Association leaders must move beyond activity-driven management and focus instead on purpose, governance and measurable impact if they want to remain relevant in an increasingly complex operating environment.
Delivering her keynote address at the recent Association Day 2026 – held at Sunway Resort Hotel and organised by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) – Maimunah Mohd Sharif, property advisor at Petronas and who was also the former executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), challenged associations to rethink how they define success and value.
Maimunah opined that many associations fail not because they are inactive, but because they become consumed with activities without clearly understanding their purpose or impact.
She shared: “They are busy but unclear. They run programmes but cannot explain their impact,” adding that many organisations focus heavily on statistics and event numbers without properly measuring outcomes.
She stressed that associations must constantly ask themselves why they exist and what unique role they play within their industries and communities.
She also emphasised the importance of governance, transparency and accountability in maintaining credibility and member confidence.
“Trust once weakened, takes sustained leadership and credible governance to rebuild,” she remarked.
Drawing from her experience leading UN-Habitat between 2018 and 2024, Maimunah recounted how she inherited an organisation facing an US$8 million deficit, governance challenges and declining trust among member states.
She revealed that 797 projects within the organisation lacked financial closure when she first assumed office.
“Do you think that the member states will continue funding the organisation if 797 projects have no financial closure?” she said.
Maimunah further explained that restoring confidence required difficult decisions, tighter financial controls, stronger reporting discipline and greater transparency with stakeholders. By the time she left the organisation, UN-Habitat had reportedly moved from an US$8 million deficit to a US$6 million surplus.
She also introduced what she described as the “4W1H test” for sustainable associations. This is questioning why the association exists, whom it serves, what value it delivers, when it leads, and how decisions and finances are governed.
The keynote reflected the wider objectives of MyCEB Association Day 2026, which brought together association leaders, policymakers and business events stakeholders to discuss governance, leadership and collaboration within Malaysia’s association ecosystem. This year’s conference theme was Governing with Purpose. Leading with Impact.
In his opening remarks, secretary-general of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Shaharuddin Abu Sohot, described associations as strategic partners that drive knowledge exchange, industry excellence and global connectivity.
He also noted that Malaysia’s business events industry continues to play an important role in supporting economic growth and international positioning, with MyCEB having secured 3,575 international business events that generated RM26.8 billion (US$6.8 billion) in economic impact since it was established in 2009.
