2019-08-01_Hong_Kong_Tatler

hongkongtatler. august 2019 25

Generation T / CONCIERGE

Pat Dwyer has always wanted to make an impact. She

began her career working with NGOs before becoming

Ayala Land’s first manager of corporate social responsibility

(CSR). She went on to become director of CSR and

sustainability at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, launching

a number of groundbreaking and influential initiatives. But

there was always the potential for more, and in 2015 she

founded The Purpose Business. With a vision to help Asian

businesses become a force for good, it counts the MTR

Corporation, Jardine Matheson, Swire Properties, Cathay

Pacific, Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, and Vitasoy among

its clients. Here, Pat introduces various aspects of her work

in her own words.

My vision was to use business as an agent of change. It

was about moving away from CSR, not because it’s bad—

CSR is great in and of itself—but because businesses need

to look at operations, at monetising their impact, and to

look at sustainability through a business lens rather than a

philanthropy lens.

Change lies in visionary leadership. To sustain your

business you need to look at things differently. You need

to change the way you operate, whatever your business or

industry. It’s not simple and straightforward. There is no

band-aid solution. You need to think about those policies

that were put in place anywhere from five to 30 years ago

and make changes.

We need to look long-term. Businesses are trained

to report short-term results, and anything to do with

sustainability is long-term. Take the simple investment in

water filtration systems or biodigesters for restaurants—it’s

expensive initially, but you will reduce waste significantly.

Change is coming. I wouldn’t be in this if I didn’t believe

change was imminent. Regulation is being put in place,

institutional investors are holding companies accountable,

and the younger generation is becoming more and more

conscious as consumers and as emerging business leaders.

You don’t know if you don’t ask. That’s the best advice

I have been given. At Shangri-La, banning shark fin was

a preposterous idea at the time but if I hadn’t asked, we

wouldn’t have had that conversation and made that change.

As an entrepreneur I had to ask if there was a market for

assisting companies to get started in sustainability, and

people said they needed help. An entrepreneur finds the

problem and tries to solve it, and challenging people to think

and do things differently is key to driving future success.

Generation T is Asia Tatler’s platform for the

WORDS: RACHEL DUFFELL; PHOTOGRAPHY: JOCELYN TAM leaders of tomorrow. generationt.asia

Introducing the game-changing young talent

on Asia Tatler’s Gen.T List. This month—the

founder and director of The Purpose Business,

Pat Dwyer, who is driving a more responsible

corporate world

PATRICIA

DWYER