Archana Surana is the Founder & Director of ARCH College of Design & Business, Jaipur. She has pioneered specialized undergraduate and postgraduate design programs with international and national certifications. She is also the Founder & Chairperson of Women Mentors Forum, impacting more than 1500 women entrepreneurs and professionals.
A Vital Voices Lead Fellow and U.S. State Department alumna, she has served as Vice President of the CUMULUS Executive Board (2022-25) and has been re-elected as a Board Member for the 2025-28 term. She plays an active role in shaping the future of design through her contributions to the CII National Committee on Design, the CBSE Committee on Skill Development, and global networks such as IFFTI and WDO. Her mission through the Design Culture initiative is to foster Design Ability amongst young people to become design Leaders.
Archana Surana is the Founder & Director of ARCH College of Design & Business and the Founder of Women Mentors Forum, impacting over 1,500 women professionals. She has served as Vice President of the CUMULUS Executive Board (2022-25) and has been re-elected as a Board Member (2025–28), representing India in global design education.
She contributes to the CII National Committee on Design and the CBSE Committee on Skill Development, while actively engaging with international networks like IFFTI, WDO, and Cumulus. As a Vital Voices Lead Fellow and U.S. State Department alumna, Archana combines entrepreneurial insight, global vision, and a commitment to sustainability in every role she takes on.
ARCHANA SURANA
Founder & Director
ARCH College of Design & Business
Member, Cumulus executive Board (2022-2025)
Over the past two decades, Archana Surana has been recognised nationally and internationally for her pioneering contributions to design education, entrepreneurship, sustainability, and community leadership. Her accolades span diverse fields-from prestigious education and business awards to honours celebrating women’s leadership, social impact, and global collaborations. Ranging from the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award (2005) to recent recognition for Sustainable Practices at CASCA 2025, her journey reflects a consistent commitment to excellence, innovation, and empowerment.These honours highlight not only her role as a transformative leader in design and education but also her influence as a changemaker who inspires students, artisans, women, and professionals across India and the world.
Archana Surana is actively engaged with leading international and national organizations shaping design, education, and entrepreneurship. Internationally, she is a member of the CUMULUS Association, IFFTI (International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes), and the World Design Organization (WDO), and served as Chairperson of the Fashion Colloquia 2020 in Jaipur.
Nationally, she contributes through the CII National Committee on Design, CBSE Committee on Skill Development, and industry bodies such as TiE Rajasthan, CII, FICCI-FLO, FDCI, IIID, and IGBC.
She has held academic leadership as Dean of Fashion Design Faculty at Vishwakarma Skills University (2020–22) and continues as Academic Council Member and Chairperson of its Honorary Doctorate Committee, alongside leading initiatives like the Pink City Design Confluence and TiE TYE.
Archana Surana’s leadership extends beyond institutional development into impactful research, academic representation, and global collaboration.
She has presented keynotes at Lusófona University, Portugal (2024), and Xiamen University, Beijing (2023) on “Well-Being in Design,” and spoken at the Non-Western Fashion Conference at the University of Antwerp.
As Chairperson, she has hosted international platforms including the Design Culture Pink City Design Confluence (2022) and International Fashion Colloquia (Jaipur, 2020). Her scholarly contributions include a chapter in Cultural Governance in a Global Context (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), along with convening the International Cultural Governance Workshop in New Delhi (2017) as part of a nine-country tour, and serving as a panelist at the ENCATC Congress in Brussels the same year.
From presenting at the Fashion Colloquia at London College of Fashion (2013) to driving global academia–industry projects, Archana consistently positions Indian design, culture, and craft within international research and policy discourses.
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