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UN Women 2021 Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards:
Meet the Regional Judges
Anita Ahmad
CEO, Yayasan MySDG
Anita is the CEO of Yayasan MySDG, supporting Malaysia in accelerating the SDGs, overseeing the Malaysia-UN SDG Trust Fund for marginalized communities. Previously, she led socio-economic initiatives at Yayasan Hasanah, partnering with various organizations for social impact. Her experience includes roles at UNDP and MERCY Malaysia, advocating for gender equality and managing humanitarian projects in crisis zones like Sudan and Afghanistan. Anita holds a master's in social development as a Chevening scholar and a law degree from the UK, and she actively mentors in the social impact sector.
Dato’ Ong Bee Leng
Chief Executive Officer, Penang Women’s Development Corporation
Bee Leng is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Penang Women’s Development Corporation, which strives to mainstream gender into key policies, programmes and practices of the public sector, as well as, creating platforms for women empowerment in the aim to narrow the gender gaps. Having served in the public and private sectors has enabled her to gain invaluable experiences in organisation excellence, business growth, sales achievement, operations optimisation, and quality programme delivery. She had also served in the Malaysian Territorial Army Regiment for more than 10 years as Commissioned Army Officer.
Dr Lai Suat Yan
Dr. Lai Suat Yan, Social Scientist, Universiti Malaya
Dr. Lai Suat Yan is a social scientist at Universiti Malaya, where she coordinates the Master of Gender Studies Program. She advocates for gender equality and better policies on issues like gender-based violence and workplace equality. Currently, she leads a SEAMEO project on gender equity in higher education and serves as Universiti Malaya's SDG Champion for Gender Equality (SDG 5) until December 2026. With extensive experience in sexual harassment policy, she contributed to the Code of Practice to Prevent and Handle Sexual Harassment Cases in University Malaya. Dr. Lai has served on national committees, including the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill task force and as a current member of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Tribunal.
Hajah Mahuran Saro Dato’ Haji Sariki
Mahuran is dedicated to advancing human resources through active participation in industry forums, sharing insights on talent retention and the future of work. Her thought leadership has led to invitations to speak at prestigious events worldwide. She champions collaboration and inclusivity, recognizing diversity's role in driving growth. Her leadership philosophy is based on trust, empowerment, and accountability, guiding her teams through challenges. Committed to social impact, she leverages her expertise to empower marginalized communities and promote workplace inclusivity, showcasing the transformative power of HR leadership
Lakshwin Murugamoorthy
Executive Director, Women Of Will (WOW)
Lakshwin is the Executive Director of Women Of Will (WOW), an NGO focused on empowering women living in low-income communities through Entrepreneurship and Leadership. His experience covers developing and implementing community development models across urban and rural communities in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Malaysia. His passion is for sustainable impact that goes beyond individuals and creates systemic change.
Lee Min Hui
Gender Consultant, United Nations Population Fund
Min Hui is a Gender Consultant with the United Nations Population Fund in Malaysia where she coordinates the office’s gender portfolio on policy issues related to gender-based violence, care economy and women’s labour force participation. She is also a social policy researcher previously leading the Social Policy and National Integration division at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia with a focus on gender equality and social welfare. She holds a Masters in Public Policy from King’s College London under the Chevening scholarship.
Robert Hii
An engineer by trade, and an activist at heart, Robert Hii has worked on social justice issues for 15 years, both locally as well as internationally. As Vice President of SERATA, Robert Hii has advocated for more inclusion of men in solving gender issues, as well as speaking on issues of transparency, corruption, and governance. His recent public appearances include the UNFPA's Malaysia Women and Girl's Forum, and Astro Awani's Consider This.
2020 Judges
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