Master in Charity, Arts or Culture
Shalini Mahtani's passion has always been to serve the community - which led her to forego a lucrative banking job and set up a non-profit group with the aim to lead, inspire and support businesses in Hong Kong and the region to have a positive impact on others.
'People work every day. If you treat them well in the world of work, imagine what a difference you can make to the majority of people in your community,' says Mahtani, founder and adviser to the board of Community Business. 'I wanted to make a difference to thought leaders in the private sector.'
Founded in 2004, the group works with companies on issues such as diversity and inclusion, work-life balance and helps with their corporate social responsibility strategies and community investment initiatives. Mahtani and her colleagues produce research and conduct training.
There were many difficulties at the start. 'I was knocking on doors and asking companies to become members. There was almost no baseline understanding of responsible business,' says Mahtani, who succeeded in convincing companies that being responsible makes business sense. Corporations that treat their employees well are able to retain and attract talent, she says, while responsible businesses have better relationships with their broader stakeholders such as customers that are increasingly educated and questioning. 'We help businesses become more profitable and sustainable over time,' she says.
Mahtani recalls that at the beginning almost everyone she met said they didn't have a problem with diversity in the workplace. 'It really used to get on my nerves because I had worked in multinationals and felt discriminated against.'
Instead of trying to make a point that diversity was an issue, she would talk about a subject that the companies felt was a problem, which for many at that time was about community investment. 'If you speak [their] language they will listen to you,' Mahtani says. 'If you do a good job they will come back for more.'