Marilyn Tam

Marilyn Tam's Key Accomplishments Include . . .
Marilyn Tam is a corporate consultant, speaker and the executive director and co-founder of the Us Foundation. Marilyn Tam has had an extraordinarily diverse life, from her beginnings in a traditional Chinese family in Hong Kong to her meteoric rise in the international business world to become an influential corporate leader, speaker, corporate consultant, author and respected humanitarian.

Marilyn Tam's long, distinguished background includes prominent executive roles at numerous of world-class companies, including CEO of Aveda, President of Reebok Apparel & Retail Group and Vice President of Nike. She is also a successful entrepreneur, having developed and built three companies in diverse fields: corporate consulting & training, a web portal company and a web-based supply chain software company. Marilyn Tam is currently co-leading a cutting edge healthcare services and products company, HealthWalk where she is able to serve the world utilizing her business, social, environmental and humanitarian experience.

Marilyn Tam consults and speaks globally with Fortune 500 companies, governments and non-profit organizations on Leadership, Diversity, Change Management and how to Integrate Social & Environmental concerns into Businesses profitably.

Marilyn Tam is a director on the national board of SCORE Association. SCORE is the Resource Partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration and is dedicated to entrepreneurial education and the development, growth and success of small businesses nationwide.

Ms. Tam is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Us Foundation whose mission is to facilitate global action and dialogue on social, economic and environmental issues. Us Foundation is one of the partners for United Nations Habitat-II, and was nominated as a candidate for the "Best Practice Award" from the United Nations' Habitat II.

Marilyn Tam regularly serves as producer and Master of Ceremonies for international business and non-profit events around the world, including as the spokesperson and keynote speaker for Universal Forum of Culture's conference on "The Role of the Corporation in the 21st Century," in Barcelona, Spain, presenting at the United Nations Habitat-II Conference in Torino, Italy, as well as organizing the inaugural Season for Non-Violence Event commemorating M.K. Gandhi and M.L. King in 30 countries.

Whether she is directly improving the lot of workers in her contract factories around the world, consulting with corporations and governments or developing and conducting seminars and lectures to train other entrepreneurs in business leadership programs at several prestigious universities internationally, Marilyn Tam always gives back. She is committed to the belief that humanitarian service is integral to and provides an essential balance and relevance to her work.

More About Marilyn Tam . ..
Marilyn Tam was the Co-Chair of the North American Marketing and Promotions for Universal Forum of Cultures, Barcelona - a global project of UNESCO to gather all societies to create a better planet based on cultural diversity and economic and environmental sustainability.

Marilyn Tam served for five years on the international board of The Reebok Human Rights Awards, along with former President Jimmy Carter; renowned musicians Peter Gabriel, and Sting, Rafer Johnson, Kerry Kennedy Cuomo and Paul Fireman, Chairman of Reebok International Ltd. She was awarded "The Reebok Human Rights Award" for her humanitarian work.

Marilyn Tam's work has included appearances with esteemed colleagues on television and radio, as well as international conferences. One aspect involves developing and presenting for a wide range of audiences in global corporations and non-profit organizations. Among many other venues, she was invited by the Chinese government to appear as a keynote speaker at The Canton Fair, the biggest manufacturing fair in China, attended every year by tens of thousands of global manufacturers and retailers.

Marilyn Tam is an advisor to the country of Bhutan, working with the Ministers and government officials to transition the country into the 21st Century while retaining their cultural and environmental heritage.

In 2004, Marilyn Tam was recognized as one of the "Top 30 Female Entrepreneurs in the USA" by Fempreneur magazine. Jack Canfield detailed her work in his book, The Success Principles. She is featured as one of 50 women in the best selling book, Fearless Women: Midlife Portraits by Alspaugh, Kentz, and Halpin. Daryn Kagan, former CNN anchor, featured Marilyn Tam as one of the "50 people who dared to dream that they can make a difference," in her book, What's Possible.

Marilyn Tam is a lifetime member of "Who's Who" World Wide and is listed in "Who's Who" in American Women. She was honored with the Artemis Award for her business and humanitarian work by the Greek government and the Euro American Women's Council in Athens, Greece in 2006 with her likeness on a Greek postage stamp. In 2007, she was honored with the "Femtor Lifetime Achievement Award" from eWomenNetwork.

• How to Use What You’ve Got to Get What You Want - Leadership and Personal Excellence: How You Can Achieve It

  Whatever qualities you have, no matter how limited or broad that they may be in your own mind, global corporate executive, entrepreneur and humanitarian Marilyn Tam will show you how to use what you've got to achieve your dreams. What seemed to be disadvantages in Marilyn's life were in fact her keys to personal and professional success and freedom.

  As someone who has broken the glass ceiling, she will share the leadership skills and character traits that really work. Starting from where you are now she leads you to assess your own inherent talents and skills and how to utilize them to your benefit. Hear motivational real life stories, determine your life mission, learn the four key Principles, and then apply the action steps to achieve your dreams. She will show you how to maintain Life Balance and personal peace and happiness while achieving professional success.

  You will learn from someone who has actual experience and can show you how to develop your assets and apply them effectively to your life mission. The talk/session(s) are engaging and timely; and the results are immediate and inspiring.

• Diversity: How to Reap the Rich Harvest of Culture, Creativity and Community

  Learning how to benefit from diversity and to be a leader in a more diverse and global world is a challenge and an opportunity. Indeed, embracing and leveraging diversity is the only way to prosper and grow in the 21st century. In Marilyn Tam's interactive style you will hear stories, learn principles, and apply action steps from her global business, humanitarian and consulting experience to become a more successful global leader.

  A key focus is on helping leaders and employees understand how to adapt and grow their leadership styles to foster a multicultural workplace and attract and engage employees from across the cultural spectrum. How to benefit from the cornucopia of diverse cultures, knowledge and traditions to further the wellbeing of the organization and its standing in the market and community can also be covered. 

  Learn from someone who has actually "walked the walk". Marilyn shows you how to develop your assets and to maximize them to effectively advance your mission. She discusses the four principles that helped propel her to lead several Fortune 500 companies, despite her challenging and unlikely background as a second daughter in a traditional Chinese family from Hong Kong. If she can do it, so can anyone who applies her principles and action steps to achieve greater success and happiness for themselves, their companies and communities.

• Women in the Workplace and Marketplace

  In today's highly competitive and interconnected world, women are invaluable to any enterprise. Women have specific strengths that are critical in today's global economy and environment. Yet there are cultural biases in both men and women, and many structural obstacles that may hinder a woman's progress in attaining her highest potential. This is a loss, for the company, as much as it is for the women who fail to fully contribute because of this.

  Marilyn will discuss and share from her personal experience as a corporate leader, woman, business consultant and humanitarian, the development of personal awareness, interpersonal skills, strategy development, decision-making and other key factors in how to be successful as a woman in business and how to support the development of women in business.

  Much have been made of glass ceilings, Marilyn will also discuss glass walls, which are oftentimes even more confining and hindering of one's career advancement than glass ceilings. She will share on how to move through them so that each person can excel. Humor, interactive communication, networking, coaching, feedback and reflection are the common threads throughout.

  The outcome is to increase each person's ability and comfort in making a more significant impact in the organization and community through immediate application of a wider range of leadership knowledge and skills. Additional benefits include increased employee and company satisfaction, productivity and reduced turnover.

• Life Balance: How to Juggle Work, Home, Personal and Spiritual Health

  The conflicting expectations and conditioning that people, especially women, have been bombarded with makes them vulnerable to feeling unsatisfied, second rate and confused. The current poor economic times, incessant marketing message of “you can have it all” and the hyper-speed of change is hitting people so hard that they are oftentimes reduced to feeling despair in being able to attain any semblance of a balanced life – and even more critically, economic sustainability.

  The inner questioning of whether one can ever climb out of the hole of wanting and trying to gain some measure of financial stability, health, fulfilling relationships, inner peace, joy and a meaning for life is pervasive, however conscious or subconscious. This hunger and fear is driving the collective unconsciousness. “Life Balance: How to Juggle Work, Home, Personal and Spiritual Health” is packed with motivation, encouragement, and practical resources for a happier more satisfying life.

  Marilyn shares from her own experience as well as from the numerous experts whom she has worked and collaborated with in her career and life. The talk/session(s) are filled with stories and practical examples of both success and failures that lead to the development of Life Balance.

  You will be inspired, relieved and also learn practical actionable principles and tools to be able prioritize, allocate resources and balance your life demands to greater success, inner peace and happiness.

• Leadership Excellence: How You Can Achieve It

  To be a successful Leader in the 21st Century takes new skills and awareness. Fresh managerial tools and talents are needed to deal with today's global business and the tighter and more visible connections between all aspects of the development, production and consumption cycle. Marilyn shares the secrets she learned from her international business and humanitarian experience - how to be the more effective and productive in business and life while creating collaborative and lasting relationships.

  She will discuss how to define your mission and the principles and actions steps to ensure a cohesive, productive and energized team. Strategy and outlook into how to plan and lead in today's tumultuous and interconnected business environment will be covered. Marilyn will help you review your personal leadership style and how to enhance it to increase effective communication and maximum sustainable profitable growth and development of your organization.

  With real life and practical stories to illustrate the points, you will soak up the information and be able to apply them to greater business success and personal satisfaction.

• The Role of Business in the 21st Century

  The 21st Century is a wired and interconnected world, which has modified the roles and responsibilities of business. Business is no longer, if it ever was, only focused on the sole pursuit of the current Profit & Loss statement. It is now an integral and dynamic part of the global community, economy, environment and culture. For business to thrive in these circumstances, clarification of the mission and principles of the organization is needed.

  Companies, non-profit organizations, sovereign nations and cultures are converging. Businesses are becoming networks with far-reaching influence. How do we ensure a healthy bottom line for everyone? What is our future? Marilyn shares four defining principles for maintaining integrity in business and in life; principles that have helped her improve profitability and working conditions for many companies across the world.

  Marilyn shares the insights and success secrets she's gained from her global business and humanitarian work to guide you and your company on your path to prospering in this new environment. With real life stories of wins and mistakes told with humor and lessons learned, you will take away key principles and action steps to better navigate in today's fast changing world.

• Global Business Today: The Opportunities and Challenges

  Business today is global. The development, production and consumption chain stretches from wherever and however "local" the company is to all points of the globe. To excel in this marketplace means that each person and each company have to understand and be proactive about the opportunities and challenges that come with globalization.

  Marilyn shares from her global business and humanitarian experience in 120 countries about the benefits, ethics and pitfalls that come with working in a complexity of cultures, traditions, geography and time zones. The increasing interrelationships between developers, suppliers, marketers, buyers and sellers mean that every business and organization need to operate with a much more expanded perspective of their market to be able to thrive today.

  Learn from someone who has successfully managed companies and organizations in a wide variety of cultures and environments. Marilyn share insights and principles learned from practical experience. You and your organization will grow and prosper from her wisdom.