Author: sHq_LoGiNz

NEW YORK, Sept. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The United Nations Global Compact convened business leaders from Asia and Oceania on the sidelines of UN General Assembly week to accelerate the transformation of sustainability, from compliance to a core driver of strategy and trust.

The Leadership Roundtable convened CEOs, CSOs and senior business leaders from across Asia and Oceania to reflect on how business leadership is evolving in response to today’s social, environmental and economic challenges. Discussions focused on sustainable finance, supply chain transformation, climate resilience and the evolving role of the CSO, and explored regional solutions, cross-sector collaboration and the integration of sustainability into core business strategy.

This initiative supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aligns with the Paris Agreement, reinforcing the role of the private sector in building a resilient, inclusive and sustainable global economy.

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Highlights and key outcomes

1. Stronger business case for sustainability
   Participants emphasized the shift from sustainability as a compliance exercise to a strategic business driver. The evolving role of the CSO, integration of ESG into core operations, and the need for stronger governance were recurring themes.
2. Regional leadership and standards
   Participants called for Asia-Pacific to shape its own sustainability frameworks and solutions, recognizing the need for regionally appropriate standards and stronger collaboration across public and private sectors.
3. Finance will follow value
   A recurring theme was that “solutions need to make economic sense, then the funding will flow automatically.” Leaders emphasized aligning sustainability with financial performance, including through tools like TNFD, to unlock investment and reduce risk.

“Eighty-eight per cent of CEOs surveyed in the 2025 UN Global Compact CEO Study see a stronger business case for sustainability than five years ago, with technology, geopolitics and societal values identified as key drivers. This roundtable demonstrated the momentum and leadership emerging from Asia and Oceania. Businesses are not only responding to global challenges — they are shaping the solutions,” said Sue Allchurch, Chief of Outreach & Engagement, UN Global Compact.

“From supply chain innovation to regional collaboration, the insights shared at this roundtable show how companies are embedding sustainability into strategy and operations,” said Simiao You, Participant Engagement Senior Manager at the UN Global Compact Office.

About the United Nations Global Compact

The ambition of the UN Global Compact is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the SDGs through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 20,000 participating companies, 5 Regional Hubs, 65 Country Networks covering 85 countries and 9 Country Managers establishing Networks in 16 other countries, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world. For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our website at unglobalcompact.org.

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SOURCE United Nations Global Compact

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Exceptional Women Alliance (EWA) is proud to welcome Major General Shanna Woyak, USAF (Ret.), a mission-focused board director and retired U.S. Air Force Major General, into its distinguished network of influential women leaders. With deep governance, healthcare, logistics, and enterprise transformation experience across both military and civilian sectors, she brings a unique and powerful perspective to the Alliance.

Over the course of her military career, Major General Woyak held CEO-equivalent responsibilities for some of the largest and most complex healthcare operations in Department of Defense history. Across two senior commands, she oversaw nearly 400 medical and dental facilities—including more than 260 facilities across the United States and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and approximately 140 facilities in a prior assignment—managing multi-billion-dollar budgets and ensuring care delivery for over 10 million beneficiaries. Trusted by both the Pentagon and Congress, she was called upon to lead politically sensitive reforms and crisis response operations, including shaping the nation’s COVID-19 response strategy.

Her leadership has consistently delivered transformative outcomes:

• Spearheaded the largest healthcare transformation in DoD history, implementing private-sector-based models that cut costs by 10% while enhancing patient access and quality of care.
• Directed the National Capital Region Medical Directorate, which included 60 facilities such as Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and medical support for the White House.
• Led digital transformation initiatives, including the rollout of the Oracle/Cerner IT platform across hundreds of facilities, driving $100M+ in savings and improving financial, pharmacy, and clinical operations.
• Partnered in organizational turnarounds, restructuring operations and strengthening enterprise capabilities, compliance, and effectiveness across complex organizations.

Recognized as an impact player who thrives in times of crisis, ambiguity, and transformation, Major General Woyak has become a sought-after leader for boards navigating risk, enterprise change, or scale. Her unique breadth of executive, clinical, and governance experience—spanning both government and private-sector healthcare—brings exceptional strategic insight, fiscal discipline, and multi-stakeholder collaboration to every role she undertakes.

“Her remarkable record of service, her clarity of vision, and her ability to lead mission-critical transformation make Major General Woyak an extraordinary addition to EWA,” said Larraine Segil, Chair and CEO of the Exceptional Women Alliance. “She exemplifies the caliber of leaders who define our Alliance.”

She now joins a powerful and growing community of C-suite and board-level women leaders across disciplines who share a common goal: to lift one another, cultivate influence, and expand opportunities for women around the world.

About Exceptional Women Alliance (EWA)
 The Exceptional Women Alliance (EWA) is an invitation-only peer mentorship organization where high-level Exceptional Women from across multiple industries are hand-selected and invested in, to grow, learn, share, and succeed. In addition to the achievement of significant success, the criteria for acceptance include character traits that are defining of the EWA Culture – Kindness, the Spirit of Generosity, Transparency, Gratitude, and Willingness to Share their knowledge. The Foundation is a powerhouse of peer-to-peer mentoring that provides guidance, deep connection, and leadership, propelling each woman to sustainable success—one woman at a time. The life-long program enables each participant to be connected as alumnae in the ever-expanding EWA global community, as their fellow women leaders continue to move into positions of significance.

Learn more at www.exceptionalwomenalliance.com

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SOURCE Exceptional Women Alliance