Author: Staff Reporter

Currently a Ph.D. candidate and research fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies at the Fletcher School of Tufts University, she’s recognized for independent research, including reports on the Women’s Penal System in Afghanistan, Women’s Participation in the Afghan Peace Process, NATO’s Security Sector Reform, and numerous analytical articles.

Lima founded the Paywand Afghan Association, dedicated to women’s issues research. With a track record of collaboration with national and international organizations, she emphasizes gender mainstreaming. Formerly the Monitoring and Evaluation Director at the Administrative Office of the President of Afghanistan, she drove system reforms for enhanced governmental accountability.

She holds a master’s degree in International Security from The Fletcher School at Tufts University and a bachelor’s degree in Women and Gender Studies from Bucknell University.

Seamon serves as Chair of the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle (Asia), the Advisory Council of Asia Society Southern California, the Advisory Board of Mekong Future Initiative, and the Board of Trustees and Review Committee of the United Chinese Americans Community Foundation. He is a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations,  and a member of the Economic Club of New York, China Institute Next Gen x Serica, and Gold House. He was recognized as a Committee of 100 Next Generation Leader in 2018 and serves on the C100 NGL Advisory Council.

Seamon graduated from Stanford University, the OPM Program at HBS, and is completing the Belt Road Initiative EMBA at Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance.

As part of management, Hao leads a group of ESG champions embedded within the business and ensures implementation of the Asia Symbol 2030 sustainability goals.

Prior to joining the private sector, Hao spent eight years in Kenya serving the United Nations Environment Programme actively engaged in environmental multilateralism. She was awarded a “Baobab Staff Award” for her work in supporting the significant 2017 ivory trade ban in China. Her journey in global environmental cooperation has been featured in Chinese national media such as Xinhua News Agency and China Daily.

Hao holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Bath University in the United Kingdom, where she was the first elected Chair of the International Students Union, and an MPA in International Economics from Columbia University.

His works include the novel Waste Tide and a book co-authored with Kai-Fu Lee, AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future.

He focuses on topics such as climate change and environmental issues, the inequality of tech society, culture and biodiversity, and many other subjects. He currently travels around the world and does field study for his future projects.

He is also the chairman of Y7&Y20 of Japan, a national U-40 organization of the G7&G20. Soichiro received a dual B.A. from Peking University and Waseda University and an MBA from Harvard Business School as a Fulbright Scholar. He is the co-author of “Japan: Land of the Setting Sun?” a case study on Prime Minister Abe’s economic policy taught to all 900 Harvard Business School students in the required curriculum. Soichiro is a violinist who has played for the first lady of Japan.

Beyond her professional commitments, Nomin is actively involved in initiatives that foster the next generation of Mongolian leaders, facilitate inclusive and accessible education, and expand opportunities for the children of Mongolia.  She currently serves on the boards of Teach for Mongolia, Lean in Mongolia, and the Hobby School Alumni Association.  She also previously served as the Vice President of the Mongolian Association of State Alumni (MASA), one of the top three U.S. alumni associations in the world.

Nomin is an alumna of the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (Global UGRAD) and a Rumsfeld Fellow.  She received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arizona and her Bachelor of Laws degree from the National University of Mongolia.

Tsedon was an AusAID scholar and earned her master’s degree with distinction in Diplomacy and Trade from Monash University. While attending Monash, she served as President of the Monash Graduate Association.

Zak is also the author of the critically acclaimed Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World, which explores how the country’s young generation, born after 1990, feels about everything, from education, money, and sex, to their government. Zak has been invited to speak on six continents including Harvard University, The Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit, Google’s Next Billion Users Initiative, and the Aspen Ideas Festival, among others.

Arnaud is the co-founder of the Marco Polo Institute, a think tank active in Beijing and Shanghai from 2012 to 2016, aimed at identifying innovative public policies and corporate practices in China.

Arnaud graduated from Harvard Business School (MBA, 2016) and Sciences Po Paris (bachelor’s, 2008; MPA, 2010). He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Chinese language and civilization from the National Institute of Oriental Studies in Paris (INALCO).

Prior to Dedrone, he spent over a decade at Centerview Partners advising corporations in China, Japan, Ukraine, Spain, Turkey, the UK, and the U.S. on M&A and strategic corporate matters. He also helped establish the firm’s technology practice in Silicon Valley.

Henning is actively engaged with nonprofits and serves as a board director for the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Beijing, Henning has lived in six countries: China, Germany, Malaysia, France, the UK, and the U.S.

Henning completed his undergraduate studies at the European Business School in Germany where he currently serves as their Silicon Valley Alumni Chair. Henning speaks German, French and Mandarin. He is based in San Francisco and Washington D.C.

Deborah began modeling at age 15 and has worked in Hong Kong, India, and London. She has been featured on the cover of Vogue, Marie Claire, and others.

While studying Political Science and Economics at the University of Queensland, Deborah became passionate about children’s and refugee rights. She co-founded Fugee School, a nonprofit school for refugee children in Malaysia in 2009, as well as Fugee.org focusing on education access and empowerment for marginalized communities in Malaysia. In 2017, she founded Fugeelah, a social-impact jewelry business.

Deborah has represented Malaysia on humanitarian trips to Brazil, Myanmar, India, and Lebanon. She is a children’s rights advocate for World Vision and a refugee rights advocate for UNHCR. In 2013, she was listed in Forbes among leading Asian Philanthropists.

Deborah was selected to represent Malaysia in the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). She also moderated a talk with Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts at the Obama Foundation Leaders: Asia-Pacific program.

Before joining the ACLU of Hawaiʻi, Wookie was an associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP in Washington, D.C. He also served as a law clerk on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Before becoming a lawyer, he taught high school English and journalism in the District of Columbia Public Schools.

Wookie received a B.A. in Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University, an M.A.T. in Secondary English Education from American University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

A graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, India, Ashutosh is a  2013 fellow of the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (ILVP) and a 2018 fellow of The Asia Foundation. He was a member of the India@75 Taskforce for Skilling and Entrepreneurship, an initiative by CII (Confederation of Indian Industry). He is a TEDx speaker, a theatre enthusiast, and a filmmaker.

He is also an international affairs strategist focusing on East Asia. His thought leadership has been featured in various leading publications and forums. He is passionate about youth and civic engagement, creating a new wave of globalization.

He is the Curator for Global Shapers Community Hong Kong hub, an initiative of the World Economic Forum (WEF), where he founded the ‘Future City Dialogue Series,’ growing an audience of young professionals to actively future-proof and shape policy together.

Neville has worked as a Consultant in Myanmar for the International Trade Centre, a joint agency between the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation. He is currently based in Hong Kong.

As the APAC Regional Strategy & Impact Director at International Justice Mission, Sinni directs teams across the APAC region to support governments in protecting vulnerable people in poverty from violence. She partners with global, regional, and national organizations to build thought leadership on emerging, cross-sector, and transboundary crimes such as the online sexual exploitation of children and forced labor.

In addition to her professional roles, Sinni has held several leadership positions in nonprofit organizations, including serving on the board of Care for Children Singapore and as a Global Shaper at the World Economic Forum.

She holds degrees from Oxford University and Stanford University.

Jieh-Yung was a key architect behind the formation of CAAL in its establishment in 2020 by the ANU. As its Director, Jieh-Yung is spearheading CAAL’s academic and evidence-based research and advocacy in order to shape practical solutions to tackle the ‘bamboo ceiling’ in Australia.

Jieh-Yung is one of Australia’s most influential voices and thought leaders on the topics of cultural diversity, multiculturalism, inclusion, and leadership – especially on Asian-Australian representation and cultural diversity leadership where he played a major role in putting this issue on the national agenda in Australia.

Prior to CAAL, Jieh-Yung worked in various public policy, project management, and leadership roles across the nonprofit, advocacy and government sectors. He graduated from the University of Melbourne with a B.A., majoring in Political Science and Asian Studies.

Previously, Angga served as a Social Policy Specialist at UNICEF Indonesia, overseeing youth engagement in urbanization, advocating for Sustainable Development Goals, and managing UNICEF’s contributions during the Indonesian G20 Presidency. He held the position of UN Youth Adviser on SDGs Implementation in Indonesia from 2017 to 2018, playing a pivotal role in mobilizing youth for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. He is both a Global Atlantic Fellow and a member of the inaugural cohort of Obama Leaders: Asia-Pacific.

Angga holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Indonesia and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School.

Before joining NPR, Vincent was a correspondent for The Guardian, a London-based newspaper, and its Sunday edition, The Observer. Prior to The Guardian, he spent seven years at the BBC, where he also worked on the network’s flagship news magazine show, Newshour. In 2019, Vincent created and edited an Asia-focused podcast. It was later acquired by the Brussels School of Governance in 2022.

He is the founder of Yedi Technologies, Inc, a venture focused on revolutionizing the quality, sustainability, and accessibility of restrooms around the world. He also founded Maia Technologies, a company specializing in agricultural digital twins, using AI and computer vision to help make farming more efficient, ethical, and sustainable.

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Evan helped structure the go-to-market strategies for several large Silicon Valley companies, including LinkedIn and Microsoft. He has also worked around the world, including in Beijing, Tokyo, and Dubai, where he built an international robotics business.

He holds a B.A. in Economics from Harvard College.

Krystle is also an experienced strategic planner, focusing on process improvement, risk management, and product development. Her career took a different trajectory when she moved to a start-up specializing in B2B growth marketing, “We Are Team Rocket”, where she holds the position of General Manager. Krystle also serves as the youngest non-executive independent Director at a trusted NBFI in Sri Lanka. She is a Community Champion of the Global Shapers for Southern India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives chapters.

Krystle became the first Sri Lankan to be honored with the “Commonwealth Young Person of the Year” award by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017. She was selected as one of the 50 young people to attend the 2019 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum.

His forthcoming book, The Kuroshio Frontier: Empire and Oceanic Environment in the Making of Japan’s Pacific (Cambridge University Press), draws attention to the social and environmental cost of Japan’s industrial emergence throughout the Asia Pacific. Jonas’ multilingual projects are dedicated to grassroots perspectives on the perceived realities of environmental change.

As a scholar and citizen, Jonas advocates for closer conversations between critical scholarship and solution-oriented policy. He helps create synergies between academic expertise and day-to-day practice to build sustainable relations between Europe, America, and Asia. His teaching is committed to fostering intercultural competence and an awareness of underrepresented voices, skills that are increasingly indispensable for inclusive decisionmaking.Jonas received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2022.

In 2019 she launched Ta(r)dino 6 Art Platform. It supports the discourse on contemporary art from the EECCA region within an international context, focusing on gender, identity, and equality in the art world. In 2021 she registered it as a cultural NGO in Azerbaijan. Asli is a recipient of the Her Majesty Ambassador Award for contribution to U.K.-Azerbaijan cultural relations and Prince Claus Fund’s inaugural Seed Award that identifies future trendsetters among artists and cultural practitioners from the Global South.

Furthering his academic pursuits, Thanasak pursued a master’s degree in health policy at the University of Edinburgh under the prestigious Chevening Scholarship. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, he orchestrated the mobilization of over 800 dentists, enabling them to administer unconventional yet crucial care, thus sustaining healthcare systems. Through collaboration with the World Dental Federation, he has steadfastly advocated for universal oral health coverage. Moreover, Thanasak’s advocacy for cleaner air earned him recognition as one of the ten Open Air Quality Community Ambassadors.

She is a regular contributor to media outlets such as CNBC, FT, Bloomberg, and Nikkei Asia on geopolitical and economic topics, and co-authored a multi-year case study of Haier Group with London School of Economics. Her fund, the Bamboo Asia Pacific ex-Japan, was awarded Gold in the Fund Selector Asia awards in 2022.

Alice studied Intellectual History at Yale University with a focus on China. While at Yale, she co-founded the Federalist Party, part of the Yale Political Union, and she is a Fellow of the Abigail Adams Institute at Harvard University. Alice is a soprano and a candidate for a diploma in vocal performance from Trinity College ‘23 and performs regularly. She is Co-Chair for the 2024 Gala Committee for The Wallace Collection

Sue-Lin graduated from the Australian National University.

Emily has worked in Taipei, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and New York. She is passionate about empowering discussions for emerging and progressive social issues and furthering dialogues between Taiwan and the world. Ghost Island Media shows are broadcast in Mandarin, English, and French. Topics range from climate, cannabis, gender, health, feminism, and emerging leaders, to cultural diplomacy, PRC influence, politics, and Taiwan in the world.

Emily began her career in journalism and international co-productions while at public television in Taiwan then at Next Media (Apple Daily). She was most recently the producer and presenter of “Game Changers with Emily Y. Wu,” a 30-episode TV interview series on emerging leaders.

Emily graduated from Wellesley College.

Joanna’s career has spanned investing and building new financial services businesses, including a US$2 billion pan-Asian fund strategy, and a digital infrastructure that has processed over US$12 billion in transactions among regulated institutions. Since 2012, she has also been involved in first-time sustainability reporting, investing, and product development across real estate, public equities, and debt.

Joanna began her career in international economic policy research, graduating summa cum laude from Harvard and with master’s degrees from Stanford GSB and Cambridge (Trinity College), where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar.

Anu Anwar

Fellow
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Harvard University

BANGLADESH

“Leadership means leading others — not always by providing direction — but being an inspirational figure in one’s own field and doing exemplary work that motivates others to follow.”

Anu Anwar is a fellow at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and an associate in research at the John K. Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University. Before joining Harvard, Anwar worked as a research fellow at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Institute — Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. He was also an affiliate scholar at East-West Center, visiting scholar at the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies, and visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo and Kobe Gakuin University, Japan. Besides academic journals, his work has appeared in Foreign Policy, War on the Rocks, East Asia Forum, The Diplomat, The South China Morning Post, Harvard Kennedy School Review, Lowy Interpreter, and the Asia Times among other publications.

Anwar was educated at Tsinghua University, the University of Geneva, the University of Dhaka, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in international relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has traveled around 50 countries, and has extensive experience living and traveling in China. He speaks Chinese, Hindi, and Bengali.

Bilguun Erdenebat

Director
EducationUSA

MONGOLIA

“Leadership means helping others and giving back to the community. It means being the voice of the unheard, and ensuring that no one is left behind in development.”

Bilguun Erdenebat is the director of EducationUSA Mongolia and a social development and gender specialist at the Asian Development Bank, where she advocates gender equality and women’s rights in East Asia. She has over 12 years of experience in social inclusion, gender equality, inclusive education, women’s empowerment, and community engagement.

Erdenebat is the president of the Mongolian Association of State Alumni (MASA), which strives to offer Mongolian youth an inclusive and accessible education. In 2019, under her leadership, MASA became the first U.S.G alumni association selected to implement the U.S. State Department-funded EducationUSA in Mongolia. In 2020, the U.S. Department of State awarded her with “the Asia-Pacific Region’s Rising Star Award” and “the Global Outstanding Team Project Award” for developing innovative and inclusive initiatives to address educational inequality.

During the COVID pandemic, Erdenebat initiated and implemented an educational program to improve the online teaching and media literacy skills of 1,500 English-language teachers across Mongolia. She is the creator of a popular Mongolian podcast with 94 episodes that reached over a million listeners.

Erdenebat was the first Mongolian Fulbright Scholar to study at Cornell University, where she received her master’s degree in international development. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international economic relations from the National University of Mongolia.

Sopheap Chak

Executive Director
Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR)

CAMBODIA

“Leadership means having the determination to empower and enable others to claim their rights peacefully.”

Sopheap Chak is the executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), an organization working to promote and protect political and civil rights in Cambodia. As one of the country’s most prominent human rights advocates, Chak’s work has been recognized by former U.S. President Barack Obama. She is a recipient of the Indian-ASEAN Youth Award (Young Women Achiever Category), the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, and in 2019 appeared on Southeast Asia’s shortlist for the Women of the Future Award. She holds a master’s degree in international peace studies from the International University of Japan. Chak writes about human rights at sopheapfocus.com

Marium Chaudhry

Founder
The Current

PAKISTAN

“Leadership is letting others take charge, allowing mistakes, and applauding success. A leader encourages others, allows growth, and steps in when most needed — like a guardian who always has people’s back.”

Marium Chaudhry is a journalist who has been based in Pakistan for the past 13 years. She has been affiliated with GEO News, one of Pakistan’s most extensive news networks, as a senior executive producer, launching and producing many programs for the network as well as heading the channel’s general election coverage in 2013 and 2018.

Chaudhry is currently the founder of The Current, Pakistan’s fastest-growing independent digital news platform, which caters to millennials. The platform has amassed more than a million followers in two years and, in 2020, became the first news startup in Pakistan to win the Google News Innovation Challenge. The Current is also the first Pakistani organization to enter a formal partnership with the Media Development Investment Fund.

Chaudhry will be launching Pakistan’s first membership program, giving young citizens a platform to raise their voices and opinions, and training students and young professionals on digitizing Pakistan. Her goal is to spearhead the digital innovation of the country’s news media, helping it transition from television news to digital journalism. She is a Google News Initiative Newsroom Leadership Program fellow, a Fulbright-Hays scholar, and a journalism graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alexandre Chenesseau

Managing Director
Evercore

UNITED STATES

“Authentic leaders not only inspire others with empathy and purpose, but also enable them, both individually and collectively, to create meaningful impact and lasting change.”

Alexandre Chenesseau is currently a managing director at Evercore, a premier global independent investment banking and advisory firm. He advises clients on mergers, capital raising, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships, particularly in the technology, media, entertainment, and consumer goods sectors. Prior to Evercore, Chenesseau worked at Lazard in Paris, Beijing, and New York, where he advised clients around the world. He worked in Beijing between 2011 and 2016 during the boom era of Chinese outbound investment, and has been a frequent speaker on the topic of China’s financial system and cross-border investments.

Chenesseau has been actively involved in community-building at organizations such as the French-American Foundation and the Sciences Po American Foundation, and co-chairs the China Supper Club in New York. He is a term member at the Council of Foreign Relations.

Chenesseau received his master’s degree in finance from Sciences Po Paris and completed the Program for Leadership Development at Harvard Business School.

Calvin Chua

Founder
Spatial Academy

SINGAPORE

“Leadership is about building up the next generation. Mentoring and grooming the next generation of leaders is key to ensuring the relevance of any organization.”

Calvin Chua is an architect and urban strategist working at the intersection of sustainable design, planning, and advocacy. He currently directs Spatial Anatomy, a strategic design practice that uses design as a multi-disciplinary approach towards solving pressing urban challenges. Spatial Anatomy has collaboratively designed buildings and regeneration master plans across Asia through rigorous research and ground engagement process.

Chua also serves as an adjunct assistant professor at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. With a keen interest in bridging design and geopolitics, he has led ground-breaking non-profit capacity-building programs on urban economic development in North Korea over the past decade for the Choson Exchange. Recognized as one of the leading voices on the Korean peninsula, his opinions have been featured in multiple news organizations, including CNN and Reuters.

Recognized for his unique approach towards design practice, Chua was longlisted for the 2020 Royal Academy of Arts Dorfman Award and was a St. Gallen Symposium Young Leader of Tomorrow. Prior to founding Spatial Anatomy, he worked with leading urban planning and architecture firms. A registered architect in the U.K., he graduated from the Architectural Association School of Architecture.

Aliette De Bodard

Multiple Award-Winning Writer of Speculative Fiction

FRANCE/UNITED STATES

“Leadership means creating a nurturing space that allows different people to develop to their fullest extent. It means sharing an energizing vision which creates connections for the future.”

Aliette de Bodard is a multiple-award-winning writer of speculative fiction. She has won three Nebula Awards, an Ignyte Award, a Locus Award, a British Fantasy Award, and four British Science Fiction Association Awards. de Bodard is the author of multiple critically-acclaimed and influential books, including the Xuya universe series, a space opera informed by Vietnamese culture; and the Dominion of the Fallen series, a Gothic fantasy set in fin de siècle Paris where magicians, fallen angels, and Vietnamese dragons mingle.

de Bodard has spoken at multiple events, including the World Science Fiction Convention and Melon Sci-Fi; has worked as an instructor on the Writing Excuses cruise, and has served as a mentor to American science fiction and fantasy writers. Her work deals with diaspora, parenthood, gender, sexuality, the aftermath of war, and responses to empire.

de Bodard is of Franco-Vietnamese descent and lives in Paris, where she has a day job as a systems architect specializing in railway signaling. She is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique (France).

Paolo Roberto Domondon

Chief Program Officer
Global Fishing Watch

PHILIPPINES

“Leadership is about making a decision every day to channel one’s energy and creativity into solving the most pressing social and environmental issues.”

Paolo Roberto Domondon is the incoming chief program officer at Global Fishing Watch, an international NGO that advances ocean governance through increased transparency of human activity at sea. He leads the development and implementation of strategies to advance the organization’s transparency vision through global program and policy work.

Previously, Domondon was the senior director of policy and partnerships at Rare, a leading behavior change organization for the environment. He led Rare’s grassroots and global policy around fisheries, oceans, climate, and biodiversity. He also recently initiated and led Coastal 500, the largest global network of mayors committed to revitalizing coastal communities.

Domondon also served as the youngest board member of the Philippines’ largest election citizen group, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, and was the youngest board member and general manager of Gawad Kalinga’s regional office in Singapore.

Domondon has over 15 years of international development work experience in environmental and social sectors across various issues. He received his master’s degree from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore; and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s of science degree in psychology from De La Salle University in the Philippines.

Kaye-Maree Dunn

Director
Making Everything Achievable

NEW ZEALAND

“Leadership is about being clear about who you are and where you come from. Leadership is not just leading from the front. It requires a level of sensitivity, consideration, and kindness to serve others and support them in their time of need. Finally, leadership is a culmination of the lessons our ancestors left behind for us to follow or discontinue, and it is about our character – to strive always to be the very best you can and be ready to respond and pivot where required.”

Kaye-Maree Dunn is director of Making Everything Achievable, Ahau NZ. Limited, and Indigital Blockchain Limited. She is a social impact and technology entrepreneur from Te Rarawa, Ngā Puhi, Ngāi Te Rangikoianaake, and Ngāti Mahanga me Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, and has been working in Maori and community development for over 21 years.

Dunn’s career has included stints with Child, Youth, and Family (CYF); The Department of Labour, The Māori Land Court, and NZ Maori Tourism and Community Housing. She has recently been involved in social enterprise development, governance training, e-commerce development, and Whānau Ora planning and Regional Covid Response initiatives.

Dunn is currently on the interim Maori Spectrum Trust Board, the North Hokianga Development Trust. She is also a Sir Edmond Hillary Fellow and an Atlantic Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

Dunn believes leadership relies on unlocking potential and believing in the good of others.

Atena Farkhondeh Kalat, PH.D., M.SC

Scientist and Scientific Project Manager
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health

IRAN

“Leadership means influencing and guiding people by what you say and do, so they can be the best they can be. It means helping others accomplish and direct their organizations in a way that makes them more coherent and cohesive.”

Atena Farkhondeh Kalat is a scientist and scientific project manager in the Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the U.S. She manages pre-clinical drug discovery projects that lead to new drug identification in collaboration with government agencies, academia, and the private sector, such as pharmaceutical companies and disease foundations.

Currently, Kalat is responsible for managing the therapeutic programs and teams for rare genetic diseases, neurodegenerative illnesses, and opioid-related ailments in partnership with biopharmaceutical companies, academia, and disease foundations. She also serves as a reviewer of international peer-reviewed journals and grant applications. She has completed several senior management, science policy, and leadership training programs and has gained experience in pre-clinical drug development in neurodegenerative and genetic rare diseases.

For more than a decade, Kalat has volunteered in several children’s charities and fundraising events in the U.S., such as Children’s Inn at the NIH, and internationally at Children of Persia and Lions Clubs International in Japan.

Kalat received her doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Tokyo, medical school, in 2013, where she was mentored by Japanese Nobel prize nominee Nobutaka Hirokawa.

Fei Xiaojing

Co-Founder and Executive Managing Director
Impact Hub Shanghai

CHINA

“Leadership means holding space to empower people and organizations to find their work and race to the place they want to be.”

Fei Xiaojing is in charge of the overall management of Impact Hub Shanghai, leading the hub’s strategic planning and incubation system building. She has dedicated herself to the sustainable development and innovation leadership fields for many years. In addition, as a former negotiation observer of UNFCCC, she was deeply involved in China’s collective civil climate movement.

Fei was also part of the International Antarctic Expedition Program led by Robert Swan, and went to Antarctica to investigate climate change’s impact on ecosystems there. Before founding Impact Hub Shanghai, she worked in several leading consulting firms and international organizations, providing sustainable solutions for many corporations and governments. She has been involved in establishing process of several social enterprises and NGOs.

Fei has studied in Sweden and has two master’s degrees in ecology and strategic sustainability management. In 2019, she joined the Ecosystem Leadership program hosted by Dr. Otto Schemer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and got involved in the global practice of ecosystem transformation.

Dhananath Fernando

Chief Operating Officer
Advocata Institute

Iskander Akylbayev

Executive Director
Kazakhstan Council on International Relations

KAZAKHSTAN

“For me, leadership is supporting the aspirations of ordinary citizens because behind every power struggle, common men and women are those who suffer the most.”

Iskander Akylbayev is Executive Director of the Kazakhstan Council on International Relations (KCIR). He is also a foreign policy analyst for the Qazaqstan Radio and Television Corporation and serves as an advisor at DASCO Consulting. Previously, Akylbayev worked as a senior fellow at the Institute of Diplomacy of the Academy of Public Administration, providing training to early and mid-career diplomats. He is a member of the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) and a fellow at Pacific Forum CSIS. From 2014 to 2017, he was a senior fellow at the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Kazakhstan, focusing on Kazakhstan’s foreign policy and security in Central Asia and Afghanistan. Akylbayev received the Atlantic Council Millennium Leadership Fellowship and the Rumsfeld Fellowship in 2018, a mid-career program for young leaders from Central Asia, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, and Mongolia, and was awarded the MEXT scholarship by the Government of Japan in 2011. He received his M.A. in international area studies from the University of Tsukuba. He speaks Kazakh, Russian, Turkish, and Japanese.

Esra’a Al Shafei

Founder & Director
Majal.org

BAHRAIN

“Leadership first and foremost is sacrifice. It is a continuous learning journey, but genuine accountability is at the heart of good leadership.”

Esra’a Al Shafei is a human rights activist and the founder of Majal.org, a network of online platforms that amplify under-reported and marginalized voices. She and her team build web projects that creatively facilitate the struggle for social justice in the region. Al Shafei currently serves on the Global Future Council on Human Rights and Technology at the World Economic Forum and is a Director’s Fellow at the MIT Media Lab. Previously, she was a Senior TED Fellow, Echoing Green Fellow, and Shuttleworth Foundation Fellow. Al Shafei is the 2018 recipient of the Global Trailblazer Award from Vital Voices, the Berkman Award from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society for her “outstanding contributions to the internet and its impact on society over the last decade”, the Monaco Media Prize, which acknowledges innovative uses of media for the betterment of humanity, and the Most Courageous Media Award from Free Press Unlimited. In 2014, she received the Human Rights Tulip Prize, awarded annually by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organizations or individuals that support human rights in innovative ways. In 2017, she was elected to the Wikipedia Board of Trustees.

Maryam Al-Subaiey

Head of Media & Communication
Qatar Fund for Development

QATAR

“Leadership is a way of life and it can be found in every person, regardless of their role in society. It is about pursuing a purpose, believing in oneself no matter the challenges, and through this path of purpose, helping others to find their way as well.”

Maryam Al-Subaiey is Head of Media & Communication at Qatar Fund for Development. As an entrepreneur, she led innovative new projects at Qatar Television, where she was Director of Programs and Creation and the youngest and only woman to serve in a management role. She left Qatar Television after successfully launching the channel to pursue a career in creative entrepreneurship. In 2015, Al-Subaiey and a group of friends created a local initiative called Eid Gift to support less privileged children that live in semi-slums areas in Doha. In 2014, she launched Q Talent, a talent agency that develops local talents in the creative industry. A champion of youth and women empowerment, Al-Subaiey is also the founder of the UChange Qatari Youth Initiative and the Qatar Together Youth Initiative, which aims to spread values of civil society and productivity among young people. She recently won the British Council Alumni Award in the Professional Achievement category. In 2017, she became the first Qatari female jockey to participate in the Emir’s Cup. Besides her passion for horses and racing, Al-Subaiey is also an author and a poet, having published several children books in both Arabic and English. Her poems have been published in Gathering the Tide: An Anthology of Contemporary Arabian Gulf Poetry (2012), and she has participated in several poetry events in Doha, Kuwait, and Northern Ireland. In 2009, Al-Subaiey co-created Dreesha, a photo essay and the third book of the Qatar Narrative anthology series that provides a glimpse into their everyday lives of Qataris. She received her M.Sc. in development studies from SOAS University of London and her B.A. in political science from the University of Essex.

Jessica Aung

Myanmar Representative, German Development Finance Institution
Founder, Wynee

MYANMAR

“A leader inspires others to achieve the best of themselves and gives them the tools to do so.”

Jessica Aung is an impact investor and social entrepreneur focused on job creation and economic empowerment in Myanmar. She is the first Myanmar Representative at DEG (German Development Finance Institution) — a member of the KfW Banking Group — with a global portfolio of about $10 billion. At DEG Myanmar, Aung leads financing in long-term, private sector investments that drive sustainable development. Previously, she worked at Anthem Asia, an investment firm where she was part of the team that raised a $34.5 million fund backed by the IFC — a member of World Bank Group — to provide expansion capital to SMEs in Myanmar. Aung has been an advocate for expanding business opportunities to all. She founded the volunteer-driven initiative WyneeMyanmar.com (WYNEE), which advances workforce readiness among Myanmar youths, empowering over 5,000 in two years. She was selected to the 2018 Class of Asia Foundation Development Fellows. In addition, Aung has passed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Program and is a founding member of the CFA community in Myanmar. Her alma mater, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, presented her with the 2018 Nanyang Outstanding Young Alumni Award in recognition of her achievements in the Myanmar business community.

Bing Chen

Co-Founder & Chairman
Gold House Foundation

UNITED STATES

“Leadership is service, vision, and uncompromising execution consistently employed, all at once.”

Bing Chen is Co-Founder and Chairman of Gold House Foundation, a collective of pioneering Asian founders, creative voices and leaders dedicated to systematically enhancing the Asian diaspora’s societal impact and cross-cultural legacy. He is a founding architect of the multi-billion dollar digital influencer ecosystem as YouTube’s Global Head of Creator Development & Management, where he was responsible for the global program strategy that elevated and monetized more than 500 million content creators worldwide. Today, Chen is Managing Director of a venture capital seed-stage fund that invests in new majority creators, founders, and leaders shaping tomorrow’s most pressing problems. He sits on the board of directors and advisory boards of more than a dozen top digital media companies across three continents, including Google’s Global Marketing Council, Bytedance, Baobab Studios, Omnicom’s Sparks & Honey, and is active in philanthropic work with the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and Asia Society Southern California. Chen has been named a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Top 35 Next Generation Leader and Most Influential Agent of Change by The Hollywood Reporter, ADCOLOR Catalyst honoree, Magic Johnson 32 Under 32 Innovator, and an Asian Chamber of Commerce Next Gen Leader. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in creative writing.

Bonnie Chiu

Founder & CEO
Lensational

HONG KONG

“Leadership is the way to serve others and to give back to society. As the world is confronted with social and environmental challenges, we need leaders who can create a new values-based system where no one is left behind.”

Bonnie Chiu is an award-winning social entrepreneur, a gender equality advocate and a leading social impact and impact investing consultant. She is Founder and CEO of Lensational, an award-winning non-profit social enterprise which equips marginalized women with photography training and digital storytelling in 23 countries across Asia and Africa. Chosen as a Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur in Europe, she has been invited to speak in 16 countries, most prominently at two TEDx talks and at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in 2016, presented by President Bill Clinton. Chiu is also the managing director of The Social Investment Consultancy, a social impact strategy and research consultancy with offices in London, Milan, Hong Kong and Doha. She is a Forbes contributor on gender and diversity and was profiled as the Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goal 5 in the Lavazza calendar. She serves on various Boards, including the Global Alumni Advisory Board of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Women’s Housing Fund Advisory Board of Big Society Capital. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Chiu has lived in six countries: Denmark, Singapore, United States, Germany, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom.

Zen Cho

Speculative Fiction Writer

MALAYSIA

“A leader carves out fresh paths, is grounded in community, credits the work of others, honors those who have gone before, and seeks new ways of doing things.”

Zen Cho is the author of two historical fantasy novels — Sorcerer to the Crown and The True Queen — and a short story collection, Spirits Abroad. Her work uses fantasy to explore imperialism, diaspora, gender and sexuality, and cultural hybridity. She is the first Malaysian to be nominated for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer and to have won the Crawford Award and a British Fantasy Award. Cho is the editor of the anthology Cyberpunk: Malaysia. She was a juror for the Speculative Literature Foundation Diverse Writers and Diverse Worlds grants, served on the Board of non-profit Con or Bust, and is a SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America) mentor for emerging writers. She has appeared at literary festivals, conventions, and conferences in Malaysia, the U.S., the U.K., the Netherlands, Finland, and Hong Kong, and co-organized the Nine Worlds Geekfest convention’s first Race & Culture programming track. Cho has spoken about genre and social justice on BBC Radio, Minnesota Public Radio News and Al Jazeera’s online daily TV show, The Stream.

Nighat Dad

Founder & Executive Director
Digital Rights Foundation

PAKISTAN

“Leadership is rooted in what matters to you the most and this, I believe, comes through self-awareness and self-reflection. I see situations from multiple perspectives with an open mind which has marvelously led to healthy and collaborative relationships with diverse people beyond the borders.”

Nighat Dad is Founder and Executive Director of the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) in Pakistan. DRF is a research and advocacy NGO that protects women and minorities from cyber harassment and defends their online freedom of expression. She is among the pioneers who started lobbying for internet freedom in Pakistan. Her career and initiatives came to be from her law education, during which she developed an interest in focusing on Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) to support human rights, democratic processes and digital governance from the policy perspective. Dad was an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University from 2016 to 2018. She was named a World Economic Forum (WEF) Young Global Leader in 2018, a Forbes Top 10 Social Entrepreneur in 2018, a TED Fellow in 2017, and a Next Generation Leader by TIME in 2015. She also received the Tulip Award as well as the Atlantic Council Freedom Award in 2016. Furthermore, Dad represented DRF at the UN General Assembly in 2018. She received her certification in internet governance from the Diplo Foundation in 2011.

Vafa Ghazavi

Ph.D. Candidate
Oxford University

AUSTRALIA

“Leadership is about conviction, commitment and vision. It requires audacity but its touchstone is humility. Leadership is about promoting long-lasting change for the common good. This involves sacrifice — a deep belief in contributing to something bigger than oneself.”

Vafa Ghazavi is a political philosopher and a former Australian diplomat. He is currently a doctoral student at Balliol College at the University of Oxford, where he studies as a John Monash Scholar, and is a Retained Lecturer in Politics at Pembroke College, University of Oxford. As a diplomat, Ghazavi served abroad in Kabul and Vienna. In Vienna, he covered the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. He has also worked on trade negotiations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), for the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, and in the Australian Foreign Ministry’s Iraq Taskforce. More recently, Ghazavi served as International Cyber Policy Adviser in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. He received his M.P.A. from Harvard University, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar and did research under the supervision of Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, and his bachelor’s degree in economic and social sciences with First Class Honours and the University Medal from the University of Sydney. Ghazavi’s research interests include philosophy and public policy, political theory, the ethics and governance of artificial intelligence, and foreign policy.

Franz Heng

Managing Director
LHT Capital

CAMBODIA

“Leadership is no longer just about empowering; it is about bringing together talents. Great leaders create an environment where individuals strive and reach their full potential.”

Franz Heng is Managing Director of LHT Capital Investment Group and a board member of the Center for Khmer Studies, where she supports Cambodia’s education and research capacity development. Following in the footsteps of her parents, who pioneered the first retail chain in Cambodia, Heng helped transform the small family business into successful retail chains across the country. Along with a stellar group of young Cambodian leaders on her team, she has ensured the development of the family business into other areas including education and investment in Cambodia’s young entrepreneurs. She believes successful and responsible businesses can contribute significantly to eradicating poverty and transforming societies. Heng received her B.S. in finance from Golden Gate University.

Jianlong Hu

Founder
The Passage Media

CHINA

“First and foremost, leadership means sacrifice and responsibility. Every leader must be willing to make sacrifices on behalf of others. Secondly, leaders should inspire and motivate others by creating vivid long-term visions.”

Jianlong Hu is Founder of The Passage Media based in Bangalore, India. The Passage Media is the first media house that brings together Chinese and Indian correspondents to cover stories about the two countries. Hu founded the media startup soon after he moved to India in 2017 and became inspired to write stories about India for Chinese readers beyond what is made available by Chinese media. The Passage Media is playing a significant role in enhancing people to people connections, and especially amongst technology communities. Hu has lived in a few countries, including Singapore and the U.S. In 2015, he was award the Humphrey Fellowship. Hu was previously a Beijing-based investigative journalist for the Guangzhou-based newspaper Southern Weekly, writing and reporting on environmental news.

Shiori Ito

Journalist & Documentary Filmmaker
Hanashi Films

JAPAN

“In Japan, the word ‘kotodama’ refers to the belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names. I strongly believe this applies to those in leadership. A leader needs to understand the consequences of ‘kotodama’ and be responsible for their own words.”

Shiori Ito is a journalist and documentary filmmaker based in London and Tokyo. She focuses primarily on gender and human rights issues. Ito won the silver award in the Social Issues category for her direction of Lonely Death at the 56th New York Film Festival in 2018. She has spoken up against sexism in Japanese society and institutions and is the author of Black Box (2017), a book based on her own experience of rape. The book won the 7th Free Press Association of Japan Best Journalism Award in 2018 and is now available in Japanese, Korean and soon in French, Swedish and Chinese.

Suhani Jalota

Founder & CEO
Myna Mahila Foundation

INDIA

“Leadership is using knowledge and experience to influence the lives of those left out of the race. It means inspiring the next generation of leaders.”

Suhani Jalota is Founder and CEO of the Myna Mahila Foundation, an organization dedicated to women’s health in slum communities in India. For the last eight years, Jalota has been working in urban slum areas and rural communities, focusing on projects ranging from adolescent girl health to water and sanitation to social protection policies in South Africa, Thailand, and India. Her work with Myna has been featured in BBC, Glamour, TIME, Huffington Post, Vogue, and India Today, among others. Previously, she worked on sanitation evaluation projects with IDinsight, UNICEF and the Department of Education in the Philippines. Jalota was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia honoree in 2018 and one of the 50 most powerful women under 50 by India Today in 2018 as a changemaker and social entrepreneur. She also received the Young Achiever’s Mother Teresa Memorial Award in 2018 and the Queen’s Young Leader Award in 2017, representing India. She has given commencement speeches, TEDx talks, and has won and participated in several social entrepreneurship competitions. Jalota is currently pursuing her M.B.A and Ph.D. in health policy and economics at Stanford University as a Knight Hennessy Scholar. She received her bachelor’s degree in economics and global health from Duke University.

Aayushi KC

Founder & CEO
Khaalisisi Management Pvt. Ltd

NEPAL

“Leadership is about believing in yourself and your vision, even when everyone around you is laughing at the very idea, and about turning that laughter into appreciation over time.”

Aayushi KC is Founder and CEO of Khaalisisi Management Pvt. Ltd., a waste management platform that currently connects waste workers, in an industry with more than 13,000 waste workers, to waste sellers. Constantly seeking opportunities to learn and grow from, KC works to substantially increase the diversion of recyclable materials away from landfills. She works to raise public awareness of recycling in Nepal and ultimately hopes to create a waste management industry in the country. KC was named a Forbes 30 under 30 honoree in 2018 and describes herself as a rebel for a good cause.

Jason Lin

Executive, International Development and Production
Alibaba Pictures

UNITED STATES

“A true leader must be able to see different perspectives while widening his or her own understanding of cultures and communities of the world.”

Jason Lin is an executive at Alibaba Pictures based in Los Angeles. He is responsible for establishing and managing partnerships with premiere Hollywood production companies like Amblin Partners and eOne. Lin leads the development and production of a slate of China co-production projects, including the recently released Peppa Celebrates Chinese New Year. He also works to execute China releases of films such as Green Book and A Dog’s Purpose. Previously, Lin was a director with United Talent Agency’s (UTA) corporate development division, where he was responsible for the acquisition of The Agency Group, which later became UTA Music. As a director, Lin was also responsible for corporate investment, financing, and client advisory. Prior to that, Lin was an investment banking associate at Morgan Stanley and Moelis, executing deals for technology and entertainment clients. From 2004 to 2010, he was a vice president of development and production at the Jet Li Production Studio based in Shanghai. His producing credits include Ocean Heaven, The Forbidden Kingdom, The Mummy 3, Fearless, The Warlords, and War. Prior to that, he held strategic planning and finance roles at the Walt Disney Company in Burbank, California. Lin received his M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Leesa Lin

Assistant Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Visiting Scholar, Harvard Medical School
Founder & Director, Lupine Children’s Foundation

CANADA

“Great leadership is understanding that the sum becomes greater than the parts when we all work together towards a common goal. It is to foresee what others cannot and to lead by example.”

Leesa Lin is an assistant professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. She is also the founder and director of Lupine Children’s Foundation. Her work has centered on the development, implementation, and evaluation of social and behavioral change interventions that address critical public health issues, including large-scale health emergencies, risk communications, child health and development, and antibiotic/antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Lin is the principal investigator of a prestigious grant (official launch in winter 2019/2020) — jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust Foundation and the U.K. Department for International Development — that aims to generate innovative and systematic ways to conduct social science research in the contexts of epidemic preparedness and response. Between 2019 and 2021, she will work closely with governments, the World Health Organization (WHO), and UNICEF at all three levels (national, regional, and headquarters) in developing, validating, and disseminating social science research protocols. From 2016 to 2017, Lin conducted evidence synthesis that supported the development of the WHO guideline on emergency risk communications. In the midst of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, she coordinated and developed evidence-based training materials on emergency risk communications for the WHO. Lin also serves as a subject expert on implementation research, emergency preparedness, and global health for the European Commission. She completed her Ph.D. training in implementation research and social epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where her dissertation focused on developing evidence-based behavioral interventions to reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics beyond clinical settings. Lin received her M.S.P.H. in global health and population from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on a full scholarship and her B.A. in psychology and Asian Studies from the University of British Columbia.

Lesley Ma

Curator, Ink Art
M+

TAIWAN

“Leadership is always hard-earned, not a given. It is to put yourself in the shoes of your teammates and to invite them to see through your lens. A leader commits not only to their team’s advancement but also that of the community at large.”

Lesley Ma is the curator of Ink Art at M+, a new visual culture museum opening in 2020 in West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong. She heads the museum’s effort in collecting, exhibiting, and researching of ink art. In 2017, she curated the critically acclaimed exhibition, The Weight of Lightness: Ink Art at M+, and established herself and her institution as a leader in the field. In 2013, she co-curated The Great Crescent: Art and Agitation in the 1960s — Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan at Para Site, Hong Kong, which toured to Tokyo and Mexico City. From 2005 to 2009, she was the project director at artist Cai Guo-Qiang’s studio in New York and was a curatorial coordinator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles from 2011 to 2012. A recipient of the Fifth Yishu Award for Critical Writing on Contemporary Chinese Art, Ma has published in Chinese and English and has written for artforum.com, ArtAsiaPacific, and other prestigious publications. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego, where her dissertation was on abstract painting in postwar Taiwan. She received her master’s degree in museum studies from New York University and her bachelor’s degree in history and science from Harvard College.

John Mak

Co-founder
MM Community

HONG KONG

“Leadership is the ability to create a vision relevant to members and constituents of the community. More crucially, effective leadership involves the ability to put grand plans and visions into action through coalition-building and navigating across different stakeholders and interests.”

John Mak is Co-founder of MM Community, a government finance and public relations solution designed to supercharge Myanmar’s public infrastructure development in local communities. Previously, Mak was a social entrepreneur based in Hong Kong and Myanmar. He founded a non-profit venture with the purpose of connecting civil servants, professionals, youth leaders and industry experts in Hong Kong with those in Myanmar for knowledge exchange. His initiative has gained widespread support in both Hong Kong and Myanmar, including from the highest level of government. In 2017, Mak founded another Myanmar-based social enterprise which seeks to revolutionize traditional processes of community development by facilitating the government in issuing government bonds to local citizens. Prior to his entrepreneurial work, Mak worked at a local think tank and a global communications agency. During his studies, he also gained experience in both Houses of the United Kingdom Parliament, the Administrative Service of the Hong Kong Government, the Judiciary, the District Council and the political section of a media organization. Mak was an inaugural Obama Foundation Scholar at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and is also a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and a former TEDx speaker. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Durham.

Ermek Mamaev

Lawyer
Kalikova & Associates

KYRGYZSTAN    

“Leadership means serving others by actively listening, understanding and taking actions. Furthermore, leadership is about taking responsibility for our actions and caring about those whom we lead.”

Ermek Mamaev is a lawyer from Kyrgyzstan whose practice focuses on complex civil litigation, investment protection, and natural resources law. He currently works for Kalikova & Associates, Kyrgyzstan’s leading law firm, counseling local and foreign companies investing in the country’s economy. In Kyrgyzstan, Mamaev works to advance the rule of law in both the private and public sectors, and advocates for practical reforms that will improve the rights and opportunities of vulnerable groups, such as girls and women in rural areas and persons with disabilities. Mamaev was the leader of the Kyrgyz team at the 2018 Leaders Advancing Democracy (LEAD) Alliance Summit and is the only male representative from Kyrgyzstan at the Women Deliver Young Leaders Program (Class of 2018-19), an initiative that brings together young advocates from more than 138 countries, with the aim of advancing gender equality, health, human rights, and wellbeing of girls and women. He recently received his L.L.M in sustainable international development from the University of Washington School of Law, where he was a recipient of the Barer Fellowship from the Barer Institute for Global Human Services, and his bachelor’s degree in international business law from the American University of Central Asia.

Mia Mitchell

Senior Advisor for International Economic Affairs
White House National Security Council and National Economic Council

 

UNITED STATES

“To me, leadership means making decisions and engaging with the world with compassion and commitment.”

Mia Mitchell is Senior Advisor for International Economic Affairs at the White House National Security Council and National Economic Council. At the White House, she has led the development and launch of the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative, which aims to economically empower 50 million women across the developing world by 2025. Mitchell also works on U.S. policy toward the G7 and G20, where she’s served as the United States’ Sous-Sherpa. Over the past decade, she has served in a variety of roles across the U.S. Government, including with the White House Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and U.S. State Department. Outside of work, she spends her evenings and weekends working with Code for Nepal, a non-profit that she co-founded with her husband Ravi to increase digital literacy and the use of open data in Ravi’s home country of Nepal. Mitchell received her master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and her bachelor’s degree in government and economics from Smith College.

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Alex Moazed

Founder & CEO
Applico

UNITED STATES

“A future leader needs both skill and character: my team must trust that I have the expertise and the disposition to see our commitment through with integrity.”

Alex Moazed is Founder and CEO of Applico, where he works with Fortune 500 CEOs and boards to help them build or buy their own platform businesses. Clients include Ford Motor Company, Kloeckner Metals, and Reliance ADA Group. Recently, Moazed launched an exchange-traded fund (ETF) in cooperation with Wisdom Tree that will track stocks of platform businesses, enabling individual investors to benefit from the growing market share platforms command. In addition, he co-authored the best-selling book, Modern Monopolies, which examines and analyzes the platform business model dominating the 21st century economy. Moazed is a graduate of Babson College.

Enayat Najafizada 

Senior Policy Advisor
Independent Directorate of Local Governance

AFGHANISTAN

“To me, leadership is creating a vision where idealism meets pragmatism. It is about getting your hands dirty on the ground and leading by example.”

Enayat Najafizada is a senior policy advisor for Afghanistan’s Independent Directorate of Local Governance. Born into a poor family, Najafizada’s family had a collective vision inspired by two pieces of advice from his grandfather — get the best education possible and make sure that no one is left behind, not just in the family but also in the community and society. His grandfather was known for his passion for education but also for being tough by making Najafizada’s father and uncles walk for hours to go to school with only a piece of oiled bread in their bag that they ate on the way. Born during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Najafizada received his undergraduate degree from Balkh University and his graduate degree from the United Kingdom before returning to serve his country. He now works to help rebuild Afghanistan to ensure better education and working and living conditions for all Afghans who were left behind, and believes that it shouldn’t be a privilege to access quality education and basic health services.

Pak Shun Ng

Department Head
Republic of Singapore Air Force

SINGAPORE

“Leadership is a process of influencing others to believe in something that they would not otherwise and to pursue it together.”

Pak Shun Ng is a department head and a colonel in the Republic of Singapore Air Force. He previously served as a squadron commander and deputy director in the Singapore Ministry of Defence. He had also been seconded to the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry to work on policies related to SMEs and startups, where he helped develop the Public Private Co-Innovation Partnership program for Singapore’s public and private sectors to co-create innovative solutions that meet public needs and grow innovative enterprises. In his personal capacity, Ng serves on the boards of Singapore-based non-profit organizations such as the Counselling and Care Centre and the Woodlands Social Centre. He also serves in the Community Mediation Centre as a mediator appointed by the Singapore Ministry of Law, and is an advisory committee member for the Singapore University of Social Sciences’ Translation and Interpretation degree program, providing advice on curriculum matters. Ng received his master’s degree in international relations and his bachelor’s degrees in economics and public policy studies from the University of Chicago. He also received a master’s degree in sciences historiques, philologiques et religieuses from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and a bachelor’s degree in translation and interpretation from the Singapore University of Social Sciences. Ng was a Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received his M.B.A.

Nikora Ngaropo

Founder & Director
NNMD
Young Animators

NEW ZEALAND

“I learned that leadership is everywhere and comes in all shapes and sizes; for me, it is about helping others achieve greatness.”

Nikora Ngaropo is Founder and Managing Director of NNMD and Young Animators and continues to lead with his work in the commercial and public sectors. He operates a business that provides a multi-tiered, multi-faceted technology ecosystem to educate the next generation of Aotearoa New Zealand digital creatives and provide sustainable pathways into the technology industry. As part of this work, NNMD is in discussions with the Canadian and Australian governments to create a pipeline to provide students of Young Animators with international pathways into their countries. He draws motivation from his passion to inspire young people in Aotearoa New Zealand to engage with technology, increase their digital literacy, and to follow a path into the technology and innovation sector. A young Maori with connections to the North Island tribes of Te Rarawa, Tuhoe, Ngāti Porou, and Ngāti Kahungungu, Ngaropo seeks to create impactful change through collaboration, partnerships, and relationships tempered by creativity, culture, and commerce.

Mir Nadia Nivin

Governance & Institutional Reform Specialist
United Nations Development Programme

BANGLADESH

“My leadership style is best demonstrated in inducing and managing change and inspiring others towards a common goal.”

Mir Nadia Nivin is Governance and Institutional Reform Specialist at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where she has worked for the past 12 years with a particular focus on democratic governance and peacebuilding. She is currently assigned with UNDP Malaysia, assisting the government in implementing reforms in the areas of elections, parliament, the justice sector, and anti-corruption. She previously served as Head of Governance with UNDP Afghanistan — which was one of UNDP’s largest governance portfolios — implementing programs of several hundred million dollars. She has experience serving at the UNDP headquarters in New York, UNDP/UNV headquarters in Bonn, UNDP Pakistan, and UNDP Bangladesh. Prior to joining UNDP, Nivin was a lecturer at BRAC University and worked for several years as a journalist. She received her M.P.A from Harvard University and her master’s degree in computer science from California State University, Sacramento.

Nikhil Pahwa

Founder & Editor
MediaNama

INDIA

“Leadership involves inspiring, organizing, directing and empowering people towards a common, shared goal. The position is not an entitlement, but an opportunity.”

Nikhil Pahwa is an entrepreneur, journalist, and activist. He is Founder and Editor of MediaNama, a publication and community focused on helping build an open, fair, and competitive digital ecosystem. Pahwa is currently working on expanding MediaNama’s readership and community in Asia, in order to drive cross-border collaborations on technology policy. MediaNama was recognized as an Ecosystem Builder in India by Fortune in 2016. He also led the Savetheinternet.in campaign in India, the largest grassroots campaign in the history of India that brought together 1.1 million people, leading to the creation of the strongest net neutrality regulations in the world. Pahwa is a leading voice for internet freedom in India. He has advocated for the right to privacy and has pushed back against India’s biometric ID system, censorship rules, and surveillance. He is a founding member of PEN Delhi, the Delhi chapter of PEN International, which campaigns against attacks on writers. He was also the founding chairman of the Internet Freedom Foundation, which works on open Internet issues in India. Pahwa is a TED Fellow and was named one of Indians of Tomorrow Under 35 by India Today in 2012.

Megha Rajagopalan

International Correspondent
BuzzFeed News

UNITED STATES

“As a journalist, leadership means telling important stories that other media organizations are ignoring, and telling them ethically and with sensitivity.”

Megha Rajagopalan is an international correspondent for BuzzFeed News, based in the Middle East. Previously, she was BuzzFeed News‘ inaugural China bureau chief and a political correspondent for Reuters in Beijing. She has reported widely across China, South Korea and Southeast Asia on stories ranging from the North Korean nuclear crisis to the drug war in the Philippines. Rajagopalan was awarded the Human Rights Press Award for first documenting the rise of mass surveillance targeting Muslim minorities in China. In 2019, she won a Mirror Award for her work uncovering the links between Facebook and communal violence in Sri Lanka. Previously she was a Fulbright fellow in Beijing and a research fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington DC. She is a recognized expert on the subject of mass surveillance, and has spoken about her work at Yale University, Georgetown University, SOAS University of London, the European Council on Foreign Relations, the Oslo Freedom Forum, SXSW, and other forums. Rajagopalan also appears regularly on TV and radio programs including on NPR, BBC World News, CBS News, and Al Jazeera. She speaks Tamil and Mandarin Chinese.

Rhea Singhal

Founder & CEO
Ecoware

CANADA

“If my actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then I am a leader.”

Rhea Mazumdar Singhal is Founder and CEO of Ecoware, India’s first and largest sustainable packaging company. Singhal founded Ecoware after moving to India from the U.K. with the sole aim of solving India’s plastic menace. The company has since disrupted the food packaging industry by introducing a fully compostable alternative to plastic. Ecoware is made from the waste of agricultural crops that would otherwise be burnt, thus contributing to reducing air pollution. One of Singhal’s greatest successes has been persuading Indian Railways, the largest foodservice operator in India, to switch to Ecoware biodegradable trays. Prior to founding Ecoware, she was a senior sales executive at Pfizer Inc., Singhal was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2019, the highest civilian honor for women by the President of India. In addition, she is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (YGL) and a member of the CII National Committee on Women Empowerment & Clean Air. Singhal has been featured in major national and international publications and has appeared as a speaker at events for Salesforce and the National Commission for Women in India. She has attended the University of Bristol, Oxford University and Harvard University.

May Sripatanaskul

CEO
LUKKID

THAILAND

“I think a leader is one who knows the way, does the way, and shows the way.”

May Sripatanaskul is CEO of LUKKID, an innovation consulting enterprise that helps organizations innovate and develop new products and services through design-led approaches. Since 2013, Sripatanaskul and her team have worked with over 80 leading businesses in Thailand, including leading financial institutions, telecommunication operators, and manufacturers. LUKKID provides design thinking training, customized innovation co-creation programs, and executive coaching on corporate innovation initiatives. Sripatanaskul has extended her design thinking work beyond the corporate world by introducing and promoting the concept of social development and equity in Thailand. She is currently working on integrating her expertise in design thinking at the systems level, working with systems thinking experts in Thailand to develop a “social systems laboratory” that leverages the integrated process of systems thinking and design thinking to address social and equity problems in Thailand. Sripatanaskul was named an Atlantic Fellow in 2019 and an Equity Initiative Fellow in 2018. She received her M.B.A from Stanford University and was a d.leader at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (Stanford d.school).

Stephanie Sy

Founder
Thinking Machines

PHILIPPINES

“Great leaders are able to pull the best out of people and cultivate greatness in the service of a vision.”

Stephanie Sy is a technology entrepreneur and Founder of Thinking Machines, a technology firm that helps organizations make better decisions by building artificial intelligence tools and data platforms. Working with various sectors, including the civic sector, government and academic institutions, the company has grown to become Manila’s best data science firm and a regional contender with core offices in Manila and Singapore. Prior to founding Thinking Machines, she worked at a startup until its $350 million exit via Google acquisition. Post-acquisition, she worked at Google. Sy received her bachelor’s degree in management science & engineering from Stanford University.

Gita Syahrani

Executive Director
Secretariat of Sustainable District Association

INDONESIA

“Leadership for me means to serve a purpose bigger than yourself and communicating your purpose with such clarity that it excites others. Most ultimately, leadership means being kind.”

Gita Syahrani is Executive Director to the Secretariat of Sustainable District Association or Lingkar Temu Kabupaten Lestari (LTKL), which seeks to accelerate and better support sustainable Indonesia’s sustainable vision and emission reduction targets. The organization represents more than 52,000 square kilometers of forests and 55,000 square kilometers of peat with nearly one million farmers. Previously, Syahrani served as the senior program manager for the Indonesia Palm Oil Pledge, a leading member of the Planning and Funding Deputy of the former National REDD+ Agency, and the sustainable commodities and business manager at the World Resources Institute Indonesia. A firm believer in collective impact, she also co-founded and runs several community-based projects such as Hutan Itu Indonesia, a campaign to position forest as Indonesia’s identity, SiDalang & Indonesia Plastic Bag Diet, a waste management movement, and the Social Corporate Lawyer Society (SocolaS), a network of legal practitioners committed to providing low-cost corporate legal service for SMEs, social enterprises and social movements. Syahrani received her L.L.M in climate change and energy from CEPMLP, University of Dundee, where she studied as a Chevening Scholar and her L.L.B from Padjadjaran University Indonesia. She also earned a diploma in environmental law from the Washington College of Law at American University.

Van Ngoc Ta

Chief Lawyer
Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation

VIETNAM

“To lead means to create and foster trust. When we trust each other, work becomes more effective. When we trust each other, we can work together to change the world.”

Van Ngoc Ta is Chief Lawyer at Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, a charity that rescues Vietnamese children in crisis, including street kids and victims of human trafficking. He has personally secured the freedom of over 800 trafficking victims and provided legal representation to 90 victims of human trafficking and sexual abuse in 48 court cases. His tireless efforts have earned him the trust of police and government officials, who regularly invite him to assist in their anti-trafficking and law reform initiatives. Furthermore, Ta’s work is recognized by the international community. He was named a TIP Hero by the U.S. State Department in 2014 and received the inaugural Trust Women Anti Trafficking Hero Award from Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2015. More recently, he was recognized as a ZICO ASEAN 40 Under 40 honoree and was named an Asia Foundation Development Fellow in 2018. Ta received his master’s degree in sustainable development from Brandeis University and his bachelor’s degree in law from Hanoi University of Law. He received his license to practice law from Hanoi Judicial Academy.

Karen Tay

Smart Nation Director, North America — Prime Minister’s Office, Government of Singapore
Regional Vice President, Singapore Global Network — Economic Development Board, Government of Singapore
Faculty — Singularity University
SINGAPORE

“Having convictions, but being truly open to change and learning, is an essential part of my leadership. Listening deeply to the people I want to serve, my team members and my stakeholders forms the foundation of any sustainable change.”

Karen Tay is Smart Nation Director (North America) at the Singapore Prime Minister’s Office and Regional Vice President in the Singapore Global Network. A pioneer in both roles, she is building a team that forges strategic relationships with tech talent communities, industry, governments, and international organizations to support Singapore’s development into a “Smart Nation” and Southeast Asia’s development into a top tech ecosystem. In addition, Tay is a faculty member at Singularity University in Silicon Valley, where she teaches business executives, global organizations, policy-makers, and startup founders on topics at the intersection of tech and public good, including the future of governance, smart cities, and technology policy. She is the editor of Technology and Public Good, which has drawn over 50,000 visitors to date, and is also an executive coach focused on supporting women and minorities in tech. An innovator and leader in the Singapore Public Service, Tay has two passions in public service — finding ways for people to partner with the government and building a more inclusive society. Prior to her current role, she founded the Ministry of Education’s strategic communications group to enable a stronger feedback loop between policymakers, educator, and parents; started the Social Policy Review Commit-tee under Tharman Shanmugaratnam, which pushed major policy reforms to make Singapore’s preschool, healthcare, and disability policies more inclusive; was a founding member of the Strategy Group in the Prime Minister’s Office; and helped establish the Singapore Institute of Technology to support vocational students in obtaining degrees. Tay is also a seasoned political speechwriter. A mother of two, she resides in Palo Alto, California with her family.

Alistair Thornton

Co-Founder
Young China Watchers

UNITED KINGDOM

“I believe the most powerful and long-lasting societal changes occur when leaders start from the mindset of serving — serving others and serving a cause — rather than leading.”

Alistair Thornton is Co-Founder of Young China Watchers (YCW), a global community of China-engaged young professionals, which he founded in 2010 and has now grown to include more than 5,000 members across 10 chapters. YCW’s mission is to connect and educate the next generation of China-engaged leaders by hosting regular roundtable discussions (more than 90 in 2018), an annual flagship conference with King’s College London, two mentorship programs with Tsinghua University and the London School of Economics, the annual YCW Pulse Survey and a blog, including a partnership with Asia Society’s ChinaFile. Thornton is also Product Strategy Lead at Facebook, where he leads global strategic projects for Facebook’s commerce initiatives, including marketplace, Instagram shopping, and payments. Previously, he worked at Eachwin Capital, a hedge fund that invests in technology companies, and was Senior China Economist at IHS Markit, a data and research company. Thornton received his M.B.A from Stanford University and studied philosophy at The University of Edinburgh. He lived in Beijing from 2008 to 2013 and speaks Mandarin.

Farhad Wajdi

Founder & Executive Director
Ebtakar Inspiring Entrepreneurs of Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN

“Effective leadership is building a collective vision of success for followers. A true leader would sacrifice their present for a better future.”

Farhad Wajdi is Founder and Executive Director of Ebtakar Inspiring Entrepreneurs of Afghanistan, an NGO that addresses poverty, gender inequality, and violence against women in Afghanistan through social entrepreneurship. Wajdi was spurred on by widespread gender inequality that deprived Afghan women of their basic human rights to education, health, and freedom. He started his initiatives as early as 14 years old when he helped build a school in a small refugee town in Pakistan: his dedication to providing education protected 800 refugee children from child labor. Additionally, he runs a social venture and a consultancy firm with the mission of raising funds to incubate social business ideas that can lead to sustainable change in Afghan communities. Wajdi was named an Asia Foundation Development Fellow for the Emerging Leadership for Asia’s Future Program in 2019 and an EDD Young Leader by the European Commission in 2018. Most recently, he was named a Thomson Reuters Foundation Scholar.

Nat Ware

Founder & CEO
180 Degrees Consulting

AUSTRALIA

“Leaders push boundaries in a direction that moves the world towards one that is more just and more sustainable, where present and future generations can live with dignity and to their full potential.”

Nat Ware is an award-winning social impact economist, entrepreneur, and speaker. He is Founder and CEO of 180 Degrees Consulting, which he founded at 19 and built it into the world’s largest consultancy for non-profits and social enterprises, with 115 branches across 35 countries. The organization provides affordable consulting services by utilizing the untapped talent of top university students as consultants. So far, 180 Degrees Consulting has provided more than two million hours of consulting services to clients. At 16, he raised $100,000 to build an orphanage in Thailand. At 25, he received a Ph.D. from Oxford University, where he invented new ways to finance education and measure poverty, social impact, and government performance. Ever since, Dr. Ware has been called “the father of social impact economics.” He is a Rhodes Scholar, Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Australian Young Achiever of the Year, World Economic Forum Global Shaper, and was a visiting fellow at Princeton University. Dr. Ware is the recipient of the Oxford Vice-Chancellor’s Social Impact Award, the Saïd Prize for Top Oxford M.B.A Student, the Arthur Lewis Prize for Best Performance in Development Economics at Oxford, and the Convocation Medal for Best All-Rounder at Sydney University (1/33,000 students). He received the highest score for his speech at the World Debating Championships, a “No Corrections” for his Oxford Ph.D. (top 1 percent), and is the only two-time Global Winner of the St. Gallen Wings of Excellence Award. Dr. Ware has swum the English Channel to raise money for charity, given three TEDx talks, and is also the founder and CEO of Forte, a new way to finance education.

Savera Weerasinghe

Founder & CEO — MSH Packaging Industries
Founder — Ananta Sustainables

SRI LANKA

“Effective leadership should be catalytic in nature; it should recognize the inherent potential of all those within the community and envision opportunities for collaboration. It should enable modes and means that create a strong, collaborative community that serves all.”

Savera Weerasinghe is CEO of MSH Packaging Industries, an industrial paper sack manufacturer. The organization attempts to make the manufacturing facility environmentally and socially sustainable by solar powering the facility, employing 72 percent of women, and providing free meals and transportation. She is also the founder of Ananta Sustainables, Sri Lanka’s first sustainable packaging sourcing, supply and solutions provider offering industries with compostable packaging and waste management solutions. Ananta works to promote awareness of single-use plastic consumption by organizing community events such as trash sculpturing, plogging races, and workshops. Weerasinghe is also the co-founder of MiddyFund Inc, a New York-based non-profit that teaches ethnic minority middle and high school students to use design thinking to design, develop, and pitch solutions for social and environmental issues they face in their communities. She has also hosted Soneva Kiri’s Waste to Wealth Innovation Symposium in Thailand, Mandala Mornings-Jeffersonian tables for thought leaders in Sri Lanka, and Trash Talks, a platform for ideas and actions around waste management. Furthermore, Weerasinghe was a curator for the first international Women of the World festival in Sri Lanka and a panelist at the Singapore Eco Film Festival. She speaks on the effects of single-use plastic and the need for sustainable packaging at industry conferences, community events, schools and more.

Class of 2018

Jam Acuzar

Founder and Director
Bellas Artes Projects

 

Philippines

“Leadership to me means being able to communicate a vision, empowering those on your team, being able to pass along your knowledge, and learning from those that work in your organization.”

Jam Acuzar is founder and director of Bellas Artes Projects, a non-profit arts foundation based in the Philippines, where she develops and oversees the foundation’s artist residency program, community projects, and exhibitions in Manila and Bataan. She’s worked with prominent local and international artists such as Pawel Althamer, Paul Pfeiffer, Rana Begum and Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, and completed a site-specific installation in Bataan with Swiss artist Not Vital. She also leads Bellas Artes Outpost, a non-collecting, non-commercial exhibition space opened in 2016 that invites the public to engage with art, architecture, and other creative fields through its programming and art library. She also works in business development for her family’s real estate firm, New San Jose Builders, Inc.

Acuzar sits on the board of Manuel L. Quezon University. She was part of the Asia Art Archive’s Collector’s Circle, and recently joined the advisory group of the Taipei Dangdai Art Fair. Acuzar received her bachelor’s in art history from the American University of Paris and a certificate of art and business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

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Xyza Cruz Bacani

Independent Photojournalist
Redux Pictures

 

Philippines

“Leadership is doing what is right, even when there is no one looking. Leadership encourages us to dream, to maximize our potential, and to prove that all dreams are valid.”

Xyza Cruz Bacani is a Filipina photographer based in Hong Kong who uses her work to raise awareness about under-reported stories. Having worked as a second-generation domestic worker in Hong Kong for almost a decade, she is particularly interested in the intersection of labor migration and human rights.

Bacani is a grantee of the WYNG Media Award Commission, the Pulitzer Center, and the Open Society Moving Walls 2017. She is one of the BBC’s 100 Women of the World 2015, 30 Under 30 Women Photographers 2016, Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2016, and a Fujifilm Ambassador. She was one of the Magnum Foundation’s Photography and Social Justice Fellows for 2015 and has exhibited worldwide. She has won awards in photography and is the recipient of a resolution passed by the Philippines House of Representatives in her honor, HR No. 1969.

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Sopheap Chea

Executive Director
Bophana Audiovisual

 

Cambodia

“A leader must have management skills, creativity, and knowledge of his work in order to truly encourage. A leader must also be a tutor and teach others what they know to produce [a] … work environment in which the team … can work at their best.”

Sopheap Chea is the executive director at the Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center. His current project is an app about Khmer Rouge history, which is used as a teaching and learning tool in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. From a young age, he has been driven to learn the stories of life in Cambodia before he was born. That interest led him to Bophana, where he began work as an archivist. Since then, he has produced cultural events, run film festivals, installed exhibitions, and used Bophana resources to form links and networks between people in the sector. As his career develops, his projects have been increasingly linked to arts, culture, and media.

Chea received his master of arts in history from Khemarak University in 2012.

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Tsechu Dolma

Founder
Mountain Resiliency Project

 

United States

“Leadership is the grit, vision, and communication skills to be a positive and effective steward to our community and environment. It is the tool to address inequities and development gaps, and improve livelihoods.”

Tsechu Dolma is the founder of Mountain Resiliency Project, a social enterprise dedicated to building climate change-resilient communities through women’s empowerment in sustainable agribusiness. She runs indigenous honeybee farms, orchards, and greenhouses in remote Nepali mountain villages. Prior to this, she worked as a natural resource management consultant for UNDP in Latin America and SIDS climate change strategist for the Timor Leste Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Environment. She grew up in a Tibetan refugee camp in Nepal; fled the civil war, sought political asylum in New York, and ultimately returned to Tibet. She realized that there was work to be done and talent was needed now more than ever in the homeland she left behind. By finding gaps in the existing infrastructure, she makes deep investments in small-scale, practical solutions to development challenges through the Project.

Dolma has been recognized by Forbes 30 under 30 in Social Entrepreneurship, Fulbright Public Policy Fellows, Echoing Green Fellows and Brower Youth Awards winner. She has a bachelor’s in environmental science and an MPA in economic development from Columbia University.

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Amir Farmanesh

President and CEO
People Analytics Inc.

 

Canada / Iran

“Leadership is the art and science of shaping human interactions.”

Amir Farmanesh is the founder and CEO of People Analytics Inc., and of its subsidiary IranPoll, focusing on demystifying people’s behaviors and opinions in complex societies and difficult contexts. People Analytics Inc. is filling a long-standing void in global knowledge of people’s opinions in complex societies like Iran. Research conducted under Farmanesh’s leadership has had a notable impact, being widely utilized and cited by business and the policy community and more than 300 media outlets in over 50 countries. Previously, he has served as a visiting professor at the University of Toronto, an Edmond Safra fellow with Harvard University, an Erasmus Mundus fellow funded by the European Commission, a governance consultant with the World Bank Group, and a Mirzayan Policy fellow with the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Farmanesh holds a master’s and an MPA degree from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and a Ph.D. in policy studies from the University of Maryland.

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Ernestine Fu

Investor
Alsop Louie Partners

 

United States

“Moral rectitude is an essential component of leadership. Moral leadership includes many elements, with key dimensions being selflessness, genuineness, integrity, and empathy.”

Ernestine Fu is an investor at Alsop Louie Partners, an early-stage venture fund focused on cybersecurity, big data, and hard science companies. She led her first investment within two months of joining the firm and was recognized by several media outlets for bringing a fresh face to venture capital as a young Asian American woman. Committed to public service, Ernestine wrote Civic Work Civic Lessons with former Stanford Law School Dean Thomas Ehrlich. The book discusses how and why people of all ages should engage in public service. Fu started the nonprofit Visual Arts and Music for Society.

Fu served on a corporate philanthropy board for State Farm Insurance and sits on the advisory boards of various philanthropic organizations, including the Presidio Institute, Women and Girls Lead Global, and the Asian Pacific Fund. She completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at Stanford University, where she was awarded the David M. Kennedy Prize for the top thesis in engineering and natural sciences.

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Ziad Haider

Head of Risk, Asia
McKinsey & Company

 

United States / Singapore

“There is scope for leadership at every moment of one’s life guided by a civic sense of a duty to help those in need.”

Ziad Haider is Head of Risk, Asia at McKinsey & Company. He previously served in the Obama Administration as Special Representative for Commercial & Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. In this capacity, he led a 30-person team in helping U.S. businesses build partnerships and promote entrepreneurship and economic growth across Asia. He also served as a Member of the Policy Planning Staff in the Office of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and helped co-develop President Obama’s signature economic initiative for Southeast Asia (U.S.-ASEAN Connect); the inaugural U.S.-China Development Dialogue and U.S.-India Strategic & Commercial Dialogue; and the strategic communications plan to advance the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Prior to government service, he practiced international law in India, Singapore, and Washington, D.C., and worked with human rights NGOs in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan. His writings on Asian affairs have appeared in CNN, CNBC, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy. Proficient in Mandarin and fluent in Urdu, Haider grew up in Pakistan.

Haider received his undergraduate degree from Yale, MPA from Harvard, and JD from Georgetown. He was also a Fulbright Scholar in Malaysia.

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Hana Hayashi

Asia Pacific Director
McCann Health

 

Japan

“A true leader is someone who can be a strong advocate for people who lack a voice and who never gives up when facing obstacles. Instead, they move forward with courage, passion, and compassion.”

Hana Hayashi is Asia Pacific director at McCann Public Health and currently serves as a visiting scientist at the University of Tokyo. Recently, she was appointed as a member of the health task force committee for Fukuoka, the fifth-largest city in Japan, and has been engaged in its public health strategy development.  Her mission is to bridge the worlds of research and practice in order to create a healthier society. Maximizing her academic and professional experiences, Hayashi has led a number of behavior change communication programs for international and governmental organizations, national governments, municipalities, and private sector organizations worldwide. She completed advanced yoga teacher training in New York City. Based on her love of cooking, yoga, and nature, she also plans to develop her own project, Down to Earth, which will contribute to creating healthier communities.

Hayashi earned a master’s of education from the Boston University School of Education and a master’s and doctor of science degrees from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, as a Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholar.

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Jerry (Xiao Peng) He

Founder
Olivia Premium

 

New Zealand

“As leaders, we don’t need to be the most clever; however, we need to be the one who’s energized and passionate about achieving a common task. Loving and being passionate about what you do is a must.”

Jerry He is the founder of Olivia Premium, which aims to provide 100-percent-New Zealand-made products to children all around the world at reasonable prices. Over the years, 65 percent of their trade has been made through e-Commerce and WeChat channels, involving major players from China. Additionally, He is the chairman of the New Zealand Green Industry Association and a director at Feel Good Corporation. He is also the deputy governor of The Small Business Development Group, which advises the New Zealand government on issues affecting small and medium enterprises and helps government agencies communicate more effectively with them. In his position as the chairman of the New Zealand Green Industry Association, he also receives regular trade updates and speaks with China Inspection and Quarantine officials from Chinese Customs. He is chairman and board member of the Asia Pacific Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Trade Coalition.

He earned a master’s of IT management at the University of Auckland and a master’s of information systems at the Auckland University of Technology. He received a bachelor’s in information systems at the Manukau Institute of Technology.

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Rashna Imam

Managing Partner
Akhtar Imam & Associates

 

Bangladesh

“Leadership is fueled by a passionate vision. I have chosen the arena of law to realize mine. But visionary dreams cannot be realized without courage and integrity.”

Rashna Imam is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. Growing up in Bangladesh, she experienced first-hand the myriad issues that plague developing nations. While pursuing a successful career in law, she learned how the right legal frameworks can have a tremendous impact in ameliorating those issues. She now devotes most of her time and energy to public interest work. Prior to her shift in focus, she gained significant expertise in company and commercial Law as a corporate associate at Baker and McKenzie’s London office, where she had the opportunity to represent global giants like Arcelor Mittal and Schneider Electric. In Bangladesh, she advised clients like Visa Worldwide, Phillip Van Heusen, British American Tobacco, Phillip Morris International, and Ernst & Young. Imam has been ranked as a leading lawyer in Chambers and Partners, Asia-Pacific 2018.

She obtained a First Class LLB (honors) degree from the University of Buckingham in the U.K. and the prestigious bachelor of civil law degree from the University of Oxford.

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Gaoshan Junjian

National Program officer
United Nations Population Fund China Office

 

China

“Leadership means compassion for the most marginalized community members. They define how much your work will make a difference and how long your work’s impact will sustain.”

Gaoshan Junjian is the youngest national program officer at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) China Office. He is heading UNFPA China’s strategic program on adolescent and youth development. His work empowers the 278 million young people in China through health, education, and leadership programming. Previously, Gaoshan was a program manager at China Development Research Foundation, a think tank under the State Council of PRC, and the chairperson of the China Youth Network, the largest youth-led organization in China covering 30 provinces and enhancing young people’s wellbeing through peer education. Gaoshan is The Asia Foundation’s Development Fellow 2016.

Junjian received his master’s degree from the Duke University Global Health Institute and a bachelor’s degree from Renmin University of China in economics.

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Ratna Kartadjoemena

Partner & Director
Potato Head Family

 

Indonesia

“A leader teaches values to others, communicates them with passion, gets people excited about them … until the values catch on, latch on, and become a culture, a lifestyle.”

Ratna Kartadjoemena is a partner and director at Potato Head Family (PTT), a hospitality and lifestyle company in Jakarta, Bali, Singapore, and Hong Kong. She helped develop PTT’s first hotel, Katamama, in Bali and created systems to scale the growing company and programs to foster PTT culture internally. Currently, she oversees PTT’s Jakarta operations, leads its zero waste to landfill program, and champions responsible waste management to other companies. She helps several educational foundations, including two focusing on underprivileged youth hospitality education and career development. She is also a board member and investor in Du’Anyam, a social enterprise producing and distributing wicker crafts to economically empower and improve the health of women in rural Indonesia. Prior to that, she lived in New York City and helped manage Starwood Hotels & Resorts-owned hotels, and was a hospitality consultant at Ernst & Young. She began her career at the Corporate Executive Board in Washington, D.C.

Kartadjoemena received a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and a master’s of management in hospitality from Cornell University.

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Bulgantuya Khurelbaatar

Deputy Minister of Finance
Government of Mongolia

 

Mongolia

“Leadership challenges not only professional skills but also personnel skills and perseverance … Most importantly, being a leader requires you to have a strong value and build up a network to share that value.”

Bulgantuya Khurelbaatar is Deputy Finance Minister of Mongolia. In that role, she has close engagement with policy-makers and works with them to develop and implement budgetary and financial policies in line with the country’s development policies. She also serves as president of the Mongolian Association of State Alumni and vice president of the Mongolian Social Democracy-Youth Union, the youth organization of the Mongolian People’s Party. She previously worked as secretary of the Mongolian People’s Party from 2013-2016, after working as director of the business development department of Petrovis LLC. She also served as project manager and commercial principal advisor at Oyu Tolgoi Project. Prior to that, she worked as a consultant on World Bank projects in places such as East Timor and Palestine to improve public financial management.

Khurelbaatar obtained a bachelor’s in economics from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and master’s in International and Development Economics from Yale University.

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Ravi Kumar

Founder
Code for Nepal

 

Nepal

“Traditionally, we consider leaders as those who lead from the top …. I have realized that to enable every team member to contribute fully, a leader has to empower and support them in their analysis and decision making.”

Ravi Kumar is the founder of Code for Nepal, a non-profit working to increase digital literacy and the use of open data in Nepal. Via the nonprofit, he is opening up Nepal’s data to make it more accessible and understandable and has launched scholarship programs to help youth and women in Nepal become digitally savvy. Currently, he is leading a digital strategy team at the World Bank’s Governance Global Practice that supports 700 staff in 90 countries. He is also helping to build capacity for evidence-based policymaking in Nepal through a World Bank project. In 2009, he co-founded Grassroot Movement in Nepal, a non-profit that has rebuilt 30 schools. He serves on Buena Vista University’s President’s Advisory Council.

Kumar has been named in Forbes 30 Under 30’s list of social entrepreneurs in Asia. He holds a master’s from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Buena Vista University.

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Sanghyun Lee

Head of Public Policy
Airbnb

 

South Korea

“In today’s complex world, successful leadership requires experimentation, adaptation, and using creativity to build organizations with a diverse population.”

Sanghyun Lee is the head of public policy for Korea at Airbnb. In that role, he leads Airbnb’s work with policymakers in Korea, oversees the company’s efforts to educate the public about the community-wide economic benefits created by home sharing, and directs initiatives to communicate how the platform is helping democratize travel.  Prior to joining Airbnb, he managed Google’s public policy for entrepreneurship, content, and cultural affairs in Korea. Before joining Google, Lee worked at State Street Global Advisors in Boston, and the OECD in Paris. He has taught courses on leadership and entrepreneurship at Hanyang University.  Lee serves on the board of directors for NetKAL.

Lee graduated from the MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard University in 2010 and Emory University in 2001.

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Susli Lie

Co-Founder and Co-CEO
Dana Cita

 

Singapore / Indonesia

“To be a leader is to be simultaneously courageous and vulnerable. Without courage, it is not possible to break away from the status quo and by definition means you are a follower.”

Susli Lie is the co-Founder and co-CEO of Dana Cita, a Y Combinator-backed fintech student loan company, which aims to make higher education and vocational training in Indonesia accessible to all. Born and raised in Jakarta, Lie is a first-generation university graduate and wants to make the opportunity for learning available to every aspiring youth. Dana Cita, which means Aspiration Fund in Bahasa, is the first to provide loans to fully fund tertiary degrees and has helped students across 100 tertiary institutions. Since 2005, Lie has built a career in financial services, ranging from consulting, investing, and fintech entrepreneurship. She started her career in management consulting and subsequently held the first Asia-Pacific chief of staff role for Oliver Wyman. Her investment experience is focused on Indonesia and includes impact venture capital as head of investments at YCAB Ventures and private equity at Quvat Capital and LeapFrog Investments. She also advised the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank on higher education financing in emerging markets.

Lie holds a bachelor’s in economics and Chinese from Yale University, an MBA from Wharton, and a master’s in international development from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies.

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Huy The Luong

LGBT Activist
ISEE

 

Vietnam

“Leadership is not about leading first or climbing to the top, but to initiate, to inspire, to be brave, to be innocent, and to keep doing what we believe and never stop moving forward.”

Huy The Luong is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (“LGBTI”) activist in Vietnam at iSEE. He began volunteering in LGBTI advocacy work in 2008. In 2011, he officially joined the LGBTI rights movement and worked on the community’s communications and capacity building work, dealing with the press, schools, and health centers. Since 2013, Huy has focused on research, policy advocacy, and community building at the national, regional, and international levels. His efforts have fostered important policy dialogues with the government during campaigns to amend the Law on Marriage and Family to include same-sex union rights and pass a civil code that recognizes transgender individuals. He has also advised Vietnam’s participation in UN Human Rights Council mechanisms.

In 2014, Luong was named the most prominent LGBTI person of the year by ICS Center: Information Connecting and Sharing and Mot The Gioi newspaper. In 2016, Huy was on Forbes’ Vietnam’s “30 Under 30.” He earned his law degree at the Hô Chí Minh City School of Law Truòng Dai Hoc Luat Tp in Hô Chí Minh City. He is working on a master’s of law and sexuality at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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Pradip Pariyar

Executive Chairperson
Samata Foundation

 

Nepal

“Leadership for me is to serve marginalized people around the world, create a positive impact in their lives, and create opportunities for them to build their leadership to change the society.”

Pradip Pariyar is the executive chairperson at SAMATA Foundation, which conducts policy research and advocates for the rights of the Dalits, the most marginalized community in Nepal, in order to end caste-based discrimination. As the elected president of the Association of Youth Organizations Nepal (AYON), he worked closely with government of Nepal to initiate a youth-responsive budget. He was a member of the government task force that developed Youth Vision 2025, a 10-year governmental national youth development policy plan. He has trained thousands of youths in leadership, peacebuilding, and conflict-sensitive journalism across Asia and Africa. He founded the Nepal Youth Forum to focus on policy advocacy, awareness, and youth empowerment. In 2011, Pariyar was selected as a youth fellow by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Pariyar serves as the chairperson of the Nepal Policy Center, a youth-led think tank. In 2015, he received the Youth Leadership Award from the Nepali Government’s Ministry of Youth and Sports for his decade-long contribution to youth leadership development across Nepal. He studied at Tribhuvan University.

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Roshan Paul

Co-Founder and CEO
Amani Institute

 

India

“Leadership is not the charismatic visionary leading the pack, but the guide who helps the stragglers keep up. In that sense, everyone can be a leader … stepping up, and showing up even when you don’t want to, is the key to leadership.”

Roshan Paul is co-founder and CEO of Amani Institute, a new model of higher education that helps people build impactful careers. In just five years, Amani has become a $1 million financially sustainable nonprofit with offices in Kenya, Brazil, and India. Prior to Amani, he worked with Ashoka for 10 years. He is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Behavioral Science. He has lectured at over 40 universities globally, including Harvard, Georgetown, and Johns Hopkins. He gave the commencement speech at the University of San Diego in 2015 and a TEDx talk at TEDxAmsterdamEd and TEDx Bangalore Salon. His writing has been published in Forbes, Stanford Social Innovation Review, MIT’s innovations journal, and more. He has also written two books: Such a Lot of World, a novel, and Your Work Begins at No, a collection of essays on social impact education.

Paul holds a master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, a bachelor’s from Davidson College, and a certificate in creative leadership as a founding participant of THNK: The Amsterdam School for Creative Leadership.

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Paul V. Rivera

CEO and Co-Founder
Kalibrr

 

Philippines

“Leadership means accomplishing a collective mission that is bigger than one’s self, and that requires buy-in, sacrifice, and investment from everyone involved. Leadership is getting the group to accomplish that goal even if we all don’t get what we want and even if we don’t all agree.”

Paul Rivera is the co-founder and CEO of Kalibrr, a fast-growing recruitment technology startup that works with region’s top 1,000 employers. Kalibrr is based in Manila with operations in Jakarta. Kalibrr is backed by Omidyar Network, Patamar Capital, Kickstart Ventures, Wavemaker Partners, Y Combinator, and Kickstart Ventures and is devoted to solving the problem of recruitment and underemployment in the region. Prior to Kalibrr, he was the co-founder and president of Open Access, a technology-focused BPO in Makati that he co-founded and grew to over 1,000 employees in the five years he was running the business. He is an active investor in startups such as Maria Health and MyKuya. He started his career at Mercantila, an e-commerce startup that was eventually acquired by Google, and used to work at Google prior to coming back to the Philippines.

Rivera holds a bachelor’s in political economy from UC Berkeley.

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Abhay Saboo

Co-Founder
Viva Health

 

Indonesia

“Leadership must be driven [by] a genuine desire to ‘do the right thing’ at all times vs. acting a certain way while in public.”

Abhay Saboo is the co-founder of IQ Education, Viva Health, and YOU. His passion lies in creating businesses that contribute positively to the lives of mass-market consumers. IQ Education is a new after-school tutoring concept that reimagines the way children learn, and Viva Health’s 130 pharmacies and clinics have provided access to technology and quality healthcare to over two million mass-market consumers in Indonesia. Together with his business partner he also established a consumer health venture called YOU with the goal of addressing nutrition gaps caused by the poor diets of emerging market consumers.

Saboo holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech.

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Ting Shih

Founder and CEO
ClickMedix

 

Taiwan

“Leadership means to inspire change, turn ideas into reality, and empower teams to create wide-scale impact.”

Ting Shih is the CEO and founder of ClickMedix, an award-winning healthcare technology social enterprise born out of MIT to enable health organizations to serve more patients through its mobile health (mHealth) platform. She spent the last 10 years implementing mHealth programs across 20 countries, serving over 500,000 patients in Asia, Africa, South America, and North America to deliver financially sustainable health programs. The programs enable health workers and nurses to manage low-cost clinics using a mHealth kiosk that integrates with diagnostics devices to provide maternal/childcare, primary care, and chronic disease management services. Her work has been published by Forbes, New York Times, Guardian, the World Health Organization, and various medical journals.

Shih is the Asian American Chamber of Commerce Young Professional of the Year (2018), the winner of the USAID/DAI Innovation into Action Challenge in 2016, Toyota Mother of Invention in 2015, and Cartier Women’s Initiative Laureate 2012 for North America. She holds an MBA and MS in systems engineering from MIT and a BS in computer science and MS in software design from Carnegie Mellon University.

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Roopam Sharma, FRSA

Research Scientist and Innovator
Eyeluminati

 

India

“Leadership to me is applying practical, innovative, and sustainable approaches to benefit society in general, with an emphasis on those who belong to the bottom billion of the socio-economic pyramid … and helping people live a better life.”

Roopam Sharma, FRSA is an Indian scientist and innovator, creating social impact through disruptive technological inventions to solve perennial problems. He is best known for his work on Manovue, the world’s first intelligent personal assistance system for the visually impaired. Manovue combines vision intelligence and the internet of things in the form of an inexpensive wearable device, delivering a technology that replaces Braille and empowering more than 94 percent of visually impaired people.

Sharma is the youngest person ever to be recognized as one of the top innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review (2016) and was awarded the Gifted Citizen Prize in 2016, an international prize that honors the best social entrepreneur with an ability to benefit 10 million people over the next six years. He recently received the National Youth Award, the highest youth honor in the country given by the president of India for his contribution to the field of national development and social service through research and innovation.

He earned a bachelor’s of technology in computer science and engineering at Manav Rachna University.

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Aiko Shimizu

Head of Global Affairs
Daimler AG

 

Japan

“When plans and tactics fail, a leader must have the mental strength to hold the group together … strong leaders often understand what is most important to them, and lead by doing the right thing with the best of their abilities.”

Aiko Shimizu is Head of Global Affairs at Daimler — the parent company of Mercedes-Benz — and plays a leading role in shaping the company’s policy agenda on smart mobility, sustainability, and clean technology innovation through forming partnerships with stakeholders such as governments, think tanks, and startups in order to provide market intelligence and offer political risk analysis. In addition to her full-time job, she is a Millennium Fellow at the Atlantic Council and a Salzburg Global Fellow at the Salzburg Global Seminar. Previously, she worked on various international issues, including security, sustainability, disaster risk management, and energy at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the UN, and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. She has also held fellowships at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Pacific Forum CSIS, the Mansfield Foundation, and the East-West Center in Washington.

Shimizu received her graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and received her bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies from the University of Chicago.

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Renard Siew

Senior Executive
Sime Darby

 

Malaysia

“Leadership to me is about being able to influence, inspire and empower others to work towards a common vision. It is about being bold enough to take the first step.”

Renard Siew is a senior executive at the Sime Darby Group, where he is involved in driving the conglomerate’s corporate sustainability initiatives. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network Group, focusing on sustainable development, and heads Global Shapers Kuala Lumpur, an NGO with a strong presence in Malaysia. He is actively involved in challenging environmental policies within the country and calls for the development of cities which consider the needs of all age groups.

For his work in climate change and sustainability, Siew was named one of Malaysia’s Top 10 Most Inspiring Green Warriors. He was also selected and trained by former Vice President Al Gore as a Climate Reality leader. He holds a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from the University of New South Wales, and a postgraduate certificate in sustainable value chains from Cambridge University.

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Manizha Wafeq

President
Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry

 

Afghanistan

“For a woman, leadership is taking the charge of her life and the decisions she makes. Leadership for a woman is to be able to enhance her knowledge and skills to defend her right and her fellow women.”

Manizha Wafeq is the president of Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She has 16 years of work experience for women’s empowerment and gender equality. She established gender units in the Ministries of Commerce and Economy and trained more than 500 government employees in gender concepts in Kabul and in the provinces. She co-authored the Gender and the Legal Framework of Afghanistan training manual, as well as a training manual for start-up businesses. She has also worked as Afghanistan’s in-country facilitator for The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women’s PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS® program and has trained more than 270 businesswomen from Kabul and the provinces. She is the founder of the Bibi Khadija award, which annually awards successful business owners in Afghanistan.

Wafeq is also the winner of several awards from Enterprising Women Magazine USA, in leadership from the National Business Association of the U.S., and Young Activist Award from the Afghan Women’s Network and the Lower House of the Parliament. She holds an MBA from the American University of Afghanistan.

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Timothy Graham Watts

Member for Gellibrand
Parliament of Australia

 

Australia

“Courage and imagination is an aphorism that helps you to aim high, but to make sure you are on the right track and to bring people with you, empathy needs to be central to the leadership challenge.”

Timothy Watts is one of Australia’s youngest members of parliament. He was elected to the parliament as the member for Gellibrand in Melbourne’s West in 2013. As the member for one of Australia’s most diverse and dynamic electorates, he has made significant contributions to the political debate on Australia’s relationship with the Asia-Pacific, overseas development assistance, asylum seeker policy, and family violence. Before entering parliament, he worked in senior roles in the IT and telecommunications sector for nearly a decade in the government, at Australia’s largest telecommunications company, and international law firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques. He remains passionate about the potential of technological change.

Watts holds a bachelor of laws from Bond University, a master’s of public policy from Monash University and master’s of politics and communication from the London School of Economics.

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Anam Zakaria

Independent Oral Historian, Researcher, Author & Cultural Facilitator

 

 

Pakistan

“I want people around me to be able to freely share their ideas and empower them to execute those ideas without fear of failing. Because this is how they will learn. This is how I learned and is what brought me where I am.”

Anam Zakaria is an independent oral historian, researcher, author, and cultural facilitator. She previously led The Citizens Archive of Pakistan’s (CAP) Oral History program, conducting hundreds of oral histories with Partition survivors and religious minorities. She frequently writes on issues of conflict and peace in South Asia for various news outlets and peacebuilding platforms. Her first book, The Footprints of Partition: Narratives of Four Generations of Pakistanis and Indians (2015) won the KLF-German Peace Prize 2017. Her second book, Between the Great Divide: A Journey into Pakistan-administered Kashmir (2018), employs oral histories to explore the human impact of Kashmir conflict. She also served as director of Exchange for Change at CAP, connecting thousands of schoolchildren in India, Pakistan, and the U.S. through letters, postcards, and a physical exchange. She continues this line of work as an independent cultural facilitator and is currently connecting children in India and Pakistan through virtual exchanges with the goal of inclusive dialogue, tolerance, and peacebuilding.

Zakaria has a degree in international development from McGill University and a certification in psychotherapy and counseling with a special interest in trauma and healing in conflict zones.

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Namgay Zam
Independent Multimedia Journalist and Activist

 

 

Bhutan

“Leadership is empathetic service guided by the belief that all humans are inherently good and deserve a fair chance at a decent and fulfilled life.”

Namgay Zam is an independent multimedia journalist, a media and communications trainer, and an activist. She is the producer and host of Bhutan’s first and only mental health show: Mind Over Matter Bhutan. She has been a journalist for the last 10 years, beginning her career with the country’s first national youth radio station, then moving to the national broadcaster as a producer, news editor, and anchor in English. She is also the only Bhutanese journalist to have covered the World Cup. As an activist, Zam works for social justice, gender equity, and mental well-being. She often works pro bono with several NGOs that align with her activist learnings. Zam also works closely with the Bhutan Network for Empowering Women to push for more women leadership, and with Bhutanese youth to help them find and build drug-free creative spaces in Bhutan. One such project is called “Gokab,” which is now the country’s biggest street-dance competition.

Zam was a Humphrey Fellow at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. She has a bachelor’s degree from the Lady Shriram College for Women, Delhi University.

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Cherry Zhu

Principal
Venture Avenue Consulting

 

China

“Leadership is a circular inward-outward process: Authenticity → Truth → Strategy → Systematic impact → Individual change. People in the community will see and feel such systematic changes.”

Cherry Zhu is a principal with Venture Avenue (VA), China’s leading development consulting firm serving the philanthropic sector. At VA, she has served clients such as the British Council (“Southeast Asia Social Enterprise Scoping”), the Asian Development Bank (“Inclusive Business in China”), Fortune 500 multi-national corporations (on corporate social responsibility strategy), and family foundations (strategy, culture, and branding). Additionally, she is the managing director of Yu Fund, China’s pioneering impact investor established as a joint venture with Tsinghua University. She serves as board member for Minghui Empowerment Education Transformation Center, a community-based NGO serving ethnic minority youth in Yunnan. She is also a research collaborator with Fudan/University of Brighton on organizational value and legacy (“WeValue”). Previously, she worked on a number of projects in the energy and healthcare sector at LEK consulting.

Zhu holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the Renmin University of China.

Class of 2017

CHERRIE ATILANO
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT/CEO
AGREA AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
PHILIPPINES

“Leadership is leading the way you like to be led. It is about empowering and enabling people and having the humility to listen, learn and serve.”

CHERRIE ATILANO is the founder and CEO of AGREA Agricultural Systems International, Inc., an agro-social enterprise that aims to help eradicate poverty for farming and fishing families in order to alleviate the effects of climate change and establish food security in the Philippines. AGREA has been mobilizing communities, businesses, academia, local and national governments, and international partners to bring an “Ecology of Dignity” to farming and fishing communities on the island of Marinduque. Previously, Atilano worked as a consultant with the Department of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines and helped to form a cooperative of 241 smallholder farmers in the country.

Atilano is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and Advisory Board Committee Member. She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including Inspiring Filipina Entrepreneur in 2017, The Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service Award in 2016, and Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines in 2007, among others. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s in horticulture from Visayas State University.

JIEUN BAEK
PHD CANDIDATE, OXFORD UNIVERSITY
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,  LUMEN
UNITED STATES

“True leaders are called upon by circumstances to drive a group of people to a better place, and their vision must be anchored in wisdom, long-term thinking, political finesse, empathy, and humility. Effective, wise leadership is executed in a way that is self-reflective, fully open to criticism and improvement, and inclusive.”

JIEUN BAEK is a doctoral candidate in public policy at the University of Oxford, where she is studying early dissenters in authoritarian countries. Previously, she was a research fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University where she authored North Korea’s Hidden Revolution: How the Information Underground is transforming a Closed Society (Yale University Press, 2016). Baek worked at Google, where among other roles she served as Google Ideas’ North Korea expert. She has appeared on NPR, Al Jazeera, Arirang, and KBS, and has written for Politico, The Huffington Post, and various Harvard publications. Baek co-produced a 53-minute documentary on Korean families divided since the Korean War called “Divided Families” and works with North Korean defector organizations that send information into North Korea.

Baek received her bachelor’s degree in government and master’s degree in public policy from Harvard.

SEREY CHEA
DIRECTOR GENERAL
NATIONAL BANK OF CAMBODIA
CAMBODIA

“I want people around me to be able to freely share their ideas and empower them to execute those ideas without fear of failing. Because this is how they will learn. This is how I learned and is what brought me where I am.”

SEREY CHEA is director general at the National Bank of Cambodia and chairwoman of Cambodia’s Credit Bureau. In this capacity she is involved in the design and implementation of the financial and monetary policy of Cambodia. She sits on the Alliance for Financial Inclusion’s committee on gender and women’s financial inclusion, a global initiative to promote women’s access to finance. She is also a board member of Smile Cambodia, Khmer Sight, and Raksa Koma Foundation, and she serves as president of the Cambodia Economic Association.

Chea received her MBA in banking from the University of London, a post graduate certificate in commerce and administration from the University of Sydney, and a BCA in finance and accounting from Victoria University of Wellington.

ROBIN CHIANG
VENTURE PARTNER
WELKIN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
TAIWAN/AUSTRALIA

“I am passionate about using entrepreneurship as a catalyst for change, particularly in a rapidly developing Asia. As such, I hope to use the business and government networks and resources I have gained in my 15-year career as a financier of new and fast growing businesses to turbocharge the growth of social enterprises and their causes.”

ROBIN CHIANG is a venture partner with Welkin Capital Management. He previously served as managing director of investments at Haitong International, vice president at AEA Investors, and an analyst with Morgan Stanley. Chiang is passionate about his role as a growth equity and angel investor to empower entrepreneurs to create opportunities for themselves and their communities. Some of his investments include Aidi Education in Beijing, a leading international school catering to local children; Sinomachinery in Shanghai, a leader in agriculture machinery; and Allume in Australia, which facilitates sharing of solar energy cheaply and efficiently.

He holds undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and law from the University of Melbourne and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

KUSHAL GURUNG
FOUNDER & CEO
WINDPOWER NEPAL
NEPAL

“Not all the things in the world are equal and just, and it takes great leadership to amend such discrepancies.”

KUSHAL GURUNG is an entrepreneur and champion for low carbon economic development. He is the founder and CEO of WindPower Nepal, a company that provides low carbon solutions to the country’s problems. Gurung contributes regularly to newspapers, has been featured in television interviews, and delivers lectures and presentations on climate change, renewable energy, and entrepreneurship. He also assists the Nepal Mountaineering Association design and organize their Annual Mountain Festival, which is aimed at protecting Nepal’s mountain environment and culture as well as enhancing the livelihoods of mountain communities. Gurung is a member of the Energy Development Council, a non-profit umbrella association of organizations involved in the energy sector, where he acts as an advocate for energy policy reforms.

In February 2017, the government of Nepal appointed Gurung as an expert member of the Environment Protection Council, chaired by the prime minister of Nepal. He holds a master’s in carbon management from the University of Edinburgh.

SAYED ZAFAR HASHEMI
POLITICAL COUNSELOR
EMBASSY OF AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN

“A leader is a problem solver who seamlessly combines intellectual maturity and a passion for driving change. A leader is approachable, and views others’ success as his own. Effective leaders see success in nurturing and empowering others rather than looking after and satisfying their personal interests. A true leader takes more blame and less credit because, as I have witnessed through personal experience, it’s ultimately the team that defines success and failure of a leader, not the other way around.”

SAYED ZAFAR HASHEMI is the political counselor at the embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C., where he manages the embassy’s relations with the U.S. Congress. Prior to this, he was deputy (and acting) spokesman for the president of Afghanistan, managing and coordinating communication between the presidential palace and government with local and international media. Previously, Hashemi worked for the Afghanistan service of Voice of America, reporting on Afghan, American, and world affairs for radio, television and the web — in both Farsi and English. He managed public affairs and communications at the Afghanistan Stabilization Program under the Afghan Interior Ministry, and a UNDP-funded project to produce media content about democracy, elections, and civic participation in post-9/11 Afghanistan.

Hashemi holds a bachelor’s in political science and journalism from the University of Maryland University College and an master’s in public management from Johns Hopkins University.

MELISSA JARDINE
BOARD DIRECTOR
THE GLOBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION
AUSTRALIA

“My leadership style emphasizes sharing knowledge, being comfortable with ambiguity in complex adaptive environments, being open about personal success as a non-linear process, and trusting others with responsibilities that are meaningful, challenging, and pivotal to the overall success of a project.“

MELISSA JARDINE is board director for the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association (GLEPHA) and gender advisor and communications manager for the Centre for Law Enforcement and Public Health. She is a former police officer with a deep interest in the development of policing, law, and security in Asia. Jardine began her Vietnamese-language studies at Monash University in 1997 and is currently a doctoral candidate at the UNSW Law School on the topic “Policing in a Changing Vietnam.” She has conducted primary research on provincial economic growth in China and its relationship to punishment for economic crimes, has studied Arabic, and has examined counterterrorism in the ASEAN region.

Prior to commencing her doctorate, Jardine completed a master of Asian studies at Monash University followed by a master of philosophy at The University of Melbourne, where her thesis examined police responses to the implementation of drug harm reduction programs in Hanoi, Vietnam.

SHOUGAT NAZBIN KHAN
FOUNDER & CHAIRPERSON
H.A. FOUNDATION
BANGLADESH

“In my own reflection, leadership is a journey with a powerful vision to better the lives of others by empowering them to succeed. It’s about inspiring others to have visions through leading by example. Building credibility around the work with courage and persistence is crucial for productive leadership.”

SHOUGAT NAZBIN KHAN is the founder and chairperson of the H.A. Foundation and H.A. Digital School and College in Bangladesh, an organization seeking to empower disadvantaged rural communities by providing them with quality education and skills training through digital tools. Khan has developed a gender responsive strategy for education, and training and entrepreneurship development that responds to the needs of rural people. In recognition of her achievements, she was awarded the Commonwealth Youth Award for Excellence in Development Work and Outstanding Contribution in Education Award 2017, among others. Khan was named Asia Young Person of the Year in 2016 and received the Green Talent Award for her innovative sustainable development projects.

She is currently working on information communications technology and entrepreneurship training programs for unemployed rural youth and women, and was recently featured in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list of Asian social entrepreneurs. Khan graduated with a master’s degree from Pondicherry University in India.

RAHEEL KHURSHEED
HEAD OF NEWS PARTNERSHIPS
INDIA & SOUTHEAST ASIA
TWITTER
INDIA

“Throughout my life, the purpose of my leadership has been located in public service with an emphasis on democratizing information. I have been guided by my passion for organizing information so that it can be used by those who need it the most.”

RAHEEL KHURSHEED heads news partnerships for Twitter in India and Southeast Asia. In this role, he leads the development and rollout of civic tech products — such as Twitter Seva, Twitter Samvad, and SmartFeed — that democratize information, help governments perform their jobs with accountability and transparency, and enable meaningful citizen engagement. Khursheed’s innovative product and partnerships work — from Twitter SMS alerts to live data on national television — have dramatically altered how elections and politics are narrated in India. He previously served as director of communications for India at Change.org, leading an effective strategy that seeded petitioning as an organizing tool, and organized the “Stop Rape” campaign that helped change rape laws in India. A cross-platform journalist and storyteller, Khursheed has worked in, written, produced, and broken stories for outlets such as Vice and PBS.

He has had the rare distinction of winning the 2017 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellowship at Harvard and the 2017 Yale World Fellowship in the same academic year.

SASIBAI KIMIS
MANAGING PARTNER
EARTH HEIR
MALAYSIA

“It is only by realizing that a leader exists to serve others that great leaders are molded with a sense of commitment to make a difference. I find that great leaders are able to not only live out their own purpose and mission in life, but act as change makers to ignite and empower others to live out their purpose. A great lesson from leaders who have inspired me is to never think that any job or task is below oneself, rather to act with humility of service in the treatment of others.”

SASIBAI KIMIS is currently managing partner at Earth Heir, a luxury craftsmanship brand that infuses modern design into traditional crafts. Prior to this, she was a vice president in the investments division at Khazanah Nasional and served as a director in the private equity team at First Avenue Partners LLP. Kimis also worked in Ghana with Opportunities Industrialization Centers International and UNDP, and in New York as an investment banking analyst at Lehman Brothers. She was one of Wharton’s “40 under 40” award winners in 2015 and was an Eisenhower Fellow in the 2015 Women’s Leadership Program, where she focused on socio-entrepreneurship and preserving heritage craftsmanship skills.

Kimis graduated cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s in economics (finance and management) and obtained a master’s in environment and development from Cambridge University.

TENZING LAMSANG
FOUNDER & CEO
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
THE BHUTANESE NEWSPAPER
BHUTAN

“I have always realized that leadership is an important calling that must be backed up by passion, hard work, and ethical behavior. Leadership, for me, has been the ability to lead by setting examples and be willing to commit one’s own free time and resources to the cause. Leadership in many ways is also the ability to organize and network and then use group strength and coordination to address common issues and challenges.”

TENZING LAMSANG is the editor-in-chief and founder of The Bhutanese Newspaper, a private national weekly in Bhutan. His work is guided by a belief in making a positive impact on Bhutan’s young democracy and providing bold, well-researched, balanced, and contextual stories on an array of topics, providing an alternative and critical voice to public discourse. He is a four-time winner of the Best Investigative Story of the Year award. Lamsang was elected president of the Media Association of Bhutan (MAB), an organization that aims to address common issues and concerns of media in Bhutan.

He graduated from St. Stephen’s College (Delhi) with a bachelor’s in history.

LIU CHENHUI
CO-FOUNDER & COO
APRICOT FOREST
CHINA

“It means hearing my own inner voice and empowering others to find their own.”

LIU CHENHUI is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Apricot Forest Inc., a leading mobile health startup in China that serves over one-third of all Chinese doctors. In 2015, Apricot Forest was named one of the most innovative health care companies in the world by Fast Company magazine. Liu received her postdoctoral training at the Harvard School of Public Health, focusing on health care system reform research in rural China. As a fellow with professor William Hsiao, Liu led a research project on health care reform in Ningxia Province funded by the Gates Foundation. Prior to this, she served as a research fellow with the China Medical Board and research assistant with the Global Commission on Health Professional Education.

Liu graduated from the Harvard School of Public Health with a master of public health degree in 2010 and Peking Union Medical College with a doctor of medicine degree in 2009. She was an inaugural fellow of The Equity Initiative for leadership for health equity in Southeast Asia.

HENRY F. MAKEHAM
ASSOCIATE
LINKLATERS LLP
AUSTRALIA

“A densely networked region of next generation leaders with shared interests in promoting an Asia Pacific community — as opposed to acquiescing to strategic drift — will advance the region’s public interest. Participation in the Initiative as a delegate will provide an invaluable opportunity to develop strong relationships with an inter-disciplinary community of young leaders committed to sustaining peace and prosperity throughout the region.”

HENRY F. MAKEHAM is a U.S. mergers and acquisitions associate with Linklaters LLP qualified to practice in New York, Hong Kong, and Australia. He has extensive experience in cross-border transactions counselling Asian clients investing abroad, especially where there is a U.S. nexus. In 2010, Henry founded the Australia-China Youth Dialogue; Australia’s preeminent track two early career leaders forum with Greater China. He serves on the Panel of Advisors of the University of Sydney’s China Studies Centre and has written on Asia Pacific regionalism, ‘Chinese Perspectives on the Feasibility of an Asia Pacific Community’, published in The Chinese Journal of International Politics (Oxford University Press). He has been a participant in the Young Leadership Dialogue of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue and the Australia-China Forum (the precursor to the Australia-China High Level Dialogue).

Makeham graduated with double First Class Honors degrees from the Australian National University in Law and Chinese Studies. He is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavor Award, and was honored as the university’s 2015 Young Alumnus of the Year. He also holds a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School where he served as Managing Editor of the Harvard Business Law Review, and was awarded a Dean’s Scholar Prize for his work in Leadership in Law Firms.

SANA MIR
CAPTAIN
PAKISTAN NATIONAL WOMEN’S CRICKET TEAM
PAKISTAN

“To me, leadership is service. It not only empowers individuals to be the change they wish to see, but also gives them a unique opportunity to positively impact the lives of others. I believe an able leader is one who can nurture and give others the confidence to come into their own. A leader is one who has the will and capacity to give back to society selflessly.”

SANA MIR is captain of the Pakistan women’s cricket team and part of a select group of seven international women cricketers who have achieved the double feat of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in One Day International (ODI) cricket. She led the Pakistan women’s cricket team to two gold medal wins at the Asia Games in 2010 and 2014 and was decorated with the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Medal of Excellence) in 2012 by the president of Pakistan. She was also named the PCB Woman Cricketer of the Year. She has captained the Pakistan women’s cricket team for six ICC Cricket World Cups.

On the domestic circuit, Mir captains the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd. (ZTBL) team — now undefeated for the past eight years. On and off the field she serves as a role model for girls and women in Pakistan and works toward changing attitudes about women’s participation in the traditionally male-dominated sport of cricket.

“ALLEN” ALI MOHAMMADI
CEO & CO-FOUNDER
HIPPOGRIFF AB
IRAN / SWEDEN

“To be truly successful and impactful as a leader, you have to drop your ego, personal agendas, and hunger for praise. It’s not about you. It’s about the achievement of goals that bring you closer to the vision. It’s about the empowerment and alignment of people. It’s about innovation and creating something that’s greater than its present form. I believe leadership is a mindset. It’s something you have to be passionate about, you need the heart for it, to be strategic and intelligent, and be a catalyst of greatness to influence people and extract their full potential.”

“ALLEN” ALI MOHAMMADI is the CEO and co-founder of Hippogriff AB, a technology-innovation company based in Sweden with a vision to save at least one million lives each year. Since 2014, he has been leading an interdisciplinary team of doctors, engineers, and computer scientists to develop groundbreaking technology to detect heart disease at a significantly earlier stage. Mohammadi has been selected by Forbes as one of the 30 most influential innovators in Europe and was featured on the magazine’s “30 Under 30” list in 2017.

He holds two master’s degrees in engineering technology from Uppsala-University in Sweden and Karlsruhe-Institute-of-Technology (KIT) in Germany with a specialization in innovation and entrepreneurship.

JUNE PARK
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW
CENTRE ON ASIA & GLOBALIZATION
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
REPUBLIC OF KOREA

“Being a leader means that you have a voice and are able to send out a message to others. Leadership comes with privilege but also responsibility to affect somebody in a positive way. Leaders have a duty to connect with people with the voice that takes society forward, with impact and compassion. Time and again, I have been disappointed by influential people around the world who wield tremendous amounts of power but do not use it toward a good deed.”

JUNE PARK is a postdoctoral fellow with the Centre on Asia and Globalization at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. She specializes in U.S. foreign economic policymaking on the export-oriented countries of Northeast Asia (China, Japan, and South Korea). She is currently working on a book titled Trade & Currency Conflict: Northeast Asian States Responses to U.S. Pressures. It argues that, contrary to the conventional wisdom that geopolitical interests define China, Japan, and South Korea’s attitudes vis-à-vis the U.S., it is institutional variance among the three countries that leads to different policy responses in trade and currency conflicts with the U.S.

Park graduated with a doctorate in political science from Boston University as a Fulbright Fellow, and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from Korea University.

CHERYL PERERA
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
ONECHILD
CANADA

“A leader is not the charismatic individual who commandeers and takes center stage. Instead, authentic leaders are strong and lead their flock from behind. They are empathetic and humble. They recognize that leadership is not about themselves, but about service above self. They possesses a vision greater than themselves — to serve society, unify, inspire, galvanize, and empower others, not by words, but by example to contribute to this vision, and to recognize and hone in on their own leadership abilities.”

CHERYL PERERA is the founder and president of OneChild, the first organization in the world to empower a youth movement to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Perera’s career as a children’s rights activist spans over a decade and 21 countries. Beginning at the age of 17, she independently investigated child exploitation in Sri Lanka and worked with the National Child Protection Authority to apprehend a perpetrator, earning herself an offer to serve as the president of Sri Lanka’s Nominee on Child Protection. Since then, she has continued to help investigate cases of international child sex tourism and helped pioneer Canada’s movement against it. She also works to provide shelter, education, and long-term care to hundreds of victims and at-risk children across the Asia-Pacific. A sought-after speaker and trainer, Cheryl has shared the stage with U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon and Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi.

Perera is pursuing a master’s of advanced studies in children’s rights at the University of Geneva. She has completed an executive education in transformational leadership and public policy at the University of Oxford and at Harvard University.

ELEANOR ROSA PINUGU
FOUNDER
MANO AMIGA ACADEMY
PHILIPPINES

“Leadership is being authentic to one’s purpose and using one’s unique capabilities in order to create value for society and facilitate the growth of people.”

ELEANOR ROSA PINUGU founded Mano Amiga Academy, a sustainable nonprofit school designed to provide high-quality education and development services to low-income communities. She is also the co-founder of Bistro 3846, a social enterprise that provides healthy meals to schoolchildren, employs the parents of the Mano Amiga students, and donates its profits to the Mano Amiga scholarship fund. Pinugu’s vision is to make quality education accessible to all children. She was named a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum and was chosen to speak at the IdeasLab session at the 2012 WEF annual meeting in Davos, where she received a grant of $10,000 from the Good Planet Foundation. She is also one of the youngest recipients of The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service — considered the most prestigious award for women in the Philippines.

Pinugu received her bachelor’s degree from Ateneo De Manila University and holds a postgraduate certificate in sustainable business value chains from the University of Cambridge.

RUANGROJ (KRATING) POONPOL
MANAGING PARTNER
500 TUKTUKS
THAILAND

“The last decade in Thailand was considered a lost decade due to political infighting and gridlock, economic stagnation, and natural disaster. It has fallen from one of the rising Asian Tigers to the sick man of Asia. I want to change that and turn this country around by rebuilding the foundation for the future generations of Thailand.”

KRATING POONPOL is managing partner of 500 TukTuks, a micro-fund focused on startups that show promise in Thailand and Southeast Asia. Within 20 months, he invested in 37 startups and is currently the most active venture capitalist in Thailand. He is also the founder of Disrupt University, a pioneering startup school in Thailand and Southeast Asia that has educated almost 1,000 startup founders and influencers. Krating was named Thailand’s Businessman of The Year in 2016 and was the first Thai selected to participate in the Kauffman Fellow Program — a prestigious two-year program for top venture capitalists. Poonpol previously worked as a product marketing manager with Google Earth and served as CEO of the Silicon Valley-based Moblitz.

Poonopl holds a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

SHAMEER RASOOLDEEN
HOST
FACE THE NATION
SRI LANKA

“As a journalist, particularly in the current global context of shrinking space for and attacks on the media, I know from experience that the media often acts as the bulwark against creeping authoritarianism. In this regard, while I have ensured my media organization has provided coverage to key issues that affect the country even during difficult and dangerous times, I have also used the shows I have anchored and moderated as conduits to provide space to hitherto marginalized and silenced voices.”

SHAMEER RASOOLDEEN is the host of Face the Nation, a weekly current affairs show that covers issues of social and political relevance in Sri Lanka. Prior to this, Rasooldeen was a journalist with News1st, becoming the youngest director of English news at the largest media organization in Sri Lanka. He has reported on a wide range of issues including armed conflict and natural disasters in Sri Lanka for CNN World Report as well as Channel News Asia. He was named a CNN Fellow in 2007 and awarded the Dag Hammarskjold Fellowship in 2012. He also initiated U-Report, Sri Lanka’s first ever citizen journalism initiative with over 25,000 reporters, to increase the accountability of government and elected representatives and create a space for marginalized voices in television and the media.

Rasooldeen volunteers as a mentor of the Gammadda Initiative, which supports rural communities’ access to substantive solutions to address poverty and discrimination.

SANTITARN SATHIRATHAI
HEAD OF EMERGING ASIA ECONOMICS RESEARCH
CREDIT SUISSE
THAILAND

“The world’s most pressing development problems today transcend traditional boundaries of countries, disciplines, and sectors. Development policies are no longer just the responsibility of governments. We need passionate and open-minded leaders from different countries and sectors to come together to tackle development challenges ranging from inequality to environmental degradation from multiple angles. I believe Asia 21 provides the platform and network to do just that and make a difference.”

SANTITARN SATHIRATHAI is the head of Emerging Asia Economics Research at Credit Suisse, based in Singapore. In this role he recruits, manages, and supervises a team of economists covering nine economies in the region. In addition to his specialization in ASEAN economies, he is also responsible for conducting Pan-Asia thematic economic research. He won the award for best economic forecaster in Indonesia by Consensus Economics three years in a row, ranked first in Thailand macroeconomics in Asia Money (2015), and is part of Credit Suisse’s Thailand and Malaysia research teams that consistently rank highly in various institutional investor surveys.

Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Sathirathai worked at Thailand’s Ministry of Finance and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and taught macroeconomic courses at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. He also founded Brain Exchange Initiative, a program that helps connect scholars and students to social enterprises in Thailand. Sathirathai holds a doctorate in public policy and a master’s in public administration in international development from Harvard University, as well as a bachelor’s in

JHUMA SEN
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
JINDAL GLOBAL LAW SCHOOL
INDIA

“Leadership is neither in leading, nor following, but in actively resisting, persisting, and never giving up.”

JHUMA SEN is an assistant professor at Jindal Global Law School where she also serves as an assistant director at the Centre for Human Rights Studies. Her work is at the intersection of gender, law, courts and constitutionalism. Prior to her academic career, she practised law at the Supreme Court in the Offices of the Additional Solicitor General. She is also the convener of the Feminist Judgment Project, India — a project that writes alternative judgments using a feminist lens.

Sen holds an undergraduate law degree from Symbiosis Law School (Pune), and a postgraduate law degree from the University of California, Berkeley where she was an American Association of University Women’s International fellow. She has been a visiting fellow with Cornell Law School, the Erik Castren Institute (Helsinki), and the National University of Singapore. She will be a Scholar in Residence at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law at Oñati beginning December 2017 to work on her monograph on sexual harassment in workplace laws in India.

MARK SWITKOWSKI
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, JOBS TRANSPORT & RESOURCES
AUSTRALIA

“The Asian Century and the region’s continued importance in our daily lives cannot be underestimated. Equally, it must be noted that many leaders in Europe and the Americas fail to grasp the sheer scale and heterogeneity of the Asian market, and the nuanced complexities of doing business in this region. Thus, it is incumbent upon us, those who live and work in Asia, to continue to learn and to share our experiences in order to break down these barriers.”

MARK SWITKOWSKI is the executive director of the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources with the Victoria state government in Australia. He was previously a principal with the Boston Consulting Group based between Jakarta, Hanoi, and Melbourne. His primary focus was assisting clients in understanding, delivering, and optimizing capital-intensive projects across Asia. Before joining BCG, he worked for PwC and KPMG in both management consulting and corporate finance functions.

In addition to his core consultancy work, he has spent significant time working with provincial and community level entities in remote and economically marginal areas to improve access to clean water, identify higher yielding crops for farming, and enhance governance models for local governments. He holds a bachelor’s from the University of Melbourne.

YEGANEH TORBATI
JOURNALIST
REUTERS
UNITED STATES

“Whether it is mitigating climate change, halting North Korea’s nuclear program, placing pressure on Iran, or helping poorer countries to develop, the United States relies on the willingness and ability of China, India, and smaller Asian powers to help achieve its goals. Developing a deeper understanding of the interests driving foreign policy and national security decisions in Asia is therefore vital to my own work, and is something I have striven to do, both through my reporting in the region and now in Washington, D.C.”

YEGANEH TORBATI is a reporter covering national security and foreign policy issues for Reuters based out of Washington, D.C. In this role, she covers U.S. diplomacy, how it is shaped, and how it affects the rest of the world. She also focuses on the issue of sanctions and has written about U.S. policy towards North Korea and Iran. Prior to her current role, she covered Iran for Reuters from Dubai, reporting on Iran’s 2013 presidential election, the effect of sanctions on its economy, the changes happening within Iranian society, and the nuclear crisis. Along with two colleagues, she uncovered a $95 billion financial empire controlled by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in an investigative series published in 2013.

Torbati attended Yale University, graduating in 2010 with a bachelor’s in political science and modern Middle East studies.

WANG GUAN
NEWS ANCHOR & CHIEF POLITICAL REPORTER
CCTV/CGTN
CHINA

“A leader is a strong-willed facilitator who knows when and how to delegate. Delegation is key in that the division of labor boosts efficiency and effectiveness. Strong will is crucial because studies show most people have inner demons and can get discouraged at times.”

WANG GUAN is a news anchor and chief political reporter based in Washington, D.C. for Asia’s largest news network, CCTV/CGTN. He reports on global geopolitical news to an audience of one billion in China and around the world. Prior to this, Wang was a writer and reporter with CCTV in Beijing covering Chinese society and politics. He is one of the most followed Chinese reporters and news commentators on China’s social media platform Weibo. His video on the South China Sea in 2016 generated over 100 million views in China in three weeks.

Wang serves as an advisor to top Chinese leaders on media strategies and U.S. policies on a regular basis. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a master’s degree in international relations and a bachelor’s in journalism from Communication University of China.

EUGENE YI
CO-FOUNDER
CORTICO
UNITED STATES

“There looms a crisis of democracy and governance in Asia. As AI technologies we are building for media improve, I hope to work with civic-minded young leaders across Asia, such as those participating in Asia 21, to use this technology to build greater common ground that connects us as a humanity.”

EUGENE YI is co-founder of Cortico, a social venture launched from the MIT Media Lab that uses artificial intelligence-driven media insights to connect people on greater common ground. Previously, he led product development for the Electome project at the MIT Media Lab using machine learning analytics to track the 2016 U.S. presidential election. From 2013 to 2016, he was the head of Asia Public Policy for Twitter and helped develop the company’s global corporate social responsibility mission. He served at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing as a political officer covering internet freedom and the Six-Party talks on North Korean denuclearization from 2009 to 2011. He was a strategist for East Asia national security issues at the office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense and also previously served as a country director for China and Korea at the office.

He obtained a bachelor’s and a master’s in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs at Princeton University.

ZHONG ZHAO
FOUNDER & BOARD DIRECTOR
GREEN CAMEL BELL
CHINA

“A civil society leader is a person who has clear and strong commitment to the society and is capable of leading a group of people with similar will to achieve their goals.”

ZHONG ZHAO is founder and board director of Green Camel Bell, a grassroots environmental NGO in Northwest China. As the first environmental NGO in Gansu Province, Green Camel Bell pioneered the use of China’s information disclosure laws to hold polluters accountable. Zhao and his colleagues also conducted a range of programs and projects focusing on environmental education, water pollution monitoring, eco-agriculture, and grassland conservation. In 2009, he was named a “Hero of the Environment” by TIME magazine. He was a research fellow at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (LEAD) and Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program, as well as a visiting scholar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

From 2015 to 2016, Zhao participated in the Hubert H. Humphrey U.S. State Department Fellowship at the University of California, Davis on natural resources management and climate change. He co-authored A Legal Handbook for People Impacted by Water Pollution. Prior to founding Green Camel Bell, he worked as an assistant engineer at the Institute of Modern Physics in the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received a bachelor’s degree in electronic and information engineering from Hefei University of Technology.

Class of 2016

Advocating for Sustainable Urban Development

ANOKA P. ABEYRATHNE
SRI LANKA
Co-Founder & Director
Sustainsolution.org

“Leadership to me is being able to influence, inspire and empower others to work towards a vision together to contribute towards the greater good of society. Asia 21 facilitates the growth of young leaders on working together to achieve solutions for the most pressing issues of the region, and I am humbled and honored to be part of the Initiative.”

ANOKA ABEYRATHNE is an eco-social entrepreneur and policy advocate, with a passion for sustainable urban development. She is the co-founder and director of SustainSolutions.org, a social enterprise dedicated to solving social and environmental issues through community participation. It operates in over 5,000 villages in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and the Maldives with over 20,000 volunteers.

Anoka is the first Sri Lankan Representative to UN-Habitat’s Youth Advisory Board, and a Global Youth Ambassador for the UN Special Envoy on Global Education. She is also the first Sri Lankan woman to be selected as a “New Champion” by the World Economic Forum, and the youngest recipient of the Commonwealth Youth Award in Development. Anoka was featured in the 2012 List of 25 Most Influential and Powerful Young Persons of the World by the Huffington Post and Youth Service America.

She gives talks on enterprise and education through platforms including TEDx, UNDP and the World Economic Forum.

Building a Free and Prosperous Nepal

BASANTA ADHIKARI
NEPAL
Founding Chairperson,
Bikalpa-an Alternative

“Leadership is to take initiative and responsibility; it is to set an example, and serve the people. The most important role of leadership is to inspire, influence and develop people. Asia 21, a network of committed young people, will teach me about values-based leadership and inspire me do more for the cause I work for.”

BASANTA ADHIKARI is the Founding Chairperson of Bikalpa-an Alternative, an organization that envisions a Nepal where rule of law is supreme and citizens can exercise their natural rights to life, liberty and property in a free and prosperous society. Prior to this, he worked with Samriddhi-the Prosperity Foundation, leading the “Gari Khana Deu” (Livable Nepal) campaign to promote the fundamental principles of rule of law. Bastana also served as a volunteer for three years at the Youth Development Program in Biratnagar and joined the Youth Initiative in 2007, where he worked with different stakeholders to educate and train youth on civic leadership.
Basanta is an alumnus of the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program and Accountability Lab’s “Accountapreneur” program. He holds a Master’s Degree in Inter-Asia NGOs Studies (MAINS) from Seoul’s SungKongHoe University.

Cleaning the Water to Save the Children

ANKIT AGARWAL
INDIA
Founder & Chief Executive Director
Helpusgreen

“Leadership is about making a difference by investing in people. A leader raises the bar by enabling people and bringing out the best in them. A leader must be able to connect the dots, have a vision and hold his integrity. The Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative is an ideal place to continue developing as a global team-playing social entrepreneur and leader.”

ANKIT AGARWAL is the founder & CEO of Helpusgreen, a Kanpur-based social enterprise that preserves the Ganges River by “flowercycling” the waste from places of worship into patented lifestyle products. This process has provided a livelihood to 1,200 rural families. It aims to eliminate major pollutants, such as toxic arsenic, lead, and cadmium, which are linked to dysentery, cholera, hepatitis and severe diarrhea — the leading causes of child mortality across India and Bangladesh. Helpusgreen has won the Tata Social Enterprise challenge and ISB’s iDIYA, and Ankit’s work has recently won the praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chief Minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh. Alongside this, Ankit also sits on the Executive Board of oikos International, managing its Asian network.

Prior to Helpusgreen, Ankit was an automation scientist at Symantec Corporation, where he published 16 research papers and won a patent. He has also volunteered with Net Impact, working to structure and spread the organization’s network in North India. Ankit has worked on sustainability projects across 26 different countries and is featured in the Fortune Green List. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering from Pune University and a Master’s Degree in innovation management from The Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM).

Speaking Truth to Power

RAVI AGRAWAL
UNITED KINGDOM | INDIA
New Delhi Bureau Chief
CNN International

“Many of Asia’s countries are fast-growing and dynamic, but they are also young democracies with major problems to tackle: from climate change to jobs crises, and from corruption to weak press freedoms. Asia has immense potential but it can’t afford to get complacent. That’s why a community like Asia 21 is crucial — to compare notes, to debate, to mobilize — and its importance will only grow as its young leaders rise in influence.”

RAVI AGRAWAL is CNN International’s New Delhi Bureau Chief, responsible for the network’s multi-platform news coverage of South Asia. Since moving to this role in 2014, he has reported on several important regional stories including elections in India and Sri Lanka, Nepal’s deadly earthquake, and a spate of murders of secular writers in Bangladesh. Ravi has also produced exclusive interviews with high-profile subjects including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Barack Obama.
Prior to his current role, Ravi worked in several of CNN’s U.K. and U.S. offices for eight years. In New York, he was the senior producer of the network’s flagship world affairs program Fareed Zakaria GPS -— while he was there, the program won its first Peabody Award. Ravi is a Young Global Shaper at the World Economic Forum and a graduate of Harvard University. He was born in London and grew up in Kolkata.

Creating Global Opportunities for Underserved Youth

MAYSAM ALI
LEBANON
Deputy Director of the Stevens Initiative
Aspen Institute

“There is no generic formula for leadership, but working hard and leading by example are two critical prerequisites. Asia 21 presents a great opportunity to meet an outstanding group of innovators. I am particularly enthusiastic about the diversity of backgrounds that the Asia 21 Young Leaders represent and look forward to learning from them and collaborating to make a positive change in our communities.”

MAYSAM ALI is Deputy Director of the Stevens Initiative at the Aspen Institute, an international program targeted at bringing young people together through virtual exchange to learn about the world and about each other. The initiative aims to establish virtual exchange as a field and make it part of the norm for a quality education, both in the U.S. and abroad. In her role, Maysam spearheads strategy and partnership development in the U.S. and around the world.

Maysam previously served as the Aspen Institute’s Deputy Director of Middle East Programs, leading Partners for a New Beginning (PNB), an economic development initiative promoting job creation in the Middle East and North Africa. In this role, she launched PNB chapters in Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, and forged partnerships with U.S.-based businesses and early-stage investors to support the region’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. She also launched the Levant Program, a policy program focusing on key economic, political, and social issues pertaining to Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. Prior to that, she worked as a reporter for Dubai-based Gulf News and Beirut-based NOW.

Maysam holds a Master’s Degree in International Economics and Middle East Studies from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies.

Engineering for a Sustainable Future

FAISAL ALMARZOOQI
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Assistant Professor in Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Masdar Institute

“Leadership is a way of life which is driven by passion. Through the Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative I would like to have a more global and a more pronounced impact on creating happier societies and communities across the world.”

FAISAL ALMARZOOQI is an assistant professor in Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Institute (MI). He is also an associate member of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (AMIChemE), and a member of the United Arab Emirates’ Scientists Council. Faisal’s research focuses on the application of membrane fabrication and nanotechnology in seawater desalination.

In 2015, he was among the first graduates of the Innovative Leaders Programme, which was initiated by the Prime Minister’s Office. Faisal was awarded the Lonza Prize for outstanding performance in pharmaceutical research at Imperial College and the Associateship of the City and Guilds of London Institute Award in Chemical Engineering in 2009. In 2015, he also won His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s prestigious UAE Pioneers Award.

Faisal obtained a Master of Engineering from Imperial College (First Class Honours), and a PhD in Interdisciplinary Engineering from MI.

Leading the Fight Against Intolerance

QASIM ASLAM
PAKISTAN
Founder
The History Project

“Time and again history has seen humanity clash claiming ownership over singularity of ‘truth’— defining ‘us’ and ‘them’ along religious, ethnic, sectarian lines, culminating in horrific cycles of violence. The dawn of the 21st century has seen much of the same and will continue to do so, unless we cease the systematic indoctrination of our future generations with exclusivist national history narratives, and inspire them to think for themselves and form their own ideologies.”

QASIM ASLAM is a social entrepreneur with a passion for building greater tolerance. In 2013 he founded the History Project, an innovative dual-narrative approach to history empowering students to question narratives of hatred being fed to millions through history textbooks by understanding the perspectives of their “nemeses.” The History Project’s latest publication, Partitioned Histories: The Other Side of Your Story, was launched at Harvard University and is now being taken up by schools across India and Pakistan. It has received overwhelmingly positive responses from the likes of the Wall Street Journal, Times of India, and Pakistan’s The News International.

Qasim is also a partner at Pakistan’s third-fastest growing technology company, Arbisoft. He started his first business at the age of 21. He is an Acumen fellow and a former TEDx speaker. Qasim has travelled to over 25 countries for training, speaking engagements, workshops, conferences, and sporting competitions.

Promoting Unity Through Cultural Exchange

MITRAH ELIZABETH AVINI
UNITED STATES
Founder
United Voices

“A good leader is first and foremost a good teacher. Good teaching is motivated by the conviction that learning is a mutual process in which the formal knowledge imparted is only one element among many activated. Good leadership, therefore, is more about the act of empowerment. But Lao Tzu says this best: Lead so that no one knows you are the leader.”

MITRAH ELIZABETH AVINI is founder of United Voices, an organization building creative bridges between East and West and inspired by the idea that wars and conflicts speak more to the poverty of our imaginations than the superiority of our religions or political systems. Mitrah sits on the young members’ board of UN NGO Sustainability, Inc., an organization that promotes cultural exchange between Asia and the United States. She has also served as spokesperson, speechwriter, and ghostwriter for a number of NGOs, charities, media figures. She has spoken and written on multiculturalism and international cooperation and the ways in which art can catalyze social change for organizations as diverse as the Gandhi Institute, Creative Time Art, and Social Justice Conference, and also at the Texas State Capitol.

As a child, Mitrah hosted a children’s television show that addressed themes of trust and mutual understanding between nations. As a teenager, she embarked on an arts career that took her to Los Angeles, where she worked in multiple creative industries and as an editorial, runway, and commercial model. She holds degrees in philosophy and political science from Yale University, where she studied the moral and ethical dimensions of international affairs, and is currently a graduate student at the University of Oxford.

Transforming the Healthcare Paradigm

AVINESH SINGH BHAR
MALAYSIA
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine
Mercer University

“One of the biggest threats to emerging economies is the health of its people. Unfortunately the medicalization of care has served to burden instead of alleviate the problem. This results in the disempowerment of the population. I hope to add my blend of experience, passion and knowledge to drive population health as an important indicator of economic viability and to grow the footprint of the Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative.”

AVINESH BHAR is a physician educator, with an American board certification in pulmonary, critical care, sleep, and internal medicine. He was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After completing college on a full scholarship in Singapore, Avinesh returned to Malaysia for medical school. As a medical student, he set up and ran a startup company, Immaculate Industries Pte Ltd, which produced innovative line of personal care products as a model to make healthcare sustainable.

Avinesh is currently based in the United States and enrolled in the executive MBA program at the University of Chicago, while working full time as an intensivist and teaching medical residents at Mercer University in Georgia. His goal is to help transform the paradigm in healthcare through patient-centered care.

Innovating for Better Quality Education

ARNOLD CHAN
HONG KONG
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Teach4HK

“In a highly open economy like Hong Kong, the understanding of global issues and different cultures is crucial for our youth to embrace new growth opportunities across Asia. Hence, I look forward to engaging Asia 21 and helping to build cross-understanding within Asian cultures through exchanges in education. A strong leader’s role is not limited to inspiring others with a unified vision and set of values, but also empowering and inspiring them to become leader themselves.”

ARNOLD CHAN is the Founder and CEO of Teach4HK. Since 2015, he has recruited 18 graduates as teaching fellows to teach in Hong Kong’s underprivileged schools, serving over 2,000 students. Previously, Arnold worked for three years in institutional sales at Goldman Sachs, covering institutions such as sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurance companies and corporations in the Greater China region. During his time at Goldman Sachs, Arnold served as the youngest Summer Program Champion and managed the firms’ summer internship program.

Arnold finished in the top 25 (out of 100,000) in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination, and is a recent graduate of the Harvard Business School. During his time at Harvard, he focused his studies on education innovation and conducted research on EdTech accelerators and incubators. He was a moderator at EdTech Asia Summit 2016 that brought together Asia’s leading edtech start-ups and practitioners.

Transforming Lives Through Quality Education

CLARISSA DELGADO
PHILIPPINES
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
Teach for the Philippines

“The further into my leadership journey I get, the more I realize that my role is not to be the answer-provider but the facilitator. A recent accomplishment is a two-year investment in building a strong staff team. It results from a commitment to find competitive professionals, brighter and more talented than I in their functions, and invest them in a common mission, building an environment of trust from which innovation and powerful support for our Teacher Fellows can spring. Much of this accomplishment has been a year of setting aside ego and learning to always trust through the presumption of good intentions.”

CLARISSA DELGADO is Co-Founder and CEO of Teach for the Philippines, a for-purpose, non-stock, non-profit organization that works to provide all Filipino children with an inclusive, relevant, and excellent education. It enlists some of the country’s most promising young leaders to teach for two years in public schools throughout the Philippines. Through their experiences in the classroom, Teach for the Philippines transforms those leaders into lifelong advocates for education equity.

Trained in research, Clarissa began her career by managing a randomized control trial and directing projects for private corporations and multilaterals. She has experienced, researched, and witnessed how quality education can transform lives. While her passion for critical pedagogy and teacher leadership developed over time, Clarissa’s commitment to helping improve the Philippines is personal.

Defending the Rights of the Most Vulnerable

RONAK D. DESAI
UNITED STATES
Counsel
United States Congress

“The future lies in the Asia-Pacific geopolitically, socioeconomically, and demographically. Asia 21 will facilitate collaboration with rising leaders in the region to make an impact that will ideally outlast all of us. The most effective leaders are those who feel a responsibility to others and use what they have been given to give back.”

RONAK D. DESAI serves as an attorney and advisor to the United States Congress. He is a recognized scholar in the fields of law and foreign policy. A prolific writer, he publishes extensively in several prominent publications in the United States and the Asia-Pacific. He is a Board Member of the Partnership for a Secure America and the Washington Leadership Program.

Ronak is a member of the Aspen India Strategy Group, an Associate at the Belfer Center’s India and South Asia Program at Harvard University, and a Fellow at New America and the Truman National Security Project. He holds teaching positions at Johns Hopkins University. Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently appointed him to her Commission on Asian and Pacific Islanders Community Development. Ronak graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Law School magna cum laude.

Using Performing Arts to Change the World

MADIHA GUL
PAKISTAN
Co-Founder & Creative Director
Mishermayl Productions

“Compassion, conviction and a bit of madness to make it happen. Leadership taught me that sometimes to be a wave of change you must have the courage to stand alone from the masses. I’ve seen how much pride Asia 21 takes in the achievements of the alumni—connecting and sharing them with the world like a teacher, a friend. My motivation was accentuated after hearing Ali Aftab Saeed’s ode to India-Pakistan on World Peace Day which received accolades from both countries because it was Asia Society’s Asia 21 Initiative.”

MADIHA GUL is an actor, director and a classical dancer. She is the Creative Director and Co-founder of Mishermayl Productions. She collaborates with mainstream media houses, NGOs, educational and government sectors to propagate social change via music, dance, theatre, films and media campaigns. Her folk dance and music ensemble, Mishermayl Troupe, has participated in Festivals in Turkey, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. In 2014, she was elected as the President of CIOFF Pakistan, a Nation-Section of the International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts, an NGO and official Partner of UNESCO, which organizes 300 International Festivals to bring performing artists from all over the world to safeguard intangible heritage and cultural exchange. Since then CIOFF Pakistan has five local folk art groups, 200 dancers and six educational institutions registered. Madiha has also established Performing Arts Departments in four educational institutes and directed more than five music and media campaigns for women’s rights.

Building Sustainable Business and a Better Tomorrow

MOHIT GUPTA
INDIA
Global Strategic Pricing Lead
Cargill Inc.

“Leadership is enabling and inspiring team members to be motivated to give their best for a common cause, constantly working towards making one’s role redundant, leaving the team much like a leader-less flock of birds traveling and making beautiful patterns by themselves. Asia 21 brings together high-energy, passionate, and caring change-makers from around the world to affect the planet positively, and it inspires me.”

MOHIT GUPTA leads the Strategic Pricing practice for the $7 billion global edible oils business at Cargill Inc., where he implemented a machine-learning technology that significantly increased profits. Previously, as Product Line Manager, he managed the P&L of Cargill’s $2 billion North American oils business.

For six years, Mohit led the industry effort to align the palm oil sourcing practices of large CPG companies with the sustainability principles of NGOs such as RSPO, The Forest Trust and WWF.

A Mechanical Engineer and an MBA, Mohit started as a software developer at Tata Consultancy Services. He then ran Cargill’s proprietary trading books in Asia (2004-08) and North America (2008-11) and turned around the Asia-U.S. tropical oils shipping business. He was instrumental in building the foodservice business in India with brands NatureFresh and Gemini. Mohit has implemented six multi-million-dollar software projects globally. Mohit serves on the boards of Agriculture and Technology startups.

Building the “Dream” Home – Affordable and Green

KONGNGY HAV
CAMBODIA
Founding Director
My Dream Home

“The lack of decent homes is one of the most fundamental issues facing the world today and requires globally-oriented sustainable solutions. I believe that through effective leadership, collaboration, and mutual understanding, we can have a much more profound impact on pressing challenges around the world. Through Asia 21, I hope I can create a platform where every stakeholder is involved in working to create affordable green housing together.”

KONGNGY HAV is the Founding Director of My Dream Home (MyDH), whose aim is to address the chronic shelter shortage in Cambodia through the production of affordable, eco-friendly, and easy-to-construct interlocking bricks. His vision is that every Cambodian citizen has a decent home to live in. Though MyDH has been operating for only a year, it is already making a difference, and has been featured in several national and international newspapers. MyDH was also named one of the top ten promising social enterprises in the world by Sankalp Summit 2016, India.

Prior to MyDH, Kongngy worked in social research, mostly with NGOs. For three years he led social research projects with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, and the Ministry of Women’s affairs. He also worked for NGOs concerned with education, gender, and agriculture.

Advocating for North Korean Human Rights

SYLVIA KIM
CANADA
Regional Director
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles

“Although my professional career has never formally been in the realm of international human rights, advocating on behalf of North Korean human rights is a lifelong commitment of mine. When I was 24, I discovered that both sides of my family were originally from North Korea, which forever changed my life. I firmly believe that it is a duty, for all humans, to stop the atrocities being committed by the North Korean regime. However, I feel a particular responsibility to lead a cause that has largely remained voiceless and has far too few champions.”

SYLVIA KIM is a lawyer and human rights advocate. She is the co-founder of HanVoice, a policy advisor for the European Alliance for Human Rights, and a fellow at the Transitional Justice Working Group. Sylvia’s work focuses on advocacy for international accountability for North Korea’s human rights abuses. She resides in Southern California, where she is a regional director for Asian Americans Advancing Justice — the largest legal services and civil rights organization for Asian Americans in the United States. She is actively involved in statewide policy initiatives as a steering committee member of the Racial and Ethnic Mental Health Disparities Coalition and as an advisory committee member of California’s Office of Health Equity. She is also a regular contributor to the Huffington Post.

Sylvia received her Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School and completed her Master of Studies at the University of Oxford in International Human Rights Law, where her research focused on applying the Responsibility to Protect doctrine to North Korea.

Building and Innovating for Impact

KWOK JIA CHUAN
SINGAPORE
Assistant Director For Sector Strategy and Planning
Ministry of Social and Family Development

“This century is often referred to as the ‘Asian Century,’ highlighting the expectations for growth and opportunities in Asia. While we drive relentlessly to innovate and push boundaries, we must also take care of those who may be left behind. This is why I want to join the Asia 21 Young Leaders — working together with others to seize opportunities, innovate and contribute to the growth of the region, while uplifting and spreading the fruits of such growth across societies.”

KWOK JIA CHUAN’s passion is in building organizations and rallying communities for impact. At the Singapore Ministry of Social and Family Development, Jia Chuan is responsible for leading a team to deploy funding and spearhead strategic plans and innovation for over 400 nonprofits and social enterprises. Jia Chuan also has co-founded Conjunct Consulting, Southeast Asia’s first social change consultancy. Since its inception in August 2011, Conjunct Consulting has delivered over 120 consulting projects for more than 100 social good partners, while deploying more than 800 volunteers and creating over $3 million worth of social impact.

Jia Chuan was named a Global Pro Bono Fellow by the Taproot Foundation, and listed as one of Prestige Singapore magazine’s “40 under 40 Young Changemakers” in 2014.

Introducing Bold and New Approaches to Publishing in Korea

JE-WOOK LEE
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
President & Publisher
The Jeonnam Ilbo

“I believe that a good leader is one that leads with fairness and a sense of social responsibility that goes beyond the bottom line. I look forward to learning from, and exchanging ideas with, the Asia 21 cohort in an effort to devise innovative ways to tackle the most pressing social and political issues in Korea and beyond.”

JE-WOOK LEE is President and Publisher of the Jeonnam Ilbo, a regional daily newspaper in the Jeonnam Province of South Korea. At its helm, he employs forward-looking and innovative approaches to publishing, while emphasizing the company’s social responsibilities in the Jeonnam region. Since 2015, Je-wook has used his newspaper to initiate the Gong Project, a public awareness campaign aimed at encouraging public participation in tackling social issues in Korea and shaping policies that would prevent repeated man-made disasters such as the Sewol Ferry Accident. The Gong Project also provides like-minded individuals from diverse backgrounds the opportunities to contribute expertise for the cause through the campaign. He has also been elected to three consecutive terms as vice president of Korea Digital News Association since 2014.

Je-wook is also the Chief Executive Officer of Daejoo Machinery, where he previously served as vice president in 2007. He holds a degree in international relations from Brown University.

Promoting Cooperation Between Hong Kong, China, and the World

LIU BIN
CHINA
Co-Founder & Vice Chairman
Hua Jing Society

“I share the dream of the Asia 21 Initiative and I am keen to promote its value and help bridge the gaps between Mainland China, Hong Kong, Asia, and the world. Great leaders need to effectively establish clear and great missions, share their vision, and motivate people, coordinate efficiently to get things done, and serve as examples in both their lives and careers.”

LIU BIN is a co-founder and vice chairman of the Hua Jing Society, which was launched in 2011 with the honorary patron of JP Leung Chun-ying, the incumbent Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Dedicated to promoting communications and cooperation between Hong Kong, mainland China, and the Asia-Pacific, the Hua Jing Society is now one of the largest youth associations in Hong Kong, with weekly, monthly, and yearly public service activities. These include “Job Opportunities Missions,” aimed at helping students find employment opportunities in mainland China and Asia, Young Entrepreneurs Forums that invite successful young entrepreneurs to share experiences with college students and startups, and innovations and technology fairs that showcase cutting-edge and disruptive technologies from around the world.

Bin previously worked at the China Construction Bank (CCB) and became the Managing Director of CCB International at the age of 29. He was also awarded the “China Economy Pioneer Entrepreneur Award,” amongst other accolades. Bin holds a bachelor’s degree from Wuhan University, a master’s degree from Macquarie University, as well as a Ph.D. in economics from Renmin University.

Building Revolutionary Technology to Improve Lives

NANXI LIU
UNITED STATES | CHINA
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Enplug, Inc.

“Leaders are those who effectively mobilize people around them to get things done. They understand that creating sustainable impact takes the hard work, talent, and collaboration of many people. I strive to bring together brilliant and dedicated people to build new technology for better lives.”

NANXI LIU is the Co-Founder and CEO of Enplug, the leading open software for digital displays in stadiums, hotels, stores, banks, restaurants, and offices. Enplug’s mini device is used by Fortune 500 companies and small businesses to transform their static TVs and monitors into web-driven, interactive displays. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles and has offices around the world. In college, Nanxi founded and served as CEO of Nanoly Bioscience, which develops polymers that enable vaccines to survive without refrigeration. It won the World Biomaterials Congress’s Top Research and Airbus’s Top Materials and Manufacturing Award.

Nanxi is on the Board of Advisors for Covington Capital Management ($2 billion AUM) and Chairwoman of Tiger Scholarship Foundation, which gives merit-based scholarships to students with financial need. She was cited in the Forbes 30 Under 30 and Fortune’s Top 10 Most Promising Women Entrepreneurs. For her community service work, Nanxi was one of seven recipients of the Mobilize.org National Leadership Award. Nanxi is also a concert pianist. She studied at UC Berkeley.

Creating a Level Playing Field for the Most Vulnerable

MARIA LUKYANOVA
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Head of Country Office in Tunisia
United Nations World Food Programme

“I believe that being a leader is about enabling others to flourish. I am dedicated to bringing forward solutions, ensuring equal opportunities for the next generation and bridging the gap of social, economic and gender inequities.”

MARIA LUKYANOVA has served as the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Head of the Country Office in Tunisia, and as the Manager of the Programme Implementation in Morocco since 2014. Before assuming her current position, Maria also took on various WFP assignments in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. Maria joined the United Nations because she believes in its mission and the opportunities it offers to transform the world into a place where each individual is entitled to exercise the same right.

During her career with WFP, Maria has been a force for positive change by engaging national and international institutions and partners. The school meals programs, which WFP is implementing under Maria’s leadership, aimed to ensure equitable access to nutrition and education for poor, vulnerable children and to promote education for girls. At the same time these programs contribute to stimulating local markets and enhancing communities’ resilience.

Maria is a graduate of San Diego State University in International Business.

Championing Fairness – and Profit – in Business

ANNA MELOTO-WILK
PHILIPPINES
Co-Founder & President,
Human Heart Nature (Gandang kalikasan, Inc.)

“Leadership is about authentic and purposeful living. It is about being faithful to one’s values and principles consistently even in the face of adversity, opposition or even when they become unpopular. I am inspired by my father who started and led a movement for Filipinos to love and rebuild their country by caring for the poorest among us. His example has taught me to be resolute in the face of disappointments and setbacks.”

ANNA MELOTO-WILK is the Co-Founder and President of Human Heart Nature, a natural personal care company with a mission to embolden all businesses to better serve society. Since 2008, Anna and her co-founders have advocated for fair wages, fair trade with farmers, and ethical and sustainable businesses practices. They wanted to prove that doing good and doing well are not mutually exclusive, and that inclusive businesses play a central role in nation building. Human Heart Nature has grown from a team of three to almost 400 people with distribution in five countries and 30 branches locally. They opened their Laguna factory in 2014 as part of their expansion from their head office in Quezon City. Prior to starting Human Nature, Anna worked for Gawad Kalinga, an internationally recognized community development organization in the Philippines.

Anna was included in the Schwab Foundation’s 2012 Global Social Entrepreneur list and was named as the Philippines’ 2011 Social Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, among other honors. Anna earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the Ateneo de Manila University.

Fighting Energy Poverty with Solar Engineering

CATLIN ISHIHARA POWERS
UNITED STATES
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
One Earth Designs

“For the past 10 years, I’ve been working with families facing energy poverty to co-design solutions that perform better for every-day needs. The result has been a number of potentially game-changing solar energy innovations. In the Himalayas, we built our entire delivery infrastructure from scratch. I’m looking forward to combining forces with other Asia 21 Young Leaders to leverage our individual endeavors to drive our collective impact.”

CATLIN ISHIHARA POWERS is the Co-founder and CEO of One Earth Designs, recognized for its innovative solar energy technologies and high-performance SolSource Solar Stoves. She is the recipient of the Marry White Peterson Prize for Innovation, the Camilla Chandler Frost Prize, and the St. Andrews Prize for the Environment. Her solar energy research has been recognized by the U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Catlin teaches the Sustainable Business and Technology course at Harvard University and serves as the program leader for Rural Health & Renewable Energy at Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment. She received her doctorate from Harvard University.

Championing the Rule of Law

ANITA GHAZI RAHMAN
BANGLADESH
Founder & Partner
The Legal Circle

“I try to be part of the change in my community and the legal field in Bangladesh by contributing to the establishment of the rule of law through improving accessibility of legal information. Positive leadership means empowerment. It is improving the lives of those around us, spurting the growth of latent leaders in order to implement and achieve goals greater than any one person.”

ANITA GHAZI is Partner at the Legal Circle, which she founded in 2008. The Legal Circle is now a leading law firm in Bangladesh and one of the first firms promoting non-linear career advancement, stepping out of the practice of family inheritance of firms to that of career advancement through practice, and success based on meritocracy. She also publishes Think Legal Bangladesh, a free online legal knowledge-sharing portal and the Legal Circle Law Reports (LCLR), a quarterly law publication.

Anita obtained her LL.B. (Hons) degree from University College London (UCL) in 2002 and was called to the Bar of England and Wales from Lincoln’s Inn in 2003, completing the Bar Vocational Course with “Merit” from The College of Law. She qualified as an Advocate in Bangladesh in 2004 and an Advocate of the Bangladesh Supreme Court in 2006.

Mobilizing Youth to Shape a New Afghanistan

MAIWAND RAHYAB
AFGHANISTAN
Executive Director
Afghanistan Institute for Civil Society

“Volunteering at an early age helped me grow personally and professionally and I remained passionate about civic engagement and societal development. Asia 21 empowers leaders to realize their potential and collectively strive for a more connected, peaceful and prosperous region. I would like to share the story of the new Afghanistan and the role that our youth have played.”

MAIWAND RAHYAB is the Executive Director of Afghanistan Institute for Civil Society, whose main objectives include raising credibility and strengthening the role and relevance of civil society in Afghanistan. Before joining AICS, Maiwand served as Chief of Afghanistan Chapter of Counterpart International, and led the Afghanistan Office of Focus Humanitarian Assistance and served as an OSCE election observer in Tajikistan in 2005. Maiwand also ran home-based schools for girls during the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. He is a prominent youth and civil society leader and a founding member of a number of civil society and youth movements. He founded the Youth Development Foundation, a youth group aimed at promoting youth civic engagement and peace building in northern Afghanistan.

Maiwand holds a Master’s of Public Administration degree through a Fulbright Scholarship and studied law in Balkh, Afghanistan. He was a Chevening Fellow at the University of Birmingham, UK, and has spoken on civil society and Afghanistan at global institutions and forums, including the UN General Assembly, United States Institute of Peace, and the Wilson Center.

Innovative Philanthropy to Change the World

PHALGUN RAJU
UNITED STATES | INDIA
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Morph Ventures & Morph.org

“As an Indian-born woman who spent many years working in Asia, I feel a deep sense of responsibility towards the Asia-Pacific region. Through Asia 21 I hope to understand the diverse cultural context to tailor and scale Morph.org’s solutions in the region, beyond India. Leadership is about seeing opportunity and innovating in the face of challenges.”

PHALGUN RAJU is the Founder of Morph.org, a unique “active philanthropy” tackling tough social problems in India and emerging markets in areas like education and public health. She also co-created The Ramanujan Project, which annually funds exceptional math students from underprivileged backgrounds. Phalgun has won the GMIC 2015 Social Innovation Award for DonorFind, the “Uber for blood donation.” Phalgun is also a senior business leader and technology entrepreneur in Asia. As Founder and CEO of expertDB, the global expert marketplace, she is shaping the conversation around the future of work with governments and companies globally. Phalgun has been featured in numerous top publications, received many industry awards, and speaks at conferences across Asia.

Previously, Phalgun held senior leadership roles at InMobi, Google and McKinsey. She was the only Asian executive named to Business Insider’s Most Powerful Women in Mobile Advertising in 2013. Phalgun has an MBA from Harvard and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.

Driving Innovation for Sustainable Development

MAGDALENA SEOL
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Founder & Managing Director
Global Development Advisors

“I was in Korea in 1997, witnessing the Asian Financial Crisis impact the middle class. In June 2003, I was in Iraq to monitor an aid operation during the war. In 2009, in Kenya, to manage a food crisis; in 2011, in Southeast Asia, to drive business expansions that can change people’s lives there. These experiences gave me a real sense of the complexity of global development problems. My goal is to create innovation that is truly global in scale that leaves no one behind.”

MAGDALENA SEOL is the Founder and Managing Director of GDA, a strategy advisory firm based in Seoul, dedicated to global development and public problems. Prior to this, she was an Assistant Secretary to the President of the Republic of Korea at a young age, managing the globalization arm of key agendas related to climate change and low-carbon economic development.

She was awarded the Presidential Citation Honor for her excellence in service. Magdalena also led changes in both the business and social sectors during her career as a management strategy consultant. With her extensive cross-sectorial knowledge, she remains a trusted discussion partner for various organizations in the area of international development.

She received her B.A. (summa cum laude) in International Relations from Seoul National University, followed by graduate studies in Refugee Studies at Oxford University (as the Oxford Clarendon Scholar and the British Chevening Scholar) and in Public Administration at Harvard Kennedy School.

Employing Music for Social Change

GEDE ROBI SUPRIYANTO
INDONESIA
Musician; Activist; Writer; Director
Akarumput

“Leadership to me means working towards something bigger than myself — for the common good and social justice. A leader is someone who cares for people, the environment and the future. I believe that my passion for art, music and farming can be an important contribution in finding solutions to current challenges, and the Asia 21 network will plant the seeds for new and exciting collaborations.”

GEDE ROBI SUPRIYANTO, also known as Robi Navicula, is an Indonesian rock musician, activist, writer, and farmer. Robi is the director of Akarumput, a social-entrepreneurship initiative based in Bali. He is a certified permaculture designer who teaches organic farming in Indonesia, and throughout Southeast Asia. He also co-hosts an edutainment TV travel series titled ‘Viva Barista’, which explores coffee history, production, and culture in Indonesia, from bean to cup.

Robi is the vocalist, guitarist, and founder of the rock band Navicula, combining activism and music as tools for social change. Formed in 1996 in Bali, they have released eight full-length studio albums and often collaborate with organizations such as Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, KPK, Walhi, and SPI. Navicula is an internationally award-winning band and have toured Canada, the United States, and Australia. Robi also performs acoustic solo shows, and has held concerts in Italy, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and across Indonesia.

Scaling Businesses to Alleviate Poverty

SHUYIN TANG
AUSTRALIA | VIETNAM
Principal
Unitus Impact

“I believe in authentic leadership: being passionate about what you do and what you want to achieve, leading with your heart as well as your head, and practicing your values consistently. Journeying from the corporate sector to on-the-ground international development, I have honed in on my passion: supporting and scaling business solutions to poverty. Asia 21 provides a powerful platform through which I hope to bring the idea of deploying capital in a more thoughtful way into the mainstream.”

SHUYIN TANG is one of the pioneers of impact investing in Southeast Asia and is passionate about developing the entrepreneurship sector in the region. She currently leads Unitus Impact’s investing activities for Vietnam and the Philippines, identifying and supporting scalable business which improve the livelihoods of the working poor. She has experience spanning strategic consulting (Bain & Company), development consulting (TechnoServe) and impact investing (Unitus Impact, LGT Venture Philanthropy), across Australia, India and Southeast Asia. She has also worked in U.S. Congress and the Australian public service, as well as at The Lowy Institute for International Policy and UNICEF.

Shuyin was named one of Australia’s “100 Women of Influence” by the Australian Financial Review in 2015. She graduated summa cum laude from Australian National University where she was also awarded the University Medal.

Creating DIY solar technology for the masses

GOVINDA UPADHYAY
SWITZERLAND | INDIA
Founder & CEO
LEDsafari

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. He is always there to support you and walk with you.”

GOVINDA UPADHYAY is CEO and founder of LEDsafari, a social start-up based in Lausanne, Switzerland that aims to assimilate clean energy and sustainable innovation education through a unique science and design training centered on creating solar LED lamps. He was listed on the Forbes 2016 “30 under 30” Europe list for his achievements in education technology. He was also the recipient of the EIT (EU) CHANGE AWARD 2015, BITSAA 30 under 30 Award 2015, and a finalist for the Forbes 2015 Change the World award for his work with LEDsafari. Govinda completed three years of research in sustainable city planning with EPFL Lausanne. He holds a Masters of Science in sustainable energy engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden as well as a Masters in physics and a Bachelor of engineering in electronics and electrical engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Goa campus, India.

Investing for Smart Solutions

YASUMASA YAMAMOTO
JAPAN
Angel Investor
Green Capital Management

“Today, Japan is a country in transition — one of the first advanced nations facing the challenges of a slowing economy, an aging population, and a fully developed society. It is important that young, ambitious people think creatively to find solutions to problems and new opportunities for business. Asia 21 is an influential community of global leaders who are working together to affect positive change, through which I hope to leverage my unique combination of knowledge and experiences to inspire others.”

YASUMASA YAMAMOTO is an Angel Investor at Green Capital Management. Previously, he was an industry analyst at Google, focusing on search queries and FinTech strategies. His background ranges from the public and private sectors, and from finance to technology industries. He worked as co-researcher at the Japan International Cooperation Agency in Cambodia, Myanmar, and East Timor as well as a fixed income analyst at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York.

He received an M.S. from Harvard University for Health Policy Management and an M.A. from the University of Tokyo for international environmental economics. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Kyoto University for biochemistry. He was selected as one of ten U.S.-Japan Leadership Program delegates in 2013.

Advancing the Rule of Law Across Asia

MIMI ZOU
AUSTRALIA
Assistant Director
Centre for Rights and Justice, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

“As a young person who has grown up and lived in five Asian countries, I am committed to realizing the goals of long-lasting peace, stability, rule of law, and sustainable development in our region and the world. I am excited about the opportunity that Asia 21 offers in terms of collaborating with dynamic individuals with the vision and commitment to achieving these goals.”

MIMI ZOU is Associate Director of the Centre for Rights and Justice and Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Mimi is also a senior consultant to the International Labor Organization’s East Asia, China, and Mongolia offices and a practicing lawyer admitted in England, Wales, and Australia. Prior to joining CUHK, Mimi taught law, business, and social sciences at the University of Oxford, Utrecht University, and University of Sydney. She has worked in corporate legal practice, financial institutions, public sector, and NGOs in Asia and Europe for over 13 years.

Mimi completed her Doctor of Philosophy and Bachelor of Civil Law at the University of Oxford. Mimi’s achievements in legal education and community service were recently recognized by the British Council’s Education U.K. Alumni (Social Impact) Awards. She was also a former Young Australian of the Year finalist.

Class of 2015

Pioneering citizen-led accountability in Nepal

NARAYAN ADHIKARI
NEPAL
South Asia Representative
Accountability Lab

“Taking leadership, while maintaining team spirit with honesty and integrity, is key. Good ideas come from everywhere, so going beyond the mainstream to find wisdom is fundamental. Take risks, test new innovations, and be willing to fail – that’s what makes a leader extraordinary.”

Narayan Adhikari is an accountability entrepreneur who has dedicated himself to the non-profit sector for over a decade, helping to change peoples’ lives. He currently works as a South Asia representative for Accountability Lab. Narayan led the development of several innovative tools for accountability, including Integrity Idol, a national campaign to honor honest civil servants; #QuakeHelpDesk, a hub for resources to monitor and improve the Nepal earthquake response; Nalibeli, a crowd-sourced information database on higher education and public service; and accountability film schools.

Narayan was a Think Tank (LINKS) Atlas Corps Fellow, and has participated in the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP). He is a founding member of the Global Youth Anti-Corruption Network (GYAC), where he is also a South Asia representative. Narayan served as the executive director for Youth Initiatives, where he played a key role in mobilizing youth across sectors to campaign for the National Youth Policy and promoting youth issues in the Constitution of Nepal. His strong leadership skills and extensive knowledge of anti-corruption and youth issues have made him an effective advocate for people and civil society, and for creating social change on the national and international levels.

Narayan holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology.

High tech for low-cost design

ZUBAIDA BAI
UNITED STATES
Founder
ayzh

Zubaida Bai is widely regarded as an expert and leader in the field of engineering design for low-cost health products customized for the developing world. Zubaida’s work empowering underserved women led her selection by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, and she was named a Maternal Health Fellow by Ashoka Changemakers, among many other honors.

Zubaida is the founder of ayzh (pronounced “eyes”), a for-profit social venture providing health and livelihood solutions to impoverished women worldwide. They develop low-cost, appropriate technology designed to meet the unique needs of women in resource-poor settings. Ayzh aims to be the leading global provider of live-saving, life-changing health products for underprivileged women across the globe. With the goal of reducing maternal and infant mortality through improved quality of care at the time of birth, ayzh’s long-term vision is to prevent deadly and debilitating infections for six million women over the next five years by giving them increased access to a clean, safe delivery, and a healthy start to a new life.

Zubaida holds a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in the development of modular products, as well as an MBA in Social and Sustainable Enterprises.

Redirecting capital for positive, long-term impact

EMILY CHEW
AUSTRALIA
Vice President
MSCI ESG Research

“I engage with others at a macro and detailed level simultaneously. Effective leaders understand higher-order principles that organize both outcomes and in the processes and means used to achieve them. They convene people around a shared, inspiring vision that operates as the glue to motivate united, cohesive action.”

Emily Chew is vice president of MSCI ESG Research in Hong Kong, where she leads a team of specialist research analysts across the Asia-Pacific region on company-level and thematic environmental, social, and government (ESG) analysis. . MSCI ESG Research is the leading independent research house used by global institutional investors to integrate ESG factors into investment.

Emily’s work engages the region’s largest institutional investors on relevant ESG risks and opportunities. Through publications and regional speaking engagements, Emily has established herself as thought leader in this emerging field in the Asia-Pacific.

Emily was previously a funds management and capital markets lawyer with Baker & McKenzie, and worked on human rights law and advocacy projects in East Timor, Indonesia, and Australia, most recently leading a year-long national women’s rights project supporting the UN periodic review of Australia. She serves on the UN Principles for Responsible Investment Listed Equities Outreach Sub-Committee, as an executive committee member of Oxford Women’s Leadership Community, and was previously vice-chair of the China Carbon Forum. Emily holds an MBA from the University of Oxford and law and arts degrees from Melbourne University.

Driving sustainable development in Thailand

ADA CHAIRAPAISARNKUL
THAILAND
Founding Executive Director and Lecturer
G-Lab, School of Global Studies
Thammasat University

“I try to integrate and improve on the qualities of integrity, vision, and humility in everything I do. Leaders should be values-driven, open, and confident.”

Ada Chirapaisarnkul is a lecturer and founding executive director of G-Lab: Social Innovation Lab at the School of Global Studies, Thammasat University. Previously, she was the assistant vice president at Government Housing Bank. Prior to this, she worked as the Social Innovation and Partnerships Manager and senior policy analyst at the Prime Minister’s Office, leading a multi-stakeholder team to develop the first National Master Plan for social entrepreneurship development in Thailand, and was appointed to the vice-secretariat on the Social Finance Sub-Committee. Additionally, Ada founded the Thai Young Philanthropist Network (TYPN) in 2008 to engage young professionals to mobilize their skills, expertise, network, and funding to build capacity for key development agents in Thailand. As of June 2015, TYPN has more than 2,700 members with notable projects including Brain Exchange (www.brain-exchange.org), Taejai.com – the first crowdfunding platform in Thailand – Nexus Thailand, and the Social Entrepreneur Mentorship Program.

Ada is a recipient of the Chevening Scholarship. She holds an MSc in Environment and Sustainable Development from University College London, an M.A. in International Finance and Economic Policy from Columbia University, and a B.A. in Economics from Thammasat University.

Advocating for justice and freedom

MISHI CHOUDHARY
INDIA
Founding Executive Director
SFLC.in;
Legal Director
Software Freedom Law Center

“By taking on challenges, not letting pride get in the way of action, acting on my convictions, and admitting my mistakes, I make my team feel like they belong. The best leaders are humble, courageous, and focused.”

Mishi Choudhary, a technology lawyer and an online civil liberties activist, is the founding executive director of SFLC.in, a pro-bono legal services organization based in New Delhi, India. SFLC.in is widely regarded as the leading organization for extensive work on free speech and expression, privacy, software patents, corporate surveillance, network neutrality, internet governance, free and open-source software, and access to knowledge. It brings together lawyers, policy analysts, technologists, and students to protect freedom in the digital world as India becomes a digital society. A frequent commentator on issues related to technology and policy, her writings and views have been quoted in the Indian Parliament, and her opinion pieces have appeared in major dailies such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, The Hindustan Times, and most national newspapers and TV news channels in India.

Mishi is also the legal director of the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) in New York City, where she represents the world’s leading free and open-source software projects. SFLC counsels clients on the big picture, beyond today’s specific problems, helping projects reach their long-term goals safely and efficiently, so developers can concentrate on making great software.

Mishi represents clients before the High Court of Delhi and Supreme Court of India independently, and regularly files amicus briefs in the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mishi has a Master’s Degree in Law from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Law and Political Science from the University of Delhi. She is licensed to practice in India and the State of New York.

An inclusive leader for positive growth

MANISH DAHIYA
INDIA
Executive Director and Global Head of Energy Complex
Noble Group Limited

“I take the time to understand each individual, their drivers and motivations, and attempt to thread a common link to be able to move forward, united. Recognizing the individuality of people and harnessing that uniqueness into an effective, aligned, and complementary force is key to leading effectively.”

Manish Dahiya is the executive director and Global Head of Energy Complex at Noble Group Limited. His work focuses on enabling the requirements of an energy short world as it balances its demands for growth with the obligation of providing basic power requirements to the populace. This encompasses the facilitation, finance, and route to market of new coal projects around the world, providing access to the most abundant and cost-effective energy resource available. It also entails advising, facilitating, financing, and participating in the development of new power generation projects globally, as well as the development of more environmentally-friendly coal resources and advising on the development of more efficient generation units.

Manish engages all stakeholders including communities, social groups, government and global business leaders, and leading institutions including sovereign and private wealth funds.

Manish holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Giving voice to the marginalized worker

HEATHER FRANZESE
UNITED STATES
Executive Director
Good World Solutions

“We define leadership as imaginative thinking and anticipating future needs, as well as taking calculated risks to drive maximum social impact while maintaining organizational health. I try to leverage my team’s strengths and translate them into the highest contribution to our mission.”

Heather Franzese is the executive director of Good World Solutions. Recognized as a Purpose Economy 100 (PE100) global change maker, she has been working for 15 years to improve the lives of vulnerable workers in global supply chains.

Good World Solutions is the winner of the Ashoka Changemakers Feedback Loops competition and is one of 12 social enterprises in the 2013 accelerator class at Santa Clara University’s Global Social Benefit Institute at the Center for Science, Technology, and Society. Since 2010, the organization’s Labor Link platform has given voice to over 100,000 workers and farmers in 12 countries – including China, India, and Bangladesh – helping to prevent tragedies like the Rana Plaza factory collapse that killed 1,100 workers in Bangladesh.

Heather’s cross-sector experience includes launching the fair trade certification for apparel, raising $4 million in social impact funding, managing CSR for Columbia Sportswear licensees, and working with small-scale farmers in the Peace Corps. She holds a Master’s in Economic Development from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and sits on Etsy’s Manufacturing Advisory Board.

Helping others find their way through education

GIAP VAN DUONG
VIETNAM
Founder
GiapSchool

“A leader creates a better future for others in a manner in which everyone can trust, participate, and contribute their best.”

Duong Giap is the founder and main lecturer of GiapSchool, the first massive open online course (MOOC) platform in Vietnam.

From 2007 to 2010, he worked at the University of Liverpool as a postdoctoral researcher before joining the National University of Singapore as a research scientist through 2013. After 12 years abroad, Duong returned to Vietnam to improve the quality of education there by launching the first MOOC platform in Vietnam and starting the Books4Experts and Books4Children projects. He also conducts coaching on leadership and innovation for corporations to increase productivity and consulting for schools to improve the quality of education. His mission is to build a reliable knowledge infrastructure and free education resources, as well as to help people identify their own paths in life.

Duong received a Ph.D. in Technical Physics from Vienna University of Technology in Austria in 2006, a MSc. in Chemical Engineering from Chonbuk National University in South Korea in 2002, and a B.A. in Chemical Engineering from Hanoi University of Technology in 1999.

Conserving habitats and species

RAJEEV K. GOYAL
UNITED STATES
Author, Activist, and Rural Development Worker

“Anyone has the potential to be a leader, it’s a part of life that is basically inevitable. Different people have to contribute at a higher level at different times depending on the circumstances. I don’t see myself as a leader, but rather as someone who wants to be part of something that can only be achieved through a larger group contribution.”

Rajeev Goyal is the co-founder of Koshi Tappu Kanchenjunga Biodiversity Education Livelihood Terra-Studio (KTK-BELT). Founded in 2013, KTK-BELT aims to mitigate ecosystem fragmentation in the eastern Himalayas by designing a contiguous educational land trust stretching from Koshi Tappu, Nepal’s largest aquatic bird sanctuary, to Mt. Kanchenjunga, the 3rd tallest peak in the world. The trust will conserve and teach about Himalayan biodiversity, while creating ecologically-sensitive livelihood opportunities. Rajeev is a former Peace Corps volunteer and United Nations Volunteer (UNV), and from 2008 to 2011 was the national director of Push for Peace Corps, a legislative campaign aimed at doubling the size of the Peace Corps. The campaign’s proposal for a US$60 million increase in funding – the largest since 1961 – was successfully passed in Congress, and facilitated the addition five countries and over 1,000 volunteer positions to the Peace Corps globally.

Rajeev belongs to several non-profit boards, including the Phul Maya Foundation and the Living Earth Institute (LEI), and serves as an advisor to the Karuna Foundation. He is the author of a memoir, The Springs of Namje: A Ten-Year Journey from the Villages of Nepal to the Halls of Congress, which received the 2013 Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award. He is the recipient of the Eric Dean Bender Prize for Public Service in recognition of his co-authorship of a report on caste discrimination and conflict in Nepal.

Rajeev received a law degree from New York University in 2006, and recently earned a Master’s of Professional Studies in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University.

Innovating and educating for growth

YANJMAA JUTMAAN
MONGOLIA
Chancellor
Khovd State University
“In any organization or group, there is leader. Being effective means that, regardless of whether one was elected or appointed, leaders are looked up to because of their character and action, and how they mobilize their influence. I try to maximize my influence for the greater good, so the outcome is always the most positive for the greatest number of people.”

Yanjmaa Jutmaan is the chancellor of Khovd State University, and is the first woman to hold this position at a state university in Mongolia. Her vision is to link the university to the economic growth of the provinces it serves. She established an Innovation Incubation Center, out of which five factories have been launched. Recognized as a woman leader, she aspires to see Mongolian universities actively developing startup business which will provide employment opportunities in the provinces, slow down movement of skilled labor to the capital, contribute to city development and support the decentralization process. In 2013, she was named a Science Fellow by the Ministry of Education and Science of Mongolia.

Yanjmaa obtained her Master’s Degree in Statistics from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of North Carolina. Yanjmaa is fluent in English, Mongolian, Russian, and Korean.

Innovating sustainable, responsible products

KRISTIN KAGETSU
UNITED STATES
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Saathi
“I am most able to motivate my team when I’m passionate about a topic or a mission. Leaders challenge the status quo to create change and are resourceful in dealing with challenges.”

Kristin Kagetsu is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Saathi, a social enterprise dedicated to improving the education and employment rates of women by providing affordable sanitary protection to women in rural India. Saathi aims to empower the women and girls of rural communities so that they will have jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities, and access to feminine hygiene, and be an integral and productive part of their communities. Saathi has won the HBS New Venture Competition and participated in MassChallenge.

Kristin has a passion for engineering design that makes a direct impact on people’s lives. As an undergraduate student, she worked on multiple projects with the MIT Design Lab (D-Lab) in Brazil, Nicaragua, and India.

Kristin also volunteered with the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), working to structure and expand the national collegiate team to better support over 60 collegiate chapters, as well as to develop the SASE leadership in the Northeast. She is currently an MIT DLab ScaleUps Fellow and resides in India.

Kristen received her Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.

Using high tech to maximize human potential

LISA KATAYAMA
JAPAN
Founding Program Manager, Director’s Fellows
MIT Media Lab

Lisa Katayama is the founding program manager of the MIT Media Lab’s Director’s Fellows, a program that builds collaborations between the technologies of the MIT Media Lab with social activists, designers, artists, and other creative impact-driven communities all over the world. She is the founder and president of a nonprofit called The Tofu Project, which empowers social activists and entrepreneurs in Japan with leadership, design, and storytelling tools.

Previously, Lisa was a technology and culture journalist producing work for outlets such as Wired, Boing, Popular Science, The New York Times Magazine, and PRI’s “Studio360.” Her book, Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan, won the STEP Design Award in 2009, and her blog, TokyoMango.com, was the runner-up for The Weblog Awards’ Best Asian Blog that same year. In 2012, Lisa co-produced and co-directed a web documentary series about a community of surfers who survived the tsunami in Japan titled “We Are All Radioactive.”

In her spare time, Lisa enjoys climbing and playing with dogs. Lisa volunteers at an AIDS hospice in San Francisco and as a court-appointed special advocate for foster youth.

Crowdfunding for independent journalism

SEUNGYOON LEE
SOUTH KOREA
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Byline;
Contributing Editor
WorldPost

“If I I’m into something, I am really persistent and incredibly passionate about it, whatever it is. People follow you and are persuaded by you if they see that.”

Seung-yoon Lee is the CEO and co-founder of the crowdfunded independent media platform Byline. Byline removes barriers between readers and the news, empowering readers to support journalists and their content directly. Within 8 weeks of its beta launch, Byline has already become the world’s most visited crowdfunded journalism site. Byline is seed-funded by billionaire investor Nicolas Bergguren and Jae-woong Lee, founder of leading East Asian web portal Daum. Byline’s advisors include Bill Emmott, former chief editor at the Economist, Sir Harold Evans, former editor of The Sunday Times, and crowdfunded-journalism pioneer Peter Jukes.

Seung-yoon is also contributing editor to The WorldPost, a joint publication between The Huffington Post and Berggruen Institute on Governance, and was the first East Asian president of the prestigious Oxford Union debating society. During his term as president, the Union hosted world-class speakers including Peter Thiel, rapper and fellow South Korean PSY, United States Senator John McCain, and former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari. Seung-yoon also launched the Union’s own YouTube Channel that features its key debates and speaker events.

Shaping a more equal and just Asia

SOLINN LIM
CAMBODIA
Deputy Regional Director, East Asia Region
Oxfam America

“Growing up in the deprived and patriarchal environment of Cambodia’s post-Khmer Rouge period, I was hungry for knowledge and education. My past forged my conviction to serve the people of Cambodia, and to eradicate extreme poverty, gender inequality, and the culture of impunity. Effective leaders put others’ interests before their own, and who inspire people to see and deliver their vision. Asia is my country and Cambodia is my homeland, and I believe that with compassion, honesty, courage, and leadership, Cambodia can succeed and transform.”

Solinn Lim is the deputy regional director of the Oxfam East Asia office. She has 16 years of direct experience in countries across East Asia, focusing on natural resource governance, community development, and policy and campaign. She also serves as the chairwoman of the board of directors of VBNK, a leading manager’s training institute in Cambodia, and as a technical advisor for the Critical Ecology Partnership Fund, a joint grant portfolio for the Indo-Burmese region.

In 2002, Solinn became the executive director of Save Cambodia’s Wildlife, a premier conservation NGO. Her five years of leadership contributed to four-fold growth of the organization. In 2005, she was elected chairperson of the National Steering Committee overseeing the EU/Global Environment Facility’s Small Grant Program.

Solinn holds a MSc. in Environmental Policies from the University of Oxford.

Empowering traditions with technology

NANCY MARGRIED
INDONESIA
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Piksel Indonesia Company

“It’s all about impact – leaders are the change agents who inspire people to move and innovate, and create a multiplying effect through the people they inspire. I use technology to solve a problem in the traditional art industry. This system can spread to empower thousands of artisans and revitalize the creative industry”

Nancy Margried is the CEO and co-founder of Piksel Indonesia Company, an enterprise that focuses on creative industries. She also created Batick Fractal and jBatik Software in 2007 to spread innovation to empower traditional artisans, giving them the tools, technology, and skills to help them develop their crafts. She was the recipient of the UNESCO Award of Excellence in 2008 and was named Google Innovator Hero in 2013. Nancy presented at APEC 2013 on how technology can help preserve batik dyeing culture and techniques and bring economic benefits to traditional artisans.

Besides focusing on fashion and the software business, Nancy’s team is currently establishing a cooperative in Bandung, Indonesia, which aims to empower the community through creativity and technology, and open access to markets, funding, government, and other collaborators to bring them out of poverty.

Empowering citizens to fight for good governance

HENRY MOTTE-MUÑOZ
PHILIPPINES
Co-Founder, Bantay.ph;
Founder, Edukasyon.ph

“Effective leaders need to be unwavering in their objectives, but pragmatic and flexible. I aspire to these qualities, and I hope Asia 21 will help me work towards them”

Henry Motte-Muñoz is the co-founder of Bantay.ph, an anti-corruption NGO in the Philippines, which since its founding in 2011 has grown to a budget of US$150,000. In 2013, he founded Edukasyon.ph, a comprehensive online database of higher education courses and scholarships, which will launch in the Philippines in 2015.

Henry was born in Paris to a Filipina mother and a French father, and was raised between Paris, London, and Zurich, with yearly multi-month trips back to the Philippines. He earned his BSc in Economics and Economic History at the London School of Economics, after which he joined Goldman Sachs in their Investment Banking Division, covering healthcare from London. Subsequently, he joined Bain Capital’s Private Equity team, investing in a firm with strong strategy consultant roots. After two years, he was sent to Harvard Business School on a company scholarship and graduated with distinction in 2013.

Making healthcare accessible to all

MOHSIN ALI MUSTAFA
PAKISTAN
Strategy and Program Development
Aman Healthcare Services

“Integrity: an unwavering commitment to honesty in work matters. Determination: persevere when things get tough. Passion: this is hard to fake. Passion makes going the extra mile much easier, and inspires those around you to give 100%”

Mohsin Mustafa is a medical doctor in Pakistan who manages the communications and strategy of Aman Healthcare Services. This position has allowed him to work with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, where he is creating a disaster-management framework for Karachi and eventually the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia regions. He has trained over 11,000 people in basic life support and first response.

Mohsin is passionate about disaster-management, politics and the outdoors. He has trekked to the base camps of K2, Nanga Parbat and Rakaposhi. This August, he will scale a 7000-meter peak, Spantik. He is also an advanced open-water scuba diver, and runs a diving company with friends called Divers Reef Karachi which has introduced over 5000 youth from Karachi to aquatic sports. Mohsin graduated from the Aga Khan University and, after obtaining his M.D., chose to pursue public health full-time in Pakistan.

Sharing knowledge, engaging people, and developing innovation in learning

ABDUL GHAFAR NAZARI
AFGHANISTAN
Manager, Training and Development Human Resources
Roshan Telecommunication Development Company

“Vision, dependability, resourcefulness, execution, and inclusiveness: these make a leader. Vision inspires faith in your leadership. When my colleagues have a problem, they can depend on me to share my expertise. I am famous for my resourcefulness, and always say ‘together, we can!’”

Abdul Ghafar Nazari is the manager of Training and Development Human Resources at Roshan Telecommunication Development Company, where he has over 8 years of experience working with leading organizations. Previously, he has held positions such as lead trainer at the Aga Khan Foundation, and senior training officer at the Afghanistan Rural Microcredit Program/AKDN Banking. He also volunteers at the Aga Khan National Council. He is an alumnus of the U.S. Department of State-sponsored Tech Forum Central Asia, held in Kazakhstan in 2012, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Young Leaders Forum 2012. Additionally, he was Afghanistan’s delegate to the Pakistan Youth Dialogue, and a member of Young Activists for Reform and Change. He is certified in microfinance training of trainers by ADBI and the World Bank, for which he has received numerous accolades from Afghanistan and abroad. He has conducted more than 100 workshops to different groups of society.

Abdul holds a bachelor’s degree from the Law and Political Sciences Faculty of Kabul University, and is a graduate of Islam Qalah High School. He was a youth exchange student through the American Councils for International Education from 2005 to 2006.

Building cohesive and resilient communities for progress

VERNIE OLIVEIRO
SINGAPORE
Senior Researcher
Institute of Governance and Policy, Singapore Civil Service College

“The pressing challenges are complex, and they are best managed by coalitions of collaborators. The most effective leaders need to combine skills in managing discrete institutions with the ability to build and maintain networks of allies. They balance risk management and accountability with empowering entrepreneurialism and creativity.”

Vernie Oliveiro is currently the senior researcher at the Civil Service College’s Institute of Governance and Policy in Singapore, which seeks to develop innovative approaches to governance in Singapore. Her writing on governance has been published by Ethos and the Centre for Liveable Cities. Vernie is also co-chief adjudicator of the 2002 and 2015 World Schools Debating Championship, and served on the chief adjudication panel in 2014.

Vernie has been a member of the Association of Women for Action and Research, Singapore’s only gender equality civic organization, since 2011. She was the secretary and a founding member of the Debate Association in Singapore, and was a two-time member of Singapore’s National Schools’ Debate team. Before joining the Singapore Public Service, Vernie was lecturer in history at Harvard University, from which she earned her A.M. in 2005 and Ph.D. in International History in 2010. She was resident tutor for history at Dunster House from 2007 to 2011, and a graduate student associate of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs from 2007 to 2010.

Building platforms for change

UMANGA PANDEY
NEPAL
Founder-Director
KG Nepal

“I feel deeply. This fuels my sense of mission, though the mission may seem to shift shapes and seem elusive.”

Umanga Pandey is the founder and director of KG Nepal, a social initiative that regards individual evolution, not political revolution, as the path for change. KG provides a platform for volunteers to undertake small engagements – usually designed to help neglected children from government schools in the inner city of Kathmandu – that have deep meaning for them. He also heads a high school that has an independent learning culture to motivate students towards academic learning and self-discovery. Previously, he worked in international finance in over 7 countries, including positions at Salomon Smith Barney, IFC, and Aavishkaar Venture Capital.

He holds degrees from the University of Southern California and Brandeis University.

Breaking the cycle of poverty with education

KORVI RAKSHAND
BANGLADESH
Founder
JAAGO Foundation

“I try to inspire my team to keep their goals in focus, which has led them to share their work and responsibilities. We have created a culture of openness where diversity is considered beautiful, not a matter of conflict. I try to instill leadership values among the team members; true leadership doesn’t produce followers but rather other leaders.”

Korvi Rakshand is the founder of the JAAGO Foundation. The organization was started in a small room with only 17 children in 2007, with the dream of breaking the cycle of poverty through quality education for the unprivileged. Soon, with immense love and affection for deprived children, Korvi expanded his organization to include 1,800 children studying in 13 branches of JAAGO schools all over Bangladesh.

Considered as a pioneer of volunteerism in Bangladesh, Korvi also founded Volunteer for Bangladesh, which has more than 17,000 registered volunteers across the country.

Korvi’s work and dedication have earned him various awards and recognition, including participation in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and the Mosaic International Award in 2010. In 2013, he was listed in the “Top 99 under 33 Influential Foreign Policy Leaders” by The Diplomatic Courier, in Washington, D.C., and he was also a finalist for the Commonwealth Youth Awards 2013 for promoting volunteerism in Bangladesh. In 2014, he was named one of 10 inspirational Bangladeshis around the world by the British Bangladeshi Power & Inspiration. This year, Korvi was awarded Most Innovative Development Project of 2015 by the Global Development Network of the Japanese Ministry of Finance for the concept of online schooling.

Korvi holds degrees in law from the University of London.

Working toward a world with no language barriers

MATTHEW ROMAINE
JAPAN
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Gengo, Inc.

“Effective leaders have empathy: they listen to peers and advisors and know when – and when not – to lead. Ultimately, they make firm decisions moving forward, even if the decision may conflict with advice.”

Matthew Romaine is the co-founder and CEO of Gengo, Inc, a crowd-sourced human translation platform with over 15,000 translators supporting 35+ languages.

Matthew started his career at Sony Corporation, where he focused on research and development. Matthew then joined the Corporate Technology Strategy Group under CEO Sir Howard Stringer. In 2006, he got the entrepreneurial itch and left Sony to found Majides, a web-services incubation company. The most visible service was miistation.com, which was covered in The Wall Street Journal and TIME Magazine. In 2009, he co-founded Gengo, Inc., which has raised a total of US$24 million from international venture capitalists including Intel, Atomico, and Recruit. As CEO of Gengo, he aspires to bring a “piece of Silicon Valley” to Tokyo, and, with his internationally diverse team, he seeks to break down language barriers for the global community.

Matthew was raised in Japan and attended an international school before returning to the United States for boarding school. He studied computer science at Brown University and received a Master’s Degree in Music from Stanford University.

Putting school bags in the hands of slum children

MUHAMMAD SABIR
PAKISTAN
Founder
Sanitation and Education Slumabad

“I grew up in the slums and educated myself despite severe economic and social pressures not to do so. I read Great Expectations when I was a kid, and was inspired to work toward a better future for myself, my family, and my community. An effective leader is a dreamer who dares to join existing possibilities with his vision while managing the expectations of those around him.”

Muhammad Sabir is the founder of Slumabad, an organization that seeks to give every child living in slums the opportunity to experience joy, and to save lives through promoting safe sanitation practices. Previously, he worked with Khudi Pakistan, Door of Awareness, and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Muhammad grew up in a nomadic family, and in his own slum the air was always heavy with the smell of human waste and children could be seen picking over piles of garbage. Since his childhood, he has struggled to educate himself and his siblings. His passion for reading kept him and his dreams alive – reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens was a defining moment of his life – as he washed cars in markets, sold newspapers, and picked up garbage. Having worked as a child laborer himself, Muhammad is motivated to improve the slums and the quality of life for children there by building toilets and sending children to school: a child with a school bag means a world of difference for the slums.

Leading the way to India’s tech future

SANJAY VIJAYAKUMAR
INDIA
Chief Executive Officer
MobME Wireless Solutions Ltd

“In a country like India, which is 134th in the global ease-of-doing-business rankings, startup entrepreneurs go through a huge number of hurdles. An effective leader leads by example: I created a successful startup myself, and now founded the first public-private partnership technology incubator in the country. “

Sanjay Vijayakumar is the CEO of MobME Wireless Solutions, one of India’s most exciting and innovative mobile value-added service companies. Sanjay began his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 22, creating and leading a team of engineering graduates to build MobME Wireless. He is also chairman of the board of Startup Village, India’s first incubator for public-private partnerships, promoted jointly by the Government of India and private sector entities.

India Today has rated Sanjay as one of the thirty-seven Indians driving the future of India, and Forbes placed him in the “Just 30 Club.” Sanjay is a Rajeev Motwani Fellow, an honor established in memory of the late Stanford Professor Rajeev Motwani. He is also an Aspen Ideas Scholar at the Aspen Institute, and was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Founding Curator and Global Shaper for making significant contributions to the community.

Shaping a violence-free environment for women

CHATRINI WEERATUNGE
SRI LANKA
International Development Specialist, Human Rights Activist, and Photographer

“In exercising leadership to address the issue of violence against women, I have engaged people, harmonizing a diversity of perspectives, thinking creatively, and developing innovative approaches to advocate for change. An effective leader mobilizes people to transcend boundaries and effectively face challenges.”

Chatrini Weeratunge is an international development specialist, human rights activist, and photographer. She has nearly a decade of experience working in countries across the Asia-Pacific region on issues such as international trade and investment policy, gender, education, and corporate social responsibility. Chatrini has undertaken lead roles in policy advocacy, research, and program management, and has worked with UNDP, UNOPS, IISD, the Asia Foundation, and in the corporate sector. She has published widely on socioeconomic policy issues in journals including UNESCAP’s Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Review.

Combining her passion for human rights advocacy with her artistic talents, Chatrini uses photography to highlight issues such as child abuse and gender inequality. Her photos have also been used by UN agencies for advocacy. Her commitment to civic leadership includes volunteer work with various NGOs in Sri Lanka.

Chatrini holds a MSc. in Development and Planning from University College London and a BSc. from the University of Edinburgh.

Imagining an inclusive South Asia

AARTI WIG
INDIA
Co-founder and Country Director
Yunus Social Business India

“It’s an exciting period of history: there is a questioning and redesigning of economic, social, and cultural paradigms. In this context, leadership is the ability to imagine new paradigms, and also to co-create them in collaboration with deeply interconnected but diverse stakeholders”

Aarti Wig is co-founder of the Indian arm of the Yunus Social Business (YSB), which was founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus to create selfless businesses that tackle social problems. At YSB, she plays many roles, and she helped set up the world’s first Yunus Social Business Fund in Mumbai, which has funded seven social entrepreneurs across India.

Aarti is creating a social business incubator program with India’s premier management school and a social business market company for a leading international shoe company. She also conceived of a new financial instrument that will leverage commercial capital to pay for social success in social enterprises.

Aarti is a regular speaker at social enterprise events internationally, focused especially on South Asia. She is a member of the UK India Business Council’s Next Generation Network and was part of the India Australia Youth dialogue. Prior to YSB, she was an investment banker at JPMorgan in Mumbai.

Aarti is passionate about the power of individual enterprise to create an inclusive society and believes that dialogue can multiply individual impact. She has a Master’s Degree in Finance from the London School of Economics.

A champion of work that works

SHUN FU ANTHONY WONG
HONG KONG
Regional President, Global Brand Management
Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific

“An effective leader is one who takes risks. Uncertainties are everywhere, and even small decisions change outcomes, define success, or failure. An effective leader directs, takes others onto meaningful yet uncertain paths – and succeeds”

Shun Fu Anthony Wong is Regional President, Global Brand Management at marketing services agency Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific. There, he consults global clients on marketing strategy, and has helped many clients achieve sales success. In 2014, he was named Asia Pacific Account Person of the Year, and in 2010, was named Greater China Account Person of the Year in his industry by Campaign magazine. In his personal time, he advises Creative Economy magazine in China, Future Forest, – a Korea-China reforestation NGO which planted millions of trees in the Mongolian desert creating a “Green Great Wall,” – and the Harvard Club of Hong Kong.

Putting Taiwan on the map

CHIH WEI (BRIAN) YANG
TAIWAN
Head of APAC
ProSiebenSat1 Media AG

“Every day I tell my team where we are going and why. I leave them to be creative with the ‘how.’ Attract and trust your people.”

Brian Yang is currently head of APAC at ProSiebenSat1 Media AG, in charge of shaping the German media company’s regional investment strategy and execution.

Previously, Brian served as vice president of new business development for Grimm Press, where he set up the London office, built partnerships with international publishers, created the first children’s museum in the Greater China area, and formulated digital strategy. Before that, Brian cofounded cacaFly International Media, a digital ad agency with US$50 million in revenue and over 100 employees as of 2014. There, he played a pivotal role in fundraising, strategy, and key partnerships, including with Facebook. He is now a non-executive director with cacaFly. He has held engineering, marketing, and investment roles in Fortune 500 companies like TSMC and Renren.com.

Brian received an MBA from the University of Cambridge, where he rowed, led the MBA tennis team, and consulted entrepreneurs in London, Cambridge, and Romania. He also teaches at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, is a well-regarded angel investor, and advises the Taiwanese government on innovation and cultural policy.

Doing the right things to improve others’ lives

XING YUAN
CHINA
Head of Advanced Digital Analytics, Global Digital Medicines
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation

“Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things”

Xing Yuan is the head of Advanced Digital Analytics of Global Digital Medicines at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. In this role, he builds a strong center of excellence of advanced digital analytics for closed loop marketing and real-world data, and he oversees the development of new analytical methodologies that unleash the power of big data being gathered from all Digital Medicines initiatives.

In his previous role as the associate director of marketing science for Novartis, Xing led cross-functional projects with marketing, finance, managed market, and health economics to forecast sales, shape growth strategy, and design marketing mix to maximize return on investment.

Xing is also committed to public service: he co-chairs the Chinese Culture Community – the largest employee resource group within Novartis with approximately 600 members – and his significant contributions earned him the prestigious Novartis President’s Award in 2010.

Class of 2013

Sulaiman Akbari is Business Development Manager for Mercy Corps Afghanistan. Previously he served as Deputy Director of investment support at the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA). Sulaiman is also a guest lecturer at Kabul University and research fellow at the National Center for Policy Research, Kabul University. He is an active civil society member, an AYLI 2012 fellow and a member of Afghans for Progressive Thinking (APT). Sulaiman holds a MBA degree specializing in finance and international business. He is fluent in English, Persian, Pashto, Urdu and Hindi.

Humaira Bachal is the founder of the Dream Foundation Trust. She is a frontline advocate and crusader for education and an activist who has been fighting for girls’ right to education in her home town of Muwach Goth, Pakistan, despite the opposition of many elders in a patriarchal society. She has been risking her life daily to teach young girls with what she learned in school. Her aim is to empower the women and girls of her community so that they will have jobs, opportunities, and rights; and have the ability to defend themselves, support their families and be an integral and productive part of the human race. She also aims to promote quality education and social consciousness so that girls are able to enjoy their right to freedom and independence.

Ibrahim ‘Ibba’ Bernardo is the founder and CEO of Sari Software Solutions, a platform, systems, and mobile applications company that aims to leverage technology to empower the largest, underserved socio-economic sectors of society known as the base of the pyramid (BOP). His passion lies in bringing technology to the BOP with projects like the Solar Energy Foundation’s Ride for Light which brought solar energy to far-flung off-grid areas, E-Dalaw which enabled virtual visit of inmates by their indigent families, and Buhayko.org for teaching blogging to underprivileged students living in slum areas. Ibba also wears other hats as a technology and motorcycle journalist, entrepreneur, social media consultant, and IT lecturer. He represented the Philippines as an ASEAN Young Leader at the 2012 World Economic Forum in Bangkok.

Onchinsuren “Onch” Dendevsambuu is the Managing Director of Deloitte in Mongolia, and one of only two female managing directors in the Deloitte global network of 48 firms in 150 countries. Over her career, she has been a senior level auditor with Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young, in Ulaanbaatar and Moscow. She also started her own firm, Onch Audit LLC, in 2004 that became a member firm of Deloitte Touché Tomatsu Ltd, bringing its global network to Mongolia. As one of the first-ever chartered accountants in Mongolia’s history, Onch shares her professional success outside of Deloitte Onch by serving on several boards and task forces including the tax reform board.

Sabhanaz Rashid Diya is a writer, photographer and social entrepreneur based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Besides writing for various national and international publications, she has written for The Daily Star, the leading English language newspaper in Bangladesh for over 14 years, and published two books. Her photographs have been exhibited globally. In 2006, Sabhanaz founded the nonprofit youth organization, One Degree Initiative Foundation, which aims to empower young people through mentorship to transform their ideas to actions. The organization focuses on active citizenship and social entrepreneurship. She was awarded the Zonta International Award for Young Women in Public Affairs, YouthActionNet Global Fellowship and One Young World Ambassador to Bangladesh. She also represented her organization at Harvard University for the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations, and at the Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit in 2012. Sabhanaz completed her Bachelors in Media and Communication, and Economics from Independent University, Bangladesh.

Kesang Chuki Dorjee is an independent filmmaker whose documentaries address social issues of women and children in Bhutan. She formerly worked at BBS Television as a Television Anchor and Producer and established the Children & Women Unit. Her latest films focus on the importance of greater women’s participation in leadership roles. With groundbreaking projects like “Housewives to Leaders” and “Yes, Madam Prime Minister”, Bhutan has seen the first appointments of a woman Governor, Supreme Court Justice and now a Minister. Kesang Chuki Dorjee has won several international awards including the UNDP Human Development Media Fellowship Award (2010), Hoso Bunka Award – Japan Prize (2007), Special Recognition from the Prime Minister (2006) and Prix Jeunesse International UNICEF Award (2005).

Lara Farrar is a foreign correspondent who has been reporting on China and the Asia Pacific for five years. Her work has been featured in the International Herald Tribune, CNN International, the Wall Street Journal, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Economist and Foreign Policy. She is a journalism educator, teaching reporting to Chinese students at Fudan University in Shanghai. In 2010, she founded China News Network, the first English language news website for young Chinese to post reporting they deem important about Chinese society. She also sits on the board of directors of the Global Press Institute, a non-profit that trains women from the developing world to become journalists, and has assisted the Clinton Global Initiative in bolstering greater participation from Chinese business leaders. Lara studied journalism at Boston University and obtained a dual master’s degree in global media and communications from the London School of Economics and Fudan University.

Yuresha Fernando is a lawyer from Sri Lanka. She takes a special interest in multi-culturalism, conflict resolution and social justice. Her writings on ideologies of cross-cultural human rights were recognized by the Human Rights Commission and she was invited to fascilitate the EU sponsored “National Dialogues on the Rights of Minorities in the Peace Process” (2003). She continues her work through lectures and has worked with the Weeramantry Centre for Peace Education, the British Council and similar institutions promoting value-based adult education. She is a Chevening scholar (UK), a Legislative Fellow (U.S.) and was nominated to the “Global Youth Network Co-Design Workshop” in London (2012). She is a State Counsel of the Department of the Attorney General of Sri Lanka specializing in Public, Administrative and Constitutional law. She advises on governmental matters including the constitutionality of Parliamentary Bills. She is a graduate of the University of Colombo and University College London.

Scot Frank is the Co-Founder and CEO of One Earth Designs, a company that brings clean energy solutions to people around the world. He has developed an award-winning solar cooker for Himalayan communities with the goal to alleviate their daily problems of fuel scarcity and indoor air pollution. Scot has lived and worked in China for 7 years and received bachelor degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. He holds three patents, two on energy technology and one for a novel breast cancer diagnostic tool. His background includes founding three start-ups, working in IBM’s India Research Laboratory, leading MIT Development Lab’s China program, and advising renewable energy projects for the Clinton Global Initiative and Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room. Scot has been named a Forbes 30 under 30 Entrepreneur, Unreasonable Fellow, Cordes Fellow, and Make a Difference Venture Fellow.

Akash Goel is currently a resident physician in Internal Medicine at Columbia University – New York Presbyterian Hospital. While working for the William J. Clinton Foundation, Dr. Akash Goel led the launch of India’s national Second Line ARV drug program that currently provides lifesaving medication to thousands of individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Akash has also worked for The Boston Consulting Group, CNN’s Medical News Unit, the New York City Department of Health and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Akash is a graduate of Harvard College and University of Michigan Medical School. His research interests are in population health, private sector engagement and social enterprise. Akash is a member of the New York Academy of Medicine and also writes for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a leading bipartisan foreign policy think tank. He was named a New Leader by the Carnegie Council.

Brian Gonzales is Team Leader for Research, Monitoring, Evaluation and Development, and Program Liaison Officer to the ASEAN-Wildlife Enforcement Network of the USAID-funded ARREST Program (Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking) implemented by FREELAND. Based in Bangkok, he works closely with the intergovernmental ASEAN-WEN and the national task forces on policy development, program management, sustainability strategy and partnership development. He developed new strategic partnerships for ARREST by initiating several innovative ventures, including a partnership with the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, an organization of top ASEAN parliamentary leaders to enhance regional legislative responses to combat wildlife crime; academic institutions and think tanks; direct support to efforts in upgrading wildlife crime onto the agenda of ASEAN’s transnational crime body; and involvement in “greening” the judiciary by supporting judicial awareness raising initiatives on combating wildlife crime in Asia. He is a graduate of De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde in Manila.

Tania Hyde is a director at Taylor Street Advisory (TSA), where she advises clients in communications, government relations and strategy. Previously Tania was a consultant at The Nous Group, BRW’s 2012 Best Management Consulting Firm started by ex McKinsey consultants. Tania also held senior leadership roles in public affairs and engineering as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, a 13,000-person organization with global operations, often working with Asian counterparts. She was public affairs adviser for Australia’s 1000-person commitment to the UN mission in East Timor where she collaborated with Thai, Singaporean and Japanese peacekeepers. Tania is an Australian Defence Force Academy graduate and holds a Masters of Management (distinction) and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (first class honours) from the University of New South Wales. She is an Australian Davos Connection Future Summit Leadership Awardee (World Economic Forum).

Shoaib Iqbal is a founder and director of The Little Art, a non-profit arts education organization in Pakistan that uses the medium of art to promote positive social values through innovative learning opportunities among children and young people, especially those from marginalized and low income backgrounds. Nearly 200,000 children and young people have benefitted from these programs in the past 6 years. Shoaib also founded Lahore International Children’s Film Festival, which has become country’s largest event of its kind. Shoaib has nearly 14 years of experience working as teacher, arts manager, theater director, workshop trainer and festival director. In 2006 he received a Kennedy Center Fellowship at Devos Institute of Arts Management in Washington D.C. In 2009 he received the Endeavour Executive Award from the Australian government and became a Commonwealth Fellow. He holds a post-graduate degree in Arts Management from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. and a diploma in International Development from Eastside Institute in New York City.

Dhruv Kazi is a cardiologist and health economist who focuses on clinical and policy-level interventions to address the global burden of heart disease. He is particularly interested in harnessing low-cost, scalable technologies to combat the epidemic of cardiovascular disease in emerging economies. Kazi co-founded heartMAP, a program that combines information technology, adult learning theory, and behavioral economics to provide personalized support to South Asian patients with advanced heart disease. He is a member of Harvard University’s public health team that evaluated India’s Kumbh Mela, a mass pilgrimage, and of the World Heart Federation’s Presidential Initiative on Emerging Leaders in Cardiovascular Medicine. He is currently examining the cost-effectiveness of screening schoolchildren for rheumatic heart disease, a huge public health challenge in Asia and Africa. Kazi is an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Francisco, and has trained at Stanford University, the London School of Economics, and the University of Mumbai.

HH Tunku Ali Redhauddin Tuanku Muhriz – I started my career with McKinsey & Company (1998-2004), working on a range of projects across three continents. From 2004-2010, I was with Investments at Khazanah, making investments within Asia. I then took on my official role as Tunku Besar Seri Menanti, and now have interests ranging from state administration to educational, non-profit and social business initiatives to corporate positions. I sit on the Council of Law and Justice of Negeri Sembilan, chaired by the ruler. I am a Trustee of Teach for Malaysia, Patron of Enactus Malaysia, and Chairman of the Munarah Foundation. I am involved with three universities in various capacities, including one as Pro-Chancellor. I sit on the boards of several Khazanah companies, and am an independent director of a bank and Chairman of Bumi Armada, a ~US$4bn listed company. I hold a BA (Hons) from the University of Cambridge and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School.

Natharoun Ngo is acting as head of unit for the United Nations in Cambodia. He leads and oversees teams to implement poverty reduction programmes that support policy reforms and changes in sectors ranging from trade, education, and social protection to mine clearance. He previously worked as a manager for Ernst and Young/Cap Gemini, facilitating Fortune 500 companies to design and to implement change management strategies. Natharoun also sits on the board of directors of the Khmer Foundation, a non-profit organization providing access to education for orphans and vulnerable children. He graduated with an MBA from Paris University in 1999.

Luna Ranjit is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Adihikaar for Human Rights and Social Justice. She has guided Adhikaar’s programs, research, policy advocacy, and partnership since its inception in 2005. Under her leadership, Adhikaar has served thousands of immigrant workers, and brought their voices to change laws, including the NY State Domestic Workers Bill of Rights and the International Convention on Domestic Workers. Regarded as an expert on emerging immigrant communities, Luna has been quoted and featured in print and broadcast media, such as the New York Times, Huffington Post, Daily News, NPR, PBS, and community media, on the issues related to data disaggregation, language access, and workers’ rights. Her ground-breaking work has been recognized by many community organizations and elected officials, including Congressman Joseph Crowley. Luna serves on the Advisory Board of the National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance, and the Steering Committee of Participatory Budgeting in NYC. She holds an MPA degree from the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University.

Deepak Ravindran is the founder and CEO of Quest & Innoz. Deepak dropped out of college with a novel idea of giving Internet to the offline world. Today his technology allows anyone to access internet searches, email, and social media networks — all through SMS. Innoz’s SMS Service has processed over billion requests from over hundreds of millions of users around the world. In 2013, Innoz made it to the Limca book of records for building the “Largest offline search engine.” His latest venture, Quest raised initial round of funding from 500 Startups with the mission of building high quality smartphone applications. Deepak has had a lifelong passion for entrepreneurship, technology, culture, and improving society. He is one of the founding member of Startup Village, India’s largest non-for-profit technology incubator. Ravindran has received numerous awards, including being named one of the outstanding innovators under 35 for the year 2011 by the MIT Technology Review. Asia Society announced Ravindran as one of Asia’s 21 emerging leaders under 40 for 2013. Ravindran was also a part of the inaugural Rajeev Circle Fellowship a programme launched by Asha, wife of late Stanford Professor Rajeev Motwani. He has lectured at several universities including Stanford, IIT Bombay, IIM Ahmedabad, Semester at Sea and international conferences including WIRED Conference,Rolex Leadership Forum, TED and the Red Herring Global 100 forum. His work has appeared in Forbes, WIRED, The Sydney Morning Herald, CNN, Bloomberg UTV and several other magazines, newspapers and blogs. Most recently, National Geographic Magazine profiled him inside India’s Future Leaders in their show ‘Onward’ – a project to explore the world and share its untold stories. 

Yayoi Shionoiri is the Assistant General Counsel to the Guggenheim Foundation. Focusing on art law at non-profit cultural institutions, she advises on all legal matters related to groundbreaking art exhibitions and related cultural programming at Guggenheim museums and other institutions throughout the world. Previously, she served as Legal Advisor to Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, managing legal transactions, museum negotiations and intellectual property challenges across Asia and the United States. Beyond the practice of law, her interdisciplinary academic research on modern and contemporary Japanese art analyzes the effects of legal paradigms on artistic production, examining the application of copyright and intellectual property frameworks to the protection of artists’ rights. As a US-Japan Leadership Program Fellow, she contributes to the ongoing development of cultural collaborations and political ties across nations. She received her A.B. from Harvard University, J.D. from Cornell Law School and M.A. in Modern Art: Critical Studies from Columbia University.

Pandu Sjahrir is the CFO of Toba Bara Sejahtra (TBS), a leading mining company in Indonesia, which was recently selected as one of Forbes’ 2013 Best of the Best Companies in the nation. Pandu also serves as Vice-CEO of Adimitra Baratama Nusantara (ABN), the largest operating company of TBS. Pandu led TBS through an IPO in June 2012, which was the largest global coal IPO then. During his tenure, TBS revenues grew from $200 to $500 million. He also raised over $250 million in financing for TBS. Pandu serves as Chairman of the Commercial Committee of the Indonesian Coal Association and the PGI Cikini Hospital in Jakarta. Pandu has held positions at MatlinPatterson, an investment firm in NY, Byun & Co., an investment firm in Singapore and Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong. Pandu received his degrees from the University of Chicago (BA) and the Stanford Graduate School of Business (MBA).

Yin Myo Su run a small resort in Myanmar (Burma) called Inle Princess Resort since October 1998 with a great success in terms of finance and image. She believes in the role of women, housewives and mothers to participate in the social and economic development in immerges countries. She also participating to implement “Community Base/Benefit Tourism Sustainable Development’. She trust in preservation tangible and intangible culture heritage is a must to do in fast moving situation of Myanmar and she reintroduced “Burmese Cat” with corporation of CERS into the country which is now in great success, and build as well Inle Lake Natural Heritage Museum where people can visit to see Endemic Fish species of Inle Lake where she also trying to do a water quality monitoring program. However her main interest is in human resources development while engaging for sustainable development of hotel industry in Myanmar, she builds a Hospitality Vocational Training School for 40 youth per year. With those interests I actively involves and contributes time and money on the other social and environmental development apart from business running for the financial generation.

Prapaporn Tivayanond is the Founding Director of the Social Policy and Development Programme at Thammasat University, which focuses on studies and consultancy on social protection and welfare programs in emerging economies of the ASEAN region. Her recent consultancy to various international organizations includes United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, where she has worked on social protection, disaster risk reduction, and climate change. Prapaporn has led research for various organizations such as ASEAN and currently works on the financing of Thailand’s health system for the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD). She holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Social Policy from the University of Oxford.

Lungten Zangmo Wangchuk is a public health specialist & independent consultant. Her work focuses on critical public health issues in developing countries and she supported many countries in the South East Asia Region in development and monitoring & evaluation of critical public health projects. Currently she works with the World Health Organization as a public health consultant. Lungten received her master’s degree in Public Health from Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University with concentration in Public Health Epidemiology and earned her Bachelor in Medicine and Surgery from Delhi University. She also holds certificate in Leadership Development in Developing Countries from Johns Hopkins University. Lungten authored and co-authored scientific papers, public health reports and articles on disease of public health concerns such as Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs & Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), Cardiovascular Diseases and others.

Ewa Wojkowska is the co-founder and COO of Kopernik, an award-winning technology marketplace for the developing world. Since its launch in 2010, Kopernik has distributed life-changing technologies to more than 110,000 people living in the ‘last mile.’ Prior to Kopernik, Ewa worked for the United Nations and the World Bank in Asia and Africa, focusing on the empowerment of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. Ewa has been recognized as an Ashoka ChangemakHER, as one of Advance 50 emerging women leaders in 2011 and Rutgers University Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012.

Sheldon Xie is China Country Director at the Clinton Foundation, where he currently leads its health and energy programs in China. He is passionate about joining the global forces in public health, climate change, education and poverty reduction. On health, he is part of a team dedicated to expanding access of various affordable but quality health commodities to save lives affected by life-threatening diseases including HIV, Malaria, and Tuberculosis. On energy, his team provides financial advisory services to the Chinese government on large scale rollout of clean technologies. Before, Sheldon briefly worked in the power sector and spent his early career years teaching English at Gansu University of Science and Technology. He earned his MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and his Bachelor’s degree in English from Gansu University of Science and Technology.

Sangwon Yoon is a New York-based diplomatic correspondent for Bloomberg News covering the United Nations and the U.S. State Department. Her previous assignment at Bloomberg was covering the Korean peninsula, reporting namely on the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong II and the hereditary succession of power to Kim Jong Un. She has also reported on the Arab Spring, Osama bin Laden’s death and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Reuters and Al Jazeera English. Sangwon holds a B.A. in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and Politics from New York University, where she graduated magna cum laude. A South Korean by birth, she is fluent in Korean, as well as Hebrew and French, and proficient in Arabic.

Helen Huanwu Zhai is a creative and design director in Guangzhou, China. Born in Xi’an and raised in Chengdu, she went to art college in the US. As art director in the States, Helen won an ASBPE design award, among others. Since 2011 Helen has become the design director at CityZine, Fast Company China magazine and Biando, all owned by the Nanfang Daily Media Group, one of the top 3 media groups in China. Helen co-produced exhibitions and publications like Chinascape Contemporary Photography and On the Road by Luo Dan & Zeng Han. Co-creating the first Chinese art e-gallery, voutu.com, she continuously supports the growth and exposure of emerging artists. Helen believes that good design should serve to the people. In 2009 she joined PATS (the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Treatment Support Project), focusing on HIV+ children in Anhui, China, where she co-created the HIV+ Children’s Caretaker’s Handbook which was distributed by China CDC.

Class of 2012

Ejaj Ahmad is the Founder and President of the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC), which aims to foster a more tolerant, inclusive and just society by training the next generation of leaders in Bangladesh. BYLC’s international award winning leadership program unites youth from diverse educational and socio-economic backgrounds, equips them with leadership skills, and engages them in service-oriented projects in local communities to address Bangladesh’s most urgent developmental needs. Ejaj is actively engaged with several youth-run initiatives in Bangladesh and serves on the board of a secondary girls’ high school. He speaks on leadership to diverse audiences, including, in recent years, Geneva, Nairobi, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur. He is a graduate of St. Andrews University and Harvard Kennedy School.

Undraa Agvaanluvsan is advisor to the Mongolian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, working on policy issues of non-conventional energy resources such as oil shale and methane gas resources. She had previously worked as a visiting professor at Stanford University, conducting research on uranium resource development, nuclear energy policy, and smart-grid. Following her successful academic career, Dr. Undraa has worked in several posts in Mongolian government, including appointment to the scientific secretary of the Institute of Strategic Studies at the National Security Council of Mongolia, advisor to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as well as an appointment as Ambassador-at-large on nuclear energy issues. In addition, in 2007, Dr. Undraa co-founded a research think-tank, the MonAme Research Center, on energy and environmental issues. She started the Mongolian Young Leader Program to connect Mongolian students studying abroad and help them to return to their homeland. She was selected as an Asia 21 Young Leader in 2011. She graduated from the National University of Mongolia with Bachelors and Masters degrees in Physics, followed by a diploma study at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Italy. In 2002, she obtained a PhD in physics at North Carolina State University, USA. Following her doctorate she conducted research in nuclear sciences at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for several years.

Lesley Jeanne Yu Cordero is an Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs at the Presidential Communications Operations Office in Manila. She also serves as the Vice-Chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board Appeals Committee. Prior to this, Lesley served as a Commissioner of the National Youth Commission and worked as a legal specialist for USAID Energy and Clean Air Project in the Philippines. She was also a technical specialist of Castalia Strategic Advisors in the AUSAID-Philippine Economic Reform and Governance Project on Government Infrastructure Projects for Public Private Partnerships. In addition, she worked as a political communications director in China, liaising with members of the press and the diplomatic community. In 2007, Lesley was the youngest election lawyer to head the legal team of Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri, and served as spokesperson for the Senator’s environmental agenda. She has also worked as a legislative officer in the Office of Majority Leader Senator Francis Pangilinan. Lesley has been recognized as a young political leader, and holds a Bachelor of Philosophy from the University of San Carlos and a Juris Doctor of Laws from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law.

Dee Lee is Director of the Inno Community Development Oraganization which focuses on public health, poverty alleviation and emerging issues. The organization currently manages nine ongoing projects that include the workers’ hotline, fair-trade online, HBV advocacy campaign. Together with sixteen colleagues spread across three offices in China, Dee is working with thirteen international foundations and brands to provide assistance to more than two million beneficiaries, most of whom are migrant workers in China. Dee started his Labour NGO career in 2007 with the first systematic workers’ hotline in China. He has a Master’s Degree in marketing communication and five years of work experience at a marketing research and PR firm.

Sapna Desai is a public health specialist who focuses on women’s health and implementation of health programs. Her career combines extensive grassroots experience with rigorous academic training, with a focus on linking action and evidence. She is currently completing a PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. From 2005-2012, she directed a range of health programs for SEWA, India’s largest organisation of women workers. Sapna scaled-up a community health program to six states, working in the country’s poorest areas, led a study on women’s health and health insurance, and trained community health workers. Her health research intersects with women’s rights, economic empowerment and livelihoods. Sapna is on the Editorial Board of Reproductive Health Matters, a global women’s health journal, and on the board of UMA, an organisation of women migrant workers. She holds a BA in International Relations from Brown University and MS in Public Health from Harvard University.

Adnan Malik is a filmaker and TV host based in Karachi. He is currently directing a variety of TV commercials and music videos and he has just completed hosting a travel show on a sixty-year friendship between China and Pakistan. He is also the Video Producer of Coke Studio, a fusion music platform that bridges barriers, celebrates diversity, and encourages unity. Adnan directed the multi-award winning film “Bijli” as well as “The Forgotten Song,” Pakistan’s first documentary on the demise of cinema culture. Adnan also contributed to the Sundance winning “Why We Fight, A Jihad for Love” and the indie film “Slackistan.” In addition, Adnan is an organizing member of the Karachi Film Festival and founder of ‘Turn the Tide’, a collective of young professionals that raised $150,000 from around the world for environmental emergencies in Pakistan. He was also featured in the Asia Society’s 2010 report, Making a Difference through the Arts. Adnan was educated at Vassar College.

Gokilavani Muthusamy is Vice President and Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Asia Pacific, at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Based in Hong Kong, she is responsible for proactively evaluating the Bank’s diversity and inclusion needs and driving the strategy and execution of critical diversity and inclusion projects across 12 countries across the Asia Pacific platform. Prior to joining the Bank, Goki worked in a non-profit organization focusing on youth and development, where she successfully completed projects in Botswana and Indonesia. Goki has also been involved in several civil society forums across Asia and Europe advocating the importance of cultural diversity and pluralism. Goki was trained in CCIVS, an organization established by and based in UNESCO, Paris. She also has a B.A. in Psychology from the National University of Singapore.

Lotfullah Najafizada is the Head of Current Affairs at Afghanistan’s first 24 hour news channel, TOLOnews. In this capacity, Lotfullah oversees a team of 35 reporters, editors, show hosts, producers and researchers who produce 7 hours of live and pre-recorded content a day in the sphere of politics, economy and society, which sets the perception among the Afghan population and shapes the agenda in the Afghan politics. Lotfullah began his journalistic activities in mid-2004 for print media in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif. Among his previous employments in the last eight years, Lotfullah also worked for the NATO mission in Afghanistan, providing strategic communications services. Lotfullah has conducted several high profile TV interviews with global leaders, among them British Prime Minister David Cameron, NATO Secretary General Andres Fogh Rasmussen, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and the top US Afghan commander General John Allen. As a World Press Institute fellow, Lotfullah conducted a research on the US mid-term elections in 2010. Lotfullah is a fellow with Asia Society’s Afghanistan Young Leaders Imitative (AYLI) (2011).

Kohei Nishiyama is Chairman of elephant design co., ltd. He founded of CUUSOO.com. The social platform CUUSOO.com serves over 130,000 consumers by allowing them to record their needs and wishes. CUUSOO then develops products and services to cater to those needs. To date, CUUSOO has launched 60 products, and the CUUSOO system is used in brands such as Muji, Tokyo Electric Power Company, and Lego. Kohei has previously worked at McKinsey and was nominated as a Young Global Leader in 2007 by the World Economic Forum, as well as one of the ‘100 Most Creative People’ by Fast Company in 2009. Being a board member of Japan Institute of Design Promotion, he also serves as an executive board member of Icsid since 2011, and acts as advisor to Danish and Japanese governments. Kohei grew up in Colombia and speaks Spanish, Japanese and English. He graduated from the University of Tokyo.

Shinto Ekopuri Nugroho is the Special Assistant to Indonesia’s Minister of Trade where she provides policy advice on programs and activities that work to improve Indonesia’s business climate and global competitiveness. Previously, she led a program at the World Bank to reform regulations and licensing procedures for business start-ups for which she earned her a Triple A Award for development results, transparency, and direct impact to small businesses in 2009. She was also a senior associate at Makes and Partners law firm, where she specialized in bank and finance and led the restructuring and strategic sale of Bank Central Asia. Shinto received a J.D. from Columbia University where she graduated as a Parker Scholar in International and Comparative law, and received a Master’s Degree in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics.

Phloeun Prim is the first Director of Cambodian Living Arts (CLA). Under his directorship, the CLA has built a community of young artists and fostered a national renewal of the arts. Previously, Pholuen was a marketing strategist for Artisans d’Angkor, which trains and employs around a thousand rural youth to create and distribute high quality Cambodian crafts. Phloeun was born in Cambodia and was raised in Canada since the age of three. He returned to Cambodia in 1998 and joined a European Union program, which later became Artisans d’Angkor.

Sakuntala Seneviratne is a practicing clinician and a specialist in gynaecology and obstetrics at Base Hospital in Mulleriyawa, Sri Lanka. She is one of approximately 200 medical staff employed by the Sri Lankan government to provide free health care to a population of over 20 million people. In a career spanning eleven years, Sakuntala has served in five of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka. During her last post, her many duties included converting a low risk obstetric unit to a high risk unit, ensuring that the operating theatre facilities and emergency obstetric services were adequately supplied and maintained, reducing the mortality rate, and improving the infant delivery rate. Sakuntala holds an MBBS and MD, and is registered to practice in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.

Suvani Singh is the owner and the Co-Founder of Quixote’s Cove, an independent bookshop that promotes reading and writing, and the Festival Director for Kathmandu Literary Jatra, a collaborative initiative that hosts annual international literature festivals in Nepal. She is also a Publisher at Safu Publications, an independent publishing company that will focus on children’s literature, translations, and regional language publishing, with the first publications set to hit the market in early 2012. Previously, Suvani worked at Save the Children, Norway in Kathmandu, and was a communications specialist for documentary filmmakers and development agencies. She received her undergraduate degree in Literature from Sophia College, Mumbai, India.

Sonam Tashi is the Acting Chief Planning Officer for the Policy and Planning Division at the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Bhutan. He is also the main counterpart of the Ministry to the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, and Asian Development Bank, and is in charge of drafting the Renewable Energy Policy and Captive Power Policy. Sonam led the team that drafted the Economic Development Policy 2010, Foreign Direct Investment Policy 2010 and Framework for Private Participation in Infrastructure. He was also a member of the negotiating team for investments in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation. Sonam received a Master’s Degree from Cornell University for Internal Development with concentration in Development Finance, and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of Delhi. He also has a diploma in Development Studies from the Institute of Developing Economies Advanced School

Eric Wong – Based in Beijing and New York, Eric Wong is an investment professional at Blue Ridge Capital, where he is responsible for seeking investments on behalf of the global investment fund. Prior to this, Eric advised multinationals on mergers-and-acquisitions in China with Morgan Stanley. He has authored Harvard Business School case studies on emerging markets investing. Outside of investments, Eric has advised the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Junior Achievement China on strategic projects. He currently serves as a Founding Board Member of Bard College Conservatory of Music. As a cellist, Eric has served as Principal Cellist of the Beijing International Chamber Orchestra and also had opportunities to perform in Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. Eric holds an AB and an MBA from Harvard.