From the age of fifteen, I was already volunteering at nursing homes, disaster relief fundraisers, and environmental awareness campaigns. It all began with my mother, who introduced me to community service and quietly demonstrated what it meant to give without expecting anything in return. What started as following her example soon became a conviction of my own.

As I became more involved, I noticed the gap between what grassroots efforts could achieve and the scale of the challenges they were trying to solve. I started asking myself a different question: what would it look like to contribute not only through service, but by helping to build better systems?

That question took on new meaning in 2017 when I served as a youth representative to the United Nations through the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation. Listening to global leaders discuss climate resilience, poverty, and sustainable development transformed my perspective. I realised that the issues I cared about were deeply interconnected, and creating meaningful, lasting change required understanding them at a systems level. That experience did not simply inspire me. It shaped the direction of my career.

This conviction led me to pursue a Master's in Sustainable Development Management at the Jeffrey Sachs Centre on Sustainable Development, Sunway Business School in 2021. The programme became the bridge I had been searching for, connecting scientific understanding with strategic action and turning good intentions into practical, implementable solutions. It deepened my understanding of how environmental, economic, and social systems interact while strengthening my ability to think critically about solutions that create meaningful impact.

Equally valuable was the programme's flexibility. I was working full-time while studying, and Sunway made it possible to balance both commitments. I could immediately apply what I learned in the classroom to my professional work while bringing real workplace challenges back into my studies. This constant exchange made the learning experience richer and the degree far more valuable than a qualification alone.

That foundation proved invaluable when I joined the U.S. Green Building Council California as a Green Building Corps Fellow, where I quickly gained confidence navigating California's sustainability landscape. I later joined The Energy Coalition as a Project Coordinator and, within just over a year, was promoted to Project Manager. Today, I oversee energy efficiency, clean energy, and resilience projects for the Inland Regional Energy Network. In a full-circle moment, I also support the organisation's engagement with the United Nations, drawing on experiences that began years earlier as a young volunteer sitting in those same meeting rooms.

My journey has never been linear. Between completing my undergraduate degree in Life Sciences and stepping into the clean energy sector, I spent several years with Tzu Chi USA managing humanitarian aid programmes in Sierra Leone and representing the organisation at more than twenty international events, including the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) and the Commission on the Status of Women.

Transitioning into the clean energy sector required deliberate effort. I earned my LEED Green Associate credential, completed the Google Project Management Certificate, and actively sought opportunities to strengthen my technical expertise. Today, I continue giving back as the Program Manager for Women and Climate, coordinating a global network of more than 90 climate project leaders, while also serving as Deputy Director of the Talent Cultivation Department at Tzu Chi USA, supporting the next generation of emerging leaders.

The thread connecting every stage of my journey is the same lesson I learned from my mother: developing people is just as important as developing solutions.

Looking back, every milestone can be traced to what Sunway University gave me. Beyond technical knowledge, the programme equipped me with systems thinking, stakeholder engagement skills, and the ability to translate complex challenges into practical action.

Perhaps most importantly, Sunway shaped me personally. I completed the entire programme online from the United States, often studying after long workdays and throughout weekends, driven by passion rather than obligation. Despite never sharing a physical classroom, our cohort built genuine friendships and professional connections that continue to this day.

Over the years, we unexpectedly reunited at organisations such as UNESCAP, the United Nations in New York, and international conferences around the world. People I had only known through a computer screen became colleagues, collaborators, and friends, each contributing in different ways to the global sustainability movement.

That fifteen-year-old volunteer who once accompanied her mother to community service activities could never have imagined one day managing international sustainability projects and contributing to meaningful carbon reduction initiatives. Looking back now, I realise every experience was connected, every opportunity built on the one before it, and every person I met became part of a journey that continues to inspire me today.

Edited by
Dr Arumugam Muthusamy
Sunway Business School
Email: @email