CLOSE-UP: A Seat at the Table

Passionate about empowering women and those from diverse backgrounds, business leader and diversity practitioner Karen Loon talks about the challenges of the leadership journey, getting more women on boards and why it is important to look to the past in order to move forward

- Annabel Tan

When Karen Loon first entered the workforce, the fourth-generation Asian Australian noticed that there were neither female nor Asian partners in the assurance division of her firm, Price Waterhouse (now known as PwC) in Sydney.

Soon after, the chartered accountant embarked on a two-year secondment with the firm in Singapore, where, conversely, there were several female partners-some of whom were working mothers. This was a big plus and motivation for Loon, who decided to move to Singapore to build her career and has been based here since.

She worked her way up within leading financial institutions and by 33, made partner at PwC. Currently, she is a non-executive director and an independent director at Bank Pictet & Cie (Asia), a board member of Insead's International Directors Network and a member of the governing council at the Singapore Institute of Directors. For eight years until June 2022, she was also a committee member of BoardAgender, an initiative of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations working to advance more women into senior leadership roles and boardrooms in Singapore.