May 29, 2021. Shanghai – Over 300 participants tuned in to the 2021 Female Leadership Forum today across two campuses and ten cities. Now in its third year, the event focused on the theme of “Leading without Limits” and explored the concept of overcoming the obstacles that society and self-doubt imposes upon women. By empowering women to lead a life without limits and inspiring men to engage without hesitation, the aim of the forum was to break open the preconceived notions that might limit our world views around diversity, inclusion, and modern leadership.

As the first inter-university event co-organised by CEIBS, Global Women Connect, and Nottingham University Business School China (NUBS), the forum featured participants from each stage of the leadership lifecycle. From NUBS came the younger generation of undergraduates yet to embark on their future careers; from CEIBS came young professionals in the process of accelerating their careers; and through Global Women Connect came industry professionals in search of deeper purpose.

With contributors from both start-ups and multinational corporations, the event was hosted by CEIBS MBA Women’s Leadership Network President and MBA 2022 student Jay Wong. CEIBS Assistant Professor of Management Emily M. David, began the event by sharing research behind how labels can limit our thinking, and encouraged everyone to think of three things they achieve every day.

Head of Enterprise Sales at Bloomberg China, Jean Saw then reinforced the importance of diversity and organisational support for women, while Founding Partner of TSol Soundari Moukherjea shed a light on the strategies we can employ to combat unconscious bias. Founder of SoGal Ventures Pocket Sun, who was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine as part of their Asia 30 under 30 feature, inspired the audience by highlighting the courage we all gain when doing things in service of others.

After a coffee break catered by Shanghai Young Bakers, a female-led charity initiative that trains disadvantaged Chinese youths in French bakery and patisserie, Stephanie Liu took to the stage.

Formerly of Siemens Healthineers, Stephanie challenged the audience to reflect on their immunity to change with an interactive exercise to get them all engaged. The final event of the day was the “Leading without Labels” panel discussion with leaders from Aptar Group, B Corps China, Blackmores and ThermoFisher Scientific. The panellists encouraged women to “be selfish” in advocating for themselves in their career, to embrace the need to find purpose in their work in order to truly achieve a work-life balance, and the importance of letting passion guide your choices.

This event was powered by Bloomberg and sponsored by A. Lange & Söhne, ABinBev, Blackmores, JLL, Centent Brosea, ClassPass and LÜUNA naturals.