About the Board
The AWARE Board comprises nine members that are elected by the members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The term for each member is two years and elections are held at the end of the term. Office bearers shall not hold the same office for more than two consecutive terms. Where there is a change of President, the Immediate Past President serves on the Board in an ex-officio capacity for an additional year.
Every board undergoes a board orientation process to introduce them to the role and responsibilities of the Board and each board member, and familiarise them with AWARE’s strategic plan and current work.
The Board conducts a self-evaluation of its own performance during its two-year term. The roles and responsibilities of the Board can be found here.
Process
The Board Recruitment Committee is responsible for identifying potential candidates for election to the Board with the goal of ensuring that current and future Boards have the talent, diversity of expertise, skills and personal attributes needed to steward the organisation. The Board works closely with the staff to identify suitable candidates for the Board and to provide them with suitable volunteer opportunities to expose them to AWARE’s work. The Board Recruitment Committee works closely with the Board to identify specific needs of the Board for the particular term and to ensure that there is a diversity of skills and personal attributes.
A few months before the AGM, AWARE will issue a notice to invite expression of interest to join the Board. Members are invited to nominate candidates for the Board about six weeks before the AGM. Only members who have a minimum of two years membership with AWARE and who fulfil the criteria set out in the Constitution can stand for election.
The AGM is alerted to any instance where a member wishes to serve on the Board for more than 10 consecutive years. Justifications must be made to the AGM and disclosed in the Annual Report where a Board member is retained for more than 10 consecutive years.
The President, Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer seats are voted in on separate ballots. The candidates for Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer are required to have relevant accounting qualifications and/or demonstrated financial expertise. AWARE’s elections are generally well-contested.
Our Board
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President: Aarathi Arumugam
Aarathi Arumugam
Aarathi Arumugam is an accountant and an entrepreneur. She has honed her skills in business, team management, and organisational strategy through her career trajectory, which has included corporations, start-ups, non-profits and raising a family. Since becoming a member in 2009, Aarathi has volunteered with AWARE as a trainer, educating and raising awareness about workplace sexual harassment and comprehensive sexuality education and as a Board member. Aarathi currently serves as
COO for EveryChild.SG.
Appointment date: 25 Apr 2026 -
Treasurer: Surabhi Agarwal Kapur
Surabhi Agarwal Kapur
Surabhi Agarwal is a purpose-driven enterprise leader with 25 years of experience across payments, financial services, and consumer goods. As Digital Consumer Solutions Product Head for Asia at Mastercard, she leads the company's flagship debit and prepaid portfolios across 20 markets, consistently delivering above-market growth through customer-centric innovation, ecosystem partnerships, and strategic transformation.
Prior to Mastercard, Surabhi spent 16 years at Citibank, holding progressive leadership roles across India, Asia Pacific, and EMEA. As Regional Head of Premium Credit Cards, she led end-to-end strategy and innovation across 17 markets, delivering exceptional portfolio growth and earning the #1 NPS ranking in both regions. Her tenure at Citi was defined by a relentless focus on customer experience, disruptive product innovation, and building high-performing teams in complex, competitive markets.
Known as much for how she leads as for what she delivers, Surabhi builds teams rooted in trust, empathy, and shared purpose, and is consistently recognized for outstanding people leadership and for developing talent that goes on to lead. Her commitment to inclusive leadership extends beyond her teams: she has mentored emerging female leaders for over a decade through Singapore Women in Tech, ASEAN Women in Payments, and the NUS Women's Professional Development Program, and serves as Strategic Advisor to AWARE Singapore. Internally, she leads Mastercard's Women's Leadership Network and Lean In Circles in Singapore. She was nominated for the Mastercard Global Executive Leadership Program (2022), placing among the top 30
leaders globally.
Appointment date: 25 Apr 2026 -
Assistant Treasurer: Adora Tay
Adora Tay
Adora Tay is a senior real estate professional with over a decade of experience in Singapore’s residential property market. She currently holds a leadership role, where she oversees team development, client advisory, and large-scale project sales. Raised in a single-parent household, Adora was a primary caregiver to her mother from a young age.
This experience shaped her strong sense of empathy and commitment to supporting women facing structural and personal challenges. As a mother, she remains closely engaged with issues affecting women today.
Adora has volunteered with AWARE across multiple events and is committed to contributing thoughtfully to its mission. -
Board Member: Tan Ijin
Tan Ijin
Ijin Tan has been a volunteer with AWARE’s SACC legal clinic since its early days in 2017. In her professional life, Ijin was called to the Singapore Bar as an advocate and solicitor in 2007. She was a litigator in the dispute resolution department at leading law firms for eight years, before moving in-house to various MNCs focusing on compliance-related matters including data privacy, anti-bribery, and internal code of conduct investigations.
She has been actively involved in pro bono work since qualifying as a lawyer. While in practice, she represented clients under the criminal legal aid scheme (CLAS) in court. Even after leaving practice, she continued to volunteer her evenings at the pro bono legal clinic with the Law Society. Her experience working with vulnerable communities sparked a desire in her to help individuals and effect systemic change.
Appointment date: 25 Apr 2026 -
Board Member: Joanne Theseira
Joanne Theseira
Joanne Theseira is a highly regarded business leader in the advertising industry. She is known for her ability to drive sustainable commercial growth and implement rapid transformation in the creative services sector.
She serves as CEO of Publicis Groupe’s creative agencies and Chief Growth Officer for Southeast Asia, focused on driving innovation and strategic growth initiatives to fuel the region’s tremendous potential. Jo has been recognised as an outstanding female leader in the industry. In 2022, she was awarded Campaign’s Women Leading Change Asia Pacific Business Leader Award, and the following year, she was named Southeast Asia’s Agency Head of the Year.
Appointment date: 25 Apr 2026 -
Board Member: Kathy Park
Kathy Park
Kathy Park is a senior business leader with over 20 years of experience across Asia Pacific, including serving as President of CooperVision Asia Pacific and EssilorLuxottica ASEAN & Korea. She has served on the board of AWARE and as Chair of Catalyse Consulting, and is deeply committed to advancing gender equality and fostering inclusive workplaces. She aims to help AWARE grow its impact, empower diverse voices, and create opportunities for people to thrive and lead.
Appointment date: 25 Apr 2026 -
Board Member: Cory Nam Owen
Cory Nam Owen
Dr Cory Owen has been an educator and trainer for over twenty years, focusing on DEI, consent education, identity development, and accessibility. She has published a book on "Advising International Students with Disabilities" and contributed chapters such as "Sexual (Mis)conduct and How Professionals Can Help International Students."
Cory has contributed to AWARE in several capacities, including as a ball table host, transcriptionist, and CEDAW paper contributor, alongside general volunteering, consent education, and equity workshops. Beyond AWARE, she brings relevant governance experience from her work as a Mentor for ProudSpaces through TalentTrust, an Ambassador for the Bone Marrow Donor Programme, and a Trainer for United Women Singapore.
Cory brings strong project execution skills and a knack for rallying people around a shared vision. Administratively efficient and skilled in events management, she has organized everything from small workshops to large dinner and dance events to TEDx productions.
Appointment date: 25 Apr 2026 -
Board Member: Ong Soh Chin
Ong Soh Chin
Ong Soh Chin is an editorial and PR consultant. Previously, she was Southeast Asia PR Director at Netflix, overseeing Publicity and Communications for Southeast Asia. Soh Chin has also served as Deputy Director, External Relations and Strategic Planning at the Institute of Policy Studies, as well as Asia-Pacific Editor and Speechwriter with the global editorial team at Shell.
A veteran journalist and editor who has covered the arts, entertainment, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, politics and current affairs in her career, she worked on different desks at The Straits Times, where she wrote regularly about women’s rights and gender equality. She recently obtained a MSc in Applied Psychology and is now a practising counselling psychologist, a career she intends to pursue in addition to her communications work.
Appointment date: 25 Apr 2026 -
Board Member: Halijah Mohamad
Halijah Mohamad
Halijah Mohamad graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1983 and was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 1984. In 1995, she founded her own law firm specializing in matrimonial law, practicing in both civil and Syariah courts.
She is a past Vice President and current Treasurer of the Singapore Association of Women Lawyers (SAWL), and a member of the Law Society's Muslim Law Practice Committee. She served three terms as Vice President of AWARE (1999, 2000, and 2010–2012), and was a Council Member of the Muslim Financial Planning Association.
She contributed the chapter "Overview of Syariah Law in Family Matters" to Law & Practice of Family Law in Singapore, published by Sweet & Maxwell (2016).
She has made representations to Select Committees on several bills, including amendments to the Administration of Muslim Law Act, the Women's Charter, the Penal Code, and the Maintenance of Parents Bill. In 1999 and 2017, as part of the Muslim Law Practice Committee, she assisted in drafting amendments to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Rules.
She also contributed to NGO Shadow Reports on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), submitted to the United Nations CEDAW Committee in 2007, 2011, and 2017.
Appointment date: 25 Apr 2026
Board Committees
- The Board also sets up Board Committees to oversee specific aspects of AWARE's work. They act as a resource for the management team, and help to ensure that all activities are aligned with AWARE’s vision, mission, strategies and goals.
There are eight Board Committees. Four oversee AWARE’s public-facing activities: Advocacy & Research, CARE, Catalyse and Fundraising. The other four oversee matters related to AWARE’s organisational strength: Audit, HR, Board Recruitment, Leadership & Governance. The Terms of Reference for the Board Committees can be found here.