Class of 2013
Sulaiman Akbari is Business Development Manager for Mercy Corps Afghanistan. Previously he served as Deputy Director of investment support at the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA). Sulaiman is also a guest lecturer at Kabul University and research fellow at the National Center for Policy Research, Kabul University. He is an active civil society member, an AYLI 2012 fellow and a member of Afghans for Progressive Thinking (APT). Sulaiman holds a MBA degree specializing in finance and international business. He is fluent in English, Persian, Pashto, Urdu and Hindi.
Humaira Bachal is the founder of the Dream Foundation Trust. She is a frontline advocate and crusader for education and an activist who has been fighting for girls’ right to education in her home town of Muwach Goth, Pakistan, despite the opposition of many elders in a patriarchal society. She has been risking her life daily to teach young girls with what she learned in school. Her aim is to empower the women and girls of her community so that they will have jobs, opportunities, and rights; and have the ability to defend themselves, support their families and be an integral and productive part of the human race. She also aims to promote quality education and social consciousness so that girls are able to enjoy their right to freedom and independence.
Ibrahim ‘Ibba’ Bernardo is the founder and CEO of Sari Software Solutions, a platform, systems, and mobile applications company that aims to leverage technology to empower the largest, underserved socio-economic sectors of society known as the base of the pyramid (BOP). His passion lies in bringing technology to the BOP with projects like the Solar Energy Foundation’s Ride for Light which brought solar energy to far-flung off-grid areas, E-Dalaw which enabled virtual visit of inmates by their indigent families, and Buhayko.org for teaching blogging to underprivileged students living in slum areas. Ibba also wears other hats as a technology and motorcycle journalist, entrepreneur, social media consultant, and IT lecturer. He represented the Philippines as an ASEAN Young Leader at the 2012 World Economic Forum in Bangkok.
Onchinsuren “Onch” Dendevsambuu is the Managing Director of Deloitte in Mongolia, and one of only two female managing directors in the Deloitte global network of 48 firms in 150 countries. Over her career, she has been a senior level auditor with Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young, in Ulaanbaatar and Moscow. She also started her own firm, Onch Audit LLC, in 2004 that became a member firm of Deloitte Touché Tomatsu Ltd, bringing its global network to Mongolia. As one of the first-ever chartered accountants in Mongolia’s history, Onch shares her professional success outside of Deloitte Onch by serving on several boards and task forces including the tax reform board.
Sabhanaz Rashid Diya is a writer, photographer and social entrepreneur based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Besides writing for various national and international publications, she has written for The Daily Star, the leading English language newspaper in Bangladesh for over 14 years, and published two books. Her photographs have been exhibited globally. In 2006, Sabhanaz founded the nonprofit youth organization, One Degree Initiative Foundation, which aims to empower young people through mentorship to transform their ideas to actions. The organization focuses on active citizenship and social entrepreneurship. She was awarded the Zonta International Award for Young Women in Public Affairs, YouthActionNet Global Fellowship and One Young World Ambassador to Bangladesh. She also represented her organization at Harvard University for the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations, and at the Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit in 2012. Sabhanaz completed her Bachelors in Media and Communication, and Economics from Independent University, Bangladesh.
Kesang Chuki Dorjee is an independent filmmaker whose documentaries address social issues of women and children in Bhutan. She formerly worked at BBS Television as a Television Anchor and Producer and established the Children & Women Unit. Her latest films focus on the importance of greater women’s participation in leadership roles. With groundbreaking projects like “Housewives to Leaders” and “Yes, Madam Prime Minister”, Bhutan has seen the first appointments of a woman Governor, Supreme Court Justice and now a Minister. Kesang Chuki Dorjee has won several international awards including the UNDP Human Development Media Fellowship Award (2010), Hoso Bunka Award – Japan Prize (2007), Special Recognition from the Prime Minister (2006) and Prix Jeunesse International UNICEF Award (2005).
Lara Farrar is a foreign correspondent who has been reporting on China and the Asia Pacific for five years. Her work has been featured in the International Herald Tribune, CNN International, the Wall Street Journal, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Economist and Foreign Policy. She is a journalism educator, teaching reporting to Chinese students at Fudan University in Shanghai. In 2010, she founded China News Network, the first English language news website for young Chinese to post reporting they deem important about Chinese society. She also sits on the board of directors of the Global Press Institute, a non-profit that trains women from the developing world to become journalists, and has assisted the Clinton Global Initiative in bolstering greater participation from Chinese business leaders. Lara studied journalism at Boston University and obtained a dual master’s degree in global media and communications from the London School of Economics and Fudan University.
Yuresha Fernando is a lawyer from Sri Lanka. She takes a special interest in multi-culturalism, conflict resolution and social justice. Her writings on ideologies of cross-cultural human rights were recognized by the Human Rights Commission and she was invited to fascilitate the EU sponsored “National Dialogues on the Rights of Minorities in the Peace Process” (2003). She continues her work through lectures and has worked with the Weeramantry Centre for Peace Education, the British Council and similar institutions promoting value-based adult education. She is a Chevening scholar (UK), a Legislative Fellow (U.S.) and was nominated to the “Global Youth Network Co-Design Workshop” in London (2012). She is a State Counsel of the Department of the Attorney General of Sri Lanka specializing in Public, Administrative and Constitutional law. She advises on governmental matters including the constitutionality of Parliamentary Bills. She is a graduate of the University of Colombo and University College London.
Scot Frank is the Co-Founder and CEO of One Earth Designs, a company that brings clean energy solutions to people around the world. He has developed an award-winning solar cooker for Himalayan communities with the goal to alleviate their daily problems of fuel scarcity and indoor air pollution. Scot has lived and worked in China for 7 years and received bachelor degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. He holds three patents, two on energy technology and one for a novel breast cancer diagnostic tool. His background includes founding three start-ups, working in IBM’s India Research Laboratory, leading MIT Development Lab’s China program, and advising renewable energy projects for the Clinton Global Initiative and Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room. Scot has been named a Forbes 30 under 30 Entrepreneur, Unreasonable Fellow, Cordes Fellow, and Make a Difference Venture Fellow.
Akash Goel is currently a resident physician in Internal Medicine at Columbia University – New York Presbyterian Hospital. While working for the William J. Clinton Foundation, Dr. Akash Goel led the launch of India’s national Second Line ARV drug program that currently provides lifesaving medication to thousands of individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Akash has also worked for The Boston Consulting Group, CNN’s Medical News Unit, the New York City Department of Health and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Akash is a graduate of Harvard College and University of Michigan Medical School. His research interests are in population health, private sector engagement and social enterprise. Akash is a member of the New York Academy of Medicine and also writes for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a leading bipartisan foreign policy think tank. He was named a New Leader by the Carnegie Council.
Brian Gonzales is Team Leader for Research, Monitoring, Evaluation and Development, and Program Liaison Officer to the ASEAN-Wildlife Enforcement Network of the USAID-funded ARREST Program (Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking) implemented by FREELAND. Based in Bangkok, he works closely with the intergovernmental ASEAN-WEN and the national task forces on policy development, program management, sustainability strategy and partnership development. He developed new strategic partnerships for ARREST by initiating several innovative ventures, including a partnership with the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, an organization of top ASEAN parliamentary leaders to enhance regional legislative responses to combat wildlife crime; academic institutions and think tanks; direct support to efforts in upgrading wildlife crime onto the agenda of ASEAN’s transnational crime body; and involvement in “greening” the judiciary by supporting judicial awareness raising initiatives on combating wildlife crime in Asia. He is a graduate of De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde in Manila.
Tania Hyde is a director at Taylor Street Advisory (TSA), where she advises clients in communications, government relations and strategy. Previously Tania was a consultant at The Nous Group, BRW’s 2012 Best Management Consulting Firm started by ex McKinsey consultants. Tania also held senior leadership roles in public affairs and engineering as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, a 13,000-person organization with global operations, often working with Asian counterparts. She was public affairs adviser for Australia’s 1000-person commitment to the UN mission in East Timor where she collaborated with Thai, Singaporean and Japanese peacekeepers. Tania is an Australian Defence Force Academy graduate and holds a Masters of Management (distinction) and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (first class honours) from the University of New South Wales. She is an Australian Davos Connection Future Summit Leadership Awardee (World Economic Forum).
Shoaib Iqbal is a founder and director of The Little Art, a non-profit arts education organization in Pakistan that uses the medium of art to promote positive social values through innovative learning opportunities among children and young people, especially those from marginalized and low income backgrounds. Nearly 200,000 children and young people have benefitted from these programs in the past 6 years. Shoaib also founded Lahore International Children’s Film Festival, which has become country’s largest event of its kind. Shoaib has nearly 14 years of experience working as teacher, arts manager, theater director, workshop trainer and festival director. In 2006 he received a Kennedy Center Fellowship at Devos Institute of Arts Management in Washington D.C. In 2009 he received the Endeavour Executive Award from the Australian government and became a Commonwealth Fellow. He holds a post-graduate degree in Arts Management from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. and a diploma in International Development from Eastside Institute in New York City.
Dhruv Kazi is a cardiologist and health economist who focuses on clinical and policy-level interventions to address the global burden of heart disease. He is particularly interested in harnessing low-cost, scalable technologies to combat the epidemic of cardiovascular disease in emerging economies. Kazi co-founded heartMAP, a program that combines information technology, adult learning theory, and behavioral economics to provide personalized support to South Asian patients with advanced heart disease. He is a member of Harvard University’s public health team that evaluated India’s Kumbh Mela, a mass pilgrimage, and of the World Heart Federation’s Presidential Initiative on Emerging Leaders in Cardiovascular Medicine. He is currently examining the cost-effectiveness of screening schoolchildren for rheumatic heart disease, a huge public health challenge in Asia and Africa. Kazi is an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Francisco, and has trained at Stanford University, the London School of Economics, and the University of Mumbai.
HH Tunku Ali Redhauddin Tuanku Muhriz - I started my career with McKinsey & Company (1998-2004), working on a range of projects across three continents. From 2004-2010, I was with Investments at Khazanah, making investments within Asia. I then took on my official role as Tunku Besar Seri Menanti, and now have interests ranging from state administration to educational, non-profit and social business initiatives to corporate positions. I sit on the Council of Law and Justice of Negeri Sembilan, chaired by the ruler. I am a Trustee of Teach for Malaysia, Patron of Enactus Malaysia, and Chairman of the Munarah Foundation. I am involved with three universities in various capacities, including one as Pro-Chancellor. I sit on the boards of several Khazanah companies, and am an independent director of a bank and Chairman of Bumi Armada, a ~US$4bn listed company. I hold a BA (Hons) from the University of Cambridge and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School.
Natharoun Ngo is acting as head of unit for the United Nations in Cambodia. He leads and oversees teams to implement poverty reduction programmes that support policy reforms and changes in sectors ranging from trade, education, and social protection to mine clearance. He previously worked as a manager for Ernst and Young/Cap Gemini, facilitating Fortune 500 companies to design and to implement change management strategies. Natharoun also sits on the board of directors of the Khmer Foundation, a non-profit organization providing access to education for orphans and vulnerable children. He graduated with an MBA from Paris University in 1999.
Luna Ranjit is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Adihikaar for Human Rights and Social Justice. She has guided Adhikaar’s programs, research, policy advocacy, and partnership since its inception in 2005. Under her leadership, Adhikaar has served thousands of immigrant workers, and brought their voices to change laws, including the NY State Domestic Workers Bill of Rights and the International Convention on Domestic Workers. Regarded as an expert on emerging immigrant communities, Luna has been quoted and featured in print and broadcast media, such as the New York Times, Huffington Post, Daily News, NPR, PBS, and community media, on the issues related to data disaggregation, language access, and workers’ rights. Her ground-breaking work has been recognized by many community organizations and elected officials, including Congressman Joseph Crowley. Luna serves on the Advisory Board of the National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance, and the Steering Committee of Participatory Budgeting in NYC. She holds an MPA degree from the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University.
Deepak Ravindran is the founder and CEO of Quest & Innoz. Deepak dropped out of college with a novel idea of giving Internet to the offline world. Today his technology allows anyone to access internet searches, email, and social media networks — all through SMS. Innoz's SMS Service has processed over billion requests from over hundreds of millions of users around the world. In 2013, Innoz made it to the Limca book of records for building the “Largest offline search engine.” His latest venture, Quest raised initial round of funding from 500 Startups with the mission of building high quality smartphone applications. Deepak has had a lifelong passion for entrepreneurship, technology, culture, and improving society. He is one of the founding member of Startup Village, India's largest non-for-profit technology incubator. Ravindran has received numerous awards, including being named one of the outstanding innovators under 35 for the year 2011 by the MIT Technology Review. Asia Society announced Ravindran as one of Asia's 21 emerging leaders under 40 for 2013. Ravindran was also a part of the inaugural Rajeev Circle Fellowship a programme launched by Asha, wife of late Stanford Professor Rajeev Motwani. He has lectured at several universities including Stanford, IIT Bombay, IIM Ahmedabad, Semester at Sea and international conferences including WIRED Conference,Rolex Leadership Forum, TED and the Red Herring Global 100 forum. His work has appeared in Forbes, WIRED, The Sydney Morning Herald, CNN, Bloomberg UTV and several other magazines, newspapers and blogs. Most recently, National Geographic Magazine profiled him inside India’s Future Leaders in their show 'Onward' - a project to explore the world and share its untold stories.
Yayoi Shionoiri is the Assistant General Counsel to the Guggenheim Foundation. Focusing on art law at non-profit cultural institutions, she advises on all legal matters related to groundbreaking art exhibitions and related cultural programming at Guggenheim museums and other institutions throughout the world. Previously, she served as Legal Advisor to Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, managing legal transactions, museum negotiations and intellectual property challenges across Asia and the United States. Beyond the practice of law, her interdisciplinary academic research on modern and contemporary Japanese art analyzes the effects of legal paradigms on artistic production, examining the application of copyright and intellectual property frameworks to the protection of artists’ rights. As a US-Japan Leadership Program Fellow, she contributes to the ongoing development of cultural collaborations and political ties across nations. She received her A.B. from Harvard University, J.D. from Cornell Law School and M.A. in Modern Art: Critical Studies from Columbia University.
Pandu Sjahrir is the CFO of Toba Bara Sejahtra (TBS), a leading mining company in Indonesia, which was recently selected as one of Forbes’ 2013 Best of the Best Companies in the nation. Pandu also serves as Vice-CEO of Adimitra Baratama Nusantara (ABN), the largest operating company of TBS. Pandu led TBS through an IPO in June 2012, which was the largest global coal IPO then. During his tenure, TBS revenues grew from $200 to $500 million. He also raised over $250 million in financing for TBS. Pandu serves as Chairman of the Commercial Committee of the Indonesian Coal Association and the PGI Cikini Hospital in Jakarta. Pandu has held positions at MatlinPatterson, an investment firm in NY, Byun & Co., an investment firm in Singapore and Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong. Pandu received his degrees from the University of Chicago (BA) and the Stanford Graduate School of Business (MBA).
Yin Myo Su run a small resort in Myanmar (Burma) called Inle Princess Resort since October 1998 with a great success in terms of finance and image. She believes in the role of women, housewives and mothers to participate in the social and economic development in immerges countries. She also participating to implement “Community Base/Benefit Tourism Sustainable Development’. She trust in preservation tangible and intangible culture heritage is a must to do in fast moving situation of Myanmar and she reintroduced “Burmese Cat” with corporation of CERS into the country which is now in great success, and build as well Inle Lake Natural Heritage Museum where people can visit to see Endemic Fish species of Inle Lake where she also trying to do a water quality monitoring program. However her main interest is in human resources development while engaging for sustainable development of hotel industry in Myanmar, she builds a Hospitality Vocational Training School for 40 youth per year. With those interests I actively involves and contributes time and money on the other social and environmental development apart from business running for the financial generation.
Prapaporn Tivayanond is the Founding Director of the Social Policy and Development Programme at Thammasat University, which focuses on studies and consultancy on social protection and welfare programs in emerging economies of the ASEAN region. Her recent consultancy to various international organizations includes United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, where she has worked on social protection, disaster risk reduction, and climate change. Prapaporn has led research for various organizations such as ASEAN and currently works on the financing of Thailand’s health system for the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD). She holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Social Policy from the University of Oxford.
Lungten Zangmo Wangchuk is a public health specialist & independent consultant. Her work focuses on critical public health issues in developing countries and she supported many countries in the South East Asia Region in development and monitoring & evaluation of critical public health projects. Currently she works with the World Health Organization as a public health consultant. Lungten received her master’s degree in Public Health from Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University with concentration in Public Health Epidemiology and earned her Bachelor in Medicine and Surgery from Delhi University. She also holds certificate in Leadership Development in Developing Countries from Johns Hopkins University. Lungten authored and co-authored scientific papers, public health reports and articles on disease of public health concerns such as Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs & Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), Cardiovascular Diseases and others.
Ewa Wojkowska is the co-founder and COO of Kopernik, an award-winning technology marketplace for the developing world. Since its launch in 2010, Kopernik has distributed life-changing technologies to more than 110,000 people living in the ‘last mile.’ Prior to Kopernik, Ewa worked for the United Nations and the World Bank in Asia and Africa, focusing on the empowerment of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. Ewa has been recognized as an Ashoka ChangemakHER, as one of Advance 50 emerging women leaders in 2011 and Rutgers University Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012.
Sheldon Xie is China Country Director at the Clinton Foundation, where he currently leads its health and energy programs in China. He is passionate about joining the global forces in public health, climate change, education and poverty reduction. On health, he is part of a team dedicated to expanding access of various affordable but quality health commodities to save lives affected by life-threatening diseases including HIV, Malaria, and Tuberculosis. On energy, his team provides financial advisory services to the Chinese government on large scale rollout of clean technologies. Before, Sheldon briefly worked in the power sector and spent his early career years teaching English at Gansu University of Science and Technology. He earned his MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and his Bachelor’s degree in English from Gansu University of Science and Technology.
Sangwon Yoon is a New York-based diplomatic correspondent for Bloomberg News covering the United Nations and the U.S. State Department. Her previous assignment at Bloomberg was covering the Korean peninsula, reporting namely on the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong II and the hereditary succession of power to Kim Jong Un. She has also reported on the Arab Spring, Osama bin Laden’s death and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Reuters and Al Jazeera English. Sangwon holds a B.A. in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and Politics from New York University, where she graduated magna cum laude. A South Korean by birth, she is fluent in Korean, as well as Hebrew and French, and proficient in Arabic.
Helen Huanwu Zhai is a creative and design director in Guangzhou, China. Born in Xi’an and raised in Chengdu, she went to art college in the US. As art director in the States, Helen won an ASBPE design award, among others. Since 2011 Helen has become the design director at CityZine, Fast Company China magazine and Biando, all owned by the Nanfang Daily Media Group, one of the top 3 media groups in China. Helen co-produced exhibitions and publications like Chinascape Contemporary Photography and On the Road by Luo Dan & Zeng Han. Co-creating the first Chinese art e-gallery, voutu.com, she continuously supports the growth and exposure of emerging artists. Helen believes that good design should serve to the people. In 2009 she joined PATS (the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Treatment Support Project), focusing on HIV+ children in Anhui, China, where she co-created the HIV+ Children’s Caretaker’s Handbook which was distributed by China CDC.