Leena hails from Kolhapur in Maharashtra which is in India. 

She attended Holy Cross Convent High School in Kolhapur when she was a child and later moved on to study at The New College Kolhapur.

In 1990, Leena attended the Xavier School of Management, which is a business school in Jamshedpur. She earned a Master of Business Administration in Human Resources and graduated with a gold medal in 1992. 

As a student, Leena was also part of the debate marketing association in her school.

In 1992, Leena joined Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) as a management trainee. Her leadership skills and grit helped her to quickly move up the ranks and in 2013, she was named Unilever’s senior vice president of Human Resources.

She then took on the role of global head of diversity in the same year. In 2016, she moved to London and joined the Unilever Leadership Executive programme as a member. Later, she became the first female, first Asian and youngest ever Chief Human Resource Officer of Unilever. This was a role she held for over five years.

In her 30 years with the company, Unilever was named the number one Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Industry graduate employer of choice out of 54 countries.

She also worked extremely hard to ensure that Unilever was diverse and inclusive and that it was a human-centred workplace that focused on compassion. 

Over the years, Leena’s incredible leadership and people-centred approach to the workplace has earned her numerous awards.

Some of her most notable achievements include Role Model of Year at The Great British Businesswoman’s Awards 2021, appearing on Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women’s List and being recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as one of the most accomplished Indian business leaders in the United Kingdom.

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