First virtual IWD 2021 event – A fire-side chat by 30% Club Global Chair Ann Cairns and “MEN-WHO-PAUSE” Panel Discussion

The recent 30% Club Malaysia IWD 2021 virtual event attracted more than 500 participants who were privileged to listen to various perspectives from thought-leaders.


The event started off with a speech from the founding chair Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar.

“Today, women representation on the top 100 PLC boards stands at 25.8%, an 82% increase from 2015; and women occupy 17.2% of total board seats on all PLCs,” she said.


This is followed by an exciting fire-side chat by 30% Club Global Chair Ann Cairns. One of the memorable quotes captured were – “Investors around the world are voting against companies with all male boards”


The most anticipated session was the panelist discussion – “MEN –WHO –PAUSE”. Some of the memorable quotes were –


“Diversity is equivalent to competitiveness and profit,” said Johan Raslan


“In Malaysia, the fantastic thing is that we have a really deep talent pool of women” Stuart Milne


“When we talk about getting the right people for a certain job or role, the best way is to look at individuals by their competence, not by gender,” Albern Murty


“We also believe in diversity as we are moving towards an energy industry that needs to be more customer-centric which simply needs a far more progressive and creative work environment,” T Muhammad Taufik.


FORO M 2021

El Foro M es el espacio a través del cual buscamos promover la participación y el empoderamiento de más mujeres en diferentes escenarios, visibilizar la oferta institucional del Gobierno de Colombia para las mujeres y facilitar el intercambio de experiencias y buenas prácticas nacionales e internacionales.

 

https://www.foromcolombia.com/conferencistas-2021

Discussion with Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development

A discussion with YB Hannah Yeoh and her team on the challenges of increasing women representation on the boards of public listed companies and the way forward . 

A virtually discussion with Lembaga Tabung Haji

On 15 December, members of the 30% Club’s Activate team virtually met with a very passionate team from Lembaga Tabung Haji(TH) lead by Rina Sarif, its Chief Human Capital Officer.


The meeting is part of the 30% Club’s mission to build an ecosystem of corporations to support our campaign in promoting diversity and inclusion focusing on gender balance on the Malaysian corporate boards and C-Suites.


 This will be the first of many engagements in the weeks to come, with this very dynamic team.

Dr Miwa Kato shares her view in ‘Half the Sky’ webinar

On Dec 11, more than 100 women and men leaders had the privilege to hear from truly remarkable women leaders on the role of women in today’s world at the webinar, Half the Sky.


Dr Miwa Kato – Director of Operations, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Tan Sri Zarinah – Chairperson, Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia and Datuk Yvonne Chia – Chairperson, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia left the audience truly inspired with their thoughts and insights gleaned from a wealth of experience and wisdom of how to embrace opportunities. The session was moderated by Datin Seri Sunita Rajakumar, Chairperson, Caring Pharmacy.


The overwhelmingly positive feedback from the participants in the webinar, who joined from as far as Japan and Africa, was testament to the value that this session brought. The 30% club’s goal was to provide a different perspective and empower the right thinking, which was successfully delivered.


We would like to thank our partners, Global Impact Network Malaysia, TULIPS MOVEMENT and Nottingham University Business School for the collaborative effort in organizing this session.


30% Club Malaysia signs Memoranda of Understanding with MICG, CnetG and ASB

30% Club Malaysia has signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG), CnetG Asia Sdn Bhd (CnetG), and Asia School of Business (ASB).


These partnerships include the promotion of diverse and inclusive leadership as part of corporate governance advocacy with MICG; access to research and leadership development that support the goal of developing more board-ready women with ASB through its MBA and select Executive Education programmes; and collaboration with CnetG, to develop framework that advances diversity on boards and C-suites with PLCs, multinational companies, universities and professional bodies.


“As the world increasingly works in a collaborative manner, we seek to strategically partner with those who will amplify our goal to increase women representation on boards and senior leadership positions. In 2020, five years on, our focus has been on building a more robust ecosystem aimed at this case for change,” said Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, Co-Founding Chair, 30% Club Malaysia during a virtual signing ceremony, the first of its kind for this business-led campaign.


Fireside chat with CEO MSWG

The Influence Pillar of 30% Club Malaysia was privileged to have an online fireside chat with Mr Devanesan Evanson on 23 October, where we drew his views as CEO of the Minority Shareholders Watch Group (MSWG) regarding Board-related matters, including diversity and inclusion.


The Influence Pillar was represented by Datuk Zunaidah Idris, Datin Sunita Rajakumar, Ilham Sunhaji (MBA), Nirmala Doraisamy, CGMA, FCMA, CA(M), Karpana Somasundram, and Susan Sha, while Pushpa Nair moderated the session.


On getting Boards to have a minimum of 30% women, Devanesan explained that MSWG will vote against a new male member on an all-male Board. 


Although MSWG’s shareholding is small, this is a matter of principle. MSWG also questions boards at AGMs on their inability to get at least 1 woman on board.


While some countries mandate female representation at Boards, Malaysia has a principle-based Recommendation on gender diversity in the Code of Corporate Governance. In terms of effectiveness, MSWG finds naming and shaming is effective to encourage compliance.


The Influence Pillar thanks Mr Devanesan for sharing his views and agreeing to be our influencer to support and improve D&I in the Investors Community.


Engagement with Tenaga Nasional Berhad

Recently, members of the Activate Pillar of 30% Club Malaysia met with representatives of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), the national utility company. 


The purpose of the meeting was to share and introduce efforts by 30% Club Malaysia to increase awareness of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion amongst PLCs.


This very engaging interaction strongly echoes the raison d’etre of 30% Club Malaysia which is to build an ecosystem of corporations, advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within the country.


Shukreen Ma of Tenaga Nasional Berhad and her team were on hand to meet Marzida Mohd Noor, Raj Kumar Paramanathan, Geetha Kandiah and Frances P. of the 30% Club Malaysia’s Activate Pillar.


Sharing session with Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance

As part of an ongoing initiative, members from the Activate Pillar of the 30% Club Malaysia met with representatives of the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG).


During the meeting, Marzida Mohd Noor, Raj Kumar Paramanathan and Wan Mazlina Wan Mustafa introduced various initiatives carried out by the 30% Club Malaysia to increase awareness on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion amongst PLCs.


Moving forward the 30% Club Malaysia and MICG agree to explore joint opportunities to reach a larger audience and focus to enhance Corporate Governance in the boardroom.


At the 30% Club Malaysia, we seek to work alongside organisations and leverage on expertise, readily available resources and experience to build and progress women into leadership positions in corporate Malaysia.


This comes at an opportune time as the 30% Club Malaysia continues to work on building an ecosystem of corporations, advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within the country.


Roshni Jayantilal and her team at MICG were on hand to receive members of the 30% Club Activate Pillar.


Collaborating with Edinburgh Business School on higher education for women

Meeting with Professor Dr. Heather McGregor, Dean of Edinburgh Business School, Herriot Watt University, who is also a co-founder of 30%Club UK.  Expanding the collaboration on higher education for women, via the MBA scholarship.