social contributor
JUNIE FOO
President, Singapore Council of Women's Organisation (SCWO)
(In her 50's)
Her story (as shared by her nominator)
A pioneer in women empowerment in Singapore, Junie is the first non-Japanese and the first female in the management of the Corporate Banking Division, Asia Oceania in a Japanese financial institution. She successfully pivoted to fulfil her desire to be more socially impactful and is currently President of SCWO (Singapore Council of Women's organisations) and a member of the Council of Board Diversity.
Most recently in July this 2021, Junie became the first female chairperson on the Singapore Kindness Movement where her hope is to bring up a generation of Singaporeans who are kind and considerate.
As President of SCWO, Junie embarked on a journey of transformation for SCWO to remain relevant and engaged with both men and women to chart a progressive future together.
Junie is passionate about facilitating opportunities for women to advance into senior leadership roles and views a focus on gender diversity within organisations to be both a recipe for business success, as well as a socially responsible measure. She is the Founding Co-Chair of BoardAgender, an initiative to create awareness on the economic benefits of having more women on boards and the necessity of harnessing human capital through building a solid pipeline of senior women in leadership positions.
We thank Junie for taking her precious time out of her multiple duties, to be the judge for Mama on Palette's "I am a mother!" art exhibition. Hope more women can be inspired to be bold, be kind, and be able to pursue their dreams freely.
In her own words:
Greatest achievement
BoardAgender which I co-founded has created an awareness on the benefits of having more women on boards and the importance of building a senior women leadership pipeline. It spurred the government to launch the diversity task force and diversity action committee which has now morphed into the Council for Board Diversity.
Biggest challenge thus far
It was an uphill task to speak on this topic and to challenge social and cultural norms.
what judges say
Singapore is a country that is highly supportive of women and has seen gender equality in education at all levels. Although women make up 42 percent of the workforce, there is still a wage gap between men and women, and there’s still gender discrimination in the workplace.
In Singapore, women have largely achieved parity with men, but there is still a lot to be done.
To put it succinctly, we require individuals like Junie, to continue pushing for women's empowerment in Singapore.