Women to Watch 2021: Celebrating the torchbearers in the APAC marcomms industry

Campaign Asia-Pacific, in partnership with Essence, is honoured to present the 40 women who have been selected as this year's Women to Watch—a list of exceptional business leaders, innovators and change advocates.

The list truly represents the immense talent of the Asia-Pacific region and the women who are elevating their craft and communities, often in the face of gender bias and discrimination.

We view Women to Watch as an important initiative for spotlighting the work of women in APAC that may otherwise go without recognition. Especially when we know that around half of women in the marcomms industry see their male colleagues receiving more respect than them and believe they have missed out on an opportunity or promotion because of their gender, according to our 2021 Diversity Study conducted in partnership with Kantar.

Peruse the stories of the women below to see how businesses with female leaders are not only commercially successful, but also set up to prioritise staff and make an impact on the wider community. We continue to be blown away by the inspiring stories of enterprising women from APAC, and we hope you will be too.

The ninth iteration of Women to Watch presents a diverse mix of industries and geographies. There are 12 markets represented (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand). There are women from independent agencies and agency networks, media publishers and subscription services, adtech and martech, PR and healthcare communications, production, talent and telecommunications.

We want this list to be inclusive and diverse, so we are careful not to factor in age. As a result, there is a mix of seniority represented in the list, from women who have been in the industry for several decades to those with just a few years of experience. What they all have in common is a trajectory for future growth—we have no doubt that everyone on this list has more big things to come.

This is just a portion of a much larger pool of nominations we received for Women to Watch. As always, it was exceptionally challenging for the judging team, comprised of Campaign Asia-Pacific’s senior editorial members, to bring the list down to 40. Nominees were judged on their business achievements, leadership qualities and collaboration, and their work elevating the industry both through their work and their passions. All the entries went through several rounds of judging and analysis to ensure the women selected are the most deserving of this commendation. 

But competition was fierce and all the nominations were impressive, so if your entry didn't make it to the list, please don't be disheartened. There will be plenty more opportunities for you to get involved in Campaign's lists or editorial coverage—for which DEI is a core pillar.

We would like to take a moment to thank the companies and individuals that took the time to nominate themselves, their colleagues or friends, plus those who provided endorsements. We know it is not an easy task but your diligence allows us to shine a light on those worthy of commendation. We hope Women to Watch can continue to be a motivator for women rising stars in the industry, and a resource of the incredible talent this region has to offer. Once again, an enormous congratulations to this year's group of Women to Watch. 

The 2021 Women to Watch are (in alphabetical order by given name):

Amber Chen DuoZhun China	Anne Boothroyd YoungShand New Zealand	Carol Yeung Golin Hong Kong
Charlene Ree EternityX Marketing Technology Hong Kong	Charu Menon Heckler Singapore	Claire Butterworth GroupM Australia
Colleen Ngo Xaxis APAC Singapore	Fe Husaint Green Park Content Singapore	Hira Mohibullah BBDO Pakistan
Jen Sharpe Think HQ Australia	Jerone Larson VCCP Singapore	Jessica Man Sinclair Hong Kong
June Oh MediaMath Singapore	Laura Aldington Host/Havas Australia	Leilani Abels Thrive PR + Communications Australia
Lizzie Strobel Digitas ANZ Australia	Lylah Juinio BBDO Shanghai China	Mali Wuestenhagen Essence Korea/Seoul
Malu Vasallo Wavemaker Philippines	Maria Yolanda Crisanto Globe Telecom Philippines	Marianne Admardatine Hill+Knowlton Strategies Indonesia
Michala Sabnani South China Morning Post Hong Kong	Nickie Scriven Zenith Australia	Nikki Ding Matterkind China
Ning (Jessica) Zhang Mindshare China	Nitasha Seth Netflix India	Nizwani Shahar Ogilvy Malaysia
Pauly Grant Publicis Groupe Australia	Peita Pacey OMD Australia	Rachelle Hansen PHD Singapore
Ritika Gupta Reprise Singapore	Sally Kissane Ogilvy Australia	Sharon Goh DDB Group Singapore
Sofia Yip Edelman Hong Kong	Sonya David iProspect Singapore	Sophie Asker GCI Health Singapore
Sorada Sonprasit Brilliant & Million (Publicis Thailand) Thailand	Tash Menon Mash Australia	Tasha Kaur Magnite Singapore
Viva Wang Weber Shandwick China