- Gim Choo Ng of EtonHouse International Education Group in Singapore selected
- The 2021 class generated a combined revenue of more than US$1.18b in 2019
- The associated businesses represent 11 diverse sectors, employing more than 12,500 people across the region
EY today announces 14 female business leaders selected for the Asia-Pacific class of the 2021 EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ — a program designed to support women entrepreneurs to become global market leaders and to scale their businesses to reach full potential and break down barriers.
Joining at a time of unprecedented disruption, this year’s cohort of new entrepreneurs are focused on dealing with the significant global challenges of today. Representing Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Sri Lanka in Asia-Pacific, they each bring an innovative mindset and some bring deep technological experience which has led to breakthrough solutions in areas such as biopharmaceuticals, developing sharing economies and reducing skills shortages with easy to use software tools.
Kath Carter, EY Global Talent Leader, Strategy and Transactions and EY Global Executive Sponsor, EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women program, says:
“EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women is one of the EY organization’s premier global programs, and it’s enormously rewarding to see how by championing women entrepreneurs, they are able to realize solutions that often address deep societal issues. Developing solutions, when others only see obstacles, is at the heart of the entrepreneurial mindset. This year’s cohort of Entrepreneurial Winning Women in Asia-Pacific shows tremendous potential for groundbreaking innovations at a time when societies need them most.”
This year’s participants run high-growth businesses across a wide variety of sectors including education, architecture and engineering, pharmaceuticals, health care, home furnishing retail, consumer and hospitality. According to EY analysis, these companies generated a combined revenue of more than US$1.18b in 2019 and employed more than 12,500 people.
One of the participants in the 2021 Asia-Pacific class of Entrepreneurial Winning Women is Gim Choo Ng of EtonHouse International Education Group from Singapore.
She says:
“For women entrepreneurs, challenges come in the form of stereotypes in specific jobs and roles and the predominantly patriarchal society that we live in. Opportunities, on the other hand, are the better access to education now, and the ability to reskill and upskill.
“This pandemic, despite the challenges it poses, is an opportunity for many women to start their businesses and lead the charge out of the crisis. It stems from the fact that women entrepreneurs demonstrate resilience and grit – qualities that are important to succeed in the face of adversity. They also show empathy that enables them to motivate, nurture and retain talent during difficult times.”
The EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women program will build on the 14 business leaders’ successes by providing them with strategic support, training and access to the EY entrepreneurial ecosystem across the globe. The customized program will focus on areas such as:
- Providing actionable guidance on growth, talent, operations and leadership
- Identifying and building strategic alliances, partnerships and new sales channels
- Access to networks of award-winning entrepreneurs and business leaders
- Introductions to potential investors
- Building a public profile for the entrepreneurs and their companies
The 2021 class will convene for a conference in Seoul, South Korea, later in the year. During the conference, the Entrepreneurial Winning Women will take part in activities aimed at strengthening cultural and commercial skills, and learning the nuances of doing business in their host country. Throughout the year they will also take part in a series of e-conferences, in-country business sessions and workshops.
The involvement of Winning Women alumnae beyond the first year is core to the program’s success. More than 120 alumnae make up the Asia-Pacific cohort. The Asia-Pacific program is in its seventh year.
The Asia-Pacific program is part of a worldwide community of EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™. Launched in the US in 2008, the program now numbers more than 750 women entrepreneurs, building companies in over 50 countries across all industries.
Loletta Chow, Asia-Pacific EY Private Leader, and Co-executive Sponsor, EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women Asia-Pacific, says:
“The ongoing pandemic has presented multiple challenges, but it does not prevent the EY organization from supporting the core values of the Entrepreneurial Winning Women program – connecting unstoppable female entrepreneurs with each other and providing them with the advice and resources they need to unlock their full potential.”
Asia-Pacific class of 2021
This program targets high-potential women entrepreneurs with established businesses who are ready to scale and grow their business globally.
The 2021 members of the Asia-Pacific EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women program are:
- Wenjing Liu, Bluesail Medical Co. Ltd. (China): A leading medical device company offering a wide range of products and services covering business areas in health protection, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular, minimally invasive surgery and medical care, etc.
- Lucy Chen, Chen Foods (Australia): A food brand in Australia that produces, imports and distributes Asian food products — currently, specializing in frozen foods and Asian groceries
- Ying Wang, Chengdu Easton Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (China): A pharmaceutical company that focuses on research and development (R&D), production and sales of pharmaceutical products — from active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to finished dosage forms (FDFs)
- Nicolle Sullivan, CULTIVER (Australia): A brand and e-commerce platform that seeks to change the lifestyle category by offering thoughtful consumers a modern way to shop for the items that enhance their everyday rituals
- Karen Jiang, Dongfangfuli.com (China): A company that provides enterprises with professional and flexible one-stop incentive and digital benefits management solutions in China, including employee incentive benefits, health care benefits, traditional festival benefits, cultural and entertainment benefits and employee care benefits
- Gim Choo Ng, EtonHouse International Education Group (Singapore): An international education group that runs preschools and international K-12 schools, in 12 countries, offering high-quality education
- Hae-Yeon Yi, HLSCIENCE (Korea): HLSCIENCE is an R&D-intensive company that focuses on new materials and new technology in bio health industry, trying to achieve a big dream to enhance people’s health and beauty in the world
- Shiromal Cooray, Jetwing Travels (Pvt.) Ltd. and Jetwing Hotels (Pvt) Ltd. (Sri Lanka): A leading brand that offers authentic Sri Lankan hospitality, taking care of every tourists' needs, while enriching the lives of local communities
- Ayako Ishikawa, MeetsMore, Inc. (Japan): A service platform that matches local service professionals (such as photographers, house remodelers, accountants and cleaners) with the right customers and sends customized quotations automatically
- Haruna Morikawa, ON GRIT ENGINEERING,Inc (Japan): A company that leverages robots, AI and vibration sensors to provide high-quality diagnostic results for infrastructures, lightening the load on civil engineers
- Rieko Muramoto, Peace Tec Lab, Inc. (Japan): A company that provides consumer-to-consumer (C2C) and business-to-business (B2B) rental services for home appliances and travel goods — through the online platform Alice Style
- Yoko Nagai, Varinos Inc. (Japan): A biotechnology company that rapidly develops and commercializes clinical tests using genomic analysis technology; provides the world's first study analyzing endometrial microbiome in patients and the preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy and polyploidy
- Mo Lv, YANGZI (China): A home furnishing brand that provides affordable products with good-looking design and consistent quality, focusing on the youth’s way of life
- Yukiko Ito, Zest, Inc. (Japan): A software company that automates schedule creation while optimizing busy medical care providers’ time to increase the number of home visits to deliver patient care and reduces resource shortage in the health care sector
For more information on the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women Asia-Pacific program, visit www.ey.com/en_gl/entrepreneurial-winning-women-asia-pacific.
For more information on the global program, visit ey.com/winningwomen.
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About EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™
The EY organization is committed to seeing women lead. EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ is a global program for successful women entrepreneurs whose businesses show more potential to scale. Through access to EY professionals and global EY networks throughout the entrepreneurial ecosystem, pioneering women founders on every continent secure the resources, advice, operational know-how, contacts and community they need to unleash their ambitions, expand their companies to full potential and become the role models they never had. ey.com/winningwomen
