Our People

Previously, he was a policy officer and manager of the Australia-China Council at the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In this role, Philipp led the strategic renewal of the Council and had broader responsibilities for the Australia-China bilateral relationship. Philipp was one of the principal authors of the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper - China Country Strategy. 

Philipp was also Acting Director and Deputy Director of the Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific at the University of Sydney, advised the University of Sydney on their China strategy and managed La Trobe University's partnerships in the Gulf States, Vietnam and Thailand. 

Philipp spent over 6 years in China working in education and development. He is the recipient of the ‘Rose Award’ by the Shenyang Municipal Government for his contribution to Shenyang City. In 2009 he was also awarded the Australian Government’s Endeavour Executive Fellowship to research China's policies on leadership development at the China National Academy of Education Administration in Beijing.

He is a board member of the Australia-Vietnam Young Leadership Dialogue, Asia Recon, Haymarket HQ and Sydney City Council's Chinese New Year Advisory Panel. In 2015, he was invited as the only Australian to the 2015 Congress of Vienna - a preeminent global track-two dialogue on major-powers conflict, migration, equality and innovation. He is the creator of Disruptive Asia - a thought-leadership project examining the impact of Asia's rise on Australia.

Philipp has a Bachelor (Honours) degree in Chinese language and history from the Far Eastern National University in Russia. He also studied in Jilin and Liaoning Normal universities in China. He holds a Master of Educational Leadership and Management from RMIT University in Australia. He grew up in Vladivostok on Russia's Pacific coast and is a fluent Chinese and Russian speaker.

Connect with Philipp on Linkedin.

Thomas has a background in strategic planning, business development, project design and management, and implementation of cross-sector initiatives and programs with national and global partners in the Asia-Pacific region.

Prior to the Asia Society, he was the Head of International Research and Development at the University of Sydney. In this role, he drove international research and capacity-building projects between the University and its partners in Asia, built relationships with external funders, and gave strategic advice on international growth and collaboration opportunities. He identified, designed, bid for and often managed more than 100 projects for the University across the Asia-Pacific region funded by national and international agencies, including the Australian Government, the United Nations System, the European Commission, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. He led University’s submissions to several government consultations and parliamentary senate inquiries including the Asian Century White Paper, and had representative roles with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and the Australia-Indonesia Centre.

Thomas is a graduate from the University of Oslo, Norway and the University of Sydney where he studied political science, international diplomacy, regional integration and languages.

Connect with Thomas on LinkedIn.

From 2018 to 2019, Mr Maude was Deputy Secretary, Indo-Pacific Group, in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australia’s senior official to the East Asia Summit.

In 2017, Mr Maude was head of the whole-of-government taskforce which supported the preparation of the Australian Government’s 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper.

Mr Maude was Director-General of the Office of National Assessments from May 2013 until November 2016.  Before taking up this position, Mr Maude was the senior adviser on foreign policy and national security issues to Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

He has served overseas in Malaysia, where he was Deputy High Commissioner, Singapore and as the Liaison Officer for the Office of National Assessments in the Australian Embassy in Washington DC.

Mr Maude is a member of the Futures Council of the National Security College at the Australian National University and Director of the ANU Crawford Leadership Forum.

Melissa loves working with people to deliver high-end, quality services. She has demonstrated success in defining, documenting and implementing operational workflow to stimulate and support organisational growth. She has vast experience implementing effective financial management strategies to improve transaction processing, strengthen cash flow, reduce debtors, and ensure accurate and timely payroll and financial reporting. She has proven experience in building, managing and leading multi-discipline teams to achieve revenue targets.

Melissa has provided strategic and planning advice with respect to financial and operational objectives to improve business performance and direction as an equity partner and part of management teams.

Melissa graduated from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Economics, majoring in Accountancy. She has also completed a Graduate Diploma of Financial Planning through the Securities Institute of Australia, and the E-Myth Mastery Course on successful small business management.

Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn.

She is passionate about bringing people together and facilitating meaningful conversations on Australia’s role in Asia and on the changing economic, strategic, and cultural dynamics of the region. In the last four years, Jette has delivered close to 200 programs, including; C-suite Executive Briefings, international conferences, visits, public talks, and gala events. Jette is the lead convenor of Asia Society Australia’s flagship program, Asia Briefing LIVE.

Jette was previously the Executive Officer at the Australia China Business Council (ACBC), where she worked directly with the National CEO, Board and NSW Branch CEO to implement the goals and objectives of the Council. She led the delivery of ACBC’s annual Canberra Networking day, as well as a suite of events hosted at Parliament House alongside the historic signing of the China Australia Free Trade Agreement and visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Jette has a strong interest in social justice and the not-for-profit sector and worked as a volunteer research assistant at Burma Campaign Australia where she assisted in the development of a human rights advocacy and awareness campaign to coincide with Myanmar’s 2014 ASEAN chairmanship. Having grown up in regional Australia, Jette combined her interests in regional issues, food security and Australia’s role in feeding Asia at the New South Wales Farmers Association. Here, Jette contributed to the development of an Industry Action Plan, to help future-proof NSW Agriculture.

Jette was a founding member of the Australia China Youth Association (ACYA), University of Technology Sydney Chapter. Jette graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney with a double degree in Communications (Social Inquiry) and International Studies (Chinese language and Culture). She also studied for twelve months at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China on an Australian Government Discover China Scholarship.

Connect with Jette on Linkedin and Twitter.

Andrew is passionate about understanding member values and interests, being the best way to identify opportunities for meaningful, long-term partnerships. His professional experience stems from ten years in fundraising and relationship management in the tertiary education and not-for-profit arts sectors in Melbourne and Sydney, in addition to ten years of previous project management experience in Australia, Japan and China in education, research and legal services.

He holds a double degree in Economics (Economic History major) and Asian Studies (Japanese major) from the Australian National University. He has spent six years living in both Japan and China, and has studied and speaks fluent Japanese, highly functional Chinese (Mandarin) and basic Indonesian. While at university, Andrew also performed in several of the ANU Japan Centre’s annual Kabuki performances, including a short tour to Nara and Kobe in 1999.

Given his interest in people, Andrew became a Commonwealth registered marriage celebrant in 2018. Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn.

Prior to these roles, he was appointed the inaugural Editor of Google Play Music for Australia and New Zealand.

Andrew has worked in the media sphere for over two decades, including sub-editing for titles under ACP Magazines and Fairfax, copywriting for outlets such as Domain, Melbourne International Film Festival, and the Australian Performing Rights Association, and freelancing for a wide variety of publications both in print and online.

His history in digital stretches back to the fledgling years of internet publishing, acting as an Online Editor at Sensis in the early 2000s, launching online culture magazine The Enthusiast in 2008, and working as Digital Content Manager for entertainment portals Undercover and Noise11.

Eloise was responsible for on-ground operations and events in Australia, and worked directly with a variety of corporate, government, and community stakeholders. Eloise is passionate about intercultural learning and youth engagement having served as both a board director and volunteer for AFS Intercultural Programs Australia - a volunteer-run, non-profit, international education organisation. Eloise regularly conducts workshops on cross-cultural communication and global competence for non-profit and corporate audiences.

Eloise graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2017 with a Master of International Relations, focussing on China and Southeast Asia. During this time, she also worked at the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet’s International Engagement branch and undertook an internship with Melbourne’s Consular Corps. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Australia, majoring in Asian Studies and French language, and has undertaken short-term study abroad experiences at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and CREIPAC in Nouméa, New Caledonia.

Jaimie has worked in administrative roles for over ten years, earning a wealth of experience in office management, event coordination, meeting planning, scheduling, training and coaching new employees, and documenting and maintaining office processes.

She holds a Master in Professional Accounting from Victoria University and Bachelor of Business from Monash University. Jaimie currently lives in Southbank, Melbourne with her husband and daughter, and loves everything about practicing yoga.

While she remains French at heart, Lena has spent most of her life abroad, living in Germany, Italy, the United States of America, and South Korea. This multicultural upbringing cultivated her interest in cross-cultural relations from a young age and she co-founded the French American School of New York’s Asia club – an initiative to share Asian culture abroad. Lena is also very passionate about social justice and volunteers in several organisations that offer hunger relief, solutions against food waste, and refugee support.

Lena obtained a Master of Economics and Business from Sciences Po Paris in 2019. While completing her degree, she interned in a communication agency and L’Oréal’s international development marketing team. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Science Po Paris, majoring in Social Sciences and Asian Studies, and spent a year studying at Korea University in South Korea.

He spent more than a decade as a reporter based in Tokyo, Jakarta, and New York. He is now an independent writer, editor and consultant; is researching a book about Australia and Asia; and writes a column on economic diplomacy for The Lowy Institute’s The Interpreter. He is a member of the Australia-ASEAN Council board (AAC); and a former member of the Australian National University Indonesia Project advisory board; the Australia Japan Foundation board; and the steering committee for the Australia-Indonesia Dialogue.

His connection with the region began as a high school Indonesian language student and then as an exchange student in the Philippines. This year he has been a member of an international observer group during the Indian election; attended the Australia-Vietnam Young Leadership Dialogue in Ho Chi Minh City; and served on the selection panel for an AAC Muslim Exchange Program in South East Asia.

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn and Twitter.