Full Name
Aruna Newton
Job Title
Global Head - DEI
Organization Name
Infosys Limited
Speaker Bio
Aruna started her career as a cost accountant and worked extensively in the areas of sales and marketing, quality processes and systems, leadership development, diversity consulting and ESG. Over the last 36+ years, she has traversed many fields gaining a rich experience and perspective across organizations, people and functions.
She currently heads the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion portfolio at Infosys and under her leadership Infosys’s DEI efforts have received a huge fillip. She participated actively to introduce the Maternity Amendment Act in corporate India to facilitate women’s return to work post maternity. She is working with NASSCOM on the Women Wizards Rule Technology (W2RT) program one of the largest capability building initiatives for industry focusing on skilling women in the new and emerging technologies for industry. The program has reached over 7000 women already. In August 2024, she was awarded the prestigious DEIA Leadership Excellence Award by the US Embassy. She also leads Infosys’ ESG portfolio powering Infosys’ Vision 2030 ESG ambitions. Under her leadership Infosys was one of the first companies to publish a Business Responsibility Report in India and the first GRI (G4) comprehensive report in the IT industry and occupy a leadership position in ESG assessments worldwide.
During her tenure as leader on the executive committee in Infosys’ Bangalore DC she founded Green Connect, the Infosys environmental sustainability initiative powered by Infoscions. Leading the Elevated Road project on Hosur Road, Bangalore, secured her a seat in the executive committee of the Electronics City Industries Association (ELCIA). In her tenure as President of ELCIA (2013-2015), an industrial estate with over 180 member companies in Bangalore, she set up Asia’s largest IoT hub in partnership with CISCO to nurture the spirit of entrepreneurship in electronics manufacturing. She also created a common facility for MSME’s, the first of its kind in Karnataka, for electronics manufacturing.
She served as the Chairperson of ELCIA Trust (2015 -2017). Under her leadership the Trust adopted 19 government schools (with over 4800 children) in the vicinity of Electronics City under the Model School initiative. As part of this project she set up the first Science Lab for these children to nurture ‘curiosity’ in mathematics and science through experiments and play.
She is currently a member of Electronics City Industrial Township Authority (ELCITA) Committee that is focused on building a sustainable industrial township and chairs the Sustainability and Smart City expert sub-committees.
She works with Bangalore City Police and the Government of Karnataka on projects concerning improvements to traffic and infrastructure and the prevention of crime in the city. In 2009, she was honored with the WILL Women’s Choice Award, a special recognition for Women in Leadership. She was also selected as The Most Happening Woman in Bangalore – 2011, by the Women’s Guild, a forum for talented women across fields and endeavors.
A keen sports enthusiast, Aruna has represented Karnataka state in Women’s Hockey for many years including captaining the state team, school, college and university teams in a sports career spanning over 11 years. She is also an amateur athlete (marathoner), Randonnée, motorcyclist, and rallyist. She serves on the Board of Studies at Mount Carmel College’s Commerce Department and is the President of the Citizens for Civic Action Residents Welfare Association where she is experimenting with larger citizen-led social change through building sustainable communities.
She currently heads the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion portfolio at Infosys and under her leadership Infosys’s DEI efforts have received a huge fillip. She participated actively to introduce the Maternity Amendment Act in corporate India to facilitate women’s return to work post maternity. She is working with NASSCOM on the Women Wizards Rule Technology (W2RT) program one of the largest capability building initiatives for industry focusing on skilling women in the new and emerging technologies for industry. The program has reached over 7000 women already. In August 2024, she was awarded the prestigious DEIA Leadership Excellence Award by the US Embassy. She also leads Infosys’ ESG portfolio powering Infosys’ Vision 2030 ESG ambitions. Under her leadership Infosys was one of the first companies to publish a Business Responsibility Report in India and the first GRI (G4) comprehensive report in the IT industry and occupy a leadership position in ESG assessments worldwide.
During her tenure as leader on the executive committee in Infosys’ Bangalore DC she founded Green Connect, the Infosys environmental sustainability initiative powered by Infoscions. Leading the Elevated Road project on Hosur Road, Bangalore, secured her a seat in the executive committee of the Electronics City Industries Association (ELCIA). In her tenure as President of ELCIA (2013-2015), an industrial estate with over 180 member companies in Bangalore, she set up Asia’s largest IoT hub in partnership with CISCO to nurture the spirit of entrepreneurship in electronics manufacturing. She also created a common facility for MSME’s, the first of its kind in Karnataka, for electronics manufacturing.
She served as the Chairperson of ELCIA Trust (2015 -2017). Under her leadership the Trust adopted 19 government schools (with over 4800 children) in the vicinity of Electronics City under the Model School initiative. As part of this project she set up the first Science Lab for these children to nurture ‘curiosity’ in mathematics and science through experiments and play.
She is currently a member of Electronics City Industrial Township Authority (ELCITA) Committee that is focused on building a sustainable industrial township and chairs the Sustainability and Smart City expert sub-committees.
She works with Bangalore City Police and the Government of Karnataka on projects concerning improvements to traffic and infrastructure and the prevention of crime in the city. In 2009, she was honored with the WILL Women’s Choice Award, a special recognition for Women in Leadership. She was also selected as The Most Happening Woman in Bangalore – 2011, by the Women’s Guild, a forum for talented women across fields and endeavors.
A keen sports enthusiast, Aruna has represented Karnataka state in Women’s Hockey for many years including captaining the state team, school, college and university teams in a sports career spanning over 11 years. She is also an amateur athlete (marathoner), Randonnée, motorcyclist, and rallyist. She serves on the Board of Studies at Mount Carmel College’s Commerce Department and is the President of the Citizens for Civic Action Residents Welfare Association where she is experimenting with larger citizen-led social change through building sustainable communities.
Speaking At
