Boards as Steward of Sustainability
With the growing societal awareness and demand for sustainable practices, are businesses truly prepared to operate with higher levels of purpose and corporate responsibility while maintaining profitability? What are the actionable strategies can Boards implement to ensure the adoption and enforcement of responsible practices?
Stewardship Asia Centre (SAC) has recently concluded the Asia-Pacific-wide research study titled “Boards as Stewards of Sustainability” in partnership with ICDM and 12 other distinguished organisations across 12 countries in the region. Based on inputs from over 700 directors across the Asia Pacific, the study unpacks the challenges board directors face when championing sustainability in for-profit organisations; the key ingredients of board success; the three takeaways from APAC boards; the five archetypes of APAC boards and the call for actions.
Join us as we explore on how boards can embrace and genuinely drive the sustainability agenda to future-proof their organisations. This dialogue session will be held under the Chatham House Rule. Send us your burning questions or issues you would like to bring up for discussion to advocacy@icdm.com.my
PROGRAMME | Tuesday, 4 June 2024
| 9.30am | Registration & networking over light refreshment |
| 10:00am | Context Setting: Boards as Steward of Sustainability Michele Kythe Lim, President & CEO of ICDM |
| 10:05am | Deeper Dive into The Study’s Key Findings Sunil Puri, Senior Vice President of Research & Engagement, Stewardship Asia Centre |
| 10:30am | Open Dialogue Session: How Boards Can Drive Businesses to ‘Do Well’ while ‘Doing Good’ Business cannot succeed in societies that fail’. With growing existential threats such as socioeconomic inequality and climate pressures, there is a rising expectation for businesses to take on a more active role in addressing these challenges. As the senior-most leadership group and long-term stewards of the business, boards are best positioned to drive a culture that authentically embraces value creation for not only shareholders but also stakeholders. This panel will thus examine the role of boards in embedding sustainability within their organisation and highlight how boards can drive businesses to ‘do well’ while ‘doing good’. Panelist:
Moderator: Rajeev Peshawaria, CEO, Stewardship Asia Centre |
| 12:00pm | Session End |
Speaker’s Profile
Michele Kythe Lim
President & CEO
ICDM
Michele brings with her a wide spectrum of leadership and advisory experience, over a career spanning 30 years, particularly on corporate governance-related matters, which includes board evaluation, director development and education, remuneration and succession planning, legal and compliance, sustainability and corporate performance.
Under her leadership, ICDM has embarked on a series of director development programmes, board advisory services, as well as research and advocacy projects to support the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC)’s vision to build and strengthen the country’s corporate governance culture. She works closely with boards, the director community, regulators, and other key stakeholders in the corporate governance ecosystem to enhance board and director effectiveness and professionalism in Malaysia.
ICDM currently serves a wide range of clients from both the government and the private sectors, from public-listed companies to small and medium enterprises.
Prior to her current role, Michele had held senior leadership and board positions in IHH Healthcare Berhad and Proton Holdings Berhad group companies. At IHH Healthcare Berhad, she was also a member of a subsidiary board, as well as the Chief Sustainability Officer leading the sustainability reporting and practices for the Group.
Michele holds a LLB Hons degree from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK (1991) and is a Barrister-at-Law at Middle Temple, London, England. She completed the Senior Management Development Programme of Harvard Business School in 2009 and is also a Licensed Company Secretary.
Rajeev Peshawaria
CEO
Stewardship Asia Centre
Rejecting platitudes and theoretical models, Rajeev combines 22 years of global Fortune 100 experience with research-based insights to provide unique and practical approaches to personal leadership, ethics, governance, sustainable business growth, and stewardship. A sought-after speaker and consultant, he is the CEO of Stewardship Asia Center, Singapore, and President of Leadership Energy Consulting, Seattle, WA, USA.
Author of the Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestseller Open Source Leadership (McGraw Hill), Too Many Bosses, Too Few Leaders (Simon & Schuster), Sustainable Sustainability (Penguin Random House), co-author of Be the Change (McGraw Hill) and a regular contributor for Forbes, he constantly challenges conventional wisdom on leadership, management, stewardship, sustainability, and corporate governance. He has pioneered unique practical concepts such as Leadership Energy and Emotional Integrity for personal growth, the Brains-Bones-Nerves model for enterprise leadership, and the Steward Leadership model for driving sustainable business growth in the 21st century.
Rajeev is a high-energy, inspirational speaker who provides coaching, consulting and advisory services to corporate and public sector clients globally. He also serves as guest faculty at leading US, Europe and Asia business schools. He has been widely featured in international media such as CNN, Bloomberg TV & Radio, National Public Radio, Harvard Business Review, CNBC, Fast Company, Leader to Leader, American Management Association magazine, Leadership Excellence magazine, The Times of India, The Straits Times, Business Times, and many more.
Before joining SAC and starting LEC, he was the CEO of the Iclif Leadership & Governance Centre. He was formerly the Chief Learning Officer of Coca-Cola and Morgan Stanley and has also held senior positions at American Express, HSBC, and Goldman Sachs. At Goldman, Rajeev helped found Pine Street − the firm’s acclaimed leadership academy − and headed Pine Street for Europe and Asia. In his early career, he was a banker and currency trader.
In 2014 and 2017, he was named one of the Top 100 Global Thought Leaders for Trustworthy Business by ‘Trust Across America.’
Sunil Puri
Senior Vice President of Research & Engagement
Stewardship Asia Centre
Sunil is a part of the senior leadership team at SAC and leads a team of researchers driving catalytic knowledge and advisory at the intersection of sustainability and leadership, designing and delivering senior leadership programmes, and developing practitioner toolkits and frameworks.
Prior to joining SAC, Sunil was a Senior Director, Research, Innovation and Product Development with Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in Singapore and India, where he led the development of new products (programs, tools) based on research, partnered with clients as a leadership subject-matter experts, and published latest thinking on leadership in Asia. Between 2014 and 2016, he was the Head of Research & Insights with Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI), where he led Pan-Asia research initiatives on “Asian leader development” and facilitated programs for senior business and HR leaders.
Sunil has over 25 years of experience in research, advisory and consulting. He has written and edited book chapters, authored several research studies, and contributed thought pieces to the Harvard Business Review, The Straits Times, Economic Times and The Business Times. He is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, India.
Ho Yuet Mee
INED
CIMB Group Holdings Berhad
Yuet Mee Ho-Nambiar serves as an independent non-executive director on boards of several local and international institutions. These include a regional financial institution, where she also chairs the Board Sustainability Committee, and WWF Malaysia. An accountant by training, she spent a large part of her career in Big 4 international accounting firms and had helmed various leadership roles in the Asia Pacific region.
Jenifer Thien
INED on various PLC boards
Jenifer is the Founder and Principal of Grit and Pace, through which she advices corporations on ESG and what it takes to drive transformative change in supply chain, procurement and operational excellence. She has over three decades of experience in top executive positions in the consumer-packaged goods industry and had the opportunity to work and live in various countries in Asia and the United States. She spent 25 years at Mars Incorporated, where she last served as Global Chief Procurement Officer. She has successfully led complex business transformation and sustainability programs through her deep understanding of business enterprise, the ability to mobilise required capabilities, as well as intensive stakeholder engagement. She is currently an Independent Non-Executive Director of UEM Edgenta Berhad, AEON Co. (M) Berhad, Malaysian Pacific Industries Berhad, Sime Darby Plantation Berhad, Jadestone Energy plc and Olam Agri Holding Ltd; as well as serves on the Asia Advisory Board of Lucta S.A.
Jenifer is a passionate advocate of diversity, equity and inclusion having played a pivotal role in championing women in STEM within Mars Inc. and continues to do so through contributing to organizations such as LeadWomen Malaysia and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. She is an active mentor and coach to young leaders.
Rashyid Redza Anwarudin
Chief Sustainability Officer
Sime Darby Plantation Berhad
Rashyid is the Chief Sustainability Officer of the world’s largest producer of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil, Rashyid leads all efforts in implementing on-the-ground programs to promote responsible and ethical production throughout Sime Darby Plantation’s operations and global supply chain. He also engages with a wide range of stakeholders within the sustainable palm oil sphere. He has 22 years of experience in corporate and advisory roles in sustainability, corporate responsibility, corporate strategy, programme management, and change management across plantation, forestry, property, telecommunications, automotive, oil & gas, and public sectors and part of the regional leadership team for the Sustainability and Climate Change advisory team of the PwC Southeast Asia Consulting practice.
Sarimah Talib
Vice President, Sustainability & External Relations
Bumi Armada Berhad
Sarimah Talib, a Chemical and Process Engineering graduate with a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering, embarked on her sustainability career at Sime Darby Group in 2007. Notably, she assumed the role of the inaugural CEO of the Malaysia Green Foundation, directly reporting to the Minister of Green Technology, Water, and Energy, thereby significantly contributing to promoting sustainability at the national level. Subsequently, she was appointed as the first Chief Sustainability Officer at Vale and later as the inaugural Head of Sustainable Development Management at PETRONAS, where she played a pivotal role in setting the net-zero carbon ambition for the national oil company of Malaysia. Following her tenure, she assumed the position of Head of Sustainability at UEM Sunrise, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah. Presently, Sarimah serves as the Vice President of Sustainability and External Relations at Bumi Armada Berhad, consistently exemplifying her guiding principle: “If there’s a will, there is always a way”, underscoring her unwavering commitment to excellence and enduring positive impact.
