Durga Raghunath – Class of 2004
WallStreet Journal
India Editor

Durga Raghunath, an alum of the Class of 2004, is now working with the WallStreet Journal. She says that women bring different questions to the table and mustn’t shy away from asking those questions.

Tell us about yourself, your professional life after the ISB including your career progression

I am based in Delhi with The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). My role is to editorially lead The Journal's mobile and digital products’ presence in this market. This involves building a portfolio for mobile across downloadable applications (the first of which we launched last week), sms and voice and repurposing WSJ’s digital products for this market. Before this I was with Mint where I lead the online and mobile teams. Post ISB I spent a few years in New York where I worked with Newscorp in their books business.

What was your key take-away from the ISB?

The ISB helped me move from the realm of ideas to operations. I fully understood the potential of business at the ISB.

Please share with us your advice to women – how to focus on work-life balance and any other learnings that you would like to talk about

I am not a fan of gender-based questions. And I don't have children. The only piece of advice I would offer is that behave as you want to be treated. When I've sat in a boardroom as the only woman or one in a minority, I've never looked at myself that way. Women certainly bring different questions to the table and we mustn’t shy away from asking those questions.

What is your vision for the School?

This school has always impressed me with its fearlessness. I hope that the ISB will become synonymous with forward-thinking and progressive leadership and continue to redefine business education. I look forward to a University Press that I think the school is well poised to set up.  

What are the strengths that the School can leverage upon and areas in which it can improve?

The school naturally attracts an unusual group of people that gives it a tremendous richness. It must improve it's handing of crises.

What role do you think the alums can play in building the School?

As those who have been in a particular sector for a while, I think we can help the School understand changes in a sector. This can take various forms from regular interactions to specialised research. 

What is the area you can contribute in? 

I currently contribute when I can to the admissions process. Having been in the media now for a while I hope I can help the school better understand this sector, the opportunities in the future etc.