Women in disaster risk reduction
Next-generation business leader Jessica Sy joined regional policymakers and development leaders at the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s Women’s International Network for Disaster Risk Reduction (WIN DRR) Excellence Awards in Bangkok on Nov. 25.
SM Prime Holdings, where Sy serves as vice president for design, innovation and strategy, has supported the WIN DRR program since 2021 through a partnership with the Australian government.
The initiative highlights women across the Asia-Pacific region working to lower disaster risk and strengthen community preparedness amid more frequent climate-related events. Indonesia’s Nashin Mahtani, who heads the Disaster Map Foundation (Yayasan Peta Bencana), received the Rising Star Award for expanding real-time risk-mapping systems used by millions across Southeast Asia.
Kiribati’s Takena Redfern, acting director of the country’s Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Division, won the Excellence Award for leading work on the nation’s “Early Warnings for All” road map.
Sy said the honorees demonstrate how timely data, early warning systems and community-focused solutions can reduce disaster impacts and build long-term resilience.
“It’s an initiative we deeply believe in,” she said.
