Philanthropy Asia Summit 2024

Dr Alan Dangour leads the Climate and Health team in the delivery of Wellcome’s strategy in this new challenge area. He joined Wellcome in January 2022 to lead an ambitious new Climate and Health strategy that seeks to put health at the heart of global climate change action.

For the past 20 years, Dr Dangour worked at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) where he was Professor of Food and Nutrition for Global Health. At LSHTM, Dr Dangour led an interdisciplinary team working on the interconnections between environmental change, food systems and health and was the Director of the Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health.

Dr Dangour has substantial experience working internationally and with government partners – he was a Senior Research Fellow for the UK Department for International Development and an Expert Advisor for the Environmental Audit Office of the UK Parliament.

With an extensive background in molecular microbiology and translational medicine, Dr Alexander Pym leads Wellcome’s work on infectious disease, supporting research into ways to reduce the risks and impacts of infectious disease globally.

Dr Pym joined Wellcome from Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson where he led the discovery and development of new drugs for tuberculosis (TB) and related diseases. Dr Pym spent his early career working as a doctor in rural South Africa, where he led the district TB control program. After working on some of the first HIV clinical trials of HAART in London he completed a PhD in Molecular Microbiology at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, supported by a Wellcome Research Fellowship. He went on to spend over a decade in South Africa working initially on clinical drug development at the South African Medical Research Council, before leading a translational research group at AHRI.

Mr Allaster Cox is the Australian High Commissioner to Singapore since April 2023.

Prior to this, he was the First Assistant Secretary Strategy & Development in the Office of Southeast Asia, following his posting to Jakarta as Deputy Head of Mission.

Mr Cox has had a long career in Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) working mainly on Southeast Asia, including in Canberra as Division Head for Southeast Asia, and overseas as Ambassador to Vietnam and Brunei Darussalam.

He has previously worked at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet covering Asia, Americas and Trade and headed the US Branch in DFAT.

He was the Head of Policy Planning at DFAT and has had earlier postings in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Brunei.

Educated at Sydney University in Economics, Government and Law, he is married with two adult children.

Mr Andrew Fairthorne is passionate about building innovative new business models to deploy capital at scale for underserved segments to mitigate climate impacts in emerging markets. Mr Fairthorne is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Stride, which is a clean-tech start-up with a mission to support Vietnam’s transition to a sustainable future through making solar energy and batteries more affordable and accessible. Prior to Stride, Mr Fairthorne worked in the Financial Services industry for over 15 years, most recently leading teams in HSBC in Hong Kong and Vietnam. Mr Fairthorne’s areas of expertise are green financing, risk management and innovation.

Mr Ashish Dhawan is the Founder-CEO of The Convergence Foundation (TCF) which is focused on accelerating India’s economic growth and development. TCF incubates non-profits focused on creating system-wide impact in the areas of economic growth, equality of opportunity and sustainability. Its current portfolio includes organizations working on jobs and investment, rule of law, governance and state capacity, economic empowerment of women, science and technology, air pollution, unlocking philanthropic capital, and improving the effectiveness of nonprofits.

Mr Dhawan is also the Founding Chairperson of Ashoka University and Central Square Foundation. Ashoka University was established as a university in 2014 and is already recognized as a leading teaching and research institute across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and data & computer science. Central Square Foundation has been a leading voice for foundational literacy and numeracy in India and currently supports several state governments in improving learning outcomes in the early grades.

Mr Dhawan also serves on the governing board of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

Before his second career as a philanthropist, Mr Dhawan was among India’s most successful private equity investors. He founded and ran ChrysCapital, the country’s leading private equity firm. Mr Dhawan graduated from Yale University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Dr Basil Rodriques is a Public Health Professional (Epidemiology, Maternal and Child Health). He has served in several capacities with UNICEF across multiple continents and countries over the past 40 years, beginning with the strengthening and expansion of Primary Health Care at the community level. He then continued his Public Health efforts, leading the development of a strategic path for improved Nutrition across South Asia, followed by supporting Maternal/Child Health services strengthening and Polio Eradication efforts in China. He continued to serve- as Regional Immunization Adviser for the East Asia and Pacific Region (based in Bangkok), and later as Senior Adviser for Emerging Infectious Diseases in UNICEF, New York. He continued in his Regional Health Adviser roles in East Asia & Pacific as well as Europe and Central Asia, based in Geneva, Switzerland. He has recently returned to the East Asia and Pacific Region, where he currently serves as the Senior Regional Health/HIV Adviser for East Asia & Pacific.

Mr Benedict Cheong is the Chief Systems Integration Officer of Temasek Trust Ltd (a Singapore philanthropic entity). He was appointed on 1 November 2023 and leads a team that works in the areas of systems thinking, knowledge and innovation, to help harness the collective capabilities of entities in the Temasek Trust ecosystem towards greater impact. From April 2022 till October 2022, he was Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Foundation Ltd (a Singapore philanthropic entity supported by Temasek Trust Ltd) with specific responsibilities in impact-outcome strategy, institutional relationships and organisational planning. Before this, he had served in Temasek Foundation since April 2007 as Chief Executive Officer, Temasek Foundation International, leading the work in regional and international programmes.

Mr Cheong’s first employment was with the Singapore Government in the Police Force where he served for 15½ years from 1982 till 1998 in various appointments at headquarters and in the operational units. He then served as Chief Executive Officer of the National Council of Social Service for 9 years till 2007, coordinating the work of the social sector agencies and organisations in Singapore.

Mr Cheong currently also serves on a few organisations and committees in the public and non-profit sectors in Singapore.

Mr Benny Lee is Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of Tanoto Foundation. In this role, he provides strategic counsel and operational oversight of the Foundation’s global philanthropic activities.

Mr Lee previously served 20 years in the Singapore Administrative Service, including five years as Principal Private Secretary to President Halimah Yacob, where he served as her strategic advisor and chief of staff. Mr Lee was also Chairman of the President’s Challenge Steering Committee from 2016 to 2022, providing guidance on the fundraising and deployment of more than S$100m to charities in Singapore. Mr Lee has extensive experience in policy making, investment and reserves management, governance, leadership, data analytics, strategic communication and human resource management.

In addition to Tanoto Foundation, Mr Lee also serves as Executive Vice President (External Affairs) at RGE, a group of world class companies that specialise in resource-based manufacturing. As EVP, he oversees the strategic communications and social capital efforts of the group. He also coordinates the sustainability strategy of the Group.

Mr Bernard Tan is the Country President Singapore for Sinar Mas. Over the last six years he has been intimately involved in Sustainability as a function, and has been very focused on ESG issues, especially with regard to fire and haze, on the rehabilitation of landscapes, and on carbon markets. In this regard, he is also now focused on philanthropy as a function.

Prior to joining Sinar Mas, Mr Tan had a distinguished background in public service in Singapore. He had a successful career in the military, where he rose to the rank of Brigadier General. After retirement, he joined DBS Bank, South East Asia’s largest bank, where he was Managing Director and held positions in Debt Capital Markets, and was Country Head of Taiwan and Indonesia over a span of six years. He assumed the appointment of Chief Marketing Officer in ST Engineering, a diversified engineering company with interests in over 40 countries, a job which afforded him experience in global coverage.

He is currently the President of the Football Association of Singapore, the Chairman of Catholic Junior College, and a Board Member of the Singapore Sports School.

Mr Tan holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Birmingham, UK (First Class Honours) in Economics and Political Science and a Masters of Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.

He speaks English, Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesia. He is an active sportsman, plays golf and runs marathons as a hobby.

Mr Bill Weil leads climate finance at Tempest Advisors, advisors to the Sea Change Foundation, and was deeply involved in the foundation of SEACEF I, where he is an Investment Committee member. Prior to joining Tempest, Mr Weil spent ten years in London leading teams investing growth stage private equity into European renewable energy, energy efficiency, and recycling/waste companies. Previous to that, he was based in the Netherlands as General Manager of Strategy and Portfolio for Royal Dutch Shell in their renewables and CO2 division and started his career with ERM, advising Fortune 100 companies on sustainability strategies. Mr Weil holds an MBA from INSEAD and graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania, with undergraduate degrees from both Wharton and the School of Engineering.

Mr Bob Ward is Policy and Communications Director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His responsibilities include managing the team that supports the Institute’s Chair, Lord Nicholas Stern. Mr Ward joined the Institute in November 2008 from Risk Management Solutions, the world’s leading provider of computer models for quantifying the risk of catastrophic events, where he was Director of Public Policy. He worked at the Royal Society, the UK national academy of science, for eight years until October 2006, where his responsibilities included science policy communications. He has also worked as a freelance science writer and as a science reporter for ‘The Daily Telegraph’. He has a first degree in geology and an unfinished PhD thesis on palaeopiezometry. Mr Ward is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Fellow of the Geological Society and a Fellow of the Energy Institute. He is also Chair of the London Climate Change Partnership, and a member of the executive committee of the Association of British Science Writers.

Mr Børge Brende is president of the World Economic Forum (2017). Previously he was the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Trade and Industry, and Minister of Climate and the Environment. He served as Deputy Chairman of the Norwegian Conservative Party as well as MP. He was also full-time city counsellor in his hometown of Trondheim. He was Chairman of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and Secretary-General of the Norwegian Red Cross. He was Board Member of Statoil and the Norwegian School of Economics. He was the Chair of Mesta, Norway’s largest contracting group in the area of road and highway maintenance and is currently a Director of the Philanthropy Asia Alliance. He is a Member of the Advisory Council, Harvard International Negotiation Program, the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), the Strategic Committee of Sciences Po, and is currently on the Board of the Bilderberg Meetings.

Brian San serves as the Executive Director, Programmes and Strategic Development at the Wealth Management Institute. He co-leads the Global-Asia Family Office Circle (GFO Circle) at WMI, a network platform for the family office ecosystem in Singapore and Asia. Supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the GFO Circle fosters a trusted environment based on peer learning, collaboration and competency building.

Brian is also the Program Development Director for the Dalio Market Principles Program, a landmark initiative at WMI supported by Dalio Philanthropies, which aims to teach universal principles of market behaviour to both private and public sector leaders and investors. Brian further helms WMI's programmes in philanthropy and sustainable investing, and leads marketing and communications.

Prior to his role at WMI, Brian was on the senior leadership team at NTUC LearningHub, where he led the division focused on re-training low-income and unemployed workers, and also helmed the LHUB GO digital learning platform with over 100,000 users. He previously led M&A and partnerships for an Asia-focused education investment group, and helped to launch new colleges in Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam. Brian started his career as a strategy consultant with Bain & Company where he led projects in private equity, financial services and retail.

He holds a BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Brian has lived and worked in several countries including UK, USA, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Australia.

Carla Haddad Mardini became Director of UNICEF’s Private Fundraising and Partnerships Division in Geneva in January 2021. Here she leads the organization's global strategy to leverage the private sector to generate sustainable income for UNICEF and drive partnerships for children worldwide. This includes engaging with the general public (UNICEF’s supporters and donors), philanthropists, foundations, and business to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for children. She also oversees the coordination, strategic planning and governance with UNICEF’s 33 National Committees that actively engage in child rights advocacy, communication, fundraising and brand positioning.

From 2018 to 2021, Carla served as UNICEF’s Director of the Public Partnerships Division in New York, leading the organization's resource mobilization from the public sector and overseeing its engagement with permanent missions and governments on multilateral affairs in the inter-governmental space. Prior to joining UNICEF, Ms. Haddad Mardini had worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross over a period spanning 17 years. Until the end of 2017, she was the Head of the Resource Mobilization Division, leading donor relations, fundraising and government affairs. She previously held the position of Chief Spokesperson and Head of the Public Communication Division. She spent the early years of her career in the field, covering protection and family links programmes in the Middle East and Africa, serving in Kurdistan and Baghdad in Iraq, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Ethiopia.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon; a Master's Degree in Comparative Literature from Dartmouth College in the United States, and a Master's Degree in International Relations with a focus on international negotiation, mediation and conflict resolution from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, in the United States.

Born and raised in Lebanon, she is a Lebanese and Swiss national.

With over 13 years of dedicated experience in the impact sector, Carol is a seasoned professional specializing in philanthropic advisory and impact strategies. Her expertise spans across diverse entities including family offices, private and corporate foundations, as well as nonprofit and social enterprises.

Previously serving as the Head of Philanthropy at the North-East Family Office, Carol played a pivotal role in crafting bespoke philanthropic structures and strategies for the families. Notably, she spearheaded the establishment of the ECCA Family Foundation for the 2nd generation, where she currently serves as its inaugural Managing Director. In this capacity, she oversees philanthropic grants and impact investments, with a keen focus on advancing the family's philanthropic ambition on Oceans, Biodiversity, and Underserved communities.

Before venturing into the philanthropic sector, Carol dedicated 8 years to the humanitarian and international development sector. During this period, she managed multi-million portfolio of relief and development programs spanning eight geographies in Asia, and developed evidence-informed impact management frameworks for more than 30 nonprofit organizations and social enterprises focusing on climate adaptation, sustainable livelihoods, education, and resilience building.

Chavalit Frederick Tsao is the fourth-generation steward of IMCPAA, a 120-year-old family shipping business. He was born in the East and educated in the West. After graduating from his master’s in engineering from the University of Michigan, he joined the family business at the age of 20. He took over the helm of the family shipping business from his father at the age of 36 and went on to become the Chairman of INTERCARGO, the International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners at 42.

Today, the IMCPAA is a diversified multi-national conglomerate, under a Trust, governed by the well-being mandate; with the mission to “Serve the well-being of Life and create wealth at the same time”. In 1995, he founded the East West Centre for Cultural Research on Sustainability through which he commissioned and authored close to 40 books. He has great interest in Culture and has a non-profit with his wife on exploring Chinese Culture in the global context.

He believes that business must reform to serve the flourishing of Life in this new era. He has founded three non-profits under IMC Pan Asia Alliance, Octave Institute, No.17 Foundation and Restore Nature Foundation, to promote philanthropy in IMCPAA.

Mr Chen Leiming has been Senior Vice President of Ant Group since 2016, responsible for International Public Policy and Government Affairs. He also leads the ESG initiatives and the implementation of the sustainable development strategy of Ant Group’s international businesses. Mr Chen served as Ant Group’s General Counsel from March 2016 to May 2020. In his day-to-day responsibilities, Mr Chen undertakes a broad range of regulatory engagement in connection with the Group's international business activities. Prior to joining Ant, Mr Chen was a partner and head of China practice at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, a New York-based international law firm, where he worked on a variety of equity and debt offerings and mergers and acquisitions involving primarily PRC companies, including his lead role in advising Alibaba in its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014. Mr Chen has extensive experience in corporate governance and regulatory matters. Mr Chen is qualified to practice law in the State of New York and is a solicitor of the High Court of Hong Kong. Mr Chen obtained a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University in Toronto, Canada.

Cherie Nursalim is Vice Chairman of GITI Group, a diversified group with real estate development, manufacturing, and consumer lifestyle presence partnering with world‐renowned brands throughout the Asia Pacific region. She is also a special advisor in the government of the Republic of Indonesia.

Ms Nursalim is the Vice Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). She is a board member of Publicis Groupe, IMAGINE, the Business and Sustainable Development Commission Global Blended Finance Taskforce, and Partnering for Green Growth (P4G). She chairs the Southeast Asia Chapter of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions , and the Tsinghua University Southeast Asia Center. Ms Nursalim is the co‐founder of the United in Diversity Foundation and the Tri Hita Karana Forum with global partners.

Ms Nursalim is a recipient of the Baiyulan Award from the Shanghai Government and awarded by the National Development Ministry of Singapore for her role as founding board on Gardens by the Bay. Ms Nursalim initiated initiatives for HIV AIDS awareness in Indonesia for GT organization which won awards from Indonesian government, UNAIDS and International Labor Organization.

EQT foundation is the philanthropic arm of the global investment organization EQT. The foundation combines catalytic capital with EQT’s investment expertise to push the frontiers of impact through entrepreneurship, supporting founders bringing breakthrough science from lab to market.

Cilia started her career at the UN in New York assisting in the negotiations of the SDGs and holds a double master in sustainable development and international business from NHH and HEC Paris. In 2017, she co-founded S-HUB, a non-profit aimed at accelerating the field of sustainable business. Prior to joining EQT, Indahl led the early-stage impact investing organization Katapult, and worked as Sustainability Director for Aker Biomarine, where she also established a foundation to safeguard the wildlife in the Antarctic.

Indahl sits on the board of Amedia, a stewardship-owned media group protecting independent journalism, represents Norway on the Nordic Council’s Environmental Prize Committee, and served as Expert Advisor to the G7 taskforce on impact investing under UK’s presidency.

Colin Moore is the Regional Carbon Advisor - Mekong for the Wildlife Conservation Society. He is a seasoned technical and policy expert in the design, implementation and monitoring of REDD+ projects and programs. His expertise lies in the accounting of GHG emissions from the land-use sector across multiple certification standards and delivery of carbon finance for conservation actions. His professional experience spans Central America, Africa and Southeast Asia supporting governments, private sector companies and public sector organizations through collaborative engagements to deliver positive climate, biodiversity and social benefits at scale.

David joined the Global Health program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in May 2016 after serving as a physician epidemiologist in the Navy. His academic work has appeared in Science, Nature and the LancetID, and he edits a textbook on technological innovations in disease surveillance. He has previously served on the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Microbial Threats, the Infectious Disease Society of America’s Global Public Health Committee/Pandemic Influenza Task Force and currently serves on the National Academy of Science’s Board on Health Science Policy. At the foundation, David serves as Deputy Director of Global Health, and manages a diverse portfolio around burden of disease modeling, geospatial mapping, next generation genetic sequencing of pathogens with epidemic potential and wastewater surveillance.

David graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis and did his medical training at Johns Hopkins University. Outside of work, he enjoys endurance running and cycling.

Ms Dawn Chan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP) and Managing Director of Investments at Temasek Trust Capital. Ms Chan leads and sets the strategic direction and growth of CIIP, and helps to manage the investment portfolio for Temasek Trust Capital.

As an experienced investor, she draws on over 20 years of investment experience in private equity, venture and fund-of-fund investments across Asia, the US and Europe. Prior to joining Temasek Trust, she helmed the Consumer unit at Temasek International, where she spent 19 years. Ms Chan started her investment career at Vertex Holdings, a venture capital fund in Singapore. She was previously at Asia Pacific Molecular Biology Network and Singapore’s National Science & Technology Board.

Ruklanthi (Rukie) de Alwis is currently the Deputy Director of the Center for Outbreak Preparedness at the Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. She is also an Assistant Professor at the Duke-NUS Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme. Rukie is trained in virology, immunology and public health, with over a decade of experience working in infectious diseases. She obtained her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill in USA. Her graduate studies were followed by a MPH at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in UK, where she learned to apply her scientific skills to maximize public health impact. Her infectious disease journey then took her to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam where she worked for Oxford University as an epidemiologist. After which she moved to the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, where during COVID she was instrumental in helping develop a self-amplifying RNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.

As a Sri Lankan national, Rukie particularly values working in close collaboration with, supporting and uplifting partners from low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Her passion to support LMICs brought her to now lead and support several vaccine-related projects and genomics initiatives, including the Asia Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Asia PGI). Asia PGI partners with 14 Asian countries (mostly low resourced) to improve access to genomics to strengthen health security against infectious diseases in Asia.

Mr Dean Collins is recognized as one of the foremost private equity lawyers in Asia and worldwide, being named in the most recent "The Legal Power 30," Private Equity International's list of the thirty most influential private equity lawyers in the world. He is the only lawyer based in Southeast Asia named to the list. Mr Collins has been recognized for investment funds by Chambers Asia Pacific with a Band 1 ranking for the past fourteen years and by Legal 500 Asia Pacific as a Leading Individual for the past eight years. Under his leadership, Dechert’s Asian investment funds practice was recently named as fund formation law firm of the year in both Law.com International’s and Private Debt Investor’s annual awards.

Mr Collins counsels clients on the structuring and establishment of private equity investment funds, secondary transactions, carried interest and co-investment plans, team spin-outs, co-investments and other private equity related transactions. He also acts on the establishment of other types of alternative investment funds, such as infrastructure, private debt, venture capital and real estate, as well as providing advice to major institutional investors on their investments into funds both in Asia and elsewhere. Mr Collins provides sophisticated and practical advice to asset managers on a global basis on ESG matters, including the formation of climate impact funds. He worked for Actis from 2001 to 2008, and his legal practice has been deeply ingrained in the world of ESG, long before it became fashionable to do so.

Mr Dennis Ng, the visionary founder of Mober, has revolutionized the logistics industry in the Philippines by merging sustainability with innovation. His journey began in the audit department at Ernst & Young Philippines, providing him with a strong foundation for his varied entrepreneurial endeavors. His venture into the salt trading business showcased his exceptional ability to identify and exploit niche markets, setting the stage for his future innovations. This unique talent was further demonstrated when he founded Chismax Magazine in 2003, directly addressing the needs of Overseas Filipino Workers by offering them a free source of entertainment news, thereby forging a heartfelt connection with their homeland.

His foresight shone again in 2012 with Govago’s Grab-A-Cab, the first taxi-dispatching system in the Philippines, anticipating the rise of ride-hailing apps. The creation of Mober marked a significant milestone, by introducing electric vehicles (EVs) into the logistics sector, alongside Boltico, a dedicated EV charging network for the logistics fleet, and Mober Rental to assist smaller transport providers in adopting eco-friendly operations, Mr Ng not only carved a new niche in sustainable logistics but also positioned Mober as an industry leader.

Today, Mober's fleet includes 60 units of 100% electric light trucks, supported by 25 charging points, serving prestigious clients like IKEA, Nestle, Nespresso, and SM Appliance. Mr Ng's journey from auditing to leading a green logistics revolution is a testament to his innovative leadership, strategic foresight, and unparalleled ability to identify and fulfill niche market needs, significantly reducing the transport sector's carbon footprint in the Philippines.

Mr Desmond Kuek is the CEO of Temasek Trust.

Prior to this, Mr Kuek was UBS Global Head of Sustainable Finance and Chairman of UBS Optimus Foundation Singapore from 2019 to 2022. He was President and Group CEO of SMRT Corporation Ltd from 2012 to 2018; and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Water Resources from 2010 to 2012. He served in the Singapore Armed Forces in his earlier years, and was appointed Chief of Army from 2003 to 2007, and Chief of Defence Force from 2007 to 2010. Mr Kuek holds a Master of Arts (Engineering Science) from Oxford University, and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University.

Ms Dewi R. Sari is the Nature-based Solution Manager at WRI Indonesia, where she leads the development of research and tools to attract climate finance for NBS projects focused on ecosystem protection, restoration, and management. She plays a key role in facilitating collaborative NBS efforts among various stakeholders. She champions sustainable financing mechanisms and inclusive governance models that empower Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in conservation efforts.

As the NbS Tool Lead for the Southeast Asia Climate and Nature-based Solution (SCeNe) Coalition, a coalition of eight NGOs in the region. Ms Sari leads a team of geospatial scientists and conservation experts. Together, they develop an the NbS Tool, designed to democratize data and unlock financial access for local organizations to implement high-quality NbS projects.

Before her tenure at WRI, Ms Sari received with a Future Conservationist Award from the Conservation Leadership Program and co-founded Thresher Shark Indonesia in 2018. This organization focuses on the conservation of endangered thresher sharks while supporting the livelihoods of dependent coastal communities. Her passion for conservation is matched by her love for data analysis, demonstrated through her role as a Research Fellow at the Australian Climate and Water Summer Institute. Ms Sari holds a Bachelor of Science from the Bandung Institute of Technology and a Master of Environmental Management from the University of Queensland awarded through an Australia Awards Scholarship. She's committed to continuous leadership development, having completed the IDEAS Asia Pacific Program by MIT Sloan School of Management and the Changing Minds Behavioural Science course by UCL Psychology and Language Sciences.

Dr Do Kien Quoc has been working at Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City (PI) since 2005. From 2005 to 2012, he had great opportunities to obtain valuable experience in dealing with various outbreaks and epidemics in the South of Vietnam for instance Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), Influenza Pandemic A(H1N1) 2009, Hand – Foot – Mouth disease (HFMD) and cholera.

Dr Do moved to National Program for Dengue prevention and control in 2012 to pursue his desirable objectives of controlling Dengue since the first day he had come to PI. In addition to routine activities of surveillance and epidemic response, PI has also provided him with a motivating research environment so that he could serve as investigator, research coordinator of many great studies from epidemiological studies to vaccine trials such as: Dengue vaccine trial, EV71 vaccine trial, studies to identify epidemiological features and disease dynamics of Dengue, HFMD, Severe Acute Respiratory Infection and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome.

Dr Do firmly believes that his academic knowledge obtained from studies could be applied in routine activities to serve for the supreme objective of Dengue and other communicable diseases prevention and control and vice versa his practical experience in field work will provide him with comprehensive knowledge in conducting and referring research career.

Donald is the Programme Lead of PAA. Prior to this, he was the Managing Director, Asia Pacific for CDP, a non-profit which manages the global disclosure system on environmental matters. In this role, he led the region’s business and operations in its six offices across Japan, China, India, Southeast Asia and Oceania.

Previously, Donald had a diverse career in investments and governments. In addition, he has been part of founding management teams of an infrastructure finance company and a digital telecommunications technology start-up.

Donald holds an MBA from Macquarie University and a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce from University of Sydney.

During her stint at Super Group Ltd, Elaine helmed the Group’s branding, marketing and product development team. She spearheaded the rebranding exercise for the Company and played a pivotal role in building and establishing a stronger and more appealing brand for the Company. This has strengthened the Group’s brand presence in key markets and enabled the Company to launch and penetrate into new markets.

In her current role as Managing Partner in Apricot Capital, Elaine is responsible for its financial planning, strategic fund deployment and management of the Company’s investment portfolios. She has successfully led financial planning and analysis efforts and executed investment strategies to maximize returns for the family office.

With a passion for creativity and brand storytelling, Elaine has directed the growth of numerous consumer brands. Drawing upon her years of experience, she plays an active role in direct investments made by Apricot Capital by sharing her knowledge and helping partners elevate their brands and connect with target audiences. Elaine ensures that marketing strategies align with business objectives and deliver tangible results in revenue growth.

More recently, Elaine spearheaded the launch of Oatbedient. Newly founded in 2022, Oatbedient is our very own brand of oat milk. This product development is driven by our desire for authentically healthy products with clean labelling.

Outside of work, Elaine believes in giving back to the community by supporting philanthropic initiatives relating to humanitarian projects with a focus on addressing social issues, education and healthcare access for the marginalized populations of Singapore.

Ms Elizabeth Yee is the Executive Vice President of Programs. She oversees The Foundation’s portfolio of global programs, regional offices and learning and impact team, and leads the advancement of the Foundation’s strategic priorities. She is the former Chief of Staff and joined The Foundation in 2019 as the Managing Director of Climate and Resilience.

From 2015-2019, Ms Yee held various executive leadership roles at 100 Resilient Cities, a sponsored project of The Foundation, where she led the development of strategic partnerships and collaborated with member cities and investors to develop and mobilize financial solutions.

Before joining 100 Resilient Cities, Ms Yee co-led the Public Power and Utilities practice at Barclays Capital. During her seventeen years in financial services at Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital, Ms Yee originated, developed, structured and executed over $30 billion of infrastructure, energy, commodities and derivative transactions. She and her team were two time “Bond Buyer Deal of the Year” recipients for their innovative approaches to renewable energy finance.

She was appointed to SEforALL’s Board, which aims to accelerate and deliver the solutions needed to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 – access to affordable and clean energy by 2030, serves on the Investment Committee for the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet as well as the Advisory Boards for Co-Impact’s Foundational Fund and Gender Advisory Boards. She co-chairs the Climate Coalition for Lower Manhattan and is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Ms Yee is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr Felix Barwinek is a Senior Investment Manager in Norfund’s Renewable Energy team. With over 10 years’ investment experience, he is currently focused on financing the energy transition in developing markets, primarily through direct equity investments in the distributed generation and utility scale space, but also through fund investments. Mr Barwinek served on the Norfund board and serves on portfolio company boards and investment committees. Prior to joining Norfund, he worked at Verdane Capital Advisors, The Financial Times Group, and UNIDO. Felix holds an MSc in International Strategy and Economics from the University of St Andrews, Scotland.

Fifi Pangestu is a Jakarta-born businesswoman with a passion for sustainability and education. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Boston College in the United States, and started her career as an auditor at Arthur Andersen LLP in New York. She eventually joined Barito Pacific Group, one of Indonesia’s largest diversified conglomerates.

As a senior executive at Barito Pacific, Fifi Pangestu has played an important role in the company’s success, particularly in the areas of human resources and business development. She is known for her ability to develop and implement innovative strategies that drive growth and increase profitability. Fifi is also a devoted mother of three, and a strong advocate for high-quality education and sustainable environmental practices. She has taken a lead role in the corporate foundation, Bakti Barito, which was established to serve as a platform for all sustainability initiatives as well as to enhance Indonesia’s education quality to serve all.

In addition to her work at Barito Pacific, Fifi serves on the Board of Governors of the British School Jakarta, a leading international school in Indonesia. She also serves on the Board of Regents of Boston College in the United States, her alma mater.

Ms Foo Mee Har is the CEO of the Wealth Management Institute (WMI) as well as a member of WMI’s Board of Trustees. Founded by GIC and Temasek, WMI is Asia’s Centre of Excellence for wealth and asset management education and research. Under Ms Foo’s leadership, WMI has grown to become a leading training provider delivering over 20,000 training places annually, serving wealth managers, asset managers, investment advisors, lawyers, trust professionals, wealth planners, high net-worth families and financial regulators across Asia. WMI helms the Global-Asia Family Office Circle, a network platform that fosters a trusted environment to build capabilities and community in the family office sector. The GFO Circle is supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). WMI is also host of the Asia Centre for Changemakers, supported by Temasek Trust and the Philanthropy Asia Alliance. Ms Foo also holds public office, elected as a Member of Parliament in Singapore since 2011. She is currently the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, a Select Committee of the Singapore Parliament. She is also the Vice Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee of Finance and Trade and Industry, and also serves as a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee of Education. Ms Foo started her career in management consulting. Her private sector experience includes a two-decade stint with Standard Chartered Bank, during which she held a number of senior positions including Global Head for Priority Banking & International Banking covering 30 markets in Asia, Middle East and Africa; President & CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Thailand; as well as Country Head of Consumer Banking China.

Francesco has been involved in philanthropy in Asia for the last 20 years. As the Head of the Firetree Group Firetree Group. Firetree Advisory Pte. Ltd., Firetree Philanthropy, Starfish Education oversees its philanthropic giving and programmes.

Since beginning his philanthropic journey, Francesco has overseen the disbursement of over US$120 million in grants. He spends his time between Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia, working with the management and Boards of local organisations as a director and/or an advisor and thought partner as well as funder.

During his philanthropic career, Francesco has co-built and managed non-profits such as M’Lop Tapang, a Cambodian organisation working with thousands of vulnerable children, youth and families and led the restructuring of AHC, a leading children’s healthcare organisation based in Siem Reap. In the Philippines he co-founded and still manages the Tondo Community Initiative, a social work and child-protection organisation working in Tondo, Manila.

After relocating to Singapore in 2020, he co-founded the Asia Community Foundation and serves as a director of South Central Community Family Service Centre and =Dreams (Singapore) Limited.

The direct experience gained in working with nonprofits greatly informs his philanthropic giving approach.

Previous to his work with non-profit institutions, Francesco worked in finance and business development in North America and Europe. He holds a LLM degree (International Law) and a Master Degree in Management.

Ms Franziska Deininger is the Global Climate Lead and manages the Gender x Climate program in the Gender and Economic Inclusion Department (GEID) of the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. Her work focuses on advancing gender-inclusive climate investment by addressing global knowledge gaps and identifying solutions to advance gender equality in private sector-led climate action. She previously supported the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), the Clean Cooking Fund (CCF), and the Infrastructure Global Practice of the World Bank. Ms Deininger has also held different positions at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), in global risk management, as well as in global financial services.

Ms Deininger holds a double master’s degree from Sciences Po in Paris and the London School of Economics in Economic Policy and Political Economy, as well as a BSc in Economics and Social Entrepreneurship from Northeastern University. She is a German national, currently living in London, UK.

Mr Galib Akash is an Investment Officer in the Private Equity team at FMO focussing on fund and direct investments in Energy Transition. Galib is active in managing several climate funds in Asia, with a focus on India and Southeast Asia. Prior to the current role at FMO, Galib worked with Dutch FIs including ING and Rabobank in leading debt financing and capital advisory services towards renewable energy projects and companies.

Mr Gilles Pascual leads the Energy Transition practice of EY in ASEAN, working with Governments, Utilities and the private sector clients on all aspects of the electricity value chain decarbonization across strategy, investment, and financing.

Mr Pascual has 25 years of experience in the Asian electricity markets as a banker and consultant.

Ms Gillian Tan is the Assistant Managing Director of the Development and International Group and Chief Sustainability Officer, overseeing the development of Singapore as an international financial centre as well as MAS' sustainability strategies and international relations.

Ms Gisela Tiongson is the President of Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF), the social development arm of Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), one of the fastest-growing restaurant companies in the world, operating in 34 countries, with over 6,300 stores globally. As head of the Foundation, Ms Tiongson oversees JGF’s work in promoting food security through programs in agro-entrepreneurship, education and disaster response.

Ms Tiongson currently serves as Chairperson of the Association of Foundations in the Philippines, the largest network of nonprofit foundations and organizations in the country. Prior to joining JGF in 2007, Ms Tiongson worked with international development organizations and national foundations. Her work experience has spanned foundation management, corporate social responsibility, bridging leadership and social innovation.

Ms Tiongson obtained her Masteral degree in International Policy and Practice from the George Washington University and has done postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry, the Center for the Study of Philanthropy in New York and at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Ms Gunilla Nilsson heads up the Energy & Climate investment team at Swedfund International (www.swedfund.se), the Swedish development finance institution, focusing, i.a., on renewable energy generation and distribution, and other green infrastructure. She has also worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as well as Citigroup focusing on financing and M&A in the power and utilities sectors.

The Earthshot Prize is a prize and a platform founded by HRH The Prince of Wales and the Royal Foundation in 2020 to search, spotlight and scale solutions that can help repair and regenerate the planet in this decade.

Hannah is a social and environmental advocate believing in the power of entrepreneurism, innovation and collaboration to affect systems change. She started her career in radio, at the BBC, before working as a social entrepreneur in a British Charity, founding and leading pan-European AIDS/HIV prevention and anti-racism campaigns across 100's of Radio stations. She then worked on the founding team of Microsoft’s philanthropy program in EMEA before joining Nike to help start their first Corporate Responsibility team in EMEA.

For 16 years, as Nike’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, working to the CEO and the Nike Board of Directors, Hannah helped lead the transformation of Nike’s labour rights and sustainability efforts, turning both functions into engines of business model innovation and industry change. Following that, Hannah founded Nike Valiant Labs, a venture to bring a culture of lean start-up, human centred design & entrepreneurialism to Nike, housing a vibrant diverse culture of entrepreneurs delivering a growing portfolio of new disruptive digital businesses and offerings with purpose at their core.

Named twice to Fast Company’s top 100 Creative People list, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and winner of the C.K Prahalad 2013 award for leadership in Sustainability, Hannah has served on the board of the Method Soap & Ecover brands, was the co-chair and co-founder of We Mean Business, a coalition of progressive businesses working to influence climate policy, and has served on the boards and councils of Mercy Corps, the UNHCR Business Advisory Council and the Purpose Climate Lab. Today, Hannah is a non-executive director on the board of Oatly, a sustainability advisor to UCB, a global Biotech company, an advisor to the Queens Gambit, an all-female SPAC, a mentor with the Unreasonable Group, and a mentor to as many talented diverse future leaders as she can fit in.

Ms Isabella Hui is the Chief Operations Officer at Clime Capital. She is responsible for operations, accounting and regulatory compliance for both Clime Capital and the Funds.

Ms Hui has close to 20 years of experience across the roles of fund accounting, financial reporting, treasury, deal operations, taxation, compliance and corporate governance. She has worked for sovereign wealth fund, private equity, asset management firms and fund services providers.

During the period with Eastspring, Ms Hui was involved in the infrastructure related commitment of USD 500 million which is a collaboration with the World Bank to make substantial investments in green field infrastructure. Ms Hui has served as Vice President in L Catterton Singapore, assisted REITS listing completion, tax structuring and loan structuring. She has also supported in the Finance Department of GIC for deal closing, anti-trust evaluation, substantial shares reporting, tax administration and financial reporting.

Prior to this, her expertise across ten years of service in fund accounting has helped Private Equity and Hedge Fund clients to administer assets aggregated to over USD 1 billion. She took care of a team, ran training workshops and rolled out a global project in Singapore to transform the office with digital solution for records keeping. Such project has substantially reduced the paper usage within the Net Asset Value calculation process and improved process efficiency.

Ms Hui is a Certified Practicing Accountant with CPA Australia. She graduated from Macquarie University with a Double Degree in Applied Finance and Commerce (Professional Accounting). She has worked in Hong Kong, Sydney and Singapore. She enjoys interacting with people in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

Mr Iqbal Dhaliwal is the Global Executive Director of MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) since 2018. He leads the development of the organization’s strategic vision and worldwide operations in research, policy outreach and training in over a dozen countries. He is the co-Director with Nobel Laureates Esther Duflo of J-PAL’s South Asia regional office, and Abhijit Banerjee of the Innovation in Government Initiative (IGI). He is a board member of J-PAL and of award winning social enterprises Noora Health and Rocket Learning.

Before joining J-PAL, Mr Iqbal worked in the private sector, first in strategy consulting and later in economic consulting. He began his career in public service as a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), where he helped formulate state policy as a Deputy Secretary, was the CEO of a public-sector company, and head of one of the state’s largest administrative divisions that implemented numerous development programs in the field.

Mr Iqbal stood first in the nationwide Civil Services examination. He received the Director's Gold Medal at India's National Academy of Administration. Government of Punjab, India awarded him the Guru Nanak Devji Achievers Award for his "contributions to the field of economics and poverty alleviation." He received the Dean's Fellowship at Princeton University and the gold medal for standing first in the college in his undergraduate program.

Mr Iqbal has an MA in economics from the Delhi School of Economics, and an MPA in international development from Princeton University.

Mr Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala is the Chairman of Ayala Corporation, one of the largest business groups in the Philippines, with interests in real estate, banking, telecommunications, power, healthcare, logistics, industrial technologies, infrastructure, education, and technology investments.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of Temasek Holdings, JP Morgan International Council, JP Morgan Asia Pacific Council, Mitsubishi Corporation International Advisory Council, and LeapFrog Investment’s Global Leadership Council.

He sits on various advisory boards of Harvard University, including the Global Advisory Council, HBS Board of Dean’s Advisors, and the HBS Asia-Pacific Advisory Board, which he chairs. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Asia Business Council, a Trustee of Endeavor Philippines, the Philippine Representative to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council from 2010-2015, a Steering Committee Member and Steward of The Council for Inclusive Capitalism, and a Trustee Emeritus of Eisenhower Fellowships.

He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit in 2009, the Philippine Legion of Honor with rank of Grand Commander in 2010, and the Order of Mabini with rank of Commander in 2015 by the President of the Philippines. In 2017, he was recognized as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Pioneer for his work in sustainable business strategy and operations and was the first SDG Pioneer from the Philippines.

He received his BA in Economics (with honors) from Harvard University in 1981 and MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1987.

Jaime Ho is the Editor of The Straits Times, where he is responsible for all aspects of the newsroom's operations and growth.

Before joining SPH Media Group in October 2022, Mr Ho’s career had spanned more than 25 years across journalism and the Singapore civil service. He served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1997 to 2013, overseeing issues such as bilateral relations with Europe and climate change, while also serving in Washington, D.C. and Geneva.

Mr Ho joined Mediacorp in 2013 as Associate Editor before becoming Deputy Chief Editor. He was appointed Chief Editor of CNA Digital in January 2016, a role he held until April 2022. Under his leadership, the team successfully navigated a period of significant audience growth, and the platform won several accolades. Mr Ho also wrote extensively at Mediacorp and fronted several broadcast events for CNA.

From June to October 2022, Mr Ho was also a Partner at FGS Global, a global strategic advisory, where he led its Singapore office and its operations locally and regionally.

Mr Ho graduated from the National University of Singapore with a BA (Hons) in 1997, and also holds a Master in Public Management from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in 2006.

Ms Jamie Choi is the Chief Executive Officer of Tara Climate Foundation, a new regional regranting foundation that aims to accelerate Asia’s just energy transformation. Under Ms Choi’s leadership, Tara has transitioned into an independent, regionally-based and locally-driven foundation, providing support to a diverse network of over 250 grantees spanning across 13 Asian geographies. Ms Choi brings nearly two decades of global experience at the crossroads of environmental protection and economic development. Before assuming her role at Tara, she held the position of Programme Director at Greenpeace East Asia, where she led the strategic direction of programs and managed a team of 160 professionals across China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea. A native of South Korea, she has lived or worked extensively across various continents, including Asia, North America and Central America, and speaks four languages. Ms Choi earned both her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from Brown University.

Ms Jan Yoshioka serves as Vice President, Sustainable Finance for Conservation International, a leading environmental organization working to empower societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature and global biodiversity for the well-being of humanity. In her current role, Ms Yoshioka leads and oversees Conservation International’s nature-focused blended and impact finance initiatives in Asia and the Pacific. Ms Yoshioka previously served as Global Oceans Investment Lead for CI Ventures LLC, an impact-first investment vehicle founded by Conservation International, where she oversaw blue economy-focused venture investments. Ms Yoshioka as served as an advisor, mentor, and board member to multiple nature and conservation financing initiatives, funds, accelerators, and companies including Hatch Blue, the Mirova-Althelia Sustainable Ocean Fund, and the 1000 Ocean Startups coalition. Ms Yoshioka is a native of Hawaii and currently resides in Singapore.

Mr Jasper Wong is currently the Head of Real Estate & Hospitality, Construction and Infrastructure, Sector Solutions Group for UOB. He has strategic coverage focusing on developing sector-specific solutions in the real estate, hospitality, construction, infrastructure, solar and energy efficiency segment, leveraging industry insights, data analytics and valuechain analyses across UOB’s wholesale banking business. Before taking up this role, Jasper was the Head of Infrastructure & Project Finance for Asia in UOB. He has over 25 years extensive project and structured finance experience in the region focusing on power, renewables, oil and gas, petrochemical, infrastructure and telecoms financing. Prior to joining UOB, Jasper worked in the transportation industry as the director of Structured Finance Asia for Bombardier Transportation.

Jennifer Morris, CEO of The Nature Conservancy, leads a global team of 5,000+ staff in 70+ countries, addressing the climate and biodiversity crises. Inspired to pursue a career in conservation after living and teaching in rural Namibia, she has spent more than 25 years working in collaboration with civil society, industry and governments on innovative finance solutions and science-based conservation centered on communities. Formerly with Conservation International, where she was both COO and President during a period of rapid growth, Ms. Morris is a global leader and champion for nature. In 2023, she was named as one of TIME’s inaugural Climate 100 as well as Fortune Magazine’s 50 over 50 for impact. She serves on a range of global councils including the Climate Advisory Board for Norges Bank Investment Management, Nestlé’s Creating Shared Value Advisory Council and The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. She also chairs the board of Enduring Earth, an ambitious collaboration that works with all stewards of the environment to accelerate conservation worldwide. Ms. Morris holds degrees from Emory and Columbia University.

Mr Kevin Tan is Founder and CEO of Tri-Sector Associates, a non-profit intermediary whose mission is to develop new ways for the public, private, and people sectors to collaborate in solving the most complex social problems around Asia.

Tri-Sector helps to advise leading wealth management, philanthropic, and governmental institutions on adapting blended finance and outcomes-based funding models to Asia’s unique context. Tri-Sector has helped to design several pioneering blended finance instruments in the social and environmental space, including the first recyclable grant technical assistance facility for conservation in Southeast Asia, the first “Payment For Success (PFS)” social blended finance project in Hong Kong, and the first Social Impact Guarantee (SIG) and Outcomes Amplifier (OA) globally.

Mr Tan previously worked at Third Sector Capital Partners, a leading PFS intermediary in the US. He was previously listed by Forbes Asia as one of its 30 under 30 social entrepreneurs, and his work has been featured in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. He holds an MPP (Business and Government) from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a BA (First Class Hons) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford.

Ms Kim Jin Young leads CIFF’s growing portfolio in Southeast Asia and Korea and Japan as the foundation’s Climate Director.

Ms Kim comes from 17 years of professional experience in climate and green focused development in Asia and the Middle East, as well as 7 years of public policy research experience. Before CIFF, Ms Kim worked as Director for Asia at Global Green Growth Institute, leading a portfolio of 13 programs and over 120 in-country staff, working with more than 30 Ministries and agencies in Asia.

She worked for the Presidential Committee on Green Growth of Korea and the Korean National Commission on Sustainable Development, primarily working on international dimensions of Korea's Green Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy and related policy direction.

She graduated from Seoul National University (B.A in Economics and Int’l Relations) and holds dual MAs from Seoul National Univ (Int’l Relations) and University of Washington (Political Science and Political Methodologies).

Ms Kitty Bu is an impact-driven leader passionate about catalysing system transitions towards achieving net-zero economies at scale. For over a decade, she has focused on the nexus of business, policy and finance, working with a range of partners to foster conducive conditions for disruptive technologies and business models to thrive. She is also a strong advocate of creating inclusive spaces in the energy sector to ensure that more women assume leadership positions.

After a successful TV journalism career with Reuters, Ms Bu became an entrepreneur, building her own media production company, focusing her award-winning long-form videos on telling inspiring stories of marginalised communities overcoming the challenges they face.

Spurred by the desire to make an impact on environmental and climate issues herself, Ms Bu launched her career in energy, first co-founding the China practice for the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and later founding a new practice at the European Climate Foundation (ECF), focused on the scaling of renewable energy globally.

Building on this pioneering work in bringing a range of stakeholders together to advance the energy transition, she turned her focus to food system decarbonization and led Silicon Valley unicorn Impossible Foods in its strategy for entering and expanding sales of its plant-based meats in Asian markets.

At GEAPP, Ms Bu leads the Asia region (ex-India) aimed at identifying and executing opportunities to catalyse investment in clean energy, supporting the mission of decarbonizing the energy system to galvanise access to a green economy. Ms Bu also brings her specialised knowledge to build an ecosystem for promoting women's entrepreneurship and leadership.

Dr Pierce is a professor of medicine in division of infectious diseases at The University of Vermont, Larner College of Medicine. She is the site principal investigator at The Vaccine Testing Center where her research focuses on vaccines of global importance with a particular focus on flavi virus vaccines  In conjunction with her collaborators at the National institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health they have been examining the safety and efficacy of a live attenuated dengue vaccine. In conjunction with their colleagues at the icddr,b, in Dhaka Bangladesh they have been studying the safety and efficacy of a dengue vaccine in Bangladesh since 2016.

Ms Kristin Tilley is Australia’s Ambassador for Climate Change and plays a leading role in Australia’s international climate diplomacy, with a focus on engaging with the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

Prior to taking up this appointment in November 2022, Ms Tilley held several senior positions in the Australian Government, including as head of the Office of Supply Chain Resilience in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and leading the Government’s work on waste and recycling, including designing and implementing Australia’s ban the export of waste. Prior to this, Ms Tilley spent more than a decade working on international and domestic climate change policies and programs, including as a senior adviser to Australia’s Climate Change Minister.

Laurence Lien is an established Asian philanthropist and involved in a number of organisations. Laurence has chaired the Lien Foundation since 2009, and has been a board member since 2002. Lien Foundation is the third largest philanthropic organisation in Singapore (by grant size), and which is well-regarded for its forward-thinking and innovation-driven approach in the fields of education, eldercare and the environment. Under his oversight, Lien Foundation has disbursed over S$250 million in grants. Laurence is also the Chairman of the Asia Philanthropy Circle, which has more than 50 leading Asian philanthropist members who come together to exchange, learn and collaborate.

Laurence was the CEO of the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre in Singapore from 2008-2014, when he started up the Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS) in 2009, and became its Chairman from 2013-2019. CFS is the fifth largest philanthropic organisation in Singapore.

Prior to his work in the non-profit sector, Laurence served in the Singapore Government.

Laurence holds degrees from Oxford University, the National University of Singapore, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He was also a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore from 2012-2014.

Lavan is the Executive Director of Infrastructure Asia, a project facilitation office set up by Enterprise Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Infrastructure Asia supports Asia’s social and economic growth through infrastructure development. Prior to his appointment at Infrastructure Asia, Lavan held various leadership roles at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”). He was based in the MAS New York Representative Office where he was the Chief Representative for four years. 

Lavan has been actively involved in various initiatives on infrastructure financing and financial market development in the MAS. He spent over a year at Clifford Capital, a specialist provider of structured finance solutions. 

Lavan started his career in the Ministry of Finance overseeing budget policy formulation. He then spent 10 years in tax policy formulation both in the Ministry of Finance and the MAS. Lavan graduated with an Honours Degree in Business with a specialisation in Financial Analysis and obtained his MBA (Accountancy) from Nanyang Technological University’s Nanyang Business School.

Li Xin is Vice President of Caixin Media, Managing Editor and Managing Director of Caixin Global, leading the company’s global new as well as Caixin’s international branding and global events.

Before Caixin, she was Managing Editor of the Chinese Wall Street Journal and Chinese Dow Jones newswire.

This is her second stint at Caixin, where she was formerly the Managing Editor of Caixin: China Economics & Finance, an English-language magazine.

In 2006, she founded Caijing Magazine’s first bureau in the United States, as a correspondent of politics and economics. Li was a documentary producer at China Central Television between 2001 and 2004.

Li holds a bachelor degree on English language from Tsinghua University, a master degree from the journalism school of University of Missouri-Columbia and an Executive MBA degree from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.

She is an Aspen China Fellow and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, as well as a member of the International Media Council at the World Economic Forum. She is the co-chair of China Council for World Economic Forum Future Councils.

Mr Lim Boon Heng is the Chairman of the Philanthropy Asia Alliance.

Mr Lim was appointed Chairman of Temasek Holdings on 1 August 2013, after having served as its Director since 1 June 2012.

Mr Lim is the Chairman of NTUC Enterprise Co-operative Ltd. He was previously a Cabinet Minister within the Prime Minister's Office. Mr Lim’s career spans the private and public sectors, having led Singapore’s National Trade Union Congress, and having served as a Member of Parliament (1980 to 2011) and Cabinet Minister for Trade and Industry. Before entering the public sector, Mr Lim spent a decade at NOL (Neptune Orient Lines).

Mr Lim holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Naval Architecture from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK.

Ms Lim Seok Hui is Chief Executive Officer of the Philanthropy Asia Alliance.

Prior to joining Temasek Trust, Ms Lim was Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). During her tenure at SIAC, Ms Lim was for several years concurrently the first Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC). She now serves as a Board member of SIMC.

Over the years, Ms Lim has worked in Singapore and Hong Kong with local and international law firms as a corporate, mergers and acquisitions and securities lawyer; and has also served as General Counsel at multinational corporations.

She is a graduate of the London School of Economics, qualified as a barrister and is admitted as a solicitor in Singapore, Hong Kong and England and Wales.

Dr Liu Chang is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of ASK Health Asia. ASK Health Asia is a catalyst for health systems transformation in Asia, with offices in China and Singapore. Through in-depth research, consultancy, platform creation, solution co-creation and resource connection, the company works closely with leading industry leaders to provide innovative solutions to jointly promote new tangible health policies and capture growth opportunities within a global emerging economy.

Prior to establishing ASK Health Asia, Dr Liu was a Regional Director at ACCESS Health International, Inc. (thereafter known as AHI), a global non-profit organization, overseeing the business development in both China and Singapore for over seven years.. As the work developed and matured across both regions, with the support from AHI leadership, Dr Liu formally spun off the AHI China entity into ASK Health Asia, to fully accelerate the company’s work and impact across Asia.

Dr Liu holds a Master’s degree in Finance from Guanghua School of Management of Peking University (2009) and a Ph.D. from Brown University in Health Economics (2013). Thereafter, he conducted research and taught at the Duke NUS Graduate School of Medicine as an assistant professor. 

Dr Liu authored the afterword of Affordable Excellence: The Singapore Healthcare Story, a book that documents the evolution of Singapore's healthcare system towards quality and sustainability between 2013 and 2014, and coauthored a book with Dr William Haseltine, the Chairman and Founder of ACCESS Health International, Inc. A City for All Ages, which documents the state and development of the ageing industry in Singapore.

Mr Lutfey Siddiqi is a Visiting Professor in Practice at LSE IDEAS and a co-investigator at LSE Inclusion Initiative (TII). He is a member of the advisory boards of LSE Systemic Risk Centre, LSE IDEAS and TII. Mr Siddiqi is also an Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore (Risk Management Institute) and advisory board member of the Centre for Governance and Sustainability (CGS) at NUS business school.

He was previously Global Head of Emerging Markets for Foreign Exchange, Rates & Credit at UBS Investment Bank where he was also the founding head of UBS Knowledge Network. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director at Barclays Bank in charge of a business-line across Asia Pacific.

Mr Siddiqi was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2012 where he has served on their global future councils since 2014 and spoken on the official Davos program for several years. Mr Siddiqi is a governor of UWC Atlantic College and former governor of New City College London. A former member of the Court of Governors, investment committee and health & safety assurance committee, he is now an Emeritus Governor of LSE.

A CFA Charterholder, former board member of CFA Singapore, and an inaugural member of the CFA Future of Finance content council, Lutfey served briefly as a Managing Director and member of the executive leadership team of CFA Institute. Mr Siddiqi is also a Distinguished Fellow at Policy Research Institute, Bangladesh.

Mr Siddiqi has an extensive media presence. He speaks and writes on topics in Finance, Investing, Risk Management, Sustainability, ESG, Macroeconomics, Geo-politics, Emerging Markets (esp. Asia), Capital Markets, Banking & Regulations and Policy Communications. In addition, he facilitates executive programs on Leadership, Diversity, Board Governance and Change Management.

Dr M. Sanjayan is a conservation scientist and chief executive officer of Conservation International, an organization working primarily in the Global South to secure nature for humanity.

Dr Sanjayan joined Conservation International in 2014 as Executive Vice President; he was named Chief Executive Officer in 2017. Since his arrival, he has led two landmark capital campaigns totalling $2.7 billion; the development of critical scientific tools, including the irrecoverable carbon atlas; public-private coalition-building for massive forest restoration efforts across the globe; and the launch of a pioneering blue carbon project in Colombia, as well as the multilateral Blue Nature Alliance, which aims to protect 18 million sq. km of ocean over five years.

Born in Sri Lanka and raised in West Africa, Dr Sanjayan brings a unique perspective to his work, which has attracted media coverage from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and Outside Magazine.

Dr Sanjayan holds a master’s degree from the University of Oregon and a Ph.D. in conservation biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. His peer-reviewed scientific work has appeared in Science, Nature, and Conservation Biology. He has been a visiting researcher at UCLA, distinguished professor of practice at Arizona State University, and a fellow at the Aspen Institute. Sanjayan also serves as a Trustee for The Earthshot Prize and a Climate Advisor for the Clinton Global Initiative.

Mr Marat Zapparov brings close to two decades of experience including over 15 years in infrastructure, energy and real assets investments and financing. Prior to Pentagreen Capital, Mr Zapparov was head of the Asia Upstream unit at International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) within the manufacturing, agribusiness and services industry group, tasked with developing early-stage interventions and bankable projects across sustainable mobility, decarbonisation, waste and circular economy in South East and South Asia. Previously Mr Zapparov was Senior Director of Infrastructure at Clifford Capital in Singapore and held roles in the HSBC Resources and Energy project finance group in Hong Kong and the KPMG Global Infrastructure group in London.

Mr Zapparov holds a BSc in Mathematics and Philosophy from the University of Southampton in the UK and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

Three Cairns is a mission-driven investment and philanthropic firm focused on the climate crisis. Three Cairns is currently focused on three main philanthropic initiatives: Allied Climate Partners (ACP), Allied Talent Partners (ATP), and the Global Carbon Market Utility (GCMU).

Mr Mark Gallogly served at the U.S. State Department as an Expert Senior Advisor to John Kerry, on President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness (2010-2012), and on the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (2008-2010).

Mr Gallogly retired from Centerbridge Partners in 2020, an investment firm he co-founded with over $30 billion of assets under management. Mr Gallogly’s 35-year career in investing and finance included serving as Global Head of Private Equity at The Blackstone Group.

Mr Gallogly earned his BA from the University of Notre Dame and MBA from Columbia University. He serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at Columbia University and on the Board of Advisors at the Columbia Climate School. He is Chair of ACP and of the GCMU. Mark co-founded Three Cairns with his wife, Lise Strickler.

Mr Mason Wallick is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Clime Capital, has overall responsibility for the management of the company, and is a member of the Funds’ investment committees. He supports primary investment origination efforts, investment selection, investment structuring, and portfolio management. Mr Wallick is also a regional board advisor to the Energy Transition Partnership, funded and supported by donor governments and philanthropy. He has served as an active director of over 20 boards and has led teams of investment and development professionals. Mr Wallick has over 20 years’ experience in energy investment decision-making, primarily in Southeast Asia, supporting over USD 70 billion of successful debt and equity transactions.

Mr Wallick has over 15 years of direct experience managing portfolios of greenfield energy and infrastructure investments totalling billions of dollars of AUM. He brings a demonstrated track record of numerous profitable exits at the asset and portfolio level in energy and infrastructure.

Mr Wallick previously founded Infunde Development in 2016 as Managing Director / CEO. Infunde Development was appointed as the exclusive development services provider to InfraCo Asia for Southeast Asia with USD 45 million of committed early-stage development capital under the program. Under Mr Wallick’s leadership, Infunde Development led the early-stage origination and development of 1,400MW of renewable energy capacity in Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines beginning in 2016. The early-stage development portfolio has received offers from private sector participants for acquisition and exit of InfraCo Asia’s interest in less than five years, leading to Mr Wallick’s profitable exit.

Mr Wallick holds a Master of Science in Mineral and Energy Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, both from the Colorado School of Mines.

Mr Matthew Thurston is a sustainability expert with extensive experience in product manufacturing and retail. He serves as the Divisional Vice President of Sustainability at REI Co-op, a specialty outdoor retailer based in Seattle, USA. REI is America’s largest consumer co-op, supporting a growing community of 23 million members who expect and love the best quality outdoor gear, expert classes and trips, and outstanding customer service. Mr Thurston’s team guides sustainability, human rights, and chemicals management. The co-op has industry-leading commitments on climate and zero waste, supported by a global team of sustainability experts.

Mr Thurston has degrees from Franklin & Marshall College and Yale University. An industrial ecologist at heart, he began his career working with product design and sourcing teams to integrate sustainability throughout the product lifecycle. Outside of work he is a parent and an outdoor enthusiast.

Ms Milena Bacalja Perianes is a Gender Lens Investing Specialist (GLI) with Sagana Consulting and leads the delivery of GLI technical expertise to the Australian government's Australian Development Investments (ADI) initiative. 

Ms Perianes started her career in international development and now works with funds and investees to structure financial instruments, support investment processes and deliver technical assistance that helps deliver both social and financial returns. Her work history includes time working for UN agencies, impact funds, foundations and government agencies.

In addition to her day job, Ms Perianes is an exited femtech founder, a published academic author and currently mentors start-ups for UNICEF Venture Fund and HerShare.

Mitsue Uemura joined UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office in June 2022. She is based in Bangkok, Thailand. Mitsue has over 20 years of experience in education in international development and humanitarian programming in Asia, Pacific, Africa, Middle East, and South America. Prior to her current appointment, Mitsue served as the Chief of Education with UNICEF Myanmar. She has worked with UNICEF in East and Southern Africa (based in Kenya), Papua New Guinea, Viet Nam, Bhutan and Ecuador. Prior to joining UNICEF, Mitsue worked with other international organizations such as the World Bank in Iraq.

A Japanese national, Mitsue holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the American University in Washington, United States, and a BA in Psychology from Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan.

Dr Mo Yin is an Infectious Diseases physician and a clinician scientist based at the National University Hospital, Singapore. Her research interest is in antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious diseases. Driven by the ideal of using quality clinical research to improve patient outcomes and propel global policies, Dr Mo designs and leads large multinational clinical trials which focus on pragmatic clinical solutions. In addition, Dr Mo has expertise in mathematical modelling, statistics, bioinformatics and qualitative research. She is the deputy director of the ADVANCE-ID, a large clinical trial network consisting of over 60 hospitals globally. She has received numerous awards for her achievements in clinical care, research and teaching, and served as an external consultant to the World Health Organisation and Public Health England. Dr Mo obtained her MBBS from the National University of Singapore and DPhil from the University of Oxford.

Myo-Zin Nyunt became UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office’s Deputy Regional Director in 2021. Myo has more than 26 years’ experience with UNICEF in the areas of development programmes and humanitarian support in South Asia, Eastern and Southern Africa, and East Asia and the Pacific, with progressive programme management and leadership responsibilities.

Before joining UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, Myo served as UNICEF Representative to DPR Korea from 2019 to 2021. He also worked with UNICEF country offices in Lao PDR, Namibia, Tanzania, Myanmar and UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia in Kathmandu, Nepal. Before joining UNICEF, Myo worked with international NGOs such as Save the Children and Médecins du Monde, focusing on health and HIV programmes.

A national of Myanmar, Myo holds a Master's Degree in Public Health from the Nuffield Institute of Leeds University, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the Institute of Medicine 1 in Yangon, Myanmar.

Ms Natalie Au is the Community Engagement Lead at 2X Global, a membership and field-building organisation focused on unlocking gender-smart capital at scale. The 2X Challenge, a flagship initiative under 2X Global, has mobilised US$27.7 billion of gender lens investments since 2018.

Dasra India is a strategic philanthropic organization established in 1999. Neera’s primary objective is to empower social entrepreneurs and funders by providing the necessary support to achieve ambitious goals in areas such as gender equality, urban resilience, climate action, sanitation, emphasizing system change and collaborative philanthropy. Neera leads ecosystem-building initiatives and fosters key partnerships with renowned institutions like Harvard University, Stanford University, and USAID to drive social impact acceleration. In addition to her strategic role, Neera actively contributes to bringing capacity building, knowledge, funding, and networks to the sector.

A Harvard Business School MBA graduate, she is a fellow of the third class of the Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship of the Ananta Aspen Center and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Neera's steadfast efforts, coupled with Dasra's two decades of consistent work, have manifested in the form of GivingPi, India’s First Family Philanthropy Network. This initiative underscores her commitment to shaping the strategic philanthropy movement and fortifying the family philanthropy infrastructure in India.

Apart from her professional achievements, Neera is an active board member of LGT Venture Philanthropy, The Hunger Project, American School of Bombay, and Aangan Trust.

Ms Neo Gim Huay is Managing Director at the World Economic Forum and also Head of the Centre for Nature and Climate.

Before joining the Forum, she held various Managing Director roles in Temasek, including Climate Change Strategy, Sustainability and Enterprise Development.

Gim Huay was formerly a Management Consultant at McKinsey & Co and served in the Singapore Public Service.

Gim Huay holds a Masters in Business Administration (Arjay Miller Scholar) from Stanford University and a Masters of Engineering (Distinction) and Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honors) from Cambridge University.

She was selected as an Eisenhower Fellow in 2015 and as a TIME100 Climate Leader in 2023.

Assoc Prof Ng Lee Ching is the Group Director of Environmental Health Institute (EHI) at the National Environment Agency in Singapore. For more than 20 years, she has contributed to the development of scientific capabilities for Singapore’s environmental public health - leading research to understand disease risk and transmission, and developing tools and strategies to mitigate risks of disease transmission.

She has significantly shaped Singapore’s public health landscape through initiatives such as Project Wolbachia-Singapore, which reduces the risk of dengue, and wastewater testing for COVID-19 and other diseases. She has co-authored more than 230 scientific papers and book chapters, in the area of vector borne diseases, COVID-19, food borne diseases, anti-microbial resistance, indoor air quality etc.

Furthermore, AP Ng serves as the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research of Arbovirus and their Associated Vectors and as a temporary adviser to the World Health Organization. She also shares her knowledge as adjunct faculty of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and the School of Biological Science, Nanyang Technological University.

Prudence Foundation is the Community Investment arm of Prudential plc, responsible for the strategy development and implementation of programmes to build community resilience against life’s risks, in the focus areas of Financial Education, Health & Safety Protection and Climate Adaption.

Nicole joined Prudence Foundation since August 2015 and have been working closely with NGOs partners, governments, communities and private sector to deliver positive impacts to the communities through several flagships initiatives including the Cha-Ching Money Smart Kids programme, a financial literacy education programme for children 7 – 12 years old that are being implemented in schools across Asia and Africa; Comprehensive School Safety Programme, a disaster risk reduction programme to build education resilience against all risks both at global as well as country level; Early Childhood Development focusing on Nurturing Care Framework, and Climate and Health programme that includes research, adaptation and anticipatory actions to build health resilience for vulnerable communities.

Prior to her role with the Prudence Foundation, Nicole has been involved in regional business transformation projects and sales support functions under Prudential plc.

Nicole graduated from the University of New South Wales, Australia, with a BA in Economics. Nicole is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Ong Tze Boon began his career at the world-renowned Frank O. Gehry & Associates in Santa Monica, California. He returned to Singapore in 1994, joining ONG&ONG as an architect, and was named Group Executive Chairman in 2007. 

Initiating a holistic 360 design solution approach, Tze Boon has since transformed ONG&ONG into a fully integrated design practice, now expanded throughout key cities across Asia. Encompassing a wide scope of design, engineering and management, these offerings have set a new benchmark in the built environment. 

Tze Boon is active in the local architectural community and has served as the Singapore Institute of Architects’ President from 2015 to March 2018. 

In 2019, Tze Boon founded Charge+, an Electric Vehicle (EV) charging solution provider in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The company has over 1,000 EV charging points as of 2023 and targets to implement 30,000 charging points in Southeast Asia by 2030. It also plans to develop a 5,000km EV charging highway across 5 countries in Southeast Asia.

Tze Boon is also highly involved in philanthropy through the ONG Foundation, which supports several social causes. Tze Boon has also developed GoFlow, a lightweight device that can be easily deployed with a bicycle to supply a stream of fresh, clean water. It requires no electricity and can produce up to 4,000 litres of fresh water a day. Units have since been distributed to orphanages in Uganda, as well as residents in Kampong Preah, Cambodia, to address the communities’ lack of access to clean drinking water.

Ooi Eng Eong trained in medicine at the University of Nottingham and completed his PhD studies on molecular epidemiology at the National University of Singapore. He has been conducting research on various aspects of dengue, from disease mechanisms to epidemiology, for the past 25 years. He is a three-time recipient of the Clinician-Scientist (Senior Investigator) Award and more recently, the recipient of the Singapore Translational Research Award, all from the National Medical Research Council of Singapore.

Professor Paul A. Tambyah is currently Professor of Medicine at the National University of Singapore where he is deputy director of the Infectious Diseases Translational Research Program. He is also senior consultant infectious diseases physician at the National University Health System and a visiting consultant at the National Center for Infectious Diseases and the Singapore Armed Forces. After completing medical school in NUS and national service in the Singapore Armed Forces medical corps, he did postgraduate training in Infectious Diseases with Dr Dennis Maki at the University of Wisconsin. Since returning to Singapore 25 years ago, he has been involved in a number of national and international committees including as founding head of the division of infectious diseases at NUHS, past president of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection and current President of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.

Mr Philip Timothy Rose is a seasoned development professional with over four decades of experience working in the UK bilateral system. He joins the SEA Energy Transition Partnerships from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Philippines where he served as an Executive Director. Prior to ADB, he was working with the European External Action Service in Belgium as a European Neighbourhood Programme Coordinator and also served the Department for International Development United Kingdom Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a Head of Education Policy, leading the DFID global education policy work, notably on the education Millennium Development Goals and aid effectiveness in education. Mr Rose has in-depth expertise working in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam and has been based in Southeast Asia for over thirteen years.

Pierre is a French national who has spent most of his life and career abroad. After a 20 year career in banking and commodity trading he decided to take a step back from his executive career in 2015 to spend more time with his family and focus on other interests. One of them is expanding the work of Lorinet Foundation with his wife and children.

Beyond Lorinet Foundation, Pierre remains active as a Non-Executive Director for various businesses, agencies, and philanthropic organizations such as Olam Agri Holdings, Trafigura Group, Trafigura Foundation, Pioneer Facility Pte Ltd, Tri-Sector Associates and a number of technology Start-ups. Pierre is a graduate of ESCP Europe, a French business school, and has an MSc in Finance from Lancaster University. He lives in Singapore with Bolor and their 3 children.

Sue Yian is a passionate advocate for quality education and inclusive learning, believing that children need to be given time to unfurl and explore their curiosity. She is the Executive Director of Hong Leong Foundation and sits on the Board of Directors of International Medical University and International Medical College, Malaysia. She is also the Founder and Director of Surin International School, which pioneers an inclusive education model in Malaysia. Sue is also a trained play therapist and conducts therapeutic play sessions through her center, Pop! (Power of Play). She holds a Diploma in Child Psychology and Learning Disorders and a Master of Science in Poverty Alleviation and Development from the University of Birmingham. Sue is a proud mother of two and an accomplished equestrian, having won the gold medal for Malaysia in the 2017 SEA Games.

Ms Ralitsa Rizvanolli is Partner and Head of Investments at impact asset management firm Sarona and heads the Singapore office. She is accountable for investment selection, execution and monitoring of investments for Sarona’s funds and impact mandates on behalf of third-party clients such as governments and non-profit organizations. Ms Rizvanolli ensures that ESG and impact are embedded into the investment process. She is passionate about deepening the gender lens and climate risk assessment capabilities at Sarona, believing that investing with both lenses leads to better financial and sustainability outcomes. Prior to Sarona, Ms Rizvanolli was an investment manager at Triple Jump. She built a portfolio of private equity and fixed income investments primarily in Africa and MENA for a fund of funds (Dutch Good Growth Fund) funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prior to that, Ms Rizvanolli was a Portfolio Manager with responsibility for credit risk analysis and top-down allocation for microfinance funds. She started her career in microfinance. Ms Rizvanolli holds a B.A. in International Relations from Pomona College in California and an M.A. in International Development from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She was born and raised in Bulgaria and has spent extensive time working and living in emerging markets.

Raman Sidhu, CEO of Octava Foundation, a grant maker based in Singapore supporting social purpose organisations working on enabling equitable outcomes for young learners. Raman stewards the foundation’s philanthropic investments and partnerships in Singapore and across SE Asia supporting social innovation in Education, Student Finance and Education Technology.

Regina is an internationally recognized business executive, producer, engineer-artist, taskmaster, and product developer. She has led world-class, global teams, and hundred-million to multi-billion dollar efforts to deliver breakthrough products at Facebook, Google, Motorola, as the 19th Director, and first woman to lead, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). FORTUNE described Dugan as one of the world’s leading experts on product innovation, “the kind that unhinges old ways of operating, juices competition and creates new growth.” She has been named to the Verge 50 list, Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business 1000,’ CNN’s ‘Top 10 Thinkers’, and CNBC’s ‘NEXT LIST’. As executive producer, she has 4 Annie Awards, 1 Emmy, and 1 OSCAR nomination.

She holds her PhD from Caltech, where she is a Distinguished Alumnus (one of 256 historical honorees including Carver Mead and Gordon Moore) and her BS/MS from VaTech, where she was inducted to Academy of Engineering Excellence, and later received the 2022 University Distinguished Achievement Award. Dugan is co-author of Harvard Business Review cover article, ‘Special Forces Innovation,’ the 2013 HBR McKinsey Award finalist; she has spoken at events ranging from the Code Conferences D9 and D11 to Washington Post summit on U.S. Competitiveness to TED where her 2012 talk was one of the top 10 trending Twitter topics worldwide.

Robert Rosen is the director of Philanthropic Partnerships. In this role, he leads a team that oversees the foundation’s relationship with philanthropists and charitable organizations across the globe. Previously, Robert served as director of the foundation’s Executive Office and in various roles in Communications. Before joining the foundation in 2007, Robert served as senior director of the Corporate Finance Practice of the Corporate Executive Board, the international business strategy and research firm. Previously, he served as political director for Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and in the White House as assistant to the President and director of Advance for President Clinton. Robert received a Juris Doctorate from Cornell Law School and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Vermont.

Robert Swan is the first person to have walked to both the North and South Poles. He is an explorer, a leader in energy innovation, and founder of the 2041 Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to preserve Antarctica as a natural reserve, land for science and peace.

On January 11, 1986, Robert and a team of three, ‘In the Footsteps of Scott’ arrived at the South Pole. Their 900-mile journey was the longest unassisted march in history.

Three years later, in 1989, Robert led, ‘Icewalk’, with a team of eight to the North Pole. By the age of 33, Robert had achieved his dream to walk to both the Poles.

During these two historic expeditions, Robert experienced firsthand the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. At the South Pole, his eyes changed color through damage due to the prolonged exposure of ultra-violet rays as he walked under the hole in the ozone layer. At the North Pole, his team nearly drowned because of the premature melting of the ocean ice. These two hard-hitting and unexpected incidents galvanised him to launch the mission, ‘2041’.

Robert received the Polar Medal and the title of the Officer of the British Empire (O.B.E) from Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. His contributions to education, energy innovation and environmental action have been recognised by the United Nations through his appointment as UNEP Goodwill Ambassador for Youth, Special Envoy to the Director General of UNESCO and as a recipient of the UN Humanitarian Innovation Award. He is the co-author of four books and was a keynote speaker at all of the UN World Summits for Sustainable Development, the World Economic Forum and the Corporate Eco Forum.

In January of 2023, Robert completed his 37-year goal of crossing the Antarctic landmass on foot.

Robynn Steffen is executive vice president at Climate Lead, where she has played a leading role in building an organization that empowers philanthropic leaders to take immediate and far-reaching climate action. Robynn also leads the team that serves as trusted guides to philanthropists new to climate, so they can make a bold impact from day one. 

Robynn brings more than 20 years of experience in solving complex challenges through strategic philanthropy, policy, partnerships, and impact investments. Before joining Climate Lead, Robynn led Omidyar Network’s work to accelerate the growth of the global impact investing movement. She also worked at the White House, the Clinton Global Initiative, and as the founding executive director of a start-up non-profit. Robynn received her J.D. from Yale Law School and holds a BA and an MA in political science from Yale University. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two little ones, who remind her each day the future we are fighting for.

Ms Ruth Yu-Owen is a 20-year veteran in the field of renewable energies: from wind, hydro, to solar. A leader in the energy industry, she is the Chairperson of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) and the Vice President for Internal Affairs of the Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2).

Ms Yu-Owen is also the Co-Founder of Connected Women, a social impact technology startup that provides upskilling and livelihood opportunities to Filipinas.

Mr Ryan Wagner is a Director and Head of Infrastructure & Climate Funds at British International Investment (BII) based in London and focused on private market impact investing across Southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa. Prior to joining BII in 2014, Mr Wagner was with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he spent 5 years as Head of Private Equity for Europe, Middle East & Africa concentrating on private equity origination, capital raising and portfolio management. His early career began as an Analyst at Goldman Sachs in Chicago, and he spent subsequent years at the firm with the Private Equity Group in New York. Mr Wagner earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and bachelor’s degree in Business and Finance from the University of Illinois. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Professor Scott O'Neill (PhD FAA FAAAS) is the CEO of the World Mosquito Program group of companies owned by Monash University. He has spent his academic career at the University of Illinois, Yale University, the University of Queensland and Monash University where until recently he was the Dean of Science. Scott leads The World Mosquito Program, an international not-for-profit consortium that is working on the development of Wolbachia as a novel method to sustainably and cost effectively block transmission of arboviruses like dengue, Zika and chikungunya. The World Mosquito program is undertaking field trials and pilot deployments in multiple countries. A central feature of this program is the emphasis on the use of Wolbachia to reduce pathogen transmission rather than suppress mosquito populations. More information can be found http://worldmosquitoprogram.org . Scott is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Microbiology.

Ms Sheryl Fofaria leads Social Impact and Philanthropy for UBS across Southeast Asia, including philanthropy advisory and execution services, as well as impact in the community.

She has 18 years of experience spanning philanthropy and finance. Prior to joining UBS, Ms Forfaria led J.P. Morgan’s Philanthropy Centre in Europe, the Middle East & Africa for 8 years – advising wealth management clients on using strategic philanthropy to tackle social and environmental issues. She has advised institutional asset managers and hedge funds on their cross-asset macro and Asian equity strategies at UBS Investment Bank in both London and Hong Kong. She also has grassroots experience running programmes for a social enterprise focused on diversity, inclusion and social mobility.

Sheryl holds an undergraduate degree in Economics & Management from Cambridge University and postgraduate in International Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is an advocate for innovative and entrepreneurial approaches to global development and passionate about learning from different cultures, having been born and brought up in Africa, educated in Europe, and travelled extensively through Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Solina co-founded Horizons Ventures in 2005 and is a passionate advocate of the role of technology in solving the planet’s biggest problems and reframing the future. Horizons is known for backing era-defining companies making a positive impact in the world and their being truly long-term investing approach. Amongst its string of notable early stage investments include Zoom, Impossible Foods , Perfect Day , Spotify, Siri and DeepMind . Since 1996, through her own independent H.S. Chau Foundation, more than HK$1.5 billion were put to work in support of education and women’s causes around the world.

Winning attitudes: #Be more seem less #Keep a Grateful heart #Be the positive difference #1 Corinthians 13

Dr Sonja Luz is the CEO of Mandai Nature, a Singapore-based non-profit conservation organisation jointly set up by Temasek and Mandai Wildlife Group (MWG). Mandai Nature is the conservation arm of Mandai Wildlife Group and was established with the aim of advancing efforts on biodiversity protection in Singapore and Asia. Dr Luz is responsible for delivering and scaling up species conservation programmes for Mandai Nature and Mandai Wildlife Group by building strong strategies as well as linkages between ex situ and in situ conservation efforts for the zoological parks, in Singapore and the wider Asia region. She works closely with local communities and partners in the field to develop and manage holistic projects, as well as drive collaborative partnerships for tangible outcomes in the protection of species and their habitats. This includes hosting and driving global multi-stakeholder collaborative alliances, like the IUCN SSC Asian Species Action Partnership, to address critical conservation needs. Mandai Nature currently supports over 40 conservation projects involving many critically endangered species such as the Rote Snake-necked Turtle, Negros Bleeding-heart Pigeon and Sunda Pangolins. She was also key in steering the establishment of the IUCN SSC Centre for Species Survival Centre: Southeast Asia hosted by Mandai Nature.

Dr Luz advocates for conservation solutions that bring positive outcomes for Wildlife, People and Nature. To this end, she believes in the integration of ex-situ and in-situ conservation approaches, building capacity, and strengthening the links between zoological institutions and conservation partners for greater conservation impact.

Mr Steffen Lüders has been with the Foundation since 2016, where he has been responsible for communications, stakeholder relations, public affairs and governmental relations in both the Novo Nordisk Foundation and Novo Holdings

Owner and CEO of MannovA/S, a large Nordic based PR and communications agency for 25 years and part of the PR networks in WPP. Mr Lüders has had various boards and management positions in PR networks in Europe and US over time and is still active as board member in foundations and companies. He has been a member of the Board of the Danish Chamber of Commerce and International Chamber of Commerce for a decade and is one of the founding members of the Danish Board Leadership Society. He also teaches at the Copenhagen Business School Executive Board Education.

Mr Lüders studied biology at Copenhagen University before transitioning into a position as Marketing Director at The Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies in 1986.

Mr Steven Chia currently hosts Talking Point, a programme that tackles Singapore’s hottest and most current topics. Each week, the show dives into issues that are of concern to Singaporeans presenting these matters in a fresh and informative way.

Prior to this, Mr Chia anchored Singapore Tonight, a show that provides in-depth analysis and interviews with newsmakers on the top stories in Singapore. And before that Mr Chia co-anchored and produced CNA’s flagship morning show, AM LIVE!, one of the network’s most-watched shows, with a colourful mix of hard news, live interviews and discussions on current issues. In 2015 and 2020, Mr Chia also co-anchored Singapore’s General Elections results show.

Over the years, Steven has interviewed numerous personalities. From politicians, to influencers, athletes and even celebrities such as Sir Ian McKellen, Kevin Spacey, Lady Gaga, Josh Groban and Maggie Q, just to name a few.

Mr Chia has also fronted Mediacorp programmes such as Crimewatch, and worked as a radio presenter with the company’s classical music station, Symphony 92.4FM.

Dr Taslimarif Saiyed is the CEO and Director of C‐CAMP from 2009 till present. His initial training has been in neurosciences, where he received his PhD from Max‐Planck Institute for Brain Research, Germany from 2002‐2006 and followed it up by postdoctoral training at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) from 2006‐2009. At the same time, he also underwent training in management for Biotech and Innovation from QB3 at UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco from 2007‐2009. He has also completed a biotech management program for biotech executives at Wharton School of Management in the year 2012. In the Bay area, he served as a Management Consultant with QB3 New Biotech Venture Consulting and in an individual capacity, he also consulted for many biotech firms in the US.

Dr Saiyed is an Adjunct Faculty at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and also Amrita Institute ‐ School of Biotechnology since 2015. He also heads the Discovery to Innovation Accelerator program at C‐CAMP. He is actively involved in promoting innovation in lifescience / healthcare by supporting translation of discoveries to application, entrepreneurship and technology development.

Professor Teo Yik Ying is Dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore, and concurrently a Governing Board Member for the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education (SEAMEO) Regional Centre for Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network. Prior to his Deanship, he was the Director for the Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research, and Founding Director for the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research for the School of Public Health. Prof Teo is presently a member of the International Organising Committee for the Prince Mahidol Award Conference, as well as the M8 Alliance which forms the academic foundation for the World Health Summit. He is the Co-Director for the Asia Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health’s Collaborating Centres for Health Promotion, and sits on the Global Coalition of Deans of Schools of Public Health.

Prof Teo previously worked on the use of genetic technologies for the control and elimination of several infectious diseases, including malaria and tuberculosis. As a previous member of the global MalariaGEN network, he was actively involved in training and capacity development of research fellows from different African and Southeast Asian countries. He received his BSc in Mathematics from Imperial College in 2000, MSc in Applied Statistics and DPhil in Statistics from the University of Oxford in 2001 and 2006 respectively. In 2023, Prof Teo was appointed Vice President of NUS’ new Office of Global Health, which is a multidisciplinary whole-of-University effort to drive NUS’ health engagement efforts on the global stage. Besides influencing health and policy outcomes through interdisciplinary translational research, advocacy and analysis, the Office of Global Health will also build on NUS’ strategic partnerships and develop local expertise in global health among neighbouring countries in the region through training and capacity-building.

Prof Tony Wong is Professor of Sustainable Development at Monash University, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (FTSE) and 2018 IWA Global Water laureate. With over 30 years professional experience, he is internationally recognised for his research and practice in sustainable urban water management, particularly water sensitive urban design. His expertise has been gained through national and international consulting, research, and academia partnerships. He has led a large number of award-winning urban design projects in Australia and overseas based around the bio-mimicry adaptation of nature-based solutions for water. He was presented by the Institution of Engineers, Australia the John Holland Award as Civil Engineer of the year in 2010 and commended for having defined "a new paradigm for design of urban environments that blends creativity with technical and scientific rigour”.

Prof Wong provides strategic advice to governments and industry on urban water management nationally and internationally. He is on the Asian Development Bank panel of specialists advising on projects mainstreaming water resilience in Asia and the Pacific. He previously served on the (Australia) Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation Council’s working group on Water for Cities in 2006 and 2007, at the height of the country’s millennium drought.

He was formerly the Chief Executive of the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Water Sensitive Cities in Australia, an Australian Government initiative to help transform Australian and global cities into more sustainable, resilient and liveable cities through innovative urban water management and integration with urban spatial planning and landscape design.

Former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Mr Tony Blair founded the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) on the belief that a country’s success and ability to enact transformational change is dependent on the effectiveness of its leadership and governance.

Under Mr Blair’s direction, TBI works with political leaders around the world to create real change for their people by advising on strategy, policy and delivery – with technology as an enabler of all three.

During his tenure as prime minister, Mr Blair implemented a major domestic-policy agenda. Through record investment and reforms, the performance of the UK’s education and health-care sectors was radically improved; crime was reduced by a third; a major programme of social liberalism and constitutional change was introduced; the Department for International Development was created and the UK’s foreign aid to Africa trebled; and landmark legislation to tackle climate change was introduced. All of this was done in the context of record economic growth and employment levels. Mr Blair also helped bring peace to Northern Ireland by securing the historic Good Friday Agreement in 1998, and he was a passionate advocate of interventionist foreign policy. He is the only Labour leader in the party’s 100-year history to win three consecutive elections.

After leaving office, he continued his deep commitment to Africa and remained engaged with the Middle East, where he has long advocated for and worked towards the normalisation of relations between Israel and Arab states, contributing to the signing of the historic Abraham Accords in 2020.

Mr Blair dedicates the majority of his time pro bono to TBI, a not-for-profit organisation.

Ms Vang Thi Thu Ha is 20 years old, born and raised in Bac Ha, a highland district of Lao Cai province. She is an ethnic Mong individual, residing in a vibrant Mong village that proudly upholds its rich cultural heritage and language. She is currently living in Hanoi, pursuing her studies at the Academy of Journalism and Communication.

Her engagement with the UNICEF mother-tongue bilingual education program has provided her with a strong foundation for both learning and personal growth. Ms Vang Thi Thu Ha is excited about the opportunity at the event and to share more about her journey and experiences.

Dr. Vincent Pieribone is co-CEO and chief science officer of OceanX, where he leads scientific strategy, media activities, governmental relationships, and decisions related to OceanXplorer, the research and media vessel that OceanX uses to conduct its multifaceted missions. In addition, he is a Professor of Cellular & Molecular Physiology and Neuroscience at the Yale School of Medicine and a Fellow at the John B. Pierce Laboratory. His research is directed at discovering and engineering methods to measure brain activity using a combination of light and proteins found in the ocean. Over the past 15 years, he has conducted ocean research expeditions across the globe. He has started both a pharmaceutical company and a medical diagnostic company. Vincent also serves as a Research Associate for The American Museum of Natural History and on the Scientific Board of Directors of the Mystic Aquarium. Vincent attended New York University College of Arts and Sciences where he received a baccalaureate degree in Biology and Chemistry in 1986. He then attended New York University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and received his doctorate in Philosophy in 1992 in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. He later received his Master of Arts privatum from Yale University. From 1990 to 1992 he was a National Science Foundation and Fogarty International Fellow at the Nobel Institute of Neurophysiology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. From Sweden, Vincent did post-doctoral work at The Rockefeller University in New York from 1992 to 1995 and became an Assistant Professor there in 1995. Vincent joined the Pierce Laboratory in December 1997 where he continues to conduct his scientific research today.

Wee Boo Kuan is a businessman with more than 30 years of experience in Health and Wellness. He has a strong interest and expertise in ecological Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability initiatives (LOHAS).

Mr Wee was instrumental in establishing Singapore’s first certified organic farms under Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA) in the late 1990s and was involved in the wholesale and retail of organic products (Brown Rice Paradise) in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Australia. He initiated the development of a range of Australian-certified organic personal care lines and obtained organic certification for a hotel in Western Australia.

In commemorating his father Wee Cho Bian’s 25th year of passing, Mr Wee committed to co-founding Extraordinary People. In close collaboration with the business community and other charities, Extraordinary People will focus on Singapore’s special needs community to shape a more inclusive and vibrant community.

Dr Zhang Ya-Qin is Chair Professor of AI Science at Tsinghua University, and Dean of Institute for AI Industry Research of Tsinghua University (AIR). He was the President of Baidu Inc. from 2014 to 2019. Prior to Baidu, Dr Zhang was a Microsoft executive for 16 years with different key positions, including Managing Director of Microsoft Research Asia, Chairman of Microsoft China, and Corporate Vice President and Chairman of Microsoft Asia R&D.

Dr Zhang is world-renowned scientist, technologist, and business leader. He was elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S), the Australian Academy of Engineering (ATSE), the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), and the Euro-Asia Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of IEEE and CAAI. He has made seminal contributions to multimedia and AI, with over 500 papers, 60 granted US patents, and 11 books. His original research has become the basis for start-up ventures, new products, and international standards in digital video, cloud computing, and autonomous driving.

He serves on the Board of Directors of four public companies. He is on the industry board of United Nation Development Program (UNDP), and AI global council of the Davos World Economic Forum. He is the Chairman of world’s largest open autonomous driving platform “Apollo” alliance with over 200 global partners. He has been an active speaker in global forums including APEC, Davos, United Nations, and Bo’Ao Asia Forum.