Female Executives on the Front Lines of Innovation
The International Women’s Day may be over, but we have all of March to celebrate the working women of today. Get to know some of the lady bosses in the tech industry as we give them the spotlight to highlight their achievements and contributions to the digital age.
Stephanie Chung
CEO and Co-Founder | eCompareMo.com
Photo credit: Facebook.com/eCompareMo
Driven by her vision to help people manage their money well by promoting financial literacy and broadening financial inclusion, Chung co-founded eComparemo a year after she co-built its parent company C88 Financial Technologies. As of today, eCompareMo is at the forefront when it comes to aiding its customers in comparing and choosing the best loans, credit cards, and insurances through artificial intelligence and data technologies.
Grace David
CEO | Edukasyon
Joining the growing field of female CEOs in the tech industry, David has been recently named as the new CEO of Edukasyon.ph, the largest education technology platform in the Philippines that lets students search, compare and apply to higher education institutions and online courses. David is expected to bring the company to improve youth-centered engagement and product innovation to further empower Generation Z students to make better choices, from education to employment.
Crystal Gonzalez
CEO and Co-Founder | PICK.A.ROO
Holding a strong background when it comes to technology, retail, and new media, Kevin Tan, the co-founder of PICK.A.ROO, found a ‘true unicorn’ that is Gonzalez to help build the on-demand lifestyle delivery app. Gonzalez, who is also sitting as the CEO of the startup, has had her fair share of managing a business, having occupied executive positions in some of the biggest global brands such as honestbee, Viber, Lazada, and Yahoo!
Hiyasmin Neri-Soyao
CEO | Shoppertainment LIVE
Photo credit: instagram.com/yasnerisoyao
Started in the entertainment industry through local media giant ABS-CBN’s Star Magic, Neri is best known for being one of the hosts of the online and home TV shopping “ACJ O Shopping.” In 2019, the vast knowledge she acquired through the years with the Kapamilya network set the foundations of the country’s leading production livestream shopping network today. Neri put her experiences in shop hosting, digital marketing, and video production to better use as she co-founded Shoppertainment LIVE.
Maria Lourdes “Long” Pineda
President and Country Manager | Tonik
Pineda will be leading the operations of the first neobank in the Philippines, Tonik Digital Bank, Inc. She has gathered 25 years of financial inclusion experience in and out of the Philippines and is equipped with a wide range of knowledge in banking. Despite this, she maintains an open mind when it comes to learning from the young professionals at Tonik as it would allow her to lead the all-digital bank to greater heights.
Martha Sazon
CEO | Mynt (GCash)
Photo credit: Social PR Online
A lady boss prepared to face the future with sustainability and evolution in mind, Sazon surely knows the path that is to be taken by fintech company Mynt, the operator of GCash. Having a hand in various Globe businesses and customer services, Sazon takes pride in her 12 years of leadership experience with Globe Telecom Inc. With less than a year since her appointment as CEO of Mynt, she has provided remarkable guidance for the fintech company to further improve its efforts to promote financial inclusion and cashless transactions.
Angeline Tham
Founder and CEO | Angkas
Photo credit: businessmirror.com.ph
A familiar face in the tech industry. Tham, a Manila-based Singaporean entrepreneur, has been known for providing a solution to the country’s horrendous traffic through Angkas, a motorcycle ride-hailing platform. Together with her Angkas team, the motorcycle taxi company’s CEO and founder faced and conquered multiple roadblocks for a number of years before being allowed on the road. Being a game-changer in the transportation industry, Angkas saw the rising demand from the riding public. In 2020, with most of their business being paralyzed due to the lockdowns and quarantine restrictions, the company pivoted to food and parcel deliveries.
Myla Villanueva
Co-Founder | Novare Technologies
A household name in the tech industry, Villanueva is sitting at the helm of both the digital transformation company MDI Group and the trusted software technology company Novare Technologies. She is also the Asia Pacific president for Global Telecom Women’s Network, a non-profit organization that encourages young women to venture into the tech industry. Due to her achievements, innovations, and success in transforming the local tech empire, Villanueva became Ernst and Young’s first Women Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003, and a TOWN (Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service) awardee in 2010.
The corporate world can pose different challenges for women, and these tech professionals, along with many more female executives, definitely know who’s the boss. In 2019, the Philippines was among the countries with more women in managerial roles according to the Labor Force Survey (LFS) report from the International Labor Organization (ILO). This remained true the following year as Grant Thornton International’s 2020 Women in Business report showed that 43% of female executives in the country hold senior leadership roles. With these, it is evident that Filipino women are already solidifying the idea that they are as able as their male counterparts in the business world.
The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any mentioned entity.
