AAPI Month Boardroom Insights — Interview with Sonita Lontoh

For Asian American and Pacific Islanders Month, we’re sharing highlights from interviews with accomplished AAPI leaders making an impact in the boardroom and the world.  

Here, we're honored to introduce Sonita Lontoh and how she turned her expertise in digital transformation into thought leadership opportunities that helped her land her first board role.

Sonita Lontoh is an independent board director at SunRun and True Blue, Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN; NYSE: TBI) serving on Audit, Compensation, Nominating & Governance, and Innovation & Technology Committees. She is a global, award-winning C-suite executive (HP, SIEMENS, PG&E) who advises companies and governments on digital transformation, disruptive technologies, and the 4th Industrial Revolution. 

Over her 25-year diverse leadership career in high-growth businesses at Fortune 100 companies with total revenues of ~$200B: HP Inc. (formerly Hewlett-Packard, NYSE: HPQ), Siemens (DAX: SIEGY) and PG&E (NYSE: PCG); and venture-backed Silicon Valley startups, she has led and advised on innovative, customer-centric programs that have contributed to multibillion-dollar revenues, double-digit growth and the creation of multibillion-dollar benefits to global enterprise businesses, end-consumers, and society. 

  Here are a few highlights from her interview with theBoardlist.

1. Please share your perspective on the process of landing your first corporate board.

At the time, I was already somewhat of a known thought leader in the application of innovation and new technology to enable digital transformation, with articles published by the respected publications such as the World Economic Forum, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and others and speaking engagements at White House, MIT, and the Economist events. 

One day, out of the blue, I got contacted by one of the major recruiting firms for a potential board position with a large publicly-traded company. They informed me that they thought my background in technology digital transformation might be a fit as this company was undergoing a transformation and would appreciate a perspective from someone who understood the challenges and opportunities of transformation.

At the time, the timing wasn’t right for me so I didn’t pursue that opportunity. Then a few years later, I again got contacted by one of the major recruiting firms for a potential board position with Sunrun, the largest residential solar-and-battery-as-a-service company in the US and listed on the Nasdaq. With Sunrun, I felt there was a good fit and I believed my insight and foresight on innovation, technology, energy transition, and customer experience could provide additional perspectives to the company as it embarked on its next phase of growth journey. Sunrun was my first public corporate board. 

2. What is important to you about a board?

 For me personally, it’s very important to join a board where I believe I could make a contribution, where there’s a good fit culturally with the current board, and where the company’s mission and values were aligned with my own values. 

3. What was helpful in landing your first corporate board role?

I took a proactive approach in educating myself on a board’s roles and responsibilities through organizations such as the NACD and WCD board certification programs. Moreover, I had exposure to the boards of the companies where I served as an executive and understood the roles of corporate boards as fiduciaries who provided governance, oversight, and advice, and not to manage. 

Last but not least, as ESG becomes more and more important in the boardrooms, my understanding of how technology, innovation and transformation can contribute positively to climate change, sustainability, human capital management, and digital equity add additional perspectives to the boardrooms.

4. What is the onboarding experience like when joining a board?

Every company has its own onboarding process. My own onboarding experience has been very positive as I’ve had the opportunities to engage directly with board members, management and even had a chance to meet with customers and the broader employee base to really understand the companies’ businesses, stakeholders, and its unique sets of challenges and opportunities. 

5. Can you share with us how any of your boards pivoted to address the global Covid-19 pandemic?

I joined both boards during the global Covid19 pandemic so the companies were already navigating the challenges and opportunities on how to operate optimally during a pandemic to ensure that they served all stakeholders well. Moreover, as the future of work evolves, boards will need to ensure that management is taking a proactive approach in navigating the new era of work including a hybrid workforce, human capital management, DEI, talent and culture.

6. Have you experienced other external disruptions while serving on a board, such as a CEO resignation/replacement or activist investor agitation? Can you share at a high level how the board responded and were there any specific learnings you can offer?

During any time of transition in a company’s journey, it’s important for boards to closely monitor progress, have open and honest dialogues, and collaborate with management to ensure that the transition is smooth and the good culture that has brought the company to where it is today continues.

7. How, if at all, did the board's existing demographic status affect your perception of the board opportunity? How might that perception have changed over time?

Personally, it was important for me to join a board who is committed to a true diverse and inclusive environment, at all levels of the company, including the board. The board’s commitment to diversity and inclusion positively impacted my decision to join. 

8. At a high level, would you be open to sharing any details around compensation as a board director? What should aspiring board members expect?‍

The boards that I serve on are public companies boards with transparent board compensation standards that are published on our annual proxy reports.  

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Looking for your next board role, or want more information on the board search process?

‍Join theBoardlist today to get your board search process started.

And if you want to connect with Sonita—an expert in digital transformation, and a well-known thought leader on innovation—click here for her theBoardlist profile.

Thank you to Ascend Pinnacle for your partnership on this AAPI series - if you want to learn more about Ascend Pinnacle's platform to support and increase the number of Asian-Americans on U.S. Corporate Boards - you can find there here.

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