Focus: Government/Politics
Vicente Santiago PĂ©rez
Vicente “Vince” Santiago PĂ©rez is an avid environmental advocate and renewable energy investor currently serving as chairman of Alternergy group, a wind, solar and mini-hydro power developer. His philanthropy is dedicated to the environment and conservation. Vince has long been involved with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) starting with arranging debt-for-nature swaps. He was a founding trustee of WWF-Philippines in 1996. PĂ©rez was elected to the International Board of WWF, the governing body of the global WWF network, and currently a member of the boards of WWF-China and WWF-US. He is also a member of the Advisory Boards of the Bhutan Foundation, New Zealand Trade Enterprise, Geneva-based Pictet Clean…
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Sharmila Nebhrajani
Sharmila Nebhrajani has had a varied career that spans medicine, business, and the media. She currently serves as Chairman of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and is responsible for producing evidence-based guidance to support the clinical and cost effectiveness of medical interventions in the UK’s National Health Service. She was previously Chief Executive at Wilton Park, an executive agency of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office convening international dialogues for senior policy makers from around the world involved in tackling the most pressing issues in global affairs. She also spent 15 years at the BBC, latterly as Chief Operating Officer for BBC Future Media & Technology….
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Penny Low
Penny Low was first elected to the Parliament of Singapore in 2001 as one of the youngest female MPs. Over the 15 years, she has chaired the Government Parliamentary Committee for the Ministry of Information, Communication, and the Arts, and has had oversight over the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of National Development, and the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources. A passionate advocate for social entrepreneurship, in 2006 Penny founded Social Innovation Park Ltd., an award-winning non-profit organization advocating for and supporting social innovation globally via projects, forums and TV documentaries. Penny a has extensive experience in the wealth management industry and…
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Balázs László Karafiáth
Balázs "LászlĂł" Karafiáth, an economist by trade and one of Hungary’s best-known Internet entrepreneurs, is Strategic Director of in-Depth SOULutions, a professional training and coaching company based in Budapest. He previously ran Culture Culture Inc., a unique communications research and consulting enterprise. LászlĂł has been fascinated with culture since his teenage years and helped start one of Europe’s most popular week-long music and arts festivals, Sziget, when he was 20 years old. He was a radio host and DJ for 7 years at the opinion-leading Tilos community radio of Budapest. A serial entrepreneur, LászlĂł co-founded Darwin’s Marketing Evolution in 2003 in Budapest. Using meme science, the company works with Fortune…
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Bayartsetseg Jigmiddash
Bayartsetseg Jigmiddash works for the Green Climate Fund, the world's largest climate fund, where she is responsible for the prevention of integrity violations, misconducts in the GCF funded climate projects. Bayartsetseg is human rights expert with extensive experience in the area of justice, national security and gender equality. She is Founder of the Women in International Security (WIIS) Mongolia chapter. She has held senior positions in the government of Mongolia including the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia, overseeing law enforcement agencies in 2012-2016. Prior to this top civil service post, she served as legal advisor to the president of Mongolia. She has…
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David Fuentes-Montero
David Fuentes-Montero is General Manager of BD Consultores, a technology consulting company based in San JosĂ©, Costa Rica. He was formerly Deputy CEO of Banco Internacional de Costa Rica, a state-owned commercial bank, where he was responsible for developing the strategy for Financing Trade Commerce to support development of the Central American region. He served as Costa Rica’s Minister of Finance until May 2006, having previously served as Vice Minister. While serving in the top two positions in the Ministry of Finance, he negotiated significant fiscal reforms and maintained economic stability during a period of rising oil prices, achieving the lowest budget deficit level in the country’s recent history. Prior…
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Taz Chaponda
Taz Chaponda is the CEO of Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation, a government initiative but private sector-led development finance institution, launched by Malawi President Peter Mutharika. Taz is a development economist with extensive experience across Sub-Saharan Africa, having worked in the major economic centers of Lagos, Nairobi and Johannesburg. Previously, he was a public financial management specialist at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. and a partner at Genesis-Analytics – a South African economic advisory firm working in emerging markets. Prior to Genesis, Taz was the head of the South African Budget Office, responsible for the national and provincial budget framework. He was also head of infrastructure finance…
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Bam Aquino
Bam Aquino started in public service as a youth leader, television host and multi-awarded social entrepreneur. In 2013, he was elected Senator of the Republic of the Philippines and was the youngest at that time. When Bam ended his term in 2019, he was the Philippine Senate’s Deputy Minority Leader. He has chaired various Senate committees such as Trade and Commerce, Youth, Science and Technology, and Education. He authored and sponsored several landmark laws including the Philippine Competition Act, the Innovative Start Up Act, and the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, which made college in all state universities free for millions of Filipino students. In May 2022, he…
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Ying Lun “Allen” FUNG
Ying Lun “Allen” FUNG is Vice President, Business Development for Aerospace Technology Group Hong Kong. Prior to this he served as Political Assistant to Secretary for Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Before joining the government in 2014, Allen was a personal assistant to Mr. CY Leung from 2006 to 2012 and advised on his successful Chief Executive election campaign. Allen has extensive experience in politics and public administration in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland. He is a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong & Macao Studies and the All China Youth Federation, and Standing Committee Member of the Guangdong Youth Federation. He was Vice President (External)…
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Katherine Pustay Currie
Katherine “Kat” Pustay Currie is a lead associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, a global consultancy firm. A graduate of Yale’s School of Management, she previously served as Deputy Staff Director to the Steering Committee in the U.S. Senate and as policy staff to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in Washington, D.C. While at the Department of the Interior, she represented DOI in the 2010 oil spill response and served on the White House Council for Women and Girls. Kat spent the previous five years in Anchorage, Alaska advancing political, legislative, and environmental initiatives through work in the Alaska State Legislature and political campaigns.Â
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