WALTHAM, MA—She was an IAS officer, the second Indian woman to go to Harvard Business School, founding and running $2 billion company. She was a single mom for a while. She has tremendous passion for women’s causes, gender equality and fairness in life and business. This courageous lady with a passion for good causes is Geeta Aiyer. In 2014, Aiyer was named Woman of the Year.

In an exclusive video interview with Chai with Manju, she shares the interesting journey of her life. She was born in a traditional Tamilian family, went to school in Kolkata, followed by Delhi University, leading up to an IAS position in Mumbai. She eventually moved to the United States after her marriage. She also talks about her philosophy of love, marriage, parenting, politics, success and giving back in life.

Aiyer was recently listed in the Boston Globe Magazine’s Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts — a prominent list featuring notable companies from Massachusetts. Aiyer was listed #58 on Globe Magazine’s list.

Aiyer founded Boston Common Asset Management, LLC, which now manages over $2 billion in assets. Based in Boston, the company is an investment manager and a leader in global sustainability initiatives. Boston Common Asset Management specializes in long-only equity and balanced strategies and pursues long-term capital appreciation by seeking to invest in diversified portfolios of high quality, socially responsibly stocks.

Aiyer received her MBA from the Harvard University and her BA and MA degrees from the University of Delhi. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Sierra Club Foundation, Earthworks, YW Boston, and Ubuntu at Work, a global nonprofit for women. She is the 2010 recipient of the Women’s Venture Fund’s Highest Leaf Award and was honored to accept the 2013 Business Leader in Human Rights Award from the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project on behalf of Boston Common Asset Management.

She is also founder of a non-profit organization Direct Action for Women Now, or DAWN.