Our Executives

Barkha Patel
Senior Vice President, Communications, Asia Pacific

As head of Communications for Mastercard in the Asia Pacific region, Barkha Patel oversees communications efforts and strategies for all the company’s business units, as well as its DEI and ESG commitments. Barkha’s position places her within Mastercard’s Asia Pacific Leadership Team, as well as its Global Communications Leadership Team. Since starting with Mastercard in 2018, Barkha has been a transformative figure in reframing the communications function across the Asia Pacific region. Her efforts were recognized by PRWeek when her team was named “Best In-house Communications Team” for two years running in 2021 and 2022.

An experienced and regionally/globally practiced communications specialist, Barkha’s career spans more than two decades working across the technology, financial services, consumer goods, healthcare, and engineering sectors. Prior to joining Mastercard, Barkha held the position of executive vice president & general manager at Weber Shandwick Singapore for four years where she was a senior regional strategic relationship and account lead, playing an active role in driving all aspects of client and account management across the agency’s assignments in Singapore, South-East Asia, and Asia Pacific. Over the course of her career, she held additional leadership positions with Weber Shandwick, as well as with Burson-Marsteller and Temasek Holdings.

Barkha graduated from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai with a Bachelor of Science in Statistics and went on to complete dual Post-Graduate Diplomas in Public Relations and Advertising at the Xavier Institute of Communication. She is passionate about yoga, music and travel, and is also a published author.