Urmila Venugopalan is President & Managing Director for Asia-Pacific at the Motion Picture Association (MPA), representing the world’s largest film, television, and streaming companies and advancing their growth where the media and entertainment business converges with technology and public policy.

Ms. Venugopalan started her career in London at Jane’s, a leading provider of global defense and security intelligence for governments and industry. She also worked at the Albright Stonebridge Group, where she counseled multinational companies on market access and public policy strategies - including advising on political and regulatory risk in key markets in South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East. She later served as a Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State during the Obama Administration, advancing key bilateral and regional trade and investment initiatives. Most recently, she served as Executive Vice President of Strategy & Global Operations at the MPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. where she drove greater cohesion across U.S. and international teams, restructuring global operations, and strengthening coordination across key business units.

Ms. Venugopalan holds a Bachelor’s degree from McGill University and a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics & Political Science. She has lived in the Arabian Gulf, India, the UK, the US and is currently based in Tokyo, Japan.