Biography
Who is Dr. Janice Lao?
Dr. Janice Lao has a rare background as both an environmental scientist and development economist with a degree from the University of Oxford as a full scholar under the prestigious British Chevening programme, given only to the best and brightest talents outside of the UK. She also completed her PhD in Sustainability Education at Prescott College.
Both of these expertise require mastery of science and mathematics and she is incredibly passionate about the understanding and utilization of math to the protection of the environment and encouraging a behavioral shift towards a just society using economic models that make business a force for good.
Leading the Industry
At 30, she developed the initial mathematical and economic modeling that was the basis for international aviation’s carbon-neutral growth strategy. Since then, she originated and led some of the “first in the industry” financial deals, such as Argent Energy (reported by The Financial Times in 2013) and the AAA+ rated green bond of MTR Corporation (listed by Fortune Magazine’s 50 Change the World List in 2017).
In 2019, she became the first Asian and the youngest person to win the Edie Sustainability Leader of the Year Award, the Oscars of the international sustainability community.
A Sustainable Career
Dr. Lao started her career at one of the world’s most respected think tanks, the World Resources Institute, helping to pioneer community engagement in corporate decisions, and embedding sustainability milestones in project financing. Since then, she had worked for some of the biggest brands in multinational conglomerates, real estate, FMCG, transportation and the services sector. Throughout her career, she has developed and worked on pioneering sustainability initiatives that have become global industry standards from carbon trading, biodiversity, responsible seafood sourcing, single-use plastics, textiles upcycling, refugee & minority hiring among many others.
Both of these expertise require mastery of science and mathematics and I am incredibly passionate about the understanding and utilization of math to the protection of the environment and encouraging a behavioral shift towards a just society using economic models that make business a force for good.
The Data Superwoman
She has been featured in international media such as CNBC, including in a US-published book “Everyday Superheroes: Women in STEM careers” with 25 other women STEM professionals around the world, including Nobel Prize winners. Currently, she is also raising awareness on the corrosive impacts of inequality, her well-received distillation of existing research and data on the social and economic impacts of inequality.
A Person for Others
While she has worked around the world, Janice was raised in the Philippines and educated in the United Kingdom and United States, giving her deep personal insight into the impacts of inequality, and the crucial role of business. Her education in the Jesuit tradition of social justice inspired her to live her life as a “person for others”. She is married and has two children.
Both of these expertise require mastery of science and mathematics and I am incredibly passionate about the understanding and utilization of math to the protection of the environment and encouraging a behavioral shift towards a just society using economic models that make business a force for good.
What People Say About Dr. Janice Lao
A curious, astute and persistent individual, the former Cathay Pacific and MTR Corporation executive makes “the perfect CSO”, because she knows what needs to be done, and is not afraid to pursue it internally with stakeholders.
Junice Yeo, Eco-Business' Deputy Managing Director
Janice is an exceptional business leader. Having worked tirelessly right across the business, socially and environmentally, Janice has shown the courage to think outside of the box and attempt new approaches in areas ranging from sustainable seafood and plastics and through to carbon trading – and all this within Asian-listed companies, where traditional commercial considerations are often paramount.
Edie Sustainability Leaders Judges 2019
The book says that Janice Lao is an “environmental scientist with a mind for business” as she works with hotels in Asia. It goes on to say how hotels take up a lot of land and the many people who stay in them create a lot of waste…I think what she’s doing makes her a hero.