WIMAR SG Member Spotlight Cynthia Lim

Authors: Troy Mcnamara and Cynthia Lim

Founded in 2013, WIMARSG is a mining community that provides networking, mentoring and professional development opportunities to both men and women alike in Singapore's mining and resource industry. Together, we progress through the volatile status quo with inspiring and passionate leaders who come together to become advocates for change.?

With new leaders stepping up on 20th April, let’s welcome our incoming Board members and give them our fullest support in bringing their visions for WIMAR SG to life. Today, let’s meet our recently appointed President - Cynthia Lim.

For this article, we asked Cynthia about her motivations and vision for WIMAR Singapore.?

Troy Mcnamara:

What motivated you to take on your respective roles?

Cynthia Lim:?

It’s an absolute privilege to serve the WIMAR community as the President and work alongside an amazing team of volunteers who are united by their passion for diversity, equity and inclusion. I’ve benefitted a lot professionally and personally from WIMAR’s thoughtful range of programmes for members since its beginning in 2013. To be able to give back to the WIMAR community means a lot to me.

I’m passionate about making a positive and meaningful impact in people’s lives, hence WIMAR’s mission to connect, inspire and empower people in the commodity sector really resonates with me. For a large part of my life, I struggled to find my voice being an introvert. It was through leading South32’s I&D panel a few years ago and advocating for DEI that enabled me to find my real voice. It was a liberating experience. I then started to think a lot deeper about how powerful it can be to build a more inclusive environment where people can find and express their own voice and identity.

Troy Mcnamara:

What have you enjoyed/valued most about your time with WIMAR so far?

Cynthia Lim:?

What is unique about WIMAR is that it has something to offer to everyone, no matter which stage of your life or career you are at. It’s not an exaggeration to say that WIMAR has changed my life for the better. When I returned to Singapore from London in 2013, WIMAR was an integral platform for me to broaden my professional network as a senior analyst. I subsequently signed up as a mentee with Robyn Dittrich as my mentor. It was one of my best career decisions. Robyn has a very different style and world view from me, so she was very effective at challenging my thinking constructively.?

I also gained very good advice through the mentoring programme on how to transition from a content expert role to a leadership one, manage difficult stakeholders and negotiate my new salary then! In my most recent WIMAR role as the Board member lead on partnerships, I had the opportunity to connect and collaborate with people from other like-minded organisations such as Women in Agriculture, WIM UK etc. I’m constantly humbled and inspired by the level of commitment people can bring into their volunteer roles to make a difference.

?

For me, fun and friendship is an important part of the WIMAR experience. WIMAR is ultimately about the people – its members, volunteers and partners. There is a lot of hard work involved to make progress, but the journey is fun and energising because of the talented people I get to work with and learn from.

Troy Mcnamara:

What excites you most about WIMAR in the coming 2 years?

Cynthia Lim:?

A lot. WIMAR is turning 10 this year and I’m excited about what the next decade means, not just the next 2 years. We have grown a lot from a four-member organisation to what we have now which is more than 20 corporate members and 50 volunteers. As we increase our footprint, we need to sharpen our identity and focus to ensure that WIMAR stays relevant, inclusive and innovative so that the experience for all our members and volunteers is a good one. We are also looking to push the boundaries to debate what DEI really means in the Singapore context, and how players in the ecosystem – the government, member companies, WIMAR and its partners – can work together to move the dial and work towards a more diverse and inclusive representation in our commodity industry.

Troy Mcnamara:

What are 1 or 2 key achievements you would like to see WIMAR tackle in the coming 2 years?

Cynthia Lim:?

I would love to see us tackle the awareness and perception gap of what the next generation has on the commodity sector in Singapore. They are an underrepresented group in our member companies and also in the WIMAR volunteer base, and it’s so important to improve our outreach to ensure that we have a strong and diverse pipeline for future leadership roles.

?

My team has been working hard to plan and deliver our programme over the next 24 months. One of the big step changes that members will see is the collaboration with our strategic like-minded partners to deliver greater value and content, and at potentially less cost as we will be leveraging on combined resources. We do more with less.

Troy Mcnamara:

What advice do you have for aspiring leaders in the mining industry in Singapore?

Cynthia Lim:?

Have the courage to ask and try something new. You often don’t get what you don’t ask for. I’ve had the privilege to meet and work with so many talented and capable people in the industry over the years. A common theme I observed is that people sometimes pull back even in the face of opportunities due to fear. Our innate fear propels us to assess the risks, but other times it is just a natural human reaction at something new that we have to face and get over. Someone once said to me that a fireman (or woman) doesn’t wait to have confidence to go into a burning house; it takes courage. That really shifted my own mindset from trying to feel confident at a new challenge to just having the courage to go for a new experience and learn from it.

Are you looking to give back? Drop us an email at [email protected] to join one of WIMAR’s active committees.?