Sandy Chong

Dr Sandy Chong grew up in Singapore before coming to Australia in the mid-90s to study at Curtin University. She completed a Bachelor of Management and Marketing in two years, before going on to study an Honours degree in Marketing and a PhD in Information Systems (2003). Her thesis explored the behaviours and factors that influenced the adoption of digital commerce in SMEs in Australia and Singapore.

Sandy was inspired to study in Australia because of its reputation for offering high-quality education and a global perspective. She wanted to study at Curtin specifically because it was well-known for its programs in technology. She said “my supervisors were from all over the world: my PhD supervisor was an Austrian from Vienna, others were Australian, Dutch, Swiss, Finnish and Singaporean. It was a very international environment.” She remembers her first impression of Australia as being “very vast…I was elated that my lungs could breathe.”

After a stint in academia, Sandy moved back to Singapore and worked with Singapore’s international trade and development agency, International Enterprise Singapore. These days she is primarily focused on Verity Consulting, which she founded in 2005 and which has grown to be an award-winning consultancy specialising in international strategy and strategic communication. “I gave myself nine months [to make it a success] and cracked it in three…we now have clients who have been with us for 10 years.” She said it was nerve wracking but she didn’t want to give up, as she could see the impact of working with industry to help companies become more responsible and sustainable.

Sandy eventually returned to Perth, and became more active in leadership roles. Among many other roles, she was the first Asian to be appointed to the WA Indigenous Tourism Council in 2018, and President of the WA Division of the United Nations Association of Australia from 2019 – 2022. Sandy founded the Sustainable Development Goals Business Forum in 2018. She says activism on human rights and gender equality is really important “but we won’t get change unless the public and private sectors are involved.” The Forum continues to be very successful, with partners including KPMG, Woodside, the West Coast Eagles and BHP.

As Chairperson of the ASEAN Business Alliance, Sandy represents seven business councils from Southeast Asia, and enjoys finding opportunities to promote trade and investment but also to highlight the richness of Southeast Asian culture.

“If we are smart enough to get into programs, we are surely smart enough to lead organisations.”

She’s also passionate about First Nations access: the Alliance is looking at how to provide market access to First Nations people, and Sandy works with the Nyoongar Chamber of Commerce to engage First Nations people in ESG. “What am I driven by? Dealing with ‘evil problems’ – climate issues, poverty, polarities.”

Sandy’s advice for those starting out in the industry: “Learn how to network. Collaboration with people not of the same background and try to work with people who are not in your realm or network of professional expertise