Elaine J Cheung

Elaine is a CFO and Non-Executive Board Director with global experience across diverse industries including healthcare, consumer goods, food tech, aquaculture, and supply chain management. Her leadership skills have driven transformative change in various organizational landscapes, from complex MNCs to family businesses, and start-ups.

She has crafted a distinguished career with executive and non-executive board experience dedicated to fostering purpose-led, financially sustainable, and outcome-focused businesses. Currently, Elaine manages a portfolio career encompassing board and advisory roles.

Elaine is INED and Chair of the Audit Committee for Novotech Health, majority-owned by TPG Capital. She provided invaluable guidance for a first-time CFO, to establish a robust financial framework, implement efficient systems, and assemble a high-performing team. She served as INED and Audit Committee Chair at Pacific Legend Group (HK:8547), listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In this role, she mediated conflicts between co-founders, facilitating a harmonious and seamless exit strategy.

As a Board Trustee and Treasurer of WWF International and a member of the Independent Oversight Committee at the UN World Food Programme (2020 Nobel Peace Laureate), she gained global perspectives and contributed to elevating the controls environment, risk maturity, and transparency for impact reporting. Notably, she spearheaded the seamless succession and transition of two pivotal leadership positions at WWF, orchestrating a transformative shift towards an indigenous-led conservation strategy.

As Global CFO for Dole Food & Beverage Group, Elaine played a pivotal role in filling a leadership gap post-CEO exit, orchestrating a successful turnaround, regaining category leadership in US markets, and revitalizing the new product development pipeline, resulting in four successful product launches.

At Temasek, Elaine operationalized an ambitious vision for a sustainable foods platform into reality by deploying $150M in capital to support various facets of the food-tech ecosystem. Her strategic acumen and leadership were crucial in developing the platform’s strategy, cultivating partnerships, and investing in start-ups, an innovation center, and scale-up initiatives.

Elaine played a pivotal role in the supply chain transformation for VF’s portfolio of brands including North Face, Vans, Timberland, Wrangler, etc. Her efforts not only resulted in an industry shift towards responsible sourcing but also yielded annual incremental savings of US$50 million.

At Zuellig Pharma, she designed a resilient working capital framework, and she led M&A activities that facilitated impressive revenue growth from $2 billion to $8 billion in less than a decade.

Her dedication to continuous professional development is underscored by her certifications from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and a post-graduate diploma from the Financial Times Non-Executive Director program.