technologies; and Brick x Brick, a public art performance inspired by the 2016 election that builds human “walls” against misogyny.

“What do a gut-brain neurobiologist, a Chinese entrepreneur innovating in food delivery and an investigative journalist reporting on authoritarian regimes in the Central African Republic have in common? As it turns out, a whole lot. We are thrilled to welcome our newest class of TED Fellows, an incredible group of exceptional achievers with exemplary character,” said TED Fellows founder and director Tom Rielly. “Our Fellows tell us that the biggest benefit of the program is the other Fellows themselves – the mutual support, professional and personal, and the deep, lasting connections. The collaborative spirit of the program yields a powerful network where each person profoundly influences each other, and the group as a whole functions as a supercomputer to which each fellow has personal access.”

“I am deeply humbled by this selection,” said Parmesh. “I feel that rather than a personal honour, it is a recognition of the good work that we have been doing at Godrej, especially around the Culture Lab as a platform for conversations about society, and the LGBT friendly policies that we have implemented through HR with the aim of creating a more diverse and inclusive work place. I look forward to learning from the other TED Senior Fellows, TED Fellows and the TED community at large about how to create more impactful change.”

Congratulating Parmesh, Nisa Godrej, Executive Director, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, said, “I am very happy for him. This selection is a testimony of Parmesh’s professional accomplishments including the Godrej India Culture Lab, which has helped in broadening the horizon of innovation at Godrej. I am sure that this global platform will help him further develop on his leadership journey and his commitment to creating a better society.”