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On a crisp morning, Ming Long (BEc '92 LLB '94) is walking her two dogs in the winter sunshine while championing gender equality: 鈥淓ssentially, I鈥檓 trying to advocate for change because I believe our country can be so much better than it is today,鈥� she says.

Long, an energetic advocate for diversity in Australian corporations, is the first and until recently, only Asian woman to lead an ASX 100 or 200 company, having become Group Executive, Fund Manager of the $2.5 billion Investa Office Fund in 2014. She remembers clearly how she had to make her own way up the corporate ladder with very few in the way of Asian 鈥� or, indeed, female 鈥� role models.

鈥淚n some respects, the issues of bias around gender apply twice as much for people with an ethnic background,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e need to change our culture and ask how we can promote different people into leadership. We need to change how we see what leadership looks like.鈥�

Ironically, it was the 2007 global financial crisis (GFC) that propelled Long鈥檚 career to the highest executive level.

鈥淭here鈥檚 the glass ceiling, but there鈥檚 also the glass cliff,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where you give the job to a woman because you believe the place is going under anyway.鈥�

Long was handed the reins of the company where she worked just as the GFC had started to devastate the economic landscape 鈥� but things didn鈥檛 play out as expected. Thanks to her leadership, the company emerged strengthened for ongoing prosperity.

Considering the prevailing corporate culture, which prioritises profit above all else, her game plan was unconventional. 鈥淚 knew people in the company who might lose their homes if they lost their jobs,鈥� she says quietly. 鈥淚 made decisions, where I could, to avoid that happening. People were the priority for me.鈥�

Today, with more than 20 years鈥� experience in financial management and real estate, Long has a full work diary, but she still makes time to talk as widely as possible about inclusion. She recalls one talk at a high school, where she rallied her inner geek for the cause.

鈥淚t happened to be May the 4th 鈥� Star Wars Day,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o I was saying, 鈥榃hen you look at the X-Wing fighters in the Star Wars movies, there鈥檚 only ever been one female pilot. And this is what we鈥檙e feeding boys and girls 鈥� that women shouldn鈥檛 be flying planes.鈥欌��

She also told the students about the CEO of Qatar Airlines who earlier this year said that a woman couldn鈥檛 run his airline 鈥渂ecause it is a very challenging position鈥�. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all linked,鈥� Long says simply.

Long is also active on a number of boards: she is the deputy chair of Diversity Council of Australia, a non-executive director of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and a member of the advisory board for Melbourne鈥檚 YBF Ventures Fintech Hub.

She is careful to make sure that any board she joins knows what they will get from her if she signs on. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important that I can still be part of the public conversation around what matters to society. Understandably, not everyone is comfortable with that,鈥� she says. As well, she reserves the right to challenge the status quo, clearly seeing the necessity of speaking truth to power.

Long also serves as chair of AMP Capital Funds Management, whose parent company recently attracted the ire of the financial services royal commission, and she sees some similarities between this role and her breakthrough position all those years ago. 鈥淚n some ways it鈥檚 a bit like how it was during the GFC,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 galvanising the company. There are really good people working very hard to do the right thing and to make sure it doesn鈥檛 happen again.鈥�

As is often the case with people working passionately for change, Long鈥檚 commitment to diversity can be traced back to her own early life. Her family moved from the bustling Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to the small Blue Mountains town of Lithgow, 150 kilometres from Sydney, when she was just nine years old. It was 1980, and Long鈥檚 was the only Asian family at her school. 鈥淲hen we arrived, there wasn鈥檛 even a McDonald鈥檚,鈥� she says with mock outrage.

Her greatest hurdle was school itself. Due to differences between the two countries鈥� education systems, Long had to go straight from Year 2 in Malaysia to Year 4 in Australia. This put her behind the game, and outside the group. 鈥淭o this day, that feeling of being the odd one out has never really left me,鈥� she says.

She did well at high school, becoming dux in Year 12, before studying economics and law at the University of Sydney. Her three siblings, also Sydney alumni, all studied medicine and are now doctors, but a visit to a University of Sydney Open Day when she was 17 convinced Long to pursue a different career.

鈥淚 went to the medical faculty and they had all these bodies there,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淚 could see what dissection was about and, honestly, I just couldn鈥檛 鈥� I went out and I changed all my preferences.鈥�

It was a good move. A highly successful career in financial management and real estate has seen Long recognised as one of the Australian Financial Review鈥檚 100 Women of Influence in 2016, and as a Telstra Business Women鈥檚 Awards finalist in 2014. She has also made her mark as an instigator of Property Male Champions of Change, which works within the property industry to drive gender equality and increase the number of women in leadership roles.

Of many achievements, being the only Asian woman to lead an ASX 100 or 200 company is a title Long was happy to lose (to the new CEO of Macquarie Bank, Shemara Wikramanayake), but she'd like to see faster progress. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I started talking about a 鈥榖amboo ceiling鈥� in Australia,鈥� she says. 鈥淔or many Asians that exist within organisations, we know they are extraordinarily intelligent and have a fabulous work ethic. They have so much to contribute to the success of our country.鈥�

But for too long, she says, climbing the corporate ladder has been akin to gymnastics for people like her. She herself had to bend into all sorts of shapes in an effort to advance her business goals while still conforming to the Asian woman stereotype. A non-conforming Asian woman made people uncomfortable, she explains 鈥� including people who could affect her career advancement.

鈥淎n Asian woman is stereotyped to be meek, good at listening, will do as she鈥檚 told and is a follower, not a leader.鈥�

These days, such career gymnastics are behind her, and Long is now a role model for young men and women who desire careers in corporate Australia. It鈥檚 a role she takes seriously, because for all her achievements, Long has never forgotten that her first real opportunity came about because a family friend recommended her for a job. It was in the accounting firm where she would later discover her love for economics.

鈥淪omeone gave me that first opportunity,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 fabulous at everything 鈥� I didn鈥檛 do that well at university 鈥� but someone helped.鈥�

Written by Lenny Ann Low
Photography by Stefanie Zingsheim