Ira Pradhan to lead D&I at Freshworks

Former corporate communications lead of Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India, Ira Pradhan, has joined Freshworks as leader-internal communications, diversity & inclusion, CSR.

Pradhan has spent about 15 years in various industries, including information technology services, healthcare, retail, consumer electronics and automotive. Her interest lies in diversity and inclusion, in addition to innovations, brand storytelling and executive communications.

At Freshworks, which is a SaaS customer-engagement solutions provider, she will also have the opportunity to work with Freddy AI, an integral member of the workforce.

In the past, she has handled corporate communications with a focus on employee communications at Philips, where she led corporate communications and social media for eight months, before moving to Mercedes-Benz in 2014.

At Wipro too, she spent over three years handling employee communications and employer branding for Wipro world-wide.

In her six-year long stint with Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India, she led the corporate communications team, with emphasis on internal and external communications, social media, employer branding and media relations.

From 2010 to 2013, she worked with Tesco as lead-corporate communications and community plan manager (CSR).

As a new mother, she worked from home for almost a year as a freelancer, writing and developing content for various organisations across the hospitality, finance, education, sports, software and other industries.

This founder member of Global Women in PR India, writes columns for The Darjeeling Chronicle and Reputation Today. As part of the ‘lead like a girl programme’, she is a mentor at Shenomics, which is a professional training and coaching platform.