Malaysian social entrepreneur Harsha Ravindran, 23, returned to the Women of the Future Awards 2025 Southeast Asia, not as a nominee but as the presenter of the Social Entrepreneur Award, a category she herself won in 2024. The ceremony was held at Voco Hotel Singapore, highlighting the growing impact of her youth-led organisations, Ascendance and Expop across the region.
“Entrepreneurship and chasing your dreams can sometimes be a little lonely… but the Women of the Future community has truly embodied what active, genuine support looks like. When you reach out, they reach back out to support you,” said Harsha.
Her global platform, Expop has supporter more than 50,000 Gen Zs in building purpose-driven social enterprises, reflecting Malaysia’s rising presence in youth-led social innovation. Harsha welcomed and congratulated this year’s nominees while emphasising how these nominees had shown that business can be a force for good.
Malaysia celebrated multiple achievements at the awards. Natalie Loi, Head of Technology at UnBound Malaysia & Australia, won the Science, Technology & Digital category. As Co-Founder of UnBound Malaysia, an award-winning Augmented Reality education platform impacting over 150,000 students across ASEAN, Australia, and beyond, Natalie has been instrumental in driving cross-border innovation in digital learning.
Other Malaysian finalists included:
Ramyaahshiiny Rajentheran – CEO of ET Boost and publicist for Ascendance and Expop (Media & Communications)
Eda Poh Yee Ng – Executive Quantity Surveyor, Asia Infrastructure Solutions Singapore Pte Ltd (ESG & Sustainability)
Hsu Syuen Ng – Patient Journey Partner, Roche (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd (Professions)
Joey Kee – Founder & Clinical Psychologist, Early Minds by Ripple Community (Social Entrepreneur)
Nor Farah Ain Abdullah – National Athlete, National Sports Council of Malaysia (Sport)
The awards, now in their 8th edition are supported by headline sponsor NTT Data and official sponsors including Asia Square, Lendlease, Roche, Saïd Business School (University of Oxford), Salesforce, Standard Chartered, and Worldpay. Programme partners include the Financial Times, L’Occitane, and Voco.
The Women of the Future Awards Southeast Asia continues to recognize and connect exceptional young women, celebrating their achievements while inspiring the next generation of leaders.
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