Catriona Paterson

I spent most of my childhood in Scotland. Except for six months when I was eight, when my Dad accepted a short work assignment in Accra, Ghana. That short experience in a land so different to my home created in me a strong desire to change the world. I saw no constraints. After all, my Grandmother and Mum had told me that I could be whomever I wanted to be.

My career has spanned the globe. I have been an environment advisor to construction projects in the Caribbean and development assistance programmes in West, Southern and Central Africa. For the past 14 years I have been living in Asia: India, Hong Kong and now Singapore, advising investors on sustainability issues in remote areas of Nepal, Cambodia and as far as Tonga; interacting with people that have had little contact with the outside world. I have been working with companies in South Asia, South East Asia, and China to bring better environmental and social standards to their businesses.

After twenty-five years of working for large institutions, I set up a company to work with fellow colleagues who are passionate about sustainability, human rights, and gender empowerment. We help companies in Asia to be more sustainable, to provide more and (much, much) better jobs to men and women of all descriptions, and to enable women to contribute their talent to the success of their companies. I came to learn that it needn’t take big gestures. Everyone, through the actions they take, the conversations they have and the time and financial investments they make, can be the change.

When I was told I could be whatever I wanted to be, there was no mention of being constrained by my gender. Yet so many women face real constraints. Lucy helps to overcome some of the barriers to empower women to contribute their talent to the world and I am proud to be part of Lucy’s story.

Artist: Mara Miranda-Escota, from the Philippines