FEZANA is happy to learn and congratulates  Edul Daver and Shirin Kumaana-Wadia who have been announced as recent award winners by the World Zoroastrian Chamber of Commerce.

Edul Daver has been awarded the Outstanding Zarathushti Entrepreneur of the Year 2014.

Nina Godiwalla has been awarded the Oustanding Zarathushti Professional of the Year 2014.

Shirin Kumaana-Wadia has been awarded the Outstanding Young Zarathushti Professional of the Year 2014

The awards shall be presented to the winners at the WZCC Global Annual General Meeting in Dubai on December 18, 2014 by the eminent Lord Karan Bilimoria. The WZCC Global AGM preceedes the Enterprise Dubai 2014 event hosted by the Zarathushtis of Dubai.

Below are short profiles

Short professional profile of Edul

Edul Daver came to the U.S in 1966 after graduating from the Doon School, Dehra Dun and IIT- Bombay (Metallurgy). After getting his MS in Powder Metallurgy  in 1967, from the Univ. of Wisconsin, he joined Alcan Metal Powders and rose to becoming its President in 1988. Edul’s latent entrepreneurial juices started flowing and he proactively approached Alcan Corp. about buying the struggling Powder’s Division . The new company, ACuPowder International, LLC was a very risky, highly leveraged buyout venture, at a debt to equity 60:1 ratio. Edul as CEO/President, implemented “Open Book Management” techniques with all employees having a stake in the business and sharing 20% of pretax profits. The employees responded, and the results were better than Edul’s wildest expectations. It was magic. After further mergers and acquisitions ACuPowder , with about 100 employees and annual revenues around $100 million now had the dominant  North American market share (>50%) for copper based powders to the Powder Metallurgy (PM) market place. In 2010, ACuPowder recapitalized with an equity partner, Platinum Equity and formulated an exit strategy over the next two to three years.

These major motivational concepts, combined with an entrepreneurial management style focusing on continuous improvements in Safety (7 years with no lost time accidents), Quality & Customer Service, and Productivity enabled ACuPowder to outperform it’s competition and become the #1 copper based powder producer, with over 50% market share, in North America to the PM market place. This means every one of us has a self lubricating bearing, gear or component made using ACuPowder’s powder in their cars, home appliances and Boeing 737 brake linings and this is his greatest professional accomplishment and pride.

Edul is a strong believer in giving back to the organizations, community and country that shaped his values and helped to create opportunities for him. Edul has also been recognized for his activities and contributions and received the following awards: – The Distinguished Alumnus Award from The Indian Institute of Technology- Bombay in 2001; The Distinguished  Service to Powder Metallurgy Award from the Metal Powder Industries Federation in 2003 ; The Powder Metallurgy Association of India, “Fellow Award” in 2005.

Edul is also very active in his community affairs, serving on ZAGNY’s (The Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York) Board during its formative years in the 1970’s.In addition, he was involved with a group of ethnic business people to develop and launch the WZCC (World Zoroastrian Chamber of Commerce) in 2000 and served as it’s Founder – Director from 2000 – 2006. It has taken root and serves as a conduit to promote business within the community worldwide.  As part of the organization Edul promotes the concept of Entrepreneurship especially to the community’s youth.

Edul’s current focus and passion is to lead the effort to build a New Darbe Mehr in the New York area which will be used with pride by our youth and the next generation.

Edul currently lives in New Jersey

Short professional profile of Nina

Nina Godiwalla lives in Texas. Nina Godiwalla is a thought leader in leadership and diversity who is currently the US Director of Diversity for Norton Rose Fulbright, one of the largest law firms in the world. She is also the bestselling author of Suits: A Woman on Wall Street. The New York Times describes the internationally acclaimed book as the “Devil Wears Prada” of investment banking.

Nina is often sought out as a leadership expert by prominent institutions including The White House, Harvard Business School, NASA, Smithsonian, The Wall Street Journal Executive Task Force, and TED Conference. Before becoming an internationally recognized speaker, she spent almost a decade working for Fortune 500 corporations. Along with Barbara Bush and Sandra Day O’Connor, Nina was honored into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame. In 2012 she accepted an invitation by the White House’s Office of the President to serve on its Leadership Roundtable. She also serves on Governor Rick Perry’s Business Council. She is often featured in major media including USA Today, Forbes Magazine, Elle Magazine, NPR, ABC News, and CNN.

Nina holds an MBA from Wharton, an MA from Dartmouth, and a BBA from The University of Texas.

Short professional profile of Shirin

Shirin Kumaana-Wadia is an architect and interior designer with over 10 years of experience in projects across three continents. She is also a trained dancer and a photographer.

Shirin is involved in diverse design projects ranging from hospitality design to residences and corporate offices in North America, Europe and the Middle East.

In 2011 Shirin started her own design studio under the name of MAZDA Design.

Shirin is a professionally trained dancer in Salsa and other Latin dances. She has performed as dance events in the USA and Central America, and her dance troupe has won numerous competitions.

Shirin is a self-taught digital artist. Her photographs and digital media compositions manifested into her first ever solo exhibition of photography titled “To Eternity and Back” Held in Mumbai, India in Dec 2013 it was a resounding success with a lot of critical acclaim in the local media.

More about Shirin at her website: www.shirr.in

Shirin currently lives in New York City.