Throughout March, the Women Empowerment Council (WEC) has worked actively and collaboratively with various partners in our Beijing community to promote inclusive leadership in the high spirit of the Women’s History Month of March.
Following our event in partnership with INPOWER ONE and VIVA on March 8, and our Inclusive Leadership events with the Finland Embassy in Beijing, on March 30, the Women Empowerment Council (WEC) wrapped up our series of collaborative events with a workshop on inclusive leadership co-hosted with the US Embassy Beijing at the Beijing American Center.
In celebration of Women History’s Month and the importance of inclusivity, Empowering All to Be Inclusive Leaders, as the session was called, was headlined by a diverse panel of thought leaders, including Su Cheng Harris-Simpson, WEC Founder and President, Poh-Yian Koh, WEC Co-Chair and VP of Operations at FedEx China, Andy Truong, Executive Director of the Canadian International Schools (CISB), and Aisha Moffett, Founder and President of CORE. This event follows in the footsteps of WEC’s strategic goal to work with a diverse network of partners in our initiatives to advocate for greater gender equity, first started by our events with the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing last November.
Facilitated by Anna Nguyen, WEC Strategy and Project Manager, the session covered presentations by each of the four thought leaders with insights and ideas on how to cultivate inclusive leaders in any workplace environment, using a framework of six standout attributes of a truly inclusive leader – self-awareness, authenticity, empathy, transparency, accountability, and passion, according to the pioneering research WEC conducted with our DEI Report 2022.
Pioneering and groundbreaking leaders in their own right, the thought leaders were immensely inspiring, according to testimonies from the young working professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs in the audience. “It is a great event where I heard a lot of inspiring stories and insights about leadership,” a participant commented. Many others praised the panel of thought leaders for being a “charging station for women leaders and those that are on the way” by being a leading example of how to be “learners to powerful leaders.” Some of the insights that have stuck with the audience include Su Cheng Harris-Simpson’s highlighting of data on inclusive leadership, Poh-Yian Koh’s emphasis on the importance of passion in cultivating inclusive leadership, Andy Truong’s powerful and moving story of how his mother has been a central figure in his leadership thinking, and Aisha Moffett’s motivating tips to be a HAPPY (Healthy – Agile – Powerful – Peaceful – Young) leader regardless of one’s gender.
Following the presentations by the thought leaders, the audience had a chance to engage in an interactive Q&A session and a networking function, during which many questions on how to approach inclusive leadership were raised and discussed with fruitful insights. The WEC, in partnership with the US Embassy in Beijing, is honored to create a space for so many talented young working professionals and entrepreneurs to engage in such courageous conversations on inclusive leadership, and hope to continue our efforts to further advance gender equity through inclusive events like this one.