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Episode Description

In this episode, Julia is joined by Melissa Kwee to explore Motherness as a powerful influence on leadership. Melissa, affectionately known as the ‘hugging CEO’, discusses how the nurturing aspects of motherhood—such as empathy, patience, and attentiveness—can be translated into effective leadership practices. She emphasises the significance of food in embodying motherness, highlighting how the act of nourishing others fosters connection and community. This conversation invites us to reflect on integrating maternal qualities into our leadership styles to create more compassionate and inclusive environments.

About the Guests

Melissa Kwee

Melissa Kwee is a prominent social activist and the CEO of Singapore’s National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC). Educated at Harvard College, she graduated magna cum laude in Social Anthropology and received a Fulbright Scholarship to study ethnic-based community leadership in Nepal. Melissa has initiated numerous social initiatives, focusing on empowering young women and marginalised communities in Singapore. She has served as Chair of the Halogen Foundation, President of UN Women Singapore, and co-founded Beautiful People, a mentoring platform for girls. Her dedication to leadership and service has been recognised with awards such as the Singapore Youth Award and the ASEAN Youth Award.

About the Host

Julia Middleton

Julia Middleton is the host of the Women Emerging podcast and a best-selling author of “If that’s leading, I’m in” as well as two previous books: “Leading beyond Authority” and “Cultural Intelligence”. She is deeply committed to helping people from all backgrounds to find their own approach to leading.

In 2020, Julia launched Women Emerging and in 2022 she lead an expedition of 24 women to find ‘an approach to leading that resonates with women’. She now leads expeditions with women all over the world based on 4Es methodology, discovered in the first expedition.

Prior to that, Julia was founder and, for over thirty years, Chief Executive of Common Purpose, which grew to become one of the biggest leadership development organisations in the world.
Julia is also an Ambassador for the Aurora Prize based in Armenia, on the boards of Alfanar Venture Philanthropy in the Arab World and Equality Now, which operates globally, and on the Advisory Councils of Fundacao Dom Cabral in Brazil and Synapse in Pakistan.

Born in London and brought up in New York, Julia was educated at French Lycées and graduated from the London School of Economics. She is married, with five children and lots of grandchildren.