International publication Forbes Asia has listed Converge ICT Solutions Inc. President and Co-Founder Maria Grace Y. Uy as one of its Power Businesswomen in the Asia-Pacific region for 2021, the only Filipina in the 20 outstanding female business leaders recognized this year.
According to Forbes Asia, all the businesswomen cited this year are newcomers to the list, further expanding its network of prominent businesswomen in the region. “They have been selected for their achievements in managing either a business with sizable revenues or a startup valued at over US$100 million,” it said.
Forbes Asia noted that Uy was included to the list for her role in growing Converge into a leading fixed internet service provider in the country.
“Another notable listee is Converge ICT Solutions co-founder and president Maria Grace Y. Uy, who helped grow her company into one of the largest fixed broadband operators in the Philippines. Converge went public in late 2020 in one of the country’s largest-ever IPOs, raising $ 522 million. Its shares have since risen over 70%, pushing the company’s market capitalization to $4.6 billion,” said Forbes Asia in its press statement announcing the exclusive power women list.
Ms. Uy, together with husband Dennis Anthony Uy, has led the fiber broadband operator through successive wins in 2021: the nationwide domestic backbone’s completion, early inclusion in the Philippines’ stock barometer and other global stock indices, and key partnerships and acquisitions to harden both its domestic and international network, among others.
Forbes Asia noted that all of the women leader listees “have marked new milestones—and in many cases expanded their businesses—despite the lingering pandemic.” It added that these women, in their 30s to their 70s from around the Asia-Pacific region, demonstrated that gender and age should not stand in the way of success.
A top 16th placer in the licensure exams for certified public accountants, Ms. Uy is an accomplished leader with more than 20 years of people and financial management experience.
After university, Ms. Uy worked in IBM Philippines doing accounting and financial planning roles. She was briefly assigned in IBM Asean which is based in Singapore. Then she had to return to become the Accounting Manager in IBM Philippines.
When she got married to Mr. Dennis Uy in 1998, she had to relocate to Pampanga which is located north of Manila. She helped the family business by becoming the VP Finance for the group of companies, including ACCTN (cable tv business), Savers Group (mall, department store and appliance business) and ComClark (system integration, distribution of Sun microsystems, Ruckus and Maipu products, and internet services).
As of July 2021, the company’s fiber backbone has already reached over 80,500 kilometers, making its fiber optic cable network one of the most extensive in the country.
The network of Converge has already passed more than 8.3 million homes, or 32.5% of total households, with subscriber count at 1.4 million in the first half of the year. This keeps the company on track to meeting its goal of covering 55% of Filipino homes with world-class fiber connectivity by 2025.
To see the full list of Forbes Asia’s 2021 Power Businesswomen in the Asia-Pacific region, read the full story at https://cnvrge.co/ForbesPowerBusinesswomen.
