​About The Event

​Join entrepreneur, speaker, and author Hitha Palepu for a panel with Anu Rajakumar, Managing Director at Neuberger, and Samira Panah Bakhtiar, General Manager at Amazon Web Services. They’ll talk about what it takes to build a billion-dollar business, how they got there, and what they’d tell the next woman on the climb. Come curious, leave with a few ideas for your own work as you wrap up this year and look ahead to 2027.

​Drinks and light bites will be on hand at our Bryant Park showroom, with time to meet the other women in the room before and after the conversation. Bring a colleague, or come on your own and leave with a few new contacts.

​Doors will open at 6pm, and the conversation will begin at 6:30pm.

​Meet the Panelists

​Hitha Palepu

​Hitha Palepu is a consummate multi-hyphenate - an entrepreneur, speaker, and author. She's the CEO of Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals, whose lead product is injectable aspirin for hospital use. Hitha is the author of We're Speaking and How to Pack, and is building Hyphenated, a content & community platform designed to help women own all of their roles. She lives in New York with her husband and two sons.

​Anu Rajakumar

​Anu Rajakumar is a Managing Director at Neuberger, where she has helped build and scale the firm's Multi-Asset platform to more than $12 billion in assets. As a Multi-Asset Client Advisor, Anu delivers customized investment solutions and partners with large, global institutional clients to meet their unique goals. Her work has helped drive the launch of new strategies, fueled the growth of the firm's Insurance Dedicated Fund business past $5 billion, and been instrumental in securing major OCIO mandates.

​Anu is also the host of Disruptive Forces in Investing, Neuberger's podcast featuring conversations on the trends shaping the investment industry. In 2025, she was named one of Pensions & Investments' Most Influential Women in Institutional Investing.

​Beyond her client-facing work, Anu is an active leader within Neuberger: she is one of the founders of the firm's Women's Forum, supports the NB Asian Network, and has championed Neuberger's Celebration with Service initiatives throughout her 18-year tenure at the firm. Outside the firm, she serves on the Champions Advisory Committee at the New York Center for Children and is co-President of her children's elementary school Parent-Teacher Association. Anu holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Florida.

​Samira Panah Bakhtiar

​Samira Panah Bakhtiar is General Manager of Telecom, Media & Entertainment, Games, and Sports at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where she leads a global team helping organizations transform how they create, distribute, and monetize content through cloud technology. She oversees a multi-billion dollar business across these verticals and has supported major industry milestones, including NBCUniversal's launch of Peacock. Before joining AWS, Samira served as Director of Media Operations at Cisco, partnering with some of the world's largest media companies to drive innovation and business growth.

​Samira is a recognized voice on technology, inclusive leadership, and building high-performing teams, delivering major addresses at AWS re:Invent and The WICT Network Leadership Conference. She was named The WICT Network's inaugural Woman to Watch in Technology in 2017, one of NYC Television's 40 Under 40 in 2019, and a Multichannel News Wonder Woman in 2023.

​Beyond her business leadership, Samira serves on The WICT Network's board as Industry Relations Committee Chair and actively mentors emerging leaders at AWS. Her commitment to social impact includes board service with Together1Heart, an organization combating human trafficking, and launching Bridge2Act, a venture using technology to transform charitable giving. Samira is a graduate of the University of Arizona and holds an MBA from Fordham University, as well as being an alumna of the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute.

​About M.M.LaFleur

​M.M.LaFleur is a New York-based fashion brand celebrating women through thoughtfully designed clothing, personal styling, and our community of 100,000+ purposeful women. Founded in 2013 by Sarah LaFleur, a former management consultant, and Miyako Nakamura, the former head designer of Zac Posen, M.M.’s thoughtful design touches, superior fabrics, and customer service make it easier for women to get ready every morning, so they can focus on the work that matters to them.

​M.M.LaFleur is proud to have dressed 500+ female candidates running for office through its Ready to Run campaign, as well as donate over $1M in clothing to organizations focused on gender equality, such as Bottomless Closet, The Girl Scouts, and The International Rescue Committee. At the heart of the company is the belief that when women succeed, the world becomes a better place.