FEMALE EXCELLENCE REPRESENTED AT CULMINATION OF THE 2025 PROPERTYGURU ASIA REAL ESTATE SUMMIT

BANGKOK, Jan 13, 2026 - (ACN Newswire) - The 2025 PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit (ARES) concluded with a VIP Party at The Athenee Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Bangkok, gathering four leaders who represent the rising influence of women on tomorrow’s cities.

Presented as part of PropertyGuru Week, the ARES Power Women event emceed by Tina Ryan wove together themes of legacy, inclusion, sustainability, and leadership, honouring outstanding female leaders and reflecting on the ARES theme, “Trusted Marketplaces and Thriving Communities.”

The four ARES Power Women 2025 recipients are:

Ambassador Chantale Wong, a trailblazer in international development and public service, is the first openly LGBTQ person of colour to achieve the rank of US Ambassador. She is recognised for expanding the lending capacity of the Asian Development Bank, where she served as US Executive Director. There, she directed crucial funds toward sustainable infrastructure developments that touched millions of lives across the continent. Her career, spanning service under multiple US presidents, is dedicated to visibility and empowerment, exemplified by co-founding the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership that opened pathways in public service.

Marine Novita, the entrepreneurial force behind Indonesia's pioneering proptech platform MilikiRumah.com, is honoured for presenting a challenge to systemic exclusion in Indonesian housing. By harnessing artificial intelligence to power an innovative rent-to-own scheme, Novita and her team are dismantling the barriers of conventional financing. Her mission extends beyond business, making the foundational step of transforming homeownership accessibility to a broader segment of Indonesian society. She embodies a new wave of female-led entrepreneurship that leverages technology to create tangible, equitable pathways to asset ownership and stability.

Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi represented multigenerational excellence and advocacy in Thai hospitality. As executive vice president of The Sukosol Hotels & The Siam, she carries forward the legacy of her mother, 2025 PropertyGuru Thailand Property Awards Life Achievement awardee Kamala Sukosol, while carving her own distinct path. Her leadership extends to her role as honorary president of the Thai Hotels Association, where she has become a voice for the industry at large. The celebration highlighted her specific dedication to elevating the experience and safety of female travellers, ensuring that Thailand's world-renowned hospitality is both memorable and secure for all.

Ar. (Dr.) Serina Hijjas, a leading architect, is honoured as the driving force in Malaysia's sustainable built environment and adoption of national green standards. As principal director of HIJJAS Architects + Planners and president of the Malaysia Green Building Council, her life's work merges aesthetic mastery with ecological imperative. Trained at the legendary firm Foster + Partners in the UK, she brings a global perspective to her mission of sustainable placemaking. Her influence is etched into Malaysia's skyline through structures like Menara Telekom and the Securities Commission Headquarters and her legacy lies in institutionalising green building standards nationwide. In an era defined by climate urgency, her leadership provides impetus for the industry to design with tomorrow in mind.

ARES 2025 was supported by Sybarite Architects, along with partners such as Bridges, BusinessWorld, Detik, D+A Magazine, Hot Magazine, Inquirer Property, Kompas.com, Kopi and Property, Luxury Society of Asia, Manila Bulletin, Niaga Times, Penang Property Talk, Prop2morrow, REm Thailand, SquareRooms, Tatler Asia Homes, TerraBKK, The Grid, The Malaysia Voice, The Philippine Star, and Top10 of Asia.

ABOUT PROPERTYGURU ASIA PROPERTY AWARDS

PropertyGuru’s Asia Property Awards, established in 2005, are the region’s most exclusive and prestigious real estate awards programme. The Asia Property Awards are recognised as the ultimate hallmark of excellence in the Asian property sector. Boasting an independent panel of industry experts and trusted supervisors, the Awards have an unparalleled reputation for being credible, ethical, fair, and transparent. 

In 2025, the Awards series is open to key property markets around the region. The exciting gala events welcome senior industry leaders and top media, as well as reach property agents and consumers via live streaming. Recognising excellence within each Asian market with a variety of categories, including green and sustainable development, each local awards programme will culminate in the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final, which takes place after the PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit during PropertyGuru Week in December 2025. 

For more information, please visit AsiaPropertyAwards.com.

ABOUT PROPERTYGURU GROUP

PropertyGuru is Southeast Asia’s leading1 PropTech company, and the preferred destination for over 32 million property seekers monthly2 to connect with over 50,000 agents3 monthly to find their dream home. PropertyGuru empowers property seekers with more than 2.1 million real estate listings4, in-depth insights, and solutions that enable them to make confident property decisions across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

PropertyGuru.com.sg was launched in Singapore in 2007 and since then, PropertyGuru Group has made the property journey a transparent one for property seekers in Southeast Asia. In the last 18 years, PropertyGuru has grown into a high-growth PropTech company with a robust portfolio including leading property marketplaces and award-winning mobile apps across its markets in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand as well as the region’s biggest and most respected industry recognition platform – PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards, events, and publications across Asia.

For more information, please visit: PropertyGuruGroup.com; PropertyGuru Group on LinkedIn.

(1) Based on SimilarWeb data between July 2024 and December 2024.
(2) Based on Google Analytics data between July 2024 and December 2024.
(3) Based on data between October 2024 and December 2024.
(4) Based on data between July 2024 and December 2024.

PROPERTYGURU CONTACTS:

General Enquiries:
Richard Allan Aquino, Head of Brand & Marketing Services
M: +66 92 954 4154
E: allan@propertyguru.com  

Sales, Nominations, & Sponsorships:
Udomluk Suwan, Sales Director
M: +66 87 699 4433
E: may@propertyguru.com

Media & Partnerships:
Nate Dacua, Senior Manager, Media and Marketing Services
M: +66 92 701 2510
E: nate@propertyguru.com

Piyachanok Raungpaka, Senior Media & Marketing Services Executive
M: +66 94 887 5163
E: piyachanok@propertyguru.com 

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