Keynote Speaker

Ban Ki-moon

The 8th Secretary General of the United Nations, and
Chairman of the Ban Ki-moon Foundation for a Better Future

In April 2019, Mr. Ban was elected as the Chairman of Presidential National Council on Climate and Air Quality (NCCA). In April 2018, Mr. Ban was elected as the Chairman of Boao Forum for Asia. In January 2018, Mr. Ban, along with former President of Austria Mr. Heinz Fischer, were inducted as Co-Chairs of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens in Vienna, Austria. Mr. Ban Ki-moon was also elected as Chairman of IOC Ethics Committee in September 2017. Currently, he is the Distinguished Chair Professor and Honorary Chairman at the Institute of Global Engagement & Empowerment at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. In February 2018, he was elected and has been serving as the President of the Assembly & Chair of the Council of Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).

Prior to these appointments, Mr. Ban served two consecutive terms as the Secretary General of the United Nations (2007-2016).

Throughout his tenure at the UN, Mr. Ban strove to be a bridge builder, to give voice to the world’s poorest and the most vulnerable people, and to make the Organization more transparent and effective. He successfully pressed for action to combat climate change – an effort that culminated in the adoption and rapid entry into the landmark Paris Agreement in 2016. Mr. Ban worked closely with member states of the UN to shape the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to establish UN Women, which has been advancing the Organization’s work for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Mr. Ban also launched major efforts to strengthen UN peace operations, to protect human rights, to improve humanitarian response, and to prevent violent extremism and to revitalize the disarmament agenda.

At the time of his appointment at the UN, Mr. Ban was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea. His 37 years with the Ministry included postings in New Delhi, Washington D.C., and Vienna, and responsibilities for a variety of portfolios, including Foreign Policy Adviser to the President, Chief National Security Adviser to the President, Vice Minister, Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and Director-General for American Affairs. Mr. Ban has also been actively involved in issues relating to inter-Korean relations by serving as Chairman of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization.
Mr. Ban received a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Seoul National University in 1970. He earned a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1985.

Expert Speakers

Badr Jafar

Founding patron, Centre for Strategic Philanthropy, Cambridge Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge

Badr Jafar is a businessman and social entrepreneur from the United Arab Emirates. He is the CEO of Crescent Enterprises, a diversified business operating across six industry sectors in 18 countries. Badr is actively engaged with a diverse range of organisations and initiatives focused on humanitarian aid and international development, corporate governance, entrepreneurship, education and the arts, including serving as a member of the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing and the UNESCO International Commission on the Futures of Education.   

In 2010, Badr founded the Pearl Initiative, a non-profit, private sector-led organisation committed to promoting a corporate culture of transparency and accountability across the Gulf Region of the Middle East, in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Partnerships. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Judge Business School and is the Founding Patron of the Centre for Strategic Philanthropy, which is dedicated to enhancing the impact of strategic philanthropy both within and from the world’s fastest growing economies. He also serves on the advisory board of the US-based Milken Institute for Strategic Philanthropy.

Belinda Tanoto

Board of Trustees, Tanoto Foundation

As a trustee of the Tanoto Foundation, Belinda shapes and approves the Foundation’s strategies, reviews results, and sets the overall direction of the organisation. A passionate social activist, Belinda has been spearheading the Foundation’s investments in rural schools in Indonesia since 2009, specifically in education leadership, teacher training and literacy.

Tanoto Foundation has provided over 20,000 scholarships, built schools that produced 27,000 graduates, developed 60,000 hectares of Community Livelihood Plantations, and created more than 1,800 jobs in local communities through Small to Medium-sized Enterprise programmes. Under the Tanoto family’s leadership, the Foundation continues to make headway in supporting human capital development initiatives, especially in Indonesia where the Tanoto family has significant presence.

Belinda received her bachelor’s degree Magna Cum Laude in Finance and Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and her Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Professor Benjamin Cashore

Li Ka Shing Professor in Public Management,
Co-Director, Institute of Water Policy

Professor Ben Cashore specialises in global and multi-level environmental governance, comparative public policy and administration, and transnational business regulation/corporate social responsibility.

His substantive research interests include climate policy, biodiversity conservation/land-use change, and sustainable environmental management of forests and related agricultural sectors. His geographic focus includes Southeast Asia, North America, Latin America and Europe.

Ben’s theoretical interests include the legitimacy and authority requirements of non-state market-driven (NSMD) global governance, the influence of economic globalisation on domestic environmental policies, and the potential of anticipatory policy design for identifying path-dependent policy mixes capable of ameliorating “super wicked” environmental problems.

Ben joined LKYSPP after spending 18 years at Yale University as a professor of environmental governance and political science, where he also directed the Governance, Environment and Markets (GEM) initiative and, from 2014-2019, directed the Yale International Fox Fellows exchange program which awards promising graduate students in 18 partner universities.

Ben Morton Wright

President & Group CEO, Global Philanthropic

Ben Morton Wright founded Global Philanthropic in 2002. He has supervised the establishment of Global Philanthropic operations in the UK, Australia, Hong Kong and Canada. As Group CEO, Mr Morton Wright has gained recognition as a major gift strategist, an expert in structuring international campaigns and a specialist on higher education and Asian philanthropy.

Since founding the Group in 2002, Mr Morton Wright has served as senior strategy consultant to, amongst others, the London School of Economics; St Andrews University; Trinity College, Cambridge; St John’s College, Oxford; the United Nations Foundation; the University of Hull; the STARS Foundation; Institute for Cancer Research; Aquaculture Stewardship Council; the Birmingham Royal Ballet; King’s College London; Sussex University; FIP Foundation; Protimos; York St John University; UNICEF UK, and a number of other organisations around the world.

Currently, Mr Morton Wright advises a number of private individuals and philanthropists around the world to develop meaningful philanthropic strategies. He has been acknowledged as an expert on Asian philanthropy.

Clare Woodcraft

Executive Director, Centre for Strategic Philanthropy, Cambridge Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge

An internationally recognised leader in social investment, Clare has worked in emerging markets with a focus on the Middle East and the energy & financial sectors helping companies deliver effective social investment/philanthropic programs.

Clare has over 27 years’ experience in the field of socio-economic development in emerging markets. She is the former CEO of Emirates Foundation, the national foundation of the UAE, where she led the organization’s transition from traditional grant-making to a Venture Philanthropy model. She is the former Chair of the Arab Foundations Forum, and earlier served as Deputy Director of Shell Foundation. Prior, she was the Regional Director of Communications for Royal Dutch Shell in the Middle East and North Africa overseeing the company’s social investment and also headed Visa International’s public affairs arm in emerging markets.

She writes and speaks extensively on the paradigm shift in the philanthropic sector. Woodcraft is a fluent Arabic and French speaker with a BA in Modern Languages and a MSc in Development from LSE.

Danny Quah

Dean and Li Ka Shing Professor in Economic, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore

Danny Quah’s current research takes an economic approach to world order, studying the supply and demand of world order: on the one hand, what international system the world’s superpowers provide, and on the other, what world order the global community needs. Quah uses this to recast analysis of global power shifts, the rise of the east, regional order, and models of global power relations.

Quah is a member of the Spence-Stiglitz Commission on Global Economic Transformation. He is the author of “The Global Economy’s Shifting Centre of Gravity”. Quah gave the third LSE-NUS lecture in 2013, and TEDx talks in 2016, 2014, and 2012.

Quah was previously Assistant Professor of Economics at MIT, and then Professor of Economics and International Development, and Director of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre at LSE. He had also served as LSE’s Head of Department for Economics, and Council Member on Malaysia’s National Economic Advisory Council. Quah studied at Princeton, Minnesota, and Harvard.

Gao Hao

Director of Global Family Business Research Center, Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance

Gao is also a member of Global Future Council and Expert Network of World Economic Forum, a council member of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, a board member of STEP China Committee and Chair of Public Policy, and a board member and research fellow of China Enterprise Reform and Development Society.

Gao is a co-editor of Wealth Management Journal, and the chief editor of Family Governance Series and Family Wealth Series. He has published 16 books and 150+ journal articles and magazine columns. He co-authored the first China family office case and the first Asian private banking case in the Harvard Business School Case Collection.

He serves on the boards of some of the largest family businesses and family foundations in China and the world, including several Fortune 500 Companies. He advises government ministries and financial institutions in China and abroad, including leading global private banks, investment banks, trust companies, and family offices.

George Richards

Director of Community Jameel

George Richards is the Director of Community Jameel. Community Jameel is an international organisation tackling some of the world’s most urgent challenges, using a pioneering approach grounded in evidence, science, data and technology and powering innovation for a better future.

Prior to becoming director in 2020, George led strategy for Community Jameel’s international programs from 2015, including the establishment of the MIT Jameel World Education Lab, and the MIT Jameel Clinic, the European Social Inclusion Initiative at J-PAL Europe, and the Transforming Refugee Education towards excellence program in Jordan with Save the Children and MIT J-WEL. He holds a first in Arabic and Persian from the University of Edinburgh.

Dr. Harold Y. Kim

CEO, Neo Risk Investment Advisors,
Board Chair, Hong Kong International School

Dr. Harold Kim is the founder and chief executive officer of Neo Risk Investment Advisors, a Hong Kong-based investment advisor that uses innovations in financial engineering to improve investment performance.

Previously, Dr. Kim served as managing director and head of investor derivatives for Citi Asia. Having originally started at Salomon Brothers, he worked in a number of capacities over the course of his twenty-year career with Salomon/Citi in both New York and Hong Kong.

He earned his B.A. in economics, magna cum laude, from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University, where he also taught as a lecturer before joining Salomon.

Dr. Kim serves as Board Chair of Hong Kong International School, has taught as an Adjunct Professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and is a past president of the American Club Hong Kong.

Iain Rawlinson

Board Director and Chair, Global Philanthropic

Iain Rawlinson is an experienced Board Member & Chair, charity trustee and strategy adviser. He is a Founder and Partner of Vico Partners which works closely with Boards and business leaders to manage and resolve sensitive and complex issues which unlock or defend value.

From 2017 to 2020 he was a NED at the Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch Hospitals NHS Trust, and he is currently a NED at Eurasia Mining PLC.

Iain’s philanthropic activities started in 1991 as a founding member of the London International Piano Competition. Since then, he has held charitable board appointments, including Chair of Tusk Trust and currently as, Chair of Governors at Walhampton School.

Iain was Deputy Chairman of Global Philanthropic from 2007 to 2014 and has since returned in December of 2020 as Chairman.

Jean Sung

Head of the Philanthropy Centre, Asia, JP Morgan Private Bank

Prior to joining The Philanthropy Centre, she was Head of Global Philanthropy for J.P. Morgan Chase in Asia Pacific (2006 to 2013), managing the firm’s corporate giving in 13 Asian countries.

Jean was responsible for setting up J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s Philanthropy Centre in Asia and as Head in Asia, she works with clients & their families to articulate their philanthropic vision, strategy & goals that can strengthen their giving with purpose & intent.

Jean engages & brings together experts & thought leaders, explores trends and addresses pressing social issues on an ongoing basis that help philanthropists hear from peer groups & leverage actionable giving programs.

Jean is recognized for her ability to identify social gaps & her wealth of cross-sector networks that can build & customize collaborative alliances between the private & social sectors; with multilaterals & her ability to connect like-minded peer groups.

She is fluent in English, Cantonese, Shanghainese and Mandarin.

Jiawei “Kevin” Ye

Lead of Family Business Community, World Economic Forum

Jiawei Ye is the Lead of Family Business Community at the World Economic Forum. He builds and partners with a community of global family businesses in shaping the global agenda and addressing the most challenging issues for families, businesses and society.

He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Global Family Business Research Center at the PBCSF –
Tsinghua University where he held the position of Executive Director from 2017-2019. Previously, he was an Advisor at Cambridge Family Enterprise Group (CFEG), a specialized advisory firm serving family businesses to achieve multigenerational success.

He is regular author and keynote speaker on family business topics. He oversees a family charity fund on education in Inner Mongolia, China. Jiawei earned a M.S. and B.S. in Economics from Paris Dauphine – PSL University and is Hogan Leadership Assessment certified.

Dr Kamal Munir

Academic Director, Centre for Strategic Philanthropy, Cambridge Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge

Dr Kamal Munir has been teaching at Cambridge Judge Business School since 2000. Dr Munir’s research focuses on technological and business model disruptions at the corporate and societal levels. His research also spans the competitive advantage of nations.

Dr Munir has published several articles in leading organisational and technology journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Industrial and Corporate Change, Organization Studies and Research Policy, and presented his work at numerous international conferences. His work has been quoted and cited in several forums, including BBC’s Hard Talk, World Economic Forum, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Wired magazine, and BusinessWeek among many others.

Dr Munir has consulted for the State Bank of Pakistan, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. He has also been a consultant to the governments of UK, Pakistan and Nigeria. He is frequently invited internationally to speak on issues related to social, technological and economic change.

Kate Dodson

Vice President for Global Health, United Nations Foundation

Kate Dodson is the Vice President for Global Health at the United Nations Foundation. In this role, she works to ensure that the UN Foundation delivers on its commitments to address the health-related Sustainable Development Goals, and builds synergies with UN agencies and other key multilateral partners.

Kate is currently chair of the board of the Global Health Council, and a board member of Women in Global Health. She sits on the UHC2030 Steering Committee, representing the Foundation Constituency, and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Forum on Public-Private Partnerships in Global Health.

Previously, Kate spent several years as the UN Foundation’s Director of Global Health, and has also served as Executive Director of Program Integration, focused on cross-department and cross-issue collaboration. Kate joined the UN Foundation in 2004 and spent her first five years in the sustainable development program in various positions, focused at the intersection of poverty reduction and environmental stewardship.

Kathleen Chew

Programme Director of YTL Foundation and Group Legal Counsel YTL corporation

Kathleen currently serves as Group Legal Counsel of the YTL Group of Companies and has been involved in all business segments of the Group. She is also the Programme Director of YTL Foundation, an education foundation committed to creating equitable access to quality education and developing capable, values-driven leaders.

Kathleen is a trustee of several Malaysian charities and is a board member of the Asian Philanthropy Circle and Acumen Find Inc. She is the Chairperson of Hospis Malaysia and also the Chairperson of Alpha Malaysia, a Christian organization.

Kathleen obtained an LLB (Hons) degree from the University of Birmingham and was called to the English Bar at Gray’s Inn. Subsequently admitted to the Malaysian Bar. Conferred Honorary Doctorates by the University of Aston and the University of Birmingham. She was a partner in the law firm Abdul Aziz Ong & Co. in Kuala Lumpur before she joined YTL Corporation Berhad as Legal Adviser.

Kavita Prakash-Mani

CEO, Mandai Nature

Mandai Nature, a new non-profit established by Temasek and Mandai Park Holding, aims to advance efforts in nature conservation and climate change mitigation in Singapore and SE Asia, so people and wildlife can thrive with healthy ecosystems and vibrant communities. It protects threatened species from extinction, addresses wildlife trade, protects and restores habitats, and works closely with local communities and organisations.

Prior to this, Kavita was Markets Practice Leader, then Global Conservation Director at WWF, driving the organisation’s strategies, developing and implementing key initiatives, and ensuring integration and alignment across WWF to achieve conservation impact globally.

Kavita was the Executive Director of Grow Asia in Singapore, a multi-stakeholder partnership platform supporting sustainable and inclusive agriculture development in South-East Asia.

She also served as Head of the Food Security Agenda at Syngenta, responsible for embedding food security and sustainability into business activities across the company.

Dr Kayla Laserson

Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases, Gates Foundation India

Dr. Kayla Laserson SM, ScD is the Gates Foundation India Country Office Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Delivery. Her focus areas include TB, visceral leishmania, lymphatic filariasis, and vaccine delivery. Since March, she has been leading the COVID-19 response for the India BMGF office.

Prior to starting her role at the foundation, she was the CDC India Country Director for 6 years, based in Delhi. In this role, Dr. Laserson oversaw CDC’s platform in India, provided technical assistance to support India’s developing role in Global Health Security, oversaw partnerships and collaborations with the Government of India, and directed CDC’s scientific strategy in India.

From 2006-2013, Dr. Laserson was the Director of the KEMRI/CDC Research and Public Health Collaboration in Kisumu, Kenya.

Dr. Laserson received her Bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and her Doctorate of Science from Harvard School of Public Health in infectious disease epidemiology, concentrating on malaria molecular epidemiology.

Kris Putnam-Walkerly

Author of Delusional Altruism: Why Philanthropists Fail To Achieve Change and What They Can Do To Transform Giving

Kris Putnam-Walkerly is a trusted advisor to the world’s leading philanthropists. For over 20 years she has advised ultra-high net worth donors, foundations, Fortune 500 companies, celebrity activists and wealth advisors transform their giving and catapult their impact, helping to strategically allocate over half a billion dollars.

A thought leader in transformational giving®, Kris has been named one of America’s Top 20 Philanthropy Speakers. She is the author of Delusional Altruism: Why Philanthropists Fail To Achieve Change and What They Can Do To Transform Giving. Kris is also a frequent contributor for online publications and those of national philanthropy organizations.

Kris is one of 75 consultants worldwide inducted into the Million Dollar Consulting® Hall of Fame, individuals recognised for their outstanding accomplishments as global leaders in consulting.

She helped launch the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers and has served on the boards of the Community Foundation of Lorain County (OH) and the Horizons Foundation.

Laurence Lien

Chairman, Lien Foundation, and CEO, Asia Philanthropy Circle

Laurence Lien is Co-Chair and CEO of the Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC), a membership-based platform for Asian philanthropists to exchange, learn and collaborate. Laurence is also the Chairman of Lien Foundation, a family foundation that has become well-regarded for its forward-thinking and radical approach in the fields of education, eldercare and the environment, as well as the Chairman of Lien AID, the foundation humanitarian arm for enabling sustainable access to clean water and sanitation for Asia’s rural poor.

Laurence was the CEO of the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre in Singapore from 2008-2014, and was the Chairman of the Community Foundation of Singapore from 2013-2019. 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.

Lei Xu

Research Fellow, Global Family Business Research Center, PBCSF Tsinghua University

Lei Xu is an experienced researcher in the areas of family business and wealth management. She is a Research Fellow at the Global Family Business Research Center – PBCSF Tsinghua University, and a member of the China Enterprise Reform and Development Society.

Her research interests span family business strategy, family governance and succession, next generation education, family office and private banking.

She earned her M.S. in Finance from Université Paris-IX Dauphine (PSL Research University), and her B.A. in Management from Jilin University.

Louise Richardson, AAS ACSS FRSE RIIA

Vice-Chancellor, Oxford University

Professor Louise Richardson is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. She was previously Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews.

A native of Ireland, she studied history in Trinity College, Dublin before gaining her PhD at Harvard University where she spent twenty years on the faculty of the Harvard Government Department and latterly as Executive Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She currently sits on the boards of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Booker Prize Foundation and numerous other charities.

A political scientist by training, Professor Richardson is recognised internationally as an expert on terrorism and counter-terrorism. Her publications include Democracy and Counterterrorism: Lessons from the Past (2007), What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat (2006), The Roots of Terrorism (2006), and When Allies Differ (1996). She has written numerous articles on international terrorism, British foreign and defence policy, security institutions, and international relations, lectured to public, professional, media and education groups and served on editorial boards for several journals and presses.

Melody Song, MA, CFRE

Consultant, Global Philanthropic

Melody is a fundraising consultant for Global Philanthropic and the founder of dogoodhere.org, a network of professionals delivering design labs to foster collaboration and connectivity in the social sector. Combining data science and design thinking, Melody uses data-driven and empathy-based methodology to help build capacity for non-profits to be versatile, diverse, and sustainable.

As a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), her fundraising career spans over fifteen years and several sectors including Arts, Education, Health, Animal Welfare, and Wildlife Conservation. Her area of expertise includes Major Gift fundraising, Prospect Management, Sponsorship, and International Fundraising.

Melody is a committee member for Inclusion Diversity Equity Access (IDEA) and International Development Committee for the Association for Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Global. She is an Alumni Coach for IDEO U – an online learning community created by IDEO, a leading design agency for Design Thinking. She is a former board member of the Association for Professional Researchers in Advancement (APRA) Canada.

Naina Subberwal Batra

CEO, Asian Venture Philanthropy Network

Naina Subberwal Batra joined Asia Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) as CEO in 2013 and was appointed Chairperson in May, 2018. Over the last seven years, under Naina’s leadership, AVPN’s membership has tripled. The organization’s focus has expanded from focusing only on Venture Philanthropy to supporting the entire ecosystem of Social Funders from philanthropists to impact investors and committed private sector partners. In 2019, she was appointed one of Asia’s Top Sustainability Superwomen by CSRWorks.

Prior to joining AVPN, Naina was a member of the senior leadership team of a purpose driven unit of The Monitor Group, a leading global strategy consulting firm, aimed at catalyzing markets for social change. Naina was also partner and Co-Founder of Group Fifty Private Ltd, curating contemporary Indian art with a view to provide a medium for up and coming and established Indian artists to showcase their work directly to a large and diverse audience.

Narayana Murthy

Founder, Infosys Limited

Narayana Murthy founded Infosys, a software services company, in 1981. Today, Infosys is a global company listed on NYSE and the Bombay Stock Exchange with US$13 billion in revenue and about US$75 billion in market capitalization.

Mr. Murthy is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the US National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering.

Currently, he serves on the boards of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, the United Nations Foundation, and the Board of Governors and Trustees of the Asian Institute of Management. He previously served on the boards of the Ford Foundation, HSBC and Unilever, and was the Chairman of the Indian Institute of Management and the Public Health Foundation of India.

Mr. Murthy has received the Legion d’honneur, a CBE and the Padma Vibhushan award. He has also received the Founders Medal, Hoover medal, Ernst Weber medal, Thomas Jefferson medal, and the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award.

Nick Jaffer

President & CEO (Asia Pacific), Global Philanthropic

A recognised, award-winning authority on major gifts, capital campaigns, community relations and integrated advancement, Nick leads Global Philanthropic’s Asia Pacific operations.

Over his 30-year career, he has served both in-house and as consultant to philanthropists and organisations across the sector, including education, health and medical research, arts and culture, public policy and community service. His clients include University of Melbourne, University Technology Sydney, Canberra Hospital Foundation, South Western Sydney Local Health District, National Gallery Singapore, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Brisbane Grammar School, Hong Kong International School, The Lowy Institute for Public Policy, Lifeline Australia, St Peter’s Cathedral and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Nick is a Fellow of the Fundraising Institute of Australia as well as Educate Plus, the lead body overseeing advancement professionals within the education sector in Australia. He is a contributing author to the best-selling book Excellence in Fundraising in Canada: The Definitive Resource for Canadian Fundraisers, and he has presented widely in Australia, New Zealand, North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Dr Pamela Davis

President of Europe, Global Philanthropic

Dr Pamela Davis, President of Global Philanthropic Europe and senior consultant, is considered a pioneer in the field of high-value fundraising, and a champion of philanthropic collaboration. Originally from America, with a PhD from Cambridge University, she has a particular affinity for funding programmes designed to benefit higher education and the environment.

Pam comes to Global Philanthropic with over 20 years experience in building powerful fundraising teams and global partnerships. Since 2017 she and the team have advised private foundations and philanthropists, universities, charities and NGOs including: CIPS Foundation, an anonymous private foundation, ActionAid, Cambridge Judge Business School, Lucy Cavendish College Cambridge, Nature Kenya, the British Council, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Saffron Hall, Millfield School, BirdLife International and Rand Europe.

Pam founded and subsequently taught the MBA Fundraising course at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School and is a guest lecturer on strategic fundraising for the MPhil Conservation Leadership course at the Cambridge Conservation Campus.

Patricia Zurita

CEO, BirdLife International

Patricia Zurita is the Chief Executive Officer of BirdLife International, the world’s largest nature conservation partnership, bringing together over 120 organisations worldwide to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources.

Patricia is also the first woman from a developing country (Ecuador) to become CEO of an international conservation organisation.

Prior to BirdLife, Patricia was the Executive Director of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), a global multi-donor fund enabling civil society to participate in and benefit from conserving some of the world’s most critical ecosystems. Patricia also led the Conservation Stewards Program in Conservation International (CI), implementing conservation agreements that provided economic incentives to local and indigenous communities in developing countries in exchange for their commitment to protect biodiversity.

Previously, Patricia worked with the Government of Ecuador monitoring the oil and gas industry and infrastructure in national parks and reserves.

Patrick Hurworth

Head of School, International School of Beijing

Patrick Hurworth is the Head of School at International School of Beijing (ISB), he brings to ISB a rich and diverse background in international education, with extensive experience and expertise in leadership, curriculum development, and administration.

Prior to joining ISB, Patrick served as High School Principal at Hong Kong International School, as well as both Head and Assistant Head of the Upper School at Atlanta International School. He also served as the Co-Head of the Humanities Department, International School of Geneva. Patrick has lived in and served schools in four countries and regions: the U.K., Switzerland, USA, Hong Kong, and now China.

Patrick’s educational credentials include a Bachelor of Arts (Special Honors) in Geography from the University of Hull, UK, and a Postgraduate Certificate of Education from the University of Nottingham, UK. He holds a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and Management from the University of Bath, UK, and a Leadership Certificate from Webster University Geneva, Switzerland.

Peter Mathieson MBBS, PhD, FRCP, FRCPE, FMedSci

Vice-Chancellor, Edinburgh University and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong

Peter Mathieson MBBS, PhD, FRCP, FRCPE, FMedSci assumed the office of Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh in February 2018.

In April 2014, Peter assumed office as the 15th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, a post he held until January 2018.

In 2008 Peter was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Bristol, serving most of a sixth year after his initial five year term. He played a major role in the formation of Bristol Health Partners from 2008 onwards and was appointed as its founding Director in May 2012, a role he undertook alongside that of Dean.

In 2007, Peter became Head of the University Department of Clinical Science at North Bristol, was appointed as Director of Research & Development for the North Bristol NHS Trust, and was elected President of the Renal Association, being the youngest President in its history.

Ruixi Hao

Program Officer, Philanthropic Partnerships, Gates Foundation China

Ruixi Hao serves as Program Officer for the Philanthropic Partnerships team at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in China. She leads philanthropic partnerships work in China to improve the culture, policy and infrastructure for philanthropic development.

Ruixi has over seven years of management consulting experience with Monitor Group both at its Beijing and Cambridge offices. Before that, she worked with Procter & Gamble.

She holds a master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School, and bachelor’s degree from Guanghua School of Management, Peking University.

Dr. Ruth Shapiro

Co-Founder and CEO, Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS)

Dr. Ruth A. Shapiro is the Founder and Chief Executive of the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS), a non-profit incorporated in Hong Kong in 2014. CAPS is committed to increasing the quality and quantity of private social investment in Asia and is a center of excellence which promotes best practices, transparency, good governance and accountability for philanthropy and non-profit management in Asia.

Dr. Shapiro is the primary author of Pragmatic Philanthropy: Asian Charity Explained published by Palgrave Macmillan in January 2018. She was also the editor of The Real Problem Solvers, a book about social entrepreneurship in America, published by Stanford University Press. The Real Problem Solvers with the addition of seven China specific chapters was published in China in March, 2015.

Dr. Shapiro has written numerous articles and is a regular speaker on issues related to Asian philanthropy, CSR, social innovation and social entrepreneurship in Asia.

Professor Stephen Toope OC, LL.D

Vice-Chancellor, University of Cambridge

Professor Stephen J. Toope OC, LL.D. is 346th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, the first non-UK national to hold the post. He was Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, and President, the University of British Columbia. A former Dean of Law, McGill University, Toope was also Chair of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances.

Professor Toope publishes in global journals on human rights, international dispute resolution, international environmental law, the use of force, and international legal theory, and has lectured at universities around the world. His current book project with Professor Jutta Brunnée explores mechanisms and processes fostering stability and change in international law.

Professor Tan Eng Chye

President, National University of Singapore

Professor Tan Eng Chye is the 5th President of the NUS. He obtained his Bachelor in Mathematics at the NUS in 1985 and his PhD at Yale University in 1989. He was recognised by the NUS with the University Teaching Award for Innovative Teaching in 1998, and other teaching awards.

Regarded as a pioneer architect of the current NUS academic system, he seeded many initiatives such as the University Town Residential College Programme, Grade-free Scheme and Technology-enhanced Education.

He received the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2014, and the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal of the Yale Graduate School Alumni Association in 2018. Professor Tan was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Southampton in 2018 in recognition of his achievements as “an innovative and exceptional teacher, and then as a distinguished and respected leader in academia”.

Professor Yap-Seng Chong

Dean, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine,
National University of Singapore

Professor Yap-Seng Chong has been the Dean of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, since 1 January 2019. He has also been the Executive Director of the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) since 2015.

As a respected clinician and researcher with a profound interest in women’s health and early development, he is the Lead Principal Investigator of the National Research Foundation Translational and Clinical Research Flagship Program on the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. Yap-Seng is a Senior Consultant in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the National University Hospital (NUH), and a member of the Executive Group of the National University Health System (NUHS) as well as a board member of the National Medical Research Council.

Yap-Seng has well over 390 peer-reviewed research publications covering topics like the genetic epidemiology of pregnancy-related disorders, intrapartum and postpartum management, natural childbirth, strategies to promote breastfeeding, and the developmental origins of health and disease. He has formed multiple academic and industry collaborations with a particular focus in the area of early human development and nutrition, with research grant funding of more than $100 million. For his efforts, Yap-Seng was awarded the National Outstanding Clinician Scientist Award by Singapore’s Ministry of Health in 2017.