A Word with Maryann Tseng

EMpower’s President and CEO, Cynthia Steele, recently spoke with Maryann Tseng, Senior Managing Director at SenseTime, and EMpower Board Director, Hong Kong. They discussed the importance of good governance, highlights from Maryann's visit to India earlier this year, and how her perspectives align with our commitment towards young people in EM countries. 

Since our first conversation, I’ve been impressed by your knowledge and attention to governance in the private sector, government and civil society. Can you shine some light for our readers on why good governance is so important, including for organisations like EMpower?

Throughout my career, I’ve learned to respect and appreciate how a strong and well-developed corporate governance framework makes a good organisation even better. This is equally true for private or public, for-profit or not-for-profit. 

Board governance was one of the key reasons I enjoyed being interviewed by you for the Board position at EMpower since we spent more than half of our time discussing that topic. This ranged from assessing various checks and balances to talking through the framework under which we diligently select grantees to add to our portfolio to the various stringent internal review processes such as due diligence, assessments of both risk and impact, expert opinions, and our principle-based funding process. 

This all helps to ensure that we are not only responsible for our own capital deployment as a foundation but also look further to the positive impact on the communities and ecosystems that our grantee partners operate in.  

The implications of our corporate governance and the questions we ask at the Board level focus on having a longer-term positive impact on the communities and societies where our grantees are carrying out their missions. This is why our visit to partners in India earlier this year was so memorable to me and left a strong impression.  

Yes, we both spent time with some of our partners in Delhi and Rajasthan in February! What stood out to you about this visit to India?

Firstly, we cannot assume we will know and understand all the underlying issues from an outsider’s perspective. Only when we engage, interact, and speak to individuals on the ground, listen to their stories and ask them questions, can we gain true respect and insight into the issues that philanthropic organisations are working tirelessly to solve in different cities or villages. Those particular challenges can vary tremendously from one location to the next. In one village, the State Programme Officer (SPO) is supporting young girls by creating awareness, for example, that they should not be married off at a young age because the legal age of marriage in India is 18. In another city, the SPO is supporting migrant families with sustainable education resources for their children so that they can access decent schooling. This is why it is important for us to continue identifying the right local partners that can help EMpower address structural issues at their roots and make it more impactful with long-term funding support. 

Secondly, the younger generations in India are vibrant problem solvers who think independently and have their own voices. During our visit to Delhi, we spent time with Young Changemakers—energetic young women aged 14 - 16 who have learned to solve their own problems. They have written letters to their local municipal civic bodies, demanding supplies and funding support to build and provide adequate women-friendly toilets in public schools. They’ve learned to voice their opinions and support each other to ensure that no girl is left behind. That support system in their communities has left a strong imprint in my memory. 

You grew up in Taiwan, Canada, and have long lived in Hong Kong. Can you say more about these deep roots and perspectives that align with EMpower’s passion for uplifting opportunities for young people in Asia (and other EM countries)?

Inequalities still exist. I’ve been blessed to have grown up and worked in developed markets. However, inequalities in the availability and distribution of resources lead to dramatically different outcomes, and some of these inequalities come from deep-rooted cultural racism or sexism. I stand proudly behind EMpower’s approach to helping target communities by doing things like re-distributing resources more equally. However, a lot more work needs to be done in the grand scheme of societal and economic change—addressing the shortage of resources in many parts of emerging market countries is an important first step towards achieving that outcome.