Unique Contributions - Series 2

Episode 10:
The future of air travel
with jeremy bowen

A sea change is occurring within the air travel industry. From last minute bookings to reduced business travel and new efficiencies aligned to sustainability targets, new travel patterns are emerging. Which of these will remain permanent beyond the pandemic and how will the industry rebuild better? In this 10^th and final episode of Season 2, YS Chi speaks with Jeremy Bowen, CEO of Cirium, who shares his thoughts and insights on how this resilient air travel industry can come back stronger, greener and more efficient.

Episode 9:
CULTURE AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
with RASHELLE CEJO

How do you build a workplace culture and why does it matter? In this episode, YS Chi speaks with Rashelle Cejo, vice president of human resources for LexisNexis Asia and RELX shared service centre in the Philippines. The centre, known as REPH, is one of the fastest growing business facilities by headcount with over 4,000 employees in Manilla. As the very first hire for REPH in 2010, Shelle has first-hand experience of the growth story of the centre. She shares her insights on the initiatives that have contributed to REPH receiving a number of global recognition awards for best employer brand and reflects on creating a sense of purpose, giving back to the community and the future of work.

Episode 8:
Feeding the world
with Graeme Mccracken

Farmers and growers are at the forefront of what is perhaps the world’s biggest challenge. How do you sustainably feed a growing world population expected to reach 9.6bn by 2050 while available arable land is reducing and environmental constraints are increasing? How can we help the farmers and growers who put food on our plates? In this episode, YS Chi speaks with Graeme McCracken, managing director of Proagrica, a provider of connectivity and data-driven support solutions for the agriculture and animal health industries.

Graeme believes the challenge is surmountable. He shares his insights into the vast amount of data that can be found in every element, from the individual seed type in the ground to soil types and yield. Combining these different data sets provides meaningful insights that can significantly help growers, farmers and the entire supply chain improve productivity, profitability and transparency, while also increasing sustainability. Here is a deep dive into the future of agriculture, from seed to field to fork.

Episode 7:
connecting purpose and profit
with MArcia Balisciano

In this episode, YS Chi speaks with Márcia Balisciano, global head of corporate responsibility at RELX. Márcia joined RELX 18 years ago to establish a ‘global community programme’ which the then CEO thought would be a two-year gig. At the time, terms like ‘ESG’ (Environmental, Social and Governance) or ‘CR’ (Corporate Responsibility) hadn’t yet made it into the global conversation. 18 years later, RELX scores consistently at the top of ESG rankings. 

Márcia talks about the journey that has made this possible and explains what it means in practice to be a business that sees no trade-off between profitability and responsibility. We hear about her pioneering bottom-up approach to corporate responsibility, how RELX articulated its ‘Unique Contributions’, and about the free RELX SDG Resource Centre. But the work is never done and Márcia is now focused on the next challenge: meeting stringent carbon reduction targets.

You can learn more about our approach to corporate responsibility here.

Episode 6:
Fostering inclusive travel experiences
with simon mayle

In this episode, YS Chi speaks with Simon Mayle, event director of the International Luxury Travel Market events in the Americas and PROUD Experiences. Born in a family of pioneer travel experts, Simon dedicated his professional life to creating better travel experiences for the discerning LGBTQ+ and luxury travel communities.

Through his personal and professional stories, we hear about the latest travel trends and why we have a yearning for travel. Simon tells us about his work to support inclusion and diversity in the travel market and shares his insights on inclusive experiences that speak to every segment of society regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, etc – elements that are sometimes still missing in travel experiences.

As an ambassador of the LGBTQ+ community, Simon reminds us that although a third of centennials identify as LGBTQ+, acceptance levels are still too low in some popular tourist destinations. He calls for governments to place more importance on the travel industry and the 160m people it employs worldwide.

You can learn more about how Covid-19 is changing the event industry in this story here.

Episode 5:
artificial intelligence and the future of law
with Min Chen

Gender balance in the world of Artificial Intelligence is work in progress. But female role models do exist. In this episode, YS Chi speaks with one of them. Min Chen is a computer scientist leading a team of around 250 technologists and software engineers focused on applying machine learning, natural language processing and other advanced technologies in the legal industry.

Min was one of the few female students who studied computer science in Shanghai in the 90s, and the only one from her class to pursue a career in the industry. She tells us where she found the inspiration to ‘stick with it’ and overcome adversity. She talks about the profound technological transformation taking place in the legal industry and gives us a flavour of how technology is changing the way lawyers work. Here are the reflections of a female technologist rocking the fascinating world of AI and deep learning.   

Min Chen is chief technology officer of LexisNexis Legal & Professional, part of RELX, for Asia Pacific and Global Search.

You can learn more about LexisNexis' tech hubs in this story here.

Episode 4:
the future of events
with brian brittain

In this episode, YS Chi speaks with Brian Brittain, chief operating officer of Reed Exhibitions. In a normal year, the organisation runs over 400 events across all continents. During the pandemic, it has had to navigate numerous show cancellations and moving event dates. But sometimes crisis creates opportunities. We hear from Brian how the company has accelerated the digitisation of products that augment face-to-face events. We learn about hybrid events, customer communities and online product showcases.  An American living in the UK, with Brittain as a surname, Brian gives us a flavour of the future of events.

You can learn more about how Covid-19 is changing the event industry in this story here.

Episode 3:
reflections of a reluctant leader
with john pham

In this episode, YS Chi speaks with John Pham, the editor in chief of Cell, one of the world’s leading scientific journals. He is just the fourth person to lead the journal in its 47-year history.

Here is the remarkable story of the youngest son of Vietnamese immigrants who, until recently, never imagined himself as leader, let alone as the editor in chief of Cell. In this episode, John discusses many of the big issues in scientific publishing, from diversity, equality and trust in science to research integrity, transparency in data, and open access. He reflects on the importance of the work that he and his colleagues do and how it feels to have an example of that work recognised by Dr. Anthony Fauci during a congressional hearing in 2020. He also shares his thoughts on where he hopes to take Cell in the future. These are the reflections of a reluctant leader who had a calling for science and for doing "good things to help people".

You can read more about Cell here.

Episode 2:
inclusion & diversity
with kumsal bayazit

How do you build trust? How do you meaningfully advance inclusion and diversity? In this episode, YS Chi speaks with Kumsal Bayazit, the first female CEO in Elsevier’s 140-year history, about her learnings and insights into building trust and creating an inclusive mindset. Kumsal tells us how her upbringing in Istanbul shaped her commitment to inclusion and diversity and what Elsevier is doing to support researchers and health professionals who play such a critical role in advancing societal progress. 

You can read more about Elsevier's progress here and how it creates a sense of purpose here.

Episode 1:
Race, racism and social justice
with Femi Richards

To mark the launch of our second series of Unique Contributions, our host, YS Chi, speaks with one of the most influential Black executives in corporate America, Femi Richards, about race, racism and social justice.

Femi has a courageous conversation about his personal and family experience of racism and what it means to be black in America today. As the co-founder and ex-president of the DC Chapter of the African Ancestry Network at RELX, he shares his thoughts on the efforts that are required to reaffirm the inherent values of Black lives and all lives. He calls for everyone to join the conversation.

Femi Richards is vice president of compliance assessment and programmes at RELX.

You can read more about standing up against racism and discrimination at RELX here.