SINGAPORE SUSTAINABILITY ACADEMY (SSA)

A pioneer CSR practitioner for over 20 years, Esther is instrumental in building up CDL’s sustainability leadership.

CDL is the first and only Singapore company listed on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World for 8 consecutive years and is currently ranked top real estate company. It is also the first to be included in leading global sustainability benchmarks such as the FTSE4Good Index Series since 2002, MSCI ESG Research (AAA rating) since 2009 and Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes since 2011. Furthering its position as a sustainability leader, CDL successfully issued a green bond in April 2017, the first in Singapore by a local company.

A committee member of the Global Compact Network Singapore, which is the local network of UN Global Compact for CSR, Esther is a member of the World Green Building Council’s Corporate Advisory Board and the Urban Land Institute Women’s Leadership Initiative Singapore Steering Committee. Her latest appointments include: member of the UNEP Finance Initiative Property Working Group, GRI Corporate Leadership Group for Integrated Reporting and Sustainable Stock Exchanges’ Green Finance Advisory Group.

Mr Lee Kheng Seng joined the then Ministry of the Environment (ENV) in 1985 as a mechanical engineer. During his career in the Ministry, he had several postings and was exposed to various environmental management issues.

Mr Lee returned to NEA in 2003 and spent a number of years on public health issues and was also heavily involved in 3P engagement with the community and grassroot advisors. Mr Lee eventually took over as Deputy Director-General of Public Health and then subsequently appointed as the Quality Service Manager of NEA.

In Apr 2015, he was appointed as the Director of Communications and 3P Partnership in the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources.

Mr Lee is happily married with three grown-up children and enjoys travelling as a family.

Kavita has more than 15 years’ experience in the environment and development sector. She has been involved in multi-dimensional projects like the United States Asia Environmental Partnership (US_AEP) and was instrumental in setting up the Clean Technology Environmental Management Centre (CTEM) in the Singapore Manufacturers’ Association.

Kavita worked with startups and SMEs as a manager of the Singapore Association for Environmental Companies (SAFECO). She has an MSc in Environmental Management from Wye College, University of London.

A visionary business professional with experience in media, business strategies and cross cultural management. Christina is deeply passionate about sustainability & business. She founded Global Green Economic Consulting (GGEC) in Singapore in 2012. GGEC successfully spin-off its business conference, Global Green Economic Forum (GGEF), to become a social enterprise since 2015. GGEC provides consulting service to help companies incorporate sustainability into their business with particular focus on stakeholders engagement. GGEC has a vast network in China and its effort in promoting sustainability is well recognized by the business community. Recently, GGEC has become the Belt & Road Initiative Strategic Partner to the Chinese largest privately owned clean-energy CHP provider, BROAD Group.

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Christina was appointed as Asia Managing Director of the leading global business media, Bloomberg Businessweek (formerly known as BusinessWeek) where she worked for 12 years. She oversaw the company’s business operations, business development, events and local language editions in Asia. She played a significant role in the company’s sales and business development where her contribution was highly recognized.

Previously, she also held senior positions at Yahoo! Inc., Star Television (News Corporation) and Avenue Magazine New York.

Actively in supporting media industry and business communities, Christina was the Deputy Chairman of SOPA (The Society of Publishers in Asia) and Chairman of its China Projects Group Sub-Committee. She is currently the advisor of Tsinghua University x-lab, a board of director for Canaan Garden Charity, permanent member of Chiu Chow Chamber of Commerce and the Youth Elite Association in Hong Kong. Christina holds a Masters Degree in Management from Macquarie University (MGSM), Sydney. An avid sports enthusiast, she was honored to be a torch bearer for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.