Jason Chuei - Impact Catalyst

Jason Chuei shares with Dorothy Ng why he decided to head community engagement at Expedia, even though the role meant taking a big pay cut.

- Dorothy Ng

The passion to create genuine social impact runs deep for many, but there are only a rare few who will take that commitment to the point of taking a pay cut or leaving the comforts of home. Jason Chuei is one of them.

The senior manager of strategy and business development at multinational travel corporation Expedia Group so impressed his bosses in the way he helmed the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects, that they appointed him Expedia’s head of social responsibility and community engagement for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region just a year after he joined the company. It was a role specially created for him – one that he took on without a second thought even though it meant converting to a part-time pay that was less than half of his previous salary.

“My goal in life is to make a meaningful and sustainable positive impact in society, and Expedia Group’s corporate ethos of ‘Bring the World Within Reach’ resonates with me. Everyone who works here is passionate about travel, communities and cultures. We help build local economies through tourism, and we want to bolster that with community initiatives and volunteerism. So my job doesn’t really feel like work because I love what I do, and I get to help people every day,” says Chuei, who used to be a veterinarian and holds two master’s degrees – one in business administration and one in marketing.