WOTC Asia 2025: A day of inspiration, encouragement and learning to break the mould

Held at the JW Marriott in Singapore, the Women of the Channel Asia leadership summit explored several themes throughout the day.

“What were the scripts you were handed?” Uma Thana Balasingam asked as she opened the inaugural Women of the Channel (WOTC) Asia leadership summit in Singapore.

In her opening keynote to the attendees of WOTC Asia, former VMware channel VP spoke to attendees about how they should break the mould and “dare to disappoint”.

Balasingam explained the scripts that many women handed throughout various facets of their lives should be tossed away and instead, they should embrace disappointing others.

“Disappointing others is preventing from disappointing yourself,” Balasingam shared.

Balasingam told the audience how she has disappointed several groups of people in her life from her parents, to friends an even co-workers to be more authentic and true to herself.

In a day of inspiration, encouragement and honest storytelling, leaders from Dell Technologies, AWS and IBM also shared their experiences and wisdom from their time in leadership.

Namrata Kapur, director, ecosystem marketing & communications, APAC at IBM told audiences how they can find their personal brand and lead with it.

Cyndi Lum, global smart cities senior consultant at Dell Technologies and Chapter Leader, Singapore Women in Action took audiences through the art of the possible and how the Women in Action mentorship program has evolved over the past six years.

Mahin Sonia, head of partner solution architecture, APJ, at Amazon Web Services (AWS) explained how we can break the glass ceiling at our work.

The themes of advocacy, sustainability, brand building and mentorship were threaded throughout the day’s topics and keynotes.

The day ended with Suguna Madhavan, founder and director, at Firesong Initiatives and global advisor who shared her story and how she has thrived through the trials that she has faced.

Madhavan used the analogy of sunshower, the phenomenon of rain happening on a clear sunny day. That our “sunshower” moments should be embraced and seen from a different perspective.

She encouraged attendees to release what we can’t control and said it isn’t about giving up be accepting what you can’t change.

The Women of the Channel Asia was held at JW Marriott in Singapore on September 25.