Sonali Basu Roy, Marketing Manager at Bulwark Technologies shares her views on barriers that remain in gender equality, improving diversity and inclusion and her journey
What are your views on this year’s IWD 2025 theme “Accelerate Action”, how can we truly achieve diversity and inclusion in the workplace?
Sonali Basu Roy: Accelerate Action is a worldwide call to acknowledge strategies, resources, and activity that positively impact women’s advancement, and to support and elevate their implementation. Significant barriers to gender equality remain, yet with the right action and support, positive progress can be made for women everywhere. Promoting and improving diversity and inclusion in the workplace is a crucial initiative that many companies are now taking.
Aside from being simply the right thing to do, organizations understand the huge benefits of a diverse workplace and know that it’s part of improving the employee experience. Diversity & inclusion at Workplace can be promoted in the following ways:
- Use the Inclusive Workplace Model
- Evaluation of the Executive Team
- Foster a strong & open-door company culture
- Conversation on Gender Pay Inequality
- Foster Multilingual Work Culture
- Eliminate bias in the Evaluation Process & Promotion Opportunities
- Personalize open & one-on-one discussions
- Make Technology available for everyone
Can you share your journey into the tech world and what inspired you to pursue this, where did it all start?
Sonali Basu Roy: When I was in the crossroads of choosing a sound career, I was highly fascinated and impressed to see how an ordinary product transforms into an extraordinary brand with the assistance of the creative engine of ‘Marketing’. This highly inspired me to be a catalyst in the formation of large brands and pursue my dreams of becoming a successful marketer in the IT segment. The growth opportunities are enormous and so are the challenges associated as you successfully climb the corporate ladder. I feel it is important to balance my personal & professional career giving both the required importance for a healthy work-personal life balance with constant support from my organization to achieve this.
Over the last 14 years, I faced with unique opportunities in the form of either creating Brand awareness of a new Security Technology player in the Regional Market or help Create a brand equity of an organization as a Thought Leader in Cyber Security. For attaining both these objectives in totally separate scenarios, have successfully devised Marketing programs having a measurable mix of Direct channels (such as events/webinars etc.), Indirect Channels (such as website/blogs/Magazines/Interviews etc.) and Digital medium (such as social media/EDM etc.), collaborating at any given point of time with various partners like marketing agency/media houses/PR agencies/Printers etc. amidst an aggressive timeline to have the maximum impact. A planned approach towards the key objectives of the program, optimum utilization of resources and budget I had for disposal, the marketing mix and the market which we wanted to address, helped me very quickly achieve the desired results of the Marketing campaigns for the organization and channel community.
Who would you consider your role model, someone who constantly inspires you? (Does not really have to be from the professional world only, can be someone at home too)
Sonali Basu Roy: My late father has been a good role model for me. The legacy he has left behind during his lifetime, continues to inspire me every day.
Rapid Fire (Let’s get to know you more)
- Dinner with a famous personality, who would it be? Bollywood Superstar: Ranbir Kapoor
- One skill you wish you could learn instantly? Constantly improvise & upgrade my marketing skills.
- Android or Apple? 😃 Apple
- WhatsApp or Telegram? WhatsApp
- Phone call or text message/email? Text Message & E-mail
- Beaches or Mountains? Mountains
- Coffee or Tea? None
- Early Bird or Night owl? Night Owl
- Books or Movies? Movies
- Winter or Summer? Winter
- Online shopping or in-store shopping? In-Store Shopping
What advice would you give to women starting off their careers, aspiring to enter the tech/business field?
Sonali Basu Roy: They should believe in their capabilities and should be quick learners and acquire different skills. Market trends and mentalities are changing and there are plenty of opportunities for those who are dedicated and motivated. I strongly believe that success and passion for your job & responsibilities are correlated and would enable in achieving the desired level of success and at a shorter timeframe.
