GWA at APEC 2023
APEC 2023 has come and gone from San Francisco. With the vision for a future led by women and their allies with an Asian perspective, Global Women Asia (GWA) successfully hosted our inaugural Women in Sustainability Fellows, supported by ABAC USA 2023. In addition to contributing thought leadership to APEC and ABAC events, the retreat also held mentorship sessions and opportunities to share and learn for leadership and professional development.
US Support for GWA
We are grateful for the support from both the US government and ABAC USA. We thank the US Ambassador and Senior Official for APEC Matt Murray, who shared at the Women Charting a Sustainable Future reception: “Thanks to Global Women Asia [and the] opportunities you have provided to engage with women around the region and strengthen APEC’s work and agendas. You contribute to making APEC truly work for all corners and communities of the region.”
We also thank US Vice President Kamala Harris for her opening greetings at the reception: “Within this impressive class of fellows, there are women who will shatter glass ceilings, identify the next economic breakthroughs, solve global challenges, and fight for the dignity of every human being. Because of you all, I am optimistic about what lies ahead across the Asia-Pacific region and around the world.”
Lastly, we are grateful for the support from Ginger Lew, APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) USA 2023 Delegate, Camille Dawson, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, US Department of State, as well as White House officials including Erika Moritsugu, AA & AHPI Special Liaison, Jennifer Klein, Director of the Gender Policy Council, Rachel Vogelstein, National Security Council Special Advisor on Gender.
GWA Thought Leadership
Not only did our 2023 fellows learn from more experienced business leaders, but they also took the stage to share their thought leadership from their own trail-blazing work throughout the Asia Pacific region.
APEC BUSINESS ADVISORY COUNCIL (ABAC)
GWA fellows Elisabetta Jiang, Olivia Plotnick, Yurie Mizukami, and Yera Park shared the on-the-ground sustainable innovations happening today on a panel moderated by GWA Founder Wenchi Yu. They discussed the challenges they faced and the opportunities they saw as business leaders, investors, nonprofit operators, and social entrepreneurs.
GWA fellow Larrisa Sidarto participated in a panel alongside Dr. Andrew Forrest AO, Founder and Executive Chairman of Fortescue, and Ellen Jackowski, Chief Sustainability Officer and EVP at Mastercard. Moderated by Sumi Somaskanda, Chief Presenter at BBC News, they discussed the intersection of consumer behavior and the principles of the circular economy to minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency.
WOMEN CHARTING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE RECEPTION
A panel discussion to conclude the GWA Fellowship was held at a reception hosted by the University of San Francisco’s Center for Business Studies and Innovations in the Asia-Pacific. Moderated by Camille Dawson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the US Department of State, GWA fellows Linh Do and Apoorva Jain shared their perspectives alongside Anna Bjerde, The World Bank’s Head of Delegation
for APEC and Managing Director of Operations, Shinta Kamdani, CEO of Sintesa Group, and Tiziana Figliolia, CFO of IDG Inc. and GWA Board Member.
Ms. Bjerde, one of the most senior female leaders at The World Bank, shared four shocking statistics about closing the gender gap: (1) Our global GDP per capita would be 20% higher if women were employed at the same rate as men. (2) Economic gains could be $5-6 trillion more if women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men. (3) There is better resource management and environmental stewardship when you include women leaders in business, community, and policy decisions. (4) It will take 131 years for the world to close the gender gap at the current rate. Ms. Kamdani echoed this point: “When we talk about bringing the collaboration effort [on sustainability issues], it’s important that we learn from each other on how to bring and put women at the forefront of the climate crisis.” Ms. Figliolia remarked, “My hope is that the future ecosystem of industry and government will drive systemic change and support education and capacity programs for women and girls so they have the confidence, means, and resources to participate in the economy and advocacy that can lead to significant changes.”
Together, these trailing blazing women discussed the global efforts on sustainability and the role of women in sustainability and economic growth in both local communities and at a global scale.
Sharing Leadership Skills and Practices
Here are some of the learning sessions that we hosted for our fellows:
BUSINESS BEST PRACTICES: Joe Lurie, author of Perception and Deception, A Mind-Opening Journey Across Cultures, led a mind-opening session on cross-cultural communication. Auria Styles shared her insights and perspective about conflict resolution and cross-border negotiation from her work as a corporate lawyer in Asia and the US. Steven Wong of Ready State and Amanda Rabideau of Arch Collective discussed storytelling and marketing for personal and business brands. GWA advisor Emily Chew and board member Tania Hyde led two case studies to help our fellows solve real-world problems.
TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTS: Lama Nachman of Intel Corporation hosted a timely and eye-opening session on how human society can leverage AI technology to lead our future responsibly.
SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT: Ken Lowney, Janice Li, and Jennifer Lewis of Lowney Architecture, Jeremy Liu of FwdSlash, Lydia Tan of Spur, and Danny Haber of oWow gave a case study on Oakland’s urban planning and development, and how sustainability must be a joint effort and commitment between government, the community, and builders. We especially enjoyed the tour of oWow’s construction site on 1510 Webster, the tallest mass timber tower in the Western US.
AUTODESK GALLERY: Amy Bunszel of Autodesk gave a look into how future technology software enables sustainability from dam construction, and e-motorcycle design, to delivery robots.
Mentorship for Career Development
One of the key tenets of GWA’s fellowship program is mentorship. We want the next generation of leaders from the APEC region to learn from those who blazed trails before them so that they continue to build on their work and move forward together.
At the University of San Francisco’s Center for Business Studies and Innovation in the Asia-Pacific, we hosted a career development session for our fellows. A special thank you to our mentors – Ker Gibbs, former President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, Katie Collins, VP, Head of Responsible Investment & Stewardship at Matthews Asia, Karen Raghavan, Chief Commercial Officer at Luna Daily, Rimma Tabakh, Managing Partner at Grant Thorton, Erika Louie, Partner, HR at Andreessen Horowitz, Special Representative Sara Minkara, Special Advisor on International Disability Rights of the US Department of State, Vish Turaga, Google Cloud Infrastructure at Google, and Marsha Vande Berg, Director at MJGlobal Insights – for sharing your perspectives from your career journeys.
