Mary Ann Tsao is currently the Chairwoman of the Tsao Family Office and a fourth generation steward of a group of companies that started in shipping and led to the formation of the IMC Group. She is also a member of the FBN Asia board, joining her brother, Frederick Chavalit, in establishing the regional, non-profit association of family businesses committed to business practices that serve as a model of sustainability. Mary Ann played an instrumental role in building FBNA, especially the Singapore community. Aligned to FBNI’s charter, the Tsao Family and its family office aim to deploy all the family’s assets for the public good through how they invest, operate its businesses and conducts its philanthropy. She is currently also the Vice Chair for the newly established Tsao family foundation.

Mary Ann is also the Chairwoman and Founding Director of the Tsao Ng Yu Shun Foundation, a regional, operational foundation dedicated to advancing the well being of older people and the longevity dividend in an inclusive society. Chartered by her grandmother in 1993, the Foundation is a leader in community-based eldercare and a strong advocate for older people. It aims to address issues of population ageing, promote successful ageing, and enhance wellbeing of older people at policy and practice levels through research, service innovations and being a catalyst for systems change. She has served on numerous boards and committees of governmental and non-profit organisations locally as well as academic institutions. She has also served as technical advisor and resource person for various multilateral agencies, such as WHO Geneva, UNESCAP (UN Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific), as well as on the boards of several international agencies on ageing. She was also the immediate past president of the International Longevity Centre Global Alliance.

Mary Ann has received numerous awards and accolades, including the Public Service Medal, Public Service Star, and Public Service Star (Bar) from the government of Singapore. In September 2022, she was also named by the UN as one of the first 50 Global pioneering leaders in Healthy Ageing who worked to make the world a better place for older people.

Originally from Hong Kong, Mary Ann was educated in the US since age 12, trained as a public health paediatrician in social medicine, and practiced in New York City for many years before relocating to Singapore in 1992 to establish her grandmother’s foundation. She has been deeply involved with philanthropy and family business ever since and is a frequent speaker on family business and family office, philanthropy as well as ageing and longevity both locally and internationally.