Profiles

With almost 20 years in brand development, 15 years in philanthropy and ten years in sustainability, Dr Ming Tan is Head of Stewardship at the COMO Group, overseeing the grantmaking activities of COMO Foundation, as well as new brand development and sustainability for the COMO Group of companies across retail, hospitality, wellness, and food and beverage sectors. The common thread across this broad portfolio is a responsibility to nurture vision and values, which in turn drives strategy, policy and practice.

Dr Tan’s career has focused on fostering cooperation between the public and private sectors for social good. In 2003, she helped establish the COMO Foundation for the COMO Group’s owners, translating vision to purpose by emphasising donor stewardship and measurable outcomes. Over the last 15 years, the COMO Foundation has fostered growth for 53 organisations in 22 countries, impacting over ten million women and girls. The COMO Sustainability team develops suitable strategies for each business within the COMO Group, and provides support in destination stewardship, sustainable operations and citizenship.

Dr Tan is a director of hospitality management company COMO Hotels and Resorts and organic retail company Supernature. She also serves on the boards of St Joseph’s Institution International and Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Singapore’s national performing arts centre. She was a founding member of the Emerging Markets Standards Advisory Council for the development of the Global Impact Investment Ratings System, a rating methodology to assess the environmental and social impact of social enterprises and impact investment funds.

Dr Tan was educated in Singapore, the United States, and England. She obtained her bachelors and masters degrees from Stanford University and her doctorate from Oxford.