Malini Mehra Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Profession(s)	Businesswoman, Civil Society Leader
Famous for	Her viral video in which she was seen questioning Rahul Gandhi about the present situation in India during the think-tank Chatham House interaction in London in March 2023 [1]Hindustan Times
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 165 cm in meters- 1.65 m in feet & inches- 5’ 5”
Eye Colour	Brown
Hair Colour	Brown
Career
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum • Asian Woman of the Year • Asia 21 Young Leader of the Asia Society • CNN/TIME magazine Principal Voice
Personal Life
Age	Not Known
Birthplace	Punjab, India
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Kolkata, West Bengal
School	Calcutta International School, Kolkata
College/University	• Smith College, USA • Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex
Educational Qualification(s)	• BA in Government and Women’s Studies from Smith College, USA • MA in Gender and Development from the Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex (1991) [2]Malini Mehra - Facebook
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Family
Husband/Spouse	Nick Mabey (LSDC commissioner and chief executive officer of E3G)
Children	She has three children.
Parents	Father- Dr. Madhav Mehra (IAS officer, entrepreneur) Mother- Name Not Known

Some Lesser Known Facts About Malini Mehra

• Malini Mehra is an Indian businesswoman and civil society leader, who is settled in London. She is the Non-Executive Board Member (India) and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE), a cross-party network of parliamentarians committed to improving governance for sustainable development.

• Mehra grew up in the northern and eastern cities of India, spending most of her childhood in Kolkata, West Bengal.

• Malini’s family has its roots in various cities including Lahore, Delhi, Amritsar, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Himachal Pradesh.

• Malini’s maternal family actively took part in the Indian Independence movement.

• The grandfather of her maternal uncle Pyarelal Nayyar was a personal secretary and biographer of Mahatma Gandhi. Her maternal aunt Pushpa Anand, the Reverend Ma, has founded the Arpana Trust, an ecumenical religious centre that runs some of northern India’s largest social welfare programmes.

• Her father, Madhav Mehra, who was an IAS officer and entrepreneur mainly worked on the Indian Railways. Madhav founded and led India’s Institute of Directors (IOD). During the think-tank Chatham House interaction in London, Malini said that her father was a member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), However, no known connection of her father with the RSS could be traced.

• Malini is a trained political scientist and gender specialist, who has conducted many post-graduate works in India on population policy and politics.

• A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Malini joined the GLOBE International secretariat as chief executive in November 2014. There she developed several new initiatives like treaty coherence & convergence, citizenship education, youth engagement, legislative-judiciary dialogues on climate change, democracy & governance, gender equality, and citizenship education.
  

  Malini Mehra as a moderator at an event organised by GLOBE

• Malini has received several accolades for her work towards the betterment of society.

• Holding 30 years of experience in sustainability, climate change, and human rights, Malini has ushered several international campaigns for Oxfam and Friends of the Earth International like the UN Beijing Women’s Conference (1995), the UNFCCC Kyoto Climate Conference (1997), and the OECD Multilateral Agreement on Investment.

• She also served as the Director of the People’s Decade for Human Rights Education during which she led a team at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Malini was also active at the WTO during the 1999 Seattle WTO protests.

• She is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Indian NGO Centre for Social Markets (CSM), which was established in 2000. The organisation works on corporate responsibility and climate change.

• Working for the UK government in the mid-2000s, Malini headed projects on international sustainable development. She also established inter-governmental partnerships with various countries like China, Brazil, India, Mexico, and South Africa.
  

  Malini Mehra during a conference held in China

• Malini has worked with the United Nations for around 25 years in various capacities. At the UN, Malini briefly served as the advisor to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on UN-civil society reform. Additionally, she campaigned at the Commission on Sustainable Development, co-authored the United Nation’s influential Human Development Reports, and advised UN bodies like UNICEF and UNCTAD.
  

  Malini Mehra addressing the issue of Climate Change at an event organised by the United Nations

• She has been a board member in several international non-profit organisations including China Dialogue, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and Rugmark International for a long time.

• Malini has also served on the advisory board of several leading companies in the world including Hewlett-Packard, Kimberly-Clark, Tetra Pak, and BHP Billiton. For around 10 years, she has served on Unilever’s top sustainability body.

• In 2007, she published a pamphlet ‘Climate Change: Why India needs to take leadership,’ which argued a proactive leadership agenda for the country.
  

  Malini Mehra during Economic Summit in India

• Two years later, she released a film titled In Good Company (2009) at the World Business Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen. The film put a spotlight on the contribution of Indian companies and entrepreneurs to climate action.

• In 2017, Malini served as the Commissioner on Sustainable Development to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
  

  Malini Mehra with Sadiq Khan promoting her Teach A Girl To Swim campaign

• To save lives, empower girls, and tackle climate change, Malini initiated a campaign ‘Teach A Girl to Swim’ in 2018. As a part of the campaign, she swam around 500 km across the world including countries like India, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and the UK. She completed the Ironman triathlon to raise awareness about the unseen global epidemic of drowning.
  

  Malini Mehra promoting her Teach A Girl To Swim campaign

• Malini Mehra is associated with several NGOs in London. Malini has served as an ambassador for Sweden’s Global Challenges Foundation and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Foundation UK. She has also served as the ambassador for London Climate Action Week. In 2023, she chaired the board of trustees of the Institute of European Environmental Policy, UK.

• Malini serves on the board of Sir Heinz Koeppler Trust. She has also served as an advisor to EcoPeace Middle East.

• Malini has given various guest lectures at the UN’s Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development.

• She has also served as an adviser to the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
  

  Malini Mehra giving the keynote address at the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

• Malini has authored various pieces on subjects like women’s reproductive rights, climate change, trade and human rights, and sustainable development for local authorities.

• A polyglot, Malini Mehra is fluent in six different languages.

• Malini has a passion for history including politics and women’s history.

• Malini is a great runner and a marathon swimmer. She has completed various marathons, triathlons, and 10k swims for charity.

• In her spare time, she loves to do gardening and spending outdoor time with her family and friends.

• On 6 March 2023, while Rahul Gandhi conducted a think-tank Chatham House interaction in London, Malini was also present at the session. During the session, she questioned Gandhi about re-empowering the Indian democracy and said that her heart aches to see the current situation in India. Addressing herself as a citizen of India, Malini asked,
  

  I am feeling wretched about the condition of my country. My father was an RSS man, proudly so; he would not recognise the country, bless his soul. How can we engage, re-empower our democracy?”

  Further, she went on to say that she was one among the million Indians who do not recognise the country they were born and brought up. When Rahul asked her if that was a good thing or a bad thing, Malini replied,

  What do you think? Why am I here today? I am feeling wretched…”

  Shortly after the session, a video clip (featuring Malini’s conversation with Rahul Gandhi) from the event went viral on the internet. Although many people lauded Malini for her act, some criticised her for her comments on India. Soon after the video went viral, former Infosys director TV Mohandas Pai lambasted her on Twitter. Pai called Malini an ‘economic refugee,’ and wrote,

  Rubbish! These economic refugees left India many years ago, we stayed, worked hard, paid taxes and built our country! Now they talk nonsense. We do not need them to abuse India. Kept away, we are better off without you and your ilk! Just stop these abuses.”

  

  Malini Mehra questioning Rahul Gandhi at the Chatham House session in London