"Roda Mehta (pictured) is a pioneer in more ways than one. This award [Lifetime Achievement Award of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI)] is well-deserved recognition for the stellar leadership she provided our (advertising) industry and our 
eco-system for over two decades during which time she also nurtured a whole generation of professional talent,” stated Nakul Chopra, president of AAAI. Chopra said this while announcing that the body had chosen Mehta for this year’s "highest honor given to an individual in India for his/her outstanding contribution to the advertising industry,” reported The Economic Times (ET) of June 22, 2017.
In a telephonic conversation with Parsiana on June 24, Poona-based Mehta said the award is "important for people who worked with me over the years.” She singled out Suresh Mullick, creative director of ad agency Ogilvy and Mather, and Nargis Wadia, the founder of the agency Interpub, who have contributed "as much as me,” to the advertising industry.
Mehta revealed that she relocated to Poona to be with her aging parents. "I quit the ad industry and am now with the social sector, making the most of my bachelor’s degree in economics,” she told us. "I bring my corporate skills and experience to the developmental sector,” said the veteran who functions as trustee of the Lila Poonawalla Foundation. The Foundation provides scholarships and mentoring to economically challenged girls from Maharashtra for postgraduate, graduate/diploma and secondary school education. As a board member and treasurer of Nagrik Chetna Manch, a citizen’s watchdog organization on public expenditure, "we interact with the police, the Poona Municipal Corporation, individual corporators, the electricity companies...to improve our surroundings,” she informed Parsiana. Especially interested in Ward 21 that covers Hadapsar, Koregaon Park and Mudhwa, Mehta stressed that it is a diverse mix of industrial houses and prime housing that this ward caters to.
Mehta joined Hindustan Thompson Associates in 1971 and was the first MBA and first woman in the media function of an advertising agency in India. In Ogilvy and Mather, where she moved to in 1975, she worked in different capacities as media group head, media controller for Bombay office in 1976, representing the media function for the first time on the managing committee of Bombay office, director (media and research) in 1982, director (international client service) in 1994, and managing consultant — the Media Network in 1996. The advertising professional has served as founder member of the Market Research Society of India and founder member and chairperson - technical committee of the Media Research Users Council.