Meet Meghna Panwar

"I approach every challenge with the same passion and resilience, be it in an everyday situation in the multiple roles I play or 14,000 feet high up in the Himalayas."

“Hang on. Keep breathing,” I told my fellow trekker, while cradling her face. “We’re almost at the camp.”

An unexpected blizzard blanketed our adventure group in the Himalayas at nearly 14,000 feet. For the first time in 50 years, the mountain trek was overtaken by deadly, unpredictable weather.

I felt death very close. I still had my senses. Several did not.

When we arrived at the camp, there was only one oxygen cylinder. Helping the group ration the supply between the three trekkers struggling for breath was the toughest decision I’ve made in my life. We calculated and did the best we could.

One male trekker survived. Two females did not. They expired right in front of me.

Could I have done something different? Could I have prevented this from happening? These questions haunted me.

Be it creating market-leading frameworks that define the future of risk, developing cutting-edge solutions to help clients solve emerging problems, or establishing approaches to shape and steer a corporate innovation program, it’s been a fantastic experience.

With ancestral roots in the desert Indian state of Rajasthan, where gender issues are deeply rooted even in current times, I was privileged to be raised by parents who nudged me from early years to keep pushing ahead. I was encouraged to be self-sufficient and self-aware, especially as a female. Eventually, this grooming from early years helped me become one of a handful of females to graduate from my business school in India.

At Deloitte, I’ve been fortunate to work with highly inclusive leaders who have been committed to advancing diversity. Through my current role as co-lead on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts within the business, it’s been immensely satisfying to shape and drive our DEI priorities. I’ve leaned in on my inherent resiliency as we’ve taken on bold priorities that help us raise the bar in offering equitable growth opportunities to a truly diverse workforce.

A futurist at heart, I love connecting the dots to do what’s right for our collective future. Last year, I furthered my education by attaining a global sustainability and climate risk certification. I’m very excited to lend myself to critical causes such as climate change and sustainability by applying my years of training in framing problems and helping organizations solve strategy and innovation problems.

At home, you’ll find me educating my family about minimal waste principles that reduce our carbon footprints. I teach my children that we cannot run away from life’s problems; we must own them and tackle them head on.