Turn the ESG Talent Gap into a Career Opportunity! | Serena Mak

In this episode, Serena Mak, Executive Director of Sustainability Finance at DBS Bank, sheds light on the ESG talent gap she is seeing and the opportunities that gap presents to professionals.
Through our conversation, we speak about her own path from compliance to ESG, the crucial skills and mindsets see sees as needed, and what professionals can do as they seek to take advantage of this time and shift into ESG.
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Timestamps:
00:15 - Welcome to the Sustainability Ambassador Podcast
00:37 - Introduction
01:06 - Early Career and Move into ESG
02:38 - Compliance & ESG Career Development
04:15 - ESG Skills Gap
06:25 - ESG Leadership Gap
07:45 - ESG Mindset & Knowledge Gap
09:35 - ESG Professional Ecosystem
10:20 - Opportunities for ESG/ Sustainability as a Career
11:35 - Knowledge & Skills Needed for Shift into ESG
13:30 - Key Skills to Success
15:25 - Advice to Young Professionals
About Serena
Serena Mak is currently Executive Director, Sustainable Finance, Institutional Banking Group at DBS Hong Kong. She provides strategic direction and guidance on sustainable finance transactions while also fostering a culture of sustainability within the bank.
Prior to joining DBS, Serena was the Head of ESG Funding Asia for Home Credit, where she successfully contributed to the group’s sustainability-linked financing in Asia. She also held several positions at Goldman Sachs in Singapore and Hong Kong, with a focus on liquidity management across the APAC region.
Serena holds a Master of Science degree in Financial Analysis as well as a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Global Business & Management of Organizations from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She is a Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA), CPA (Australia), and FRM.
Serena also serves as Board Governor and Honorary Secretary at Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong) and is on the examiner team for the Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA) program by the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (EFFAS).
Follow Serena
LinkedIn: / serena-mak-070a5199
Twitter:
About Collective Responsibility
Based in Shanghai, Collective Responsibility is a strategic advisory firm founded by Richard Brubaker, one of Asia’s most recognized authorities on sustainability, innovation and responsible leadership.
Founded with the fundamental belief that a sustainable world can only be achieved through awareness of issues, finding tangibility in business cases, and development of cross-sector collaboration, Collective Responsibility acts as a knowledge base, catalyst, and facilitator between stakeholders.
Our mission is to:
- Create a knowledge base and catalyze discussion of issues related to the development of civil society, business sustainability and social development in Asia.
- Develop tangible interests, engagement, and action on issues of sustainability (economic, environmental and societal).
- Develop organizational capacity with the aim to help create stable and profitable enterprises.
Follow Us:
Website: www.coresponsibility.com
Facebook: / collectivere. .
LinkedIn: / coll. .
Twitter: / beyondbau
WeChat: www.coresponsibility.com/wechat/
Contact Us:
[e-mail]

[@searatali]

Insightful and timely video. Looking forward to engaging with more content. Keep it up!