Tata Trusts has named former civil servant Siddharth Sharma as its new chief executive officer (CEO). The charitable organisation has also appointed former Ford Foundation official Aparna Uppaluri as its chief operating officer (COO), a role newly created at the organisation.
The new appointments will come into effect on 1 April, 2023, Tata Trusts said in its press release. Tata Trusts owns a 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons, the principal holding entity of Tata’s group of companies.
The 54-year-old Siddharth Sharma has decades of experience in government service and acted as financial advisor to the 13th and 14th Presidents of India. He was previously the chief sustainability officer at Tata Sons and will succeed Srinath Narasimhan in his new role. Narasimhan, a veteran at the Tata group of companies, had let go of the top position last year following his retirement.
Aparna Uppaluri, who will become the first COO at Tata Trusts, is presently with the Ford Foundation where she is the programme director for India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. She was also involved in grant-making activities, especially around the segment of gender justice. According to media reports, Uppaluri’s name was suggested for the leading role by recruitment firm Egon Zehnder.
Sukaran Singh, CEO of Tata Advanced Systems, was also in consideration for the position of CEO at Tata Trusts, according to an Economic Times report. The role of CEO is relatively new at Tata Trusts which was earlier handled by a board of trustees. In 2020, Tata Trusts adopted a new management style by naming Narasimhan as its first CEO.
