THE MATCHA INITIATIVE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Business Development Director - KGS
I started my career as a mechanical engineer for 5 years and joined TayPaper Recycling in 2018. Tay Paper Recycling has grown from an informal scrap dealer to now a leading paper focused recycling company in Singapore. On top of just recycling, we also offer confidential data disposal services to help clients comply with PDPA, GDPR and recycle at the same time. I am now working at KGS, an e-waste and data sanitization company.
1- Let's first talk about Tay Paper, a paper recycling company. It is at the heart of waste management which is a key component of sustainability. Could you describe your industry, its particularities & its challenges? Are there any challenges particular to Singapore?
Job Titles:
- Senior Lecturer - Raffles College of Higher Education
Job Titles:
- Buddy & Category Leader, the Matcha Initiative Co - Founder, Tulya
- Co - Founder - Tulya
My background is in process development and operations, and when I decided to re-purpose my career a few years ago, I studied different aspects of Sustainable Business Development at the University in Sweden as well as the Sustainability Reporting Standards. Now, I help SMEs integrate sustainable solutions into their business strategy and operations.
At The Matcha Initiative, I am a Buddy, and work on the Sustainable Finance & Accounting category solutions.
Job Titles:
- Founding Member
- Leader
- Member of the Suppliers Validation Board
Living in Asia for more than 20 years, I had 2 professional lives, first in the digital & e-commerce business world and then in the humanitarian NGO world.
Job Titles:
- Board Member, the Matcha Initiative Group Head Strategy & Innovation, Apollo Tyres
Living in Asia for the past 15 years, Serial Entrepreneur and mother of 3, I am a strong believer that each single action count, being positive or negative...so I am trying my best to do my part in educating, helping and changing the way we live and consume starting with me and spreading around through The Matcha Initiative.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder - Sustainable Gaia
After a career break, my full time efforts now are with Sustainable Gaia which I co-founded with my life and business partner, Prakash Natarajan. He brings over 3 decades of strategy experience in Finance, IT and sustainability. Together, we are helping companies manage their transition in a strategic way to a greener future.
Carolin is a passionate and driven entrepreneur and sustainability advocate. She is involved in many projects and initiatives that contribute to reducing our environmental impact.
In 2020, Carolin founded the social enterprise susGain.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Solutions Rating Board
- Founder & Principal Consultant, SustainableSG
Mun Wei started SustainableSG in September 2018 to advise organizations on sustainability strategy and implementation. He was previously the Divisional Director of Corporate Planning at Sentosa Development Corporation, where he led the development and implementation of the Sentosa Sustainability Plan. Mun Wei believes that building a greener and fairer world is a collective responsibility. Hence he is volunteering with the Matcha Initiative to get more organizations started on their sustainability journeys.
Job Titles:
- Sustainability, Corporate Affairs & External Relations Director in Food Industry, FMCG
With 20 years of experience in the Food Industry, from regulatory to public affairs and external communications, I got absolutely passionate about sustainability. Contributing to sustainable food systems, ensuring food security and ending food waste are what I value most. I am totally convinced that embedding sustainability into business is driving value & consumer preference and fostering employee's engagement.
I am delighted to be part of The Matcha Initiative, providing my experience to help people designing more sustainable products & services.
Job Titles:
- Climate Regulations Specialist - Terrascope
Job Titles:
- Business Development Manager - Asia - South Pole
At South Pole, Chris supports Asian clients in their climate leadership and circular economy journey. The scope of services includes both carbon credits & sustainability consultancy. Chris currently manages clients from more than 10 Asian countries in categories such as conglomerate, agriculture, property development, asset management, retailing, information technology, and energy.
Job Titles:
- Founder & CEO - HER Planet Earth & CAL Consultancy
Entrepreneurial by nature, Claire started ShiokFarm in 2015 when realising the high prices for organic fruit and vegetables in Singapore. Based on the French AMAP model, in which Farmers and a community create a partnership in order to reduce food waste and cost, ShiokFarm aims to provide families and offices in Singapore with affordable organic fruit and vegetables while reducing food waste.
Starting with a small Facebook group, Claire has succeeded in making ShiokFarm an outstanding organic business. ShiokFarm received its BCorp certification in 2023.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Solutions Rating Board
- Director, HR Consulting & Executive Coaching, EDLT.Global
- HR Consulting & Executive Coaching - EDLT.Global
Claire has spent more than 20 years in the HR field working in global environments, accompanying businesses in their -always complex!- development and transformations. Working across teams and cultural boundaries, she became passionate about helping teams and leaders navigate through changes and make sustainable decisions for themselves and their teams, balancing the short-term and long-term impacts in organisations.
Back in 2016, she added a coaching hat to her HR experience, got trained and certified (PCC-ICF) with the idea that most of the time what employees and leaders are missing is a space to reconnect with what is really important for them, what makes them successful, or on the contrary slows them down.
In 2021, Claire launched her own business, combining her Executive HR and Professional Coaching expertise. She is since then, helping organizations and individuals who want to do the "right thing" to develop the "S" in ESG through sustainable, human-centered HR Practices, development programs and coaching. To really be the change they want to see!
She is able to strategize, coach, train and advise in order to improve both long term executive and organizational performance, as well as ensuring that personal growth and well-being are taken care of in a sustainable and authentic manner. She is Hogan, Gallup CliftonStrengths, Individual and Team Coaching Certified.
I am an HR professional and Executive Coach with 20 years of experience in multicultural environments. For long, I have been trying to play my -small- part in building and preserving a more sustainable world. I decided to combine my field of expertise with my values, and I started my journey as HR Consultant and Professional Coach, focused on enabling sustainable human development practices. I bring my expertise to organizations, teams & individuals looking to embrace an ambitious sustainable development path.
Job Titles:
- Director of Sustainability ( Interior Environments ) - Concourse
Duncan, originally from the UK, has been living & working in Asia for the last 16 years. He runs a creative interior design & project management company delivering projects across the Asia Pacific Region; specialised in retail, F&B and commercial sectors. Duncan is passionate about creating interiors that excite and engage Clients and Customers alike, all through the lens of sustainability.
Job Titles:
- Founder - Inspire & Create
Job Titles:
- Member of the Solutions Rating Board
- Sustainability Practitioner & Lecturer
Doctor in political science with over 15 years of academic, consultancy and public sector experience in climate change and renewable energy policies with a passion for enhancing sustainability in all areas of the economy, research and education. Isabelle is currently working for the British High Commission in Singapore as Head of South East Asia COP26 Strategy, and she is a Lecturer at the NTU S.Rajarathnam School of International Studies teaching "Energy and Environment Issues".
Job Titles:
- Member of the Solutions Rating Board
- Member of the Suppliers Validation Board
- Sustainability Consultant & Founder, Sustainao
With a background in sustainability consulting and audit, Ivona supports businesses in their sustainability journey by building an impactful strategy, embedding sustainable practices across operations, and reporting performance to stakeholders.
She is the founder of Sustainao, a Singapore-based company specialized in sustainability consulting. Previously, Ivona worked as a sustainability auditor at KPMG France. She holds an MBA in CSR & Sustainability and a Master's degree in Environmental Management.
My first home was a farm in the middle of a forest. This is where my environmental awareness started, which later led me to become a sustainability professional. Now I'm helping businesses in their sustainability journey, from creating a sustainability strategy, conducting materiality assessments, to implementing and improving sustainability reporting and performance.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Suppliers Validation Board
- Founding Member & Board Member, the Matcha Initiative Consultant, Spectra
A passionate strategist, Jehanne is the glue between public and private stakeholders. Her experience ranges from cultural, human & economic development, poverty reduction, heritage preservation, urban sustainability and sports development in Asia, Africa & Europe. She has always been driven by sustainability as the mean to create a more efficient and thriving ecosystem.
She is a Founding Member of The Matcha Initiative and a Board Member.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder - Asia Sustainable Travel Briefing Founder - Sainha
Job Titles:
- Senior Marketing Manager - Synfindo
Jing Ying is a marketer with over 10 years of experience. She is currently the Senior Marketing Manager of Synfindo, heading the marketing team.
Before this, she held positions in Sleek, leading marketing, CSR and ESG initiatives and helping them to achieve their first-ever B-Corp Certification. She also co-founded Soule, a social enterprise, with two friends when she was 16, leading the branding, marketing and sales. Soule's mission was to provide youth products with a social cause to empower children in Singapore, China and disaster-hit areas.
Job Titles:
- ESG Partnership Officer - Liberty Society
Job Titles:
- Design Director - Chemistry
Job Titles:
- Founder - Green Nudge, Green Collar
- Founder of Green Nudge
Li Seng is the founder of Green Nudge, a social enterprise that supports businesses and communities to achieve positive environmental impact through activities such as coastal cleanups and workshops, outreach talks and sustainability consulting. By raising awareness and co-creating call-to-actions with various stakeholders on sustainability efforts, Green Nudge aims to create a normative shift in the way we create and deal with waste to achieve a low carbon, zero waste future for Singapore.
Li Seng's previous experience in the public sector in the central bank of Singapore dealing with financial regulations, combined with his current roles in the community and social enterprise sector reinforced his belief that effective public policies need to be supported by ground-up actions and engagement. Playing an interfacing role within the tri-sector, Li Seng is able to provide sectoral knowledge through a system thinking lens to make informed decisions and strategies. He is happy to discuss disposables, sustainability of events, public education, and is familiar with corporate social responsibility and community / youth engagement.
Job Titles:
- Sustainable Finance Transformation
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner / Consultant - the Inceptery Pte Ltd
Marita has over 25 years of experience transforming businesses in Australia and internationally across multiple industries. She combines her experience of starting, growing and running businesses with a passion for sustainability and technology solutions. Her approach to ESG is a balanced blend of professional methodologies, cultural perspectives, and individual values that drive an organisation to its highest potential, all the while fostering sustainable outcomes for growing businesses.
Marita has focused on innovations and new ways of working to generate outcomes. Leading business expansion across Australia and Asia has honed her "start up" skills and further heightened her interest in boosting team capabilities for growth and sustainability.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Suppliers Validation Board
- Founder - Journey Makers
Mary has founded Journey Makers to support organisations in their online presence blending customer experience and employee experience. She was previously in charge of Customer Experience for Lyreco Asia and was, as well, sustainability ambassador for the region. Thriving to drive the change internally and externally, she launched a Green Team that she co-led with one of her colleague.
Job Titles:
- Senior Programme Manager - TÜV SÜD
- Senior Programme Manager for Sustainability Validation and Verification at TÜV SÜD
As the Senior Programme Manager for Sustainability Validation and Verification at TÜV SÜD, Mei Yee helps organisations add credibility and assurance to their greenhouse gases (GHG) emission assertations and GRI reports by providing third-party verification reports to support organizational claims.
She has six years of experience in the standards development of ISO 30500 and ISO 31800, testing, and certification for non-sewered sanitation systems. Prior to that, Mei Yee spearheaded World Toilet Organization's Rainbow School Toilet projects in China and Sanishop in Cambodia. She is passionate about driving corporate social responsibility and sustainability and has spent more than 18 years in various fields working internationally across teams and cultural boundaries before turning her focus on Singapore to helping companies with their carbon reduction journey. She holds a Masters in Community Water and Sanitation and a Science Degree in Earth Science, majoring in geology and physical geography.
She is a certified WSQ Advanced Certificate in Learning and Performance (ACLP) Train-The-Trainer (TTT). Since then, she has facilitated many companies in the training for Green Compass - An environmental assessment framework targeted at SME/ manufacturing industries.
Job Titles:
- Founding Member
- COO - Handprint
- Founding Member & Board Member, the Matcha Initiative Chief Happiness Officer, Handprint
Born in Vietnam, fell in love with Paris, now calling Singapore home. I'm a lifelong learner, nature lover and foodie. Currently regenerating the planet with a greentech startup (Handprint). Also a member of the French Tech for Good.
Job Titles:
- Founder and Principal Consultant of SustainableSG
Mun Wei is the founder and principal consultant of SustainableSG, which provides advisory and training services in sustainability, strategy, risk and entrepreneurship.
Mun Wei started SustainableSG in September 2018 to advise organizations on sustainability strategy and implementation. He was previously the Divisional Director of Corporate Planning at Sentosa Development Corporation, where he led the development and implementation of the Sentosa Sustainability Plan. Mun Wei believes that building a greener and fairer world is a collective responsibility. Hence he is volunteering with the Matcha Initiative to get more organizations started on their sustainability journeys.
Job Titles:
- Founder & Principal Consultant - SustainableSG
He has worked with corporate, government and non-profit clients on strategy and implementation, reviewing organizational programmes and targets related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, benchmarking and communicating sustainability and other corporate programmes and achievements, promoting inclusive hiring, developing compliance policies and reports, and formulating innovative business models.
He is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Director
- Director - Givvable
I am Naomi, currently co-founder & director of givvable. I started my career as an Australian diplomat with postings in East Timor, Thailand and Switzerland then moved into private banking where my interest in ESG and sustainability was seeded.
Job Titles:
- CEO & Founder - Beez - Fm
Graduated in IT and marketing, Nicolas started his career at SAUTER, a Swiss BMS Supplier, in the HQ in 2008 and has been a product manager for several years. After the successful launch of the first BMS Cloud in Europe, he became business developer in the APAC region in 2015. He relocated to Shanghai for 20 months to be closer to the markets, before moving to Singapore in 2018 where he created and directed the SAUTER APAC Competence Centre until June 2022. Since then, he has taken on the role of CEO at beez-fm, a green tech startup he founded in December 2019.
Job Titles:
- Business Development Director - Second Life
Job Titles:
- Intern ( Chief of Staff - Assistant to Founder )
Having finished my studies at Singapore Management University, I am currently engaging in an internship with The Matcha Initiative. I work many roles at TMI, including Communications & Events, Business Development, and Community Engagement. My journey in sustainability started in 2019, through internships and community projects, I've gained a passion for ESG issues and hope to contribute to the industry professionally in the near future. I look forward to helping TMI grow as an organisation, and hope to be able to contribute to the sustainability industry with the skills I gain over this internship.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder - Tulya
- Co - Founder of Tuly
Radhika is the Co-founder of Tulyā, A Sustainability Management Accounting (SMA) Services company. Her work includes measurement and understanding of the impact environmental and social factors will have on the value creation for SMEs. She develops tailored tools and practices that integrate material topics (ESG & Business) with accounting statements line items to demonstrate financial impact of action vs inaction.
She has worked with Lehman Brothers, Barclays and IT services companies before starting her entrepreneurial journey in sustainability.
She is a graduate in Chemical Engineering and has been certified in SASB , PMP, CSM & Design Thinking-MIT.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Solutions Rating Board
- Director & Founder, Zero Waste City
Remi provides engineering consulting services to large commercial and industrial facilities on waste management, energy efficiency and packaging design. He has acquired a strong experience as a consultant covering a wide range of industries and technologies in New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore. He is a certified TRUE Advisor (Total Resource Use Efficiency) by the U.S. Green Building Council Inc. This certification recognised his knowledge in Zero Waste programs and his ability to support businesses to achieve the TRUE Zero Waste certification.
Job Titles:
- Executive Coach & Founder - Cultivating Wholeness
- PCC ICF Certified Executive Coach
Founder of Cultivating Wholeness, a network-based global coaching and advisory firm, Sarah is a PCC ICF certified Executive Coach and acts as a catalyst for personal, cultural and organizational transformation.
She supports leaders of purpose-led start-ups or organisations to bring forth a profound shift in their strategy through regenerative principles and empower them to role model the behaviors driven by their values and purpose. Enabling their business to be a life-affirming positive force in stewarding our planet on a regenerative path.
To do so, she leverages more than 10 years of experience coaching senior leaders in MNCs through their cultural transformations across Asia, Europe, and North America combined by her rich personal development through adversity.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder - Merchandise.Blue, Founder - Kizuna
Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Student - University of Queensland
Job Titles:
- Consultant, Founder - Sustainpath
Seasoned head of procurement in large organizations, I am focused on change management. I have worked on CSR procurement strategies at Credit Agricole Bank, strongly involved in climate change. In Singapore since 2019, I support co-build solutions with suppliers and partners and create space for them to share their expertise.
Job Titles:
- Chief Strategy Officer - Vidacity
Job Titles:
- Entrepreneur & Sustainable IT Consultant
French free spirit with a keen interest for Asia and impact-driven projects. Co-founder of Found & Seek, a B2B SaaS to enable companies better manage their equipment along the circular economy & IT Sustainability speaker for MNCs. I wanted to take part in The Matcha Initiative to make a difference and support a cause I believe in: IT Sustainability. I especially had a role in the website design and prove myself useful for all Digital footprint aspects (waiting to do more in the future!)
Job Titles:
- People Transformation Director - Hive17
Job Titles:
- Founding Member, the Matcha Initiative Assistant Professor, National University Singapore
I am a professor of biomechanics at the National University of Singapore and CNRS. I coordinate the green lab policy of the Mechanobiology Institute.
I'm a founding member of The Matcha Initiative and a Board Member, as well as a Buddy. I'm involved in the overall strategy and more particularly relations with academia.