BCBusiness Magazine has announced that Dr. Carol Liao—the Distinguished Scholar of the Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics at the UBC Sauder School of Business, and Associate Professor at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law—has won the 2022 BCBusiness Women of the Year Award in the category of Equity and Inclusion Champion.
Through her long and successful journey as an academic and legal professional, Dr. Liao has worked to shine a light on the need for sustainable business strategies and actions that address climate change, as well as the vital need for anti-racist organizations and increased intersectional diversity in boardrooms.
“We need to be cognizant of our colonial and gendered histories and the norms that are saturated in our organizational cultures which undermine women, particularly BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) women, and other historically marginalized groups from reaching meaningful positions of power in business and society,” remarked Dr. Liao, who is also a director of the Pacific Canada Heritage Centre—Museum of Migration Society. “The status quo must be disrupted, and structural change is needed— in what we value, who we listen to, and how we conduct business under this climate emergency.”
Dr. Liao notes that change must extend beyond the boardroom, into the C-Suite and all levels of our organizations, to amplify underrepresented voices. “Important social movements such as Truth and Reconciliation, Black Lives Matter, and Stop Asian Hate seek to combat ignorance and offer organizations an opportunity to embrace change as a business fundamental, and explore how they can transform their organizational cultures into equitable places for everyone to thrive.”
She notes that anti-racist organizations do not happen overnight – “It takes dedication, humility, and hard work, but we all have responsibilities amidst the intersecting social and environmental crises that we face.”
“The Dhillon Centre has befitted enormously from Carol’s leadership and expertise," said Christie Stephenson, Executive Director, Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics. "It’s been a real honour for the Centre to have someone of her calibre as the Centre’s Distinguished Scholar.”
The BCBusiness Women of the Year Awards, now in its third annual iteration, recognizes outstanding female entrepreneurs or executives of an organization in the categories of leadership (corporate, entrepreneurial, non-profit), innovation, community building, change-making, rising star or champion of equity and inclusion.
Read more in BCBusiness Magazine’s profile of Dr. Liao here.
