The world is changing and business needs to change with it. But in an increasingly complex and divided world, which businesses will have a future in five years? A recent study showed a staggering lack of diversity on board, with no ethnic Chinese or Asian executive directors in the FTSE 100. With this in mind, join the British Chamber's new Women in Leadership Forum to debate what a competitive board should look like in the 21st century.
The world is changing and business needs to change with it. But has the composition of your board altered in the last five years? How do you recruit new non-exec members? Are there institutional barriers to promotion for people from different backgrounds? And in an increasingly complex and divided world, which businesses will have a future in five years?
According to the January 2015 McKinsey report on ‘Why Diversity Matters’, gender-diverse boards are 15 per cent more likely to outperform single-sex boards, and ethnically diverse boards are 35 per cent more likely to outperform monochrome competitors.
The following gives an idea of how our companies’ boards are composed at present:
There are no ethnic Chinese or Asian executive directors in the FTSE 100 according to a 2015 study by Green Park, despite the growing importance of Asian economies as trading partners. With this in mind, the British Chamber’s new Women in Leadership Forum invites you to debate what a competitive board should look like in the 21st century.
Venue: CKGSB, Oriental Plaza, Tower E3, 3rd Floor, Classroom 2, 1 East Chang’an Avenue, Beijing
Agenda:
15:00 Welcome by Clare Pearson, Chair, British Chamber of Commerce in China
15:15 Panel discussion
15:45 Q&A from the floor
16:15 Drinks and informal debate
17:00 Close
Panelists
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Bai Changbo
Vice President, Communications & External Affairs, BP China
Changbo started his career with the Chinese government in the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and then the foreign services working for the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations Environment Program. Changbo is a qualified Canadian lawyer and was in private legal practice in Vancouver prior to joining BP. He has received JD from the University of British Columbia in Canada, LLB & LLM from Beijing University in China, and a Diploma in Management from the China European International Business School.
Ruby Lu
Partner, DCM and H-Capital
Ms Lu is an independent venture capitalist investing in technology start-ups between the US and China. She is currently an independent board member of Yum China and iKang Healthcare Group. She was the co-founder of DCM China – an early stage venture firm with offices in China, Tokyo and the US. During her over 12 years’ tenure in DCM, she has invested in and served as a board member of many leading technology companies. She was ranked as one of the top technology investors by Forbes China. Prior to DCM, Ms Lu was a vice president in the technology, media and telecommunications investment banking group of Goldman Sachs & Co.
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Jenny Lawton
Regional Director, Ultra Electronics
Jenny has a degree in economics and financing, a master’s in international business, a Common Law qualification from the UK and an executive MBA from a leading university. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators. She is a highly qualified and experienced senior executive, with extensive background, experience and achievement in investment banking, infrastructure, energy, engineering manufacturing and ITC industries and their strategic planning and operations management.
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Wang Liwei
Founder, Charitarian
Founder of the Charitarian magazine (China’s first philanthropy media in 2006), Wang actively influences, inspires, supports and challenges government agendas in the fields of philanthropy. He also runs a Rural Teacher Training project to provide training for teachers from the countryside at international schools in Beijing. His unique insights into the development of civil society in China have led to invitations to be the charity advisor to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and to be invited to meet privately with senior officials. Wang is also an advisor at Tsinghua University CSR Centre Beijing and CEO of China Charity Foundation (HK and Beijing).
Registration
Please register in advance with Steven Lynch at steven.lynch@cbbc.org.cn. There is no charge for this event.
