StanChart CEO wins UN leadership award

MANILA, Philippines — Standard Chartered Bank CEO Lynette Ortiz was named UN Women 2021 Philippine Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards Champion in the Leadership Commitment category recently.

The WEPs Awards honor Asia-Pacific private businesses that champion gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community in alignment with the WEPs. Established by UN Women and UN Global Compact, the WEPs are a set of seven principles guiding businesses to become more gender-responsive across their value chain.

The Leadership Commitment category recognizes leaders in corporations who have been instrumental in setting strong corporate commitments?inclusive of progressive polices, regulations or practices that aim to promote gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and/or community.?

Ortiz is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion with gender equality and women’s empowerment as her personal advocacies. In the past, she led the local staging of Vagina Monologues to celebrate International Women’s Day to benefit One Billion Rising, with some parts played by international theater actress and women’s right activist Monique Wilson, and has spoken in conferences and symposia on these topics.

She is also actively involved in various career coaching sessions for college students and young professionals with Filipina CEO Circle, and a mentor in the bank’s global Speed Mentoring Program for female colleagues. She was recently appointed as vice chairperson of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Management Association of the Philippines.

The oldest international bank in the Philippines, StanChart continues to embed diversity and inclusion into its organizational DNA and reaffirm its commitment to gender equality. The bank ranked among the top 100 companies in Equileap’s 2021 Gender Equality Global Report and Ranking and recognized on Bloomberg Gender Equality Index 2019 for the fourth year in a row. Financial Times also recognized StanChart as a diversity leader and signed a statement of support to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles in 2018.