Women to Watch 2021: Maria Yolanda Crisanto, Globe Telecom

Maria Yolanda Crisanto 

Chief sustainability officer and SVP for corporate communications
Globe Telecom
Philippines

Maria Yolanda Crisanto is a perfect embodiment of someone passionate about driving positive, lasting change not just for her business but also for the wider community.

Her impact at Globe Telecom since she joined in 2009 is substantial—first as SVP of corporate communications and in 2016, with the additional role as chief sustainability officer. Through many years of endless efforts, Crisanto has established Globe Telecom’s company vision to create a ‘Globe of Good’. According to her colleagues, her sole mission is “to make things right for the consumer”. 

Under this mission, she has led some of Globe’s purpose-led campaigns such as its #PlayItRight anti-piracy campaign and its #1stWorldInternetPH efforts to encourage the government to speed up the development of internet infrastructure in the country—both of which have scooped awards. Providing better connectivity has been an enduring challenge for telecom providers in the Philippines. Initiated by Crisanto, Globe Telecom CEO Ernest Cu was invited to join a nationally televised briefing together with President Rodrigo Duterte. Just 46 days after the meeting, the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act was signed into law, speeding up massive and ambitious network upgrades to push ahead the connectivity of the whole country during the pandemic in 2020. 

In order to fulfil its mission to be change-maker, internally, Crisanto and her team have streamlined the company’s hierarchical structure, creating a more collaborative environment that has been key to keeping purpose at the core of all its work.

As chief sustainability officer, Crisanto has established the company’s sustainability and communications council. She publishes the company’s annual Integrated Report covering economic, environmental, social and governance initiatives, and has helped the telco win numerous honours from the ARC International Awards in 2017 and 2018 to the shortlist at the Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards in 2020.

Not only did she develop the company’s sustainability policies and handbook, she also rallied Globe to support #RaceToZero, a global campaign spearheaded by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and COP26 Presidency and backed by the GSMA, the global mobile industry body. Crisanto also paved the way for Globe Telecom to sign UNGC’s Statement Renewed Global Compact Cooperation in September 2020. As a more recent effort, she led the company’s support to the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure as part of its commitment to mitigating the impact of climate change, together with over 1,800 companies across 78 countries.