Professional Experience:
Director - Stewardship & Sustainability
Owning the regional role overseeing 14+ Asian countries and starting from scratch:
Strategic Planning
o Developed and driving regional strategies (2020 & beyond)
Project Management & Governance – at regional & country levels
o Conceptualized, designed & managed multi-sectoral (e.g. Food security, Environment, Health & Nutrition and sustainability-focused) projects
o Managing annual budget (US$ 360,000) ensuring compliance to anti-trust laws
o Established guidelines / KPIs, and best practices; Mentoring country-level associations and project partners for effective planning, implementing, monitoring & evaluation, and reporting
Secretariat & Personnel Management
o Overall administration (incl. Finance / Budget and HR) of my domain
o Built & currently managing a team of 5 reports from different countries
Government & Industry Affairs - Stakeholder management
o Engaging with ‘C’ level leaders, senior industry executives and top-level policy makers in Government departments / Ministries across Asia
o Mapping (internal/external) to drive targeted engagement
o Foresight - Proactive issue sensing & crisis management
Policy Advocacy / Thought Leadership - Augment the industry’s “License to Operate”
o Advocate for holistic economic policies, research & regulatory frameworks on resilient food systems, food security, nutrition, food safety, trade, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability.
o Help enhance reputation, public perception & trust on the ag-food sector
Strategic Partnerships - for training & capacity building and Outreach initiatives
o Project implementation (various NGOs); Knowledge partners (e.g. Global GAP); Donors/Funders (e.g. USAID, GIZ) / CSR foundations
o Inter-governmental organizations (e.g. FAO, World Bank, ASEAN)
o Industry/trade associations (e.g. Grains, Fertilizer, Seed, Feed); Farmers / Producer Cooperatives; Domain experts & Key Opinion Leaders
Public / Media Relations & Communications – Established working relationships to showcase the impacts and increase the visibility of our efforts through
o Writing articles / columns in major print publications / online media
o Speaking and representing the association in external events i.e. seminars and conferences at global / regional / country levels
Some of the accomplishments in my role include:
o Established new partnerships to 6 and mobilized resources
o Initiated innovative means for expanding outreach & communications such as Education Series, Mobiles4Impact through Android Apps