Converge ICT Solutions cofounder and president Grace Uy is listed in Forbes Asia‘s Power Businesswomen 2021, which recognizes 20 prominent women leaders in the region.

Forbes Asia said those named in this year’s list were selected “for their achievements in managing either a business with sizable revenues or a startup valued at over $100 million.”

Uy, a certified public accountant, cofounded Converge in 2007 with her husband Dennis Anthony Uy, the company’s chief executive officer.

She is the only Filipino on the Forbes Asia list.

In 2019, Forbes Asia noted, Uy led the negotiations for $250-million funding from global investment giant Warburg Pincus.

In less than a year, Converge debuted on the local stock market and joined the 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index aside from two global equities indices.

Converge also proved to be a strong contender in the fiber market, as it continued to maintain its growth momentum amid the pandemic. From January to June 2021, Converge’s net income jumped by 158% to P3.25 billion, almost reaching its full-year profits in 2020.

“I have always lived with the principle that to be successful, you need to put in everything you’ve got and always work to do it better,” said Uy in an email to Forbes Asia.

“And we still believe that we have just started,” she added.

Aside from Uy, other businesswomen named in the Forbes Asia list are:

• Indonesia’s Marina Budiman, cofounder and president commissioner of the country’s largest data center operator DCI Indonesia
• China’s Cao Xiaochun, president of Hangzhou Tigermed Consulting, a large provider of research and clinical trial services
• Japan’s Keiko Erikawa, executive chair of video game and anime holding company Koei Tecmo
• India’s Meena Ganesh, cofounder of Portea Medical, the country’s largest home healthcare company by revenue
• Japan’s Eiko Hashiba, founder and CEO of “professional knowledge sharing platform” VisasQ
• Australia’s Jo Horgan, founder and co-CEO of Mecca Brands, the country’s largest cosmetic retailer by sales
• Singapore’s Judy Hsu, CEO for consumer, private, and business banking of Standard Chartered Bank
• South Korea’s Kim Seon-hee, CEO of Maeil Dairies, the country’s largest dairy company by market capitalization
• Hong Kong’s Teresa Ko, China chair of international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• Japan’s Takayo Kotani, president of robot maker Yushin Precision Equipment
• South Korea’s Lee In-kyung, the first female partner in the country’s largest private equity company MBK Partners
• Hong Kong’s Janice Lee, CEO of video streaming platform Viu
• Taiwan’s Winnie Lee, cofounder and chief operating officer of unicorn firm Appier
• India’s Farah Malik Bhanji, managing director of Metro Brands, the country’s fourth largest footwear retailer by revenues
• Singapore’s Ng Gim Choo, founder of private school operator EtonHouse
• Thailand’s Wallapa Traisorat, president and CEO of real estate firm Asset World Corporation, which inked new hotel deals despite the pandemic
• Malaysia’s Nadiah Wan, group CEO and executive director of TMC Life Sciences as well as CEO of Thomson Hospital Kota Damansara
• Indonesia’s Tessa Wijaya, COO of payments startup Xendit
• Singapore’s Helen Wong, the first woman to lead the 89-year-old Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation

“Businesswomen across the Asia Pacific region continue to break barriers and, in many cases, expand their businesses despite the lingering pandemic,” said Rana Wehbe Watson, editor of the Power Businesswomen 2021 list.

“They are leading the way as the world struggles with the post-COVID reality.” – Rappler.com