Doing good while making profit: 25 firms to be lauded for steward leadership projects in region

SINGAPORE – Companies are making an effort to address climate and social inequality challenges, but such efforts must be scaled up for more noticeable progress, noted judges of the Steward Leadership 25 (SL25).

Twenty-five firms will be lauded for their steward leadership projects on Oct 23 under the SL25 list at Pan Pacific Singapore.

SL25 is an annual listing of the 25 best projects of steward leadership excellence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Steward leadership is the genuine desire and persistence to create a collective better future for stakeholders, society, future generations and the environment.

The 2024 list showcases projects of for-profit organisations that drive profit growth by addressing social and climate challenges.

Judges that The Straits Times spoke to said that these projects originated from a strong belief that doing good can also be profitable, and that these projects helped identify social and climate impact gaps in not just Singapore, but also other countries in Asia.

The 25 winning projects of 2024 come from 15 industries and tackled a wide range of issues, such as empowering farmers in the supply chains of agribusinesses, creating new materials out of waste, and helping women entrepreneurs succeed, said Mr Patrick Daniel, director of SPH Media Trust and an SL25 judge.

ST, the flagship English daily of SPH Media Trust, is one of the founding partners of SL25, which is organised by Stewardship Asia Centre.

Several submissions rely heavily on technology to bring about solutions to today’s challenges, said fellow judge, Professor Joanne Roberts, who is president of Yale-NUS College.

“Some of the gaps we see being addressed fall in the areas of social inclusion, especially in the provision of more opportunities for women and the disabled to succeed,” said Prof Roberts.

Another judge, Mr Munib Madni, said that SL25 gives recognition to companies which have put in the work to do good while still making a profit.

“It also provides an objective review of their initiatives and the impact of their work as seen by outsiders,” said Mr Madni, who is founding “panvestor” and chief executive of Panarchy Partners.

A panvestor, according to the firm’s website, is a person or organisation that focuses on all forms of capital – human, social, environmental and financial – with the expectation of achieving returns and progress on all aspects.

These projects set an example that will inspire more corporate leaders to believe that they can do well by doing good – this is a higher purpose than doing well financially first before devoting resources to doing good, said Mr Daniel.

SL25 shows that corporations are increasingly playing their part through enlightened steward leadership, he added.

Mr Madni noted that the selected SL25 projects are only a fraction of the effort needed to counter today’s challenges, and the next step is to scale them up.

“I remain concerned about climate change and social inequality. We have yet to see a sustained climate event in Asia that would really see further social inequality, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, which really tested social inequality across the region,” he added.

Said Mr Madni: “Another climate event can really undo the progress on social inequality, which is why it is important for projects tackling such issues to scale up for bigger impact.”

The honourees in 2023 included lenders DBS Bank and OCBC Bank, as well as Singtel Group and SMRT Corporation. 

Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we said that ST is the media partner of SL25. This is incorrect. ST is one of the founding partners of SL25.