Datuk (Dr) Nora Manaf is the Chairman of Manaf Gardner Associates (MGA) and was recently appointed as an Independent and Non-Executive Director and Board member of MBSB Group. Nora is a qualified Chartered Accountant, Chartered Banker (CIB, Scotland), Master Professional (IHRP, Singapore), Chartered Fellow CIPD (CIPD, UK), Strengths Coach (Gallup) and Black Belt Sustainability Practitioner.

Nora is an alumnus of Harvard (HBS AMP), Heriot-Watt (PhD by Practice), Cornell (School of Industrial Relations) and UiTM (School of Accountancy). She is an appointed Adjunct Professor at prestigious universities, including the University Utara Malaysia (UUM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), as well as appointed CEO@Faculty of UUM, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and UiTM. Nora holds various Board membership; Board of Trustees for Yayasan Khazanah (Khazanah Foundation), Board of Investment (UiTM), Advisory Board (Yayasan Peneraju), Asian Advisory Board (Harvard Business Publishing), Chief People Officer Board (i4CP), Board of Examiners (Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers), Asia Pacific Industry Advisory Panel (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants), University-Industry Advisory Council of UUM and Academic Advisory Board Member of Putra Business School (PBS). Nora is also a member of the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC).

Significant achievements across several leading organisations mark Nora’s career. Nora’s career is marked by significant achievements across several leading organizations. From August 2008 to October 2024, she served as Group Chief Human Capital Officer at Maybank, where she spearheaded the HR strategy and execution of the successful Leap30 Transformation. Under her leadership, Maybank’s employer ranking rose from 17th in 2008 to 1st in 2014, maintaining its top position in all National level and Global rankings thereafter, including Willis Towers Watson’s Global High Performing Companies and Bloomberg’s. She also successfully defended and increased employee engagement levels from below 70% to above 80% throughout the 2009 Leap30 Transformation programme to-date (2024). These accomplishments demonstrate her ability to drive organizational transformation and enhance employee satisfaction.

During her tenure at Maybank, Nora led the restructuring of the group from a local focus to global structures, improving employee productivity ratios. She successfully reduced headcount by 6,000 between 2009 and 2018 without retrenchment programs, and strengthened talent pipelines at all levels, maintaining an 80% internal realization rate for vacancies over the last 10 years. Additionally, she improved staff compensation and rewards without negatively impacting the staff cost-to-income ratio, maintaining revenue per staff above RM320K PA/Staff. This showcases her expertise in balancing organizational efficiency with employee well-being.

Prior to Maybank, Nora held key positions at Standard Chartered Bank from March 1999 to 2008, where she supported the CEO in turning around the Wholesale Banking business in Malaysia. She was handpicked for roles such as CHRO of Scope International, leading HR for the post-Chase Retail Bank HK Acquisition, addressing talent drain in London, and preparing PT Bank Permata for divestment. Earlier, from 1994 to 1999, at Maxis, she managed a retrenchment program and launched innovative approaches to secure alternative employment for affected staff, while also sponsoring self-directed learning initiatives. These experiences highlight her adaptability and strategic approach to human capital management across diverse organizational contexts.

Nora was conferred the World Women Legend and Icon Leadership Award 2025, Global Women Leadership Lifetime Award 2024, national-level LAWA CHRO Champion Award 2023, national-level Woman Beacon of Light Award 2016, Outstanding Global Islamic Women Manager Icon Excellence Award (2023) and Top 50 Impact Lifetime Achievement Award for Women Excellence (2021) by KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific. Nora is also immediate Past President of the Malaysian Commercial Banks Association (MCBA), Chairman (HRNG), Council Member (MEF), Co-Chair (ARC) and Council Member (IAC).

Nora was also appointed as the Project Champion in 2024 for the Industry’s Future Skills Framework (FSF) that was launched by the BNM Governor and HR Minister in July 2024. She is Founder Sponsor of the acclaimed eMpowering Youths Across ASEAN programme and inaugural First EXCO Sponsor of Maybank’s Sustainability Culture and Governance Pillar. Nora is also Founder Council of the Malaysia Chapter of the 30 Percent Club, Executive Sponsor for Maybank’s Women Mentor Women Council, as well as a Mentor for the ICAEW-TalentCorp Women in Leadership Programme. Recently, she was featured in the “Top 10 CHROs to Follow on LinkedIn” by NewInAsia.com, the leading platform for business insights across Asia. The globally recognised wisdom of Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast is proven under the leadership of Datuk (Dr) Nora Manaf in her work alongside the Group President CEO and his Top Team’s significant Milestone Leap30 Transformation of a leading ASEAN Bank and Malaysia’s largest company by market capitalisation listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange, Maybank. In her capacity as Group Chief Human Capital Officer appointed in September 2008, Nora influenced and ensured the key success factors of a Business strategy were enabled and targeted Results realised. This was captured in a Case Study written and published by the Singapore Management University in 2019 titled “Maybank: Organisational Transformation through Human Resources”.