About

Responsible for all legal matters for Kimberly-Clark Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and its Asia Pacific shared services organisation, Sonia Ong received high praise from nominating sources on the back of her ‘proven capabilities’ in her role despite only being at the company for a relatively short time. Her scope extends to serving as the Asia Pacific lead counsel for the company’s regional privacy initiatives and a number of regional procurement projects, including a recent initiative to produce simplified and standardised procurement contract templates across 13 countries in Asia Pacific, which involved crafting leaner, more business-friendly contracts in English and local languages. The lead role she has taken on these projects clearly highlights the esteem in which her abilities are held by colleagues. Ong has also played a major role towards progressive social change both at Kimberly-Clark and in the wider Southeast Asian legal community: ‘Given my passion for community building, contributing towards social change at the workplace was equally important when I began an in-house career, beyond formal legal responsibilities’. Ong led HPE’s women’s network (MyWomen Connect), Kimberly-Clark’s employee engagement arm (K-C Cares) and now serves as the president of the Malaysian chapter of K-C’s Women’s Interactive Network. Ong says serving in these capacities fulfils a higher purpose and a genuine desire to be a change agent in society. She is a regular fixture at panel events and other speaking engagements focused on diversity initiatives, and looks set to expand her involvement in this space in the future.