Dr. Poonam Kashyap is the founding Vice Chancellor of ALARD University, Pune, bringing over 20 years of diverse experience across industry, academia, and research. She holds an MBA and a PhD from Ulster University, UK. Previously, she served as Strategy and External Partnerships Director at NICMAR and worked as an economist with the Northern Ireland Government, overseeing multi-million-pound funding initiatives. Dr. Kashyap has taught project management at leading UK universities and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, England. As Founder of FESTRA Foundation, she addresses global challenges through SDGs. Passionate about bridging academia and industry, she is dedicated to developing employability-focused curricula, enhancing student experiences, and building a strong faculty base at ALARD University.