As Mother’s Day approaches, we are shining a spotlight on the incredible women who drive innovation in the manufacturing sector.
Meet Gwendolin Mah, the Head of International Programs at MedTech Actuator and a dedicated mom of two. With a background that spans from media production to the high-stakes world of health-innovation acceleration, Gwendolin brings a unique perspective to leadership. In celebration of Mother’s Day, she opens up to us about the “mom guilt” many professionals face, the support systems that keep her going, and why she believes the future of manufacturing needs more female leadership.
• Career journey: I took a sabbatical to care for my first daughter and give birth to my second. While I was interviewing to re-enter the workforce, an acquaintance mentioned a role that perfectly matched my skill set. After several interviews, I fell in love with the team and the mission of MedTech Actuator, ultimately choosing it over another offer.
• Perspective: Being a mother makes you wonder what kind of world you want your children to live in. It teaches you to be more empathetic and forgiving toward others who may not share your views or experiences; you begin to treat others the way you’d want your own children to be treated.
• The struggle: I think many moms feel this: even when others see us giving 100% to both our career and our family, we often feel like we’re falling short. When I’m at an after-work event, I feel guilty for not being home; when my children are sick and I take leave, I feel bad for not being at work.
• The “Mom” moment: During an internal meeting, I accidentally shared my entire desktop instead of just a window. As I zoomed out, the team got a glimpse of my WhatsApp—which featured a photo of my daughter’s (very watery) stools from a medical update I had just received! It definitely taught me to be very careful about which window I select for screen sharing.
• Support system: In Singapore, I’m fortunate to have both sets of grandparents taking turns with the kids, which allows for the occasional dinner date with my husband. My husband is also very hands-on, which gives me the chance to sneak off for the occasional much-needed break.
• Values for her daughters: There are so many things I want to teach them, but the most important is to be kind and empathetic to others—while never forgetting to be kind to, and protect, yourself.
• Vision for the industry: Generally, I hope to see more women rising into leadership positions. Currently, there is a disproportionately low ratio of women in leadership within manufacturing and MedTech compared to the overall number of women working in these industries.
• Work culture: Our company operates on a high level of trust. Because they don’t scrutinize our time, we don’t “count hours” in return. It’s a healthy give-and-take; they give me autonomy, so I don’t mind attending events or working outside standard hours when needed. It works beautifully both ways.
Meet Clara Kwan, Chief Sustainability Officer and devoted single mother of two. From her beginnings as a finance and marketing lawyer to her current role in sustainability, her work has also influenced her children. Clara shares how her work has become a way to connect with her children, while their support and understanding further strengthen her passion and commitment to making a difference.
• Q1. One specific household habit your family has changed because of your work
One habit that has clearly shifted at home is how much we connect our everyday choices to the bigger picture I work on. Because of the conversations we have about climate and waste, my children are very tuned in to “small” decisions: they’ll suggest walking instead of driving for nearby trips, remind me to avoid unnecessary packaging at the supermarket and ask whether something really needs to be thrown away or if there is another way to handle it.
That mindset shows up in what we do together. At home, we set aside newspapers, cardboard boxes and suitable recyclables, and when there is enough, we sort and bring them down to the blue bins as a family. We also volunteer together – joining beach clean ups, supporting donation drives and taking part in sustainability themed events so my children see that caring for the environment and for people is something we do with our hands, not just something we talk about.
Even our holidays and staycations reflect these choices. We tend to gravitate towards nature and conservation areas, like Bako National Park in Sarawak, the Chocolate Hills and tarsier sanctuaries in Bohol, and the orangutans at Semenggoh Wildlife Centre. Our recent staycation was at The Bus Collective in Changi Village, where decommissioned public buses have been turned into hotel rooms – a very tangible example of giving something a second life instead of sending it to landfill. Those experiences have become part of our family “habit”: choosing options that remind us what we are trying to protect and what responsible use of resources can look like in real life.
• Q2. A moment your children challenged or surprised you on sustainability, and the big picture questions they ask
One question from my son has stayed with me for years: “If solar panels are meant to be green, what happens to them at the end of their life? Do they just become waste somewhere else?” I had spent a long time working in solar and talking about clean energy but his question pushed me to think more deeply about what happens across the entire lifecycle, including end of life and waste, not just the parts that are easy to celebrate.
My children also connect global headlines to our daily lives in very direct ways. When they hear about conflicts and tensions, such as the recent Iran–US situation and its impact on supply chains, they ask whether that means things will run short and what families should do. Living in Singapore, as they watch the sun set at the beach, they ask what rising sea levels mean for a small island, and what happens if our landfill runs out of space. Their questions are simple but sharp: “So what does this mean for us?” and “What should we do now?”
I don’t have perfect answers and I say that openly. What I try to do is be honest about the challenges and then bring it back to what is within our control: how we live, how we reduce waste, how we support others and how seriously we take our responsibilities. Their questions keep me grounded in the reality that my work is ultimately about their future, not just about policies or reports.
• Q3. What you hope they’ll remember about how you spent your career
My children know that I started out as a capital markets and finance lawyer, and that I chose to move into sustainability later on. I loved my time in law – it gave me a strong foundation in how companies are structured, how they raise capital and how decisions get made. As sustainability became more central to both business and daily life, I felt a strong pull to bring those skills into a space where I could help companies think about their environmental impact more seriously and more practically.
What I hope they remember is that I tried to use what I’m good at to serve a larger purpose. They’ve seen me pivot into a new area, take on different kinds of projects and work closely with companies to improve the way they use energy, manage resources and plan for climate and ESG risks. Through my work with SMF’s Chief Sustainability Officer as a Service (CSOaaS) programme and regional collaborations under the Asia Pacific Green Alliance, they’ve seen that a lot of “impact” happens behind the scenes – helping companies measure, set targets and take one honest step at a time.
If they remember anything, I hope it is this: that their mother believed every bit counts and that she was willing to work hard, learn and adapt in order to make a real difference to the organisations she advised. I hope it gives them the courage to choose work that they find meaningful and to give their best to it.
· Q4. Information on your role as a convenor, and how motherhood influences your career/leadership
As a convenor, my role is to bring different players around the table – technical experts, solution providers, ecosystem partners, business leaders, government agencies and industry associations and help them work together on environmental sustainability in a structured way. Some of these involves contributing to guidance that will eventually support companies in areas like energy use, emissions, resource efficiency and waste etc. A large part of my work is also advisory and implementation through our CSOaaS model: helping companies understand where they are today, what is realistically possible and how to take the next step without being paralysed by the scale of the problem.
This is demanding work because there are always competing priorities – cost, time, regulations, customer expectations and the easiest option is often to do the bare minimum. My legal background helps me navigate that complexity. I am used to working with detailed information, listening to different viewpoints, and asking practical “what happens next?” questions. Those skills help me guide companies through trade offs, avoid purely cosmetic solutions and focus on changes that genuinely reduce impact over time.
Motherhood influences how I approach all of this. When we talk about 2030 or 2050 targets, I automatically think about how old my son and daughter will be then, and what kind of world they will be living and working in. That doesn’t make me more important than anyone else at the table but it does make me more patient and persistent. It reminds me that behind every guideline, programme and corporate decision are real families whose lives will be shaped by these choices.
One of the reasons I stay in this work is the people. Along the way I’ve met many sincere, grounded, like minded people who care deeply about doing the right thing, even when it is slow, thankless and unglamorous. Working with them, and letting my children see that community, gives me hope that we are not trying to change things alone.
