Skip to content
Rewatch the event in English
Xem lại sự kiện bằng Tiếng Việt

DAY 1 Tuesday, April 13, 2021, 9:30 – 11:45 pm EDT
Wednesday, April 14, 2021, 8:30 - 10:45 am ICT/GMT+7

PANEL 1

Women in the Fashion Industry: Empowering Women Workers to Actively Engage on Water Innovation

AGENDA

Welcome and Introductions

Michele Dastin-van Rijn

Senior Advisor

Opening Remarks

Marie C. Damour

Consul General,
U.S. Consulate Vietnam

Introduction of panel theme/moderator and reminders

Michele Dastin-van Rijn

Senior Advisor

TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2021, 9:40PM EDT
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021, 8:40AM ICT/GMT+7

PANEL Discussion
Women in the Fashion Industry:
Empowering Women Workers to Actively Engage on Water Innovation

VIEW PANEL SUMMARY

Q&A

MODERATOR

PANELISTS

Mr. Alexis Morgan

Global Water Stewardship Lead, WWF

Mr. Antoine Heuty

CEO
Ulula.com

Ms. Cherry Lin

Manager, HERproject, BSR

Ms. Oanh Nguyen Ngoc Kim

Sustainability & HSE Manager, Sai-tex

Ms. Mai Nguyen Tuyet

Deputy Secretary, VITAS

Panel 2: Welcome and Introductions

Michele Dastin-van Rijn

Senior Advisor

TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2021, 10:45PM EDT
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021, 9:45AM ICT/GMT+7

PANEL DISCUSSION
Building Community and Climate Resilience Through
Women & Water Stewardship

VIEW PANEL SUMMARY

Q&A

MODERATOR

PANELISTS

Ms. Megan McLeod

CEO, Alliance for Water Stewardship, Asia Pacific

Ms. Juok Kim

General Manager, A&E/Elevate

Ms. Anh Hoang Ngoc

General Secretary

Lisa Hook

Senior Manager, Gap Inc. Environmental & Product Sustainability

Ms. Nga Hoang Thanh

WWF-Vietnam

Dr. Rubana Huq

Managing Director Mohammadi Group and former President of BGMEA

(pre-recorded message)

Final Remarks

Ms. Megan McLeod

CEO, Alliance for Water Stewardship, Asia Pacific

Michele Dastin-van Rijn

Senior Advisor,
US Water Partnership

Register Here

PANEL 1

Women in the Fashion Industry: Empowering Women Workers to Actively Engage on Water Innovation

With water scarcity and water quality affecting many textile production clusters, opportunities for businesses to improve profitability via energy savings, water efficiency, and water quality improvements in the apparel sector are smart industry practice. In parallel, women represent a majority of apparel workers and a significant minority of textile workers. The female workforce is an undervalued asset, often seen merely as cheap labor when their hands-on experience and insights can be a key source for process and technology improvements.

Tapping into the ingenuity and innovation on the shop-floor can significantly increase manufacturing efficiencies impacting the bottom line of the companies in which they are employed and reducing the environmental impacts of the surrounding communities. Creating an environment for such engagement can also lead to job security and mobility, enhance health and safety, and open the door for SMEs to offer potential financial and career incentives to women. During this session, companies will discuss efforts to give their workforce a voice on operations (e.g., encouraging a culture of consensus in decision making), incorporate more opportunities for agency, encourage full team inclusion, and provide opportunities for upward mobility that will encourage water sustainability. 

Marie C. Damour

Consul General, U.S. Consulate Vietnam

Marie C. Damour is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, having joined the State Department in 1993, and is assigned to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam as Consul General beginning in August 2019.  She has previously served as Director in the Office of Maritime Southeast Asia in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, as well as in the Office of Policy Coordination and Public Affairs in the Bureau of Consular Affairs.  Previous overseas assignments include Deputy Chief of Mission in Wellington, New Zealand; Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs in Brasilia, Brazil; and Chief of Visa Services at the U.S. Embassy in London.  She has also served domestically as Special Assistant in the Office of the Secretary, as well as Consular Chief overseas in Iraq, Vietnam, and Mauritania.  Ms. Damour is a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia; she speaks French, Portuguese, and Vietnamese.

Alexis Morgan

Global Water Stewardship Lead, WWF

Alexis Morgan leads WWF’s global efforts on water stewardship, and is interim lead for WWF’s work on apparel and textiles. As global water stewardship lead, his role involves supporting teams around the planet on water-related corporate partnerships in apparel & textiles, food & beverage and retailers, including H&M, PVH and Ikea. He helps to oversee the Water Risk Filter (a leading tool allowing users to explore, assess, value and respond to water risk), supports WWF work on markets (including standards & certification), and regularly publishes work on water stewardship, water risk, and the value of water. He has degrees in geography (BA), hydrology (MSc) and business (MBA), and is the past chair of the Board of the Alliance for Water Stewardship.

Antoine Heuty

Founder and CEO of Ulula

Antoine Heuty is the founder and CEO of Ulula (www.ulula.com)- a software and analytics platform to create more transparent and responsible supply chains. Ulula uses to reach workers anonymously and directly in over 130 countries to enable honest feedback and provide alerts and key information to improve labor conditions simple mobile phones. He previously held senior positions at the international Natural Resource Governance Institute and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). He is the co-author of various publications on transparency, mobile technology, natural resource governance and supply chains.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoineheuty/
Twitter: @aheuty

 

Cherry Lin

Manager, HERproject | Guangzhou

Cherry manages the implementation of HERproject, a factory-based initiative focused on improving health and awareness of female workers in South China.

She is responsible for managing the overall implementation of the program, monitoring quality, communicating with brands and factories, and expanding the presence of HERproject throughout the country.  Cherry also works for the Walmart Green Farmer Program, and participates in farm visits during which she communicates with agricultural experts and farms to share best practices for smooth and high-quality farm needs assessments and trainings.

Prior to joining BSR, Cherry worked for Guangdong Overseas Construction Co. Ltd., where she coordinated activities between the Guangzhou headquarters and overseas offices. In this capacity, she developed worker-deployment plans and supported various workers’ trainings.

Cherry holds a B.A. in English Literature from Chongqing University.

Oanh Nguyen

HSE & Sustainability Manager

  • Background: Health Safety and Environment Master Degree
  • Current position: Health Safety Environment and Sustainability Manager at Saitex International Group.
  • Experience: 16 working years with 11 years in Nike Shoes and 05 years in Textile garment industrial.
  • Other: present as speaker of VITAS, WWF & SAC and visiting lecturers in University.

Mai Nguyen Tuyet

Vice Secretary General of Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association (VITAS) cum Head of VITAS HCMC Office.

Working (for textile industry)

@1993 – 2005: Working for Vietnam Cotton Company (VCC) – Department of Science & International Cooperation; .

@ 2005 – 2014: Working for Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union;

* 2005-2008:  Deputy Manager of Textile Female’s Union;

* 2008 – 2014: Vice President of Vietnam Textile and Garment Trade Union;

@ 2014 up to now: Working for Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS)  – Vice Secretary General of Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association (VITAS) cum Head of VITAS HCMC Office.

PANEL 2

Building Community and Climate Resilience Through Women & Water Stewardship

Climate change is arguably the pre-eminent challenge of our time and we are already seeing its impacts in the increase of extreme weather incidents almost all involving water. With textile hubs often located in areas most vulnerable to climate impacts, building climate resilience is critical for businesses and communities alike in these regions. Addressing water resilience helps brands and their suppliers not only avoid the financial impacts caused by water stress and flooding, but also reduces environmental, health and social costs associated with poor water quality, and improves relations with neighbors. Seeing as women are often the community builders, caretakers and the backbone of this sector, and are inordinately impacted by water scarcity and extreme weather incidents, they have the potential to play an even stronger role in the solutions.

Embracing water stewardship is broadly recognized as a key means to mitigate water risks facing enterprises, their essential labor force, their suppliers, and communities. As apparel companies seek to mobilize collective action in the communities and basins in which they operate, women represent a key link. This session will explore how companies can work, not only to ensure women’s voices are incorporated in water stewardship efforts in the community, but also how to support creative ideas coming from women in the community that can foster water resilience and ensure textile hub communities are better prepared for the extreme weather events increasingly facing the sector.

Megan McLeod

Chief Executive, Alliance for Water Stewardship Asia-Pacific

Megan McLeod is Chief Executive of the Alliance for Water Stewardship Asia-Pacific. A hydrogeologist by training, Megan has been involved with water stewardship since before the AWS International Water Stewardship Standard was launched in 2014 and has managed and advised on leading water stewardship projects.

Megan is based in Australia and leads the AWS Asia-Pacific team for the promotion and support of water stewardship across Asia-Pacific.

Juok KIM

General Manager, American & Efird Vietnam Thread LLC, A&E / Elevate Textiles

Juok joined American & Efird (A&E) in 2001 as a Korea Sales Representative.  She was quickly promoted to Korea Branch Manager and was named to her current position, General Manager for Vietnam, in 2015. Juok was responsible for leading A&E’s greenfield project in Nhon Trach, Dong Nai Province, Vietnam, from its groundbreaking to grand opening in 2019 and is responsible today for all aspects of its operation, P&L and the leadership of its more than 200 employees.  In addition, Juok is responsible for leading A&E’s Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos Territories.  Juok is a key member of the company’s leadership and accountable to drive strategic initiatives in the region to best service the Apparel, Footwear, Leather Bag and Furniture factories supporting EU and US buyers.

American & Efird operates as a portfolio company of Elevate Textiles.  Other Elevate portfolio brands include Burlington, Cone Denim, Gütermann and Safety Components.

Ms. Anh Hoang
Ngoc Anh

General Secretary of VITAS

Ms. Anh possesses a good combination of knowledge and vision to scale the work of the VITAS and engage with members and stakeholders to the purpose of driving performance improvements and addressing the industry’s sustainability.

Ms. Anh has worked at the VITAS for 12 years. Prior to her new role of General Secretary, she served as Vice General Secretary cum Director of Trade Policy and International Affairs. She also participate in and represent VITAS’ positions on many regional trade advisory joint committees and especially VITAS sustainability committee.

Lisa Hook

Senior Manager, Gap Inc. Environmental & Product Sustainability

Lisa Hook is a Senior Manager on Gap Inc.’s Environmental & Product Sustainability team, focusing on water resilience. She serves as the Chief of Party for the USAID Gap Inc. Women + Water Alliance. Lisa has a background in international development, environmental policy, and socially responsible investing.

Hoang Thanh Nga

Greening Textile Programme Manager, WWF-Viet Nam

Working experience in sustainable resource management, agri. value chain, textile and garment sector’s social and environmental sustainability. She is dedicated to work for greening business and living, to protect our only home- the mother Earth

Dr. Rubana Huq

Managing Director Mohammadi Group and former President of BGMEA

Dr. Rubana Huq is a businesswoman, and a poet. Whilst she is the first female President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), she is the first occupant of the post who has a PhD. She is also the Managing Director of Mohammadi Group, a family business conglomerate whose journey began exporting readymade garments, and has since diversified into software, digital distribution, real estate, power generation and the group’s latest is the launch of a television channel called Nagorik. She was featured in BBC’s 100 Women. Huq won the SAARC Literary Award for her poems in 2006. Her first book of poems is titled Time of My Life. She is the former CEO of TV Southasia, a collaborative platform of South Asian electronic media based in Kolkata. She also sits on the board of trustees for the Asian University for Women. Dr. Huq holds a PhD in English Literature from Jadavpur University in Kolkata and a M.A. in English from East West University in Dhaka. In earlier years she was educated at Viqarunnisa Noon School and Holy Cross College. Dr. Huq was married to Annisul Huq, the late mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation.