Helen Duce

Executive Consultant

Helen is based in Singapore and represents Symmetra in South East Asia. She brings a unique and powerful combination of diversity of thought, skills and experience to the Symmetra team and our diversity & inclusion work.

With over 25 years of solid business consulting experience she understands the key value drivers for business and is able to diagnose and solve complex organisational Challenges. Having lived and worked in USA, Europe and Asia she has experienced first hand cultural Challenges in diverse workplaces and how to overcome these. Notably with over 8 years of experience working in Asia she has developed a deep understanding of the local nuances of this region and how to deliver programs that work across such a diverse and dispersed region.

Helen Duce is regarded as an expert in D&l and is a frequently a keynote speaker and panelist on gender diversity in the workplace. Through her consulting practice she delivers a wide range of diversity and inclusion solutions. Her current projects include acting as the Executive Director for the INSEAD Gender Initiative where she is responsible for developing and implementing a school wide strategy; She is also the founder and leader of Lean In Singapore, an organization spearheaded by Sheryl Sandberg to encourage women to pursue their career ambitions through peer—to—peer support. The Singapore Chapter has over 3000 members and frequently holds events on subjects such as unconscious bias and mentorship matters. Helen is also an Adjunct Professor at CUHK (Chinese University of Hong Kong) where she teaches MBA classes.

Helen has a background in strategy, marketing and sustainable business. She started her career with Unilever, where she spent 12 years, before co—founding and running a successful global marketing consultancy that was sold to WPP in 2014. She has worked with C—level clients at multinational businesses like Unilever, GSK, Mastercard and Fonterra; NGOs such as HarvestPlus, Omidyar Network and Food Industry Asia; and academic institutes, including INSEAD and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Helen has a First Class Honours degree in Marketing & Psychology from Lancaster University and an executive MBA from INSEAD.