Asia Society Australia Team

He is a co-leader of the Asia Taskforce by the Business Council of Australia and Asia Society Australia to advance Australian business engagement with Asia. He is a board member of Haymarket HQ – Australia’s first co-working space and accelerator focussed on Asian markets. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Australian committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC). He is the founder of Disruptive Asia - a thought-leadership project examining the impact of Asia's rise on Australia, and China Executive Briefing, a program examining China’s economic policies and their impact on Australian business. His commentary and analysis have appeared in The Australian, ABC, Bloomberg News, CNBC, The Australian Financial Review, Melbourne Asia Review and ChinaFile. 

Philipp is a China specialist with extensive experience in policy, education and research and is committed to building an Asia-literate Australia. Previously, he was a policy officer and manager of the Australia-China Council (a predecessor to the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations) at the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He was one of the principal authors of the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper - China Country Strategy, Australia’s first public, whole-of-nation strategy for the bilateral relationship with China. Previously, Philipp was 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 six 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. In 2021, he was selected to undertake McKinsey Executive Leadership Program for non-profit leaders. 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.

Niti was born and educated in India and is a qualified teacher who gave up teaching after a year of teaching Maths and Science to year 7 students at her alma mater. Following this, Niti went on to study MBA from the University of Jammu in India and later worked at India’s largest IT education provider before moving to Australia for love.

In Sydney, Niti studied towards a CPA Australia qualification and has been a member of CPA Australia for the past 20 years. She has built a career specialising in taxation, planning and analysis across the Health, Pharmaceuticals and Recruitment sectors.

Niti is passionate about education for all and believes that an educated society is the key to bringing about a progressive change. For the past 10 years, she has been volunteering as a scribe for high school students with learning/writing disabilities.

Niti is a supporter of diversity and inclusion and makes a conscious effort to be inclusive at all times. She has mentored women from CALD background and has helped them assimilate without giving up their individuality.

Prior to Asia Society, James was National Project Manager for the Australia China Business Council (ACBC). In this role, James developed and managed a multitude of projects, working with ACBC’s business membership and Federal and State Governments to foster greater understanding and business engagement with China. His project portfolio included high-level national China policy briefings, China-Australia Free Trade Agreement advocacy across regional Australia, market entry delegations to China, an Australia-China business podcast, and online business support camps.

James has also worked with trade and investment advisory firm TradeWorthy on Asia Development Bank research on Belt and Road integration in ASEAN countries. Previously, James lived and worked in Beijing as an environmental consultant on European Commission climate change and development projects. He also worked as a tour leader to North Korea and in 2020 self-published the photography book Hotels of Pyongyang.

James is a graduate of the University of Melbourne where he holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Environmental Policy. He speaks Chinese and German.

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 joining Asia Society Australia he served as Marketing and Communications Manager at Creative Partnerships Australia and as Digital Media and Communications Manager at The Australia-Indonesia Centre. Before this, he was appointed the inaugural Editor of Google Play Music for Australia and New Zealand.

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 through 2010 and 2012.

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.

Eloise previously worked as the Project Coordinator for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Australia-Indonesia Youth Exchange Program, a bilateral initiative strengthening Australia-Indonesia relations through cultural and youth exchange.

Passionate about intercultural learning and youth engagement, Eloise has served as both a board director and volunteer for AFS Intercultural Programs - a volunteer-run international education organisation. Eloise regularly conducts workshops on global competence and works in a team of international trainers to design and facilitate webinar content exploring the intersection of intercultural learning and issues of social justice.

Eloise graduated from the University of Melbourne iwith 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 holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Australia majoring in Asian Studies and French language.

In her spare time Eloise plays soccer for North Melbourne Athletic FC and is a mentor for international students undertaking work experience through Practera, an Australian experiential EdTech company.

Connect with Eloise on Linkedin and Twitter.

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.

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.

She is a native Mandarin speaker and has attained a diverse range of cross-cultural experiences and developed multilingual capabilities through undertaking prior study in South Korea and Japan.

As a Chinese expat, her cross-cultural journeys in South Korea and Japan have not only provided her with first-hand experiences on the landscape of East Asia, but also a newfound perspective on China. Such experiences sparked her passion to undertake research, as part of her master’s thesis, on the rise of China and how South Korea and Japan, being close allies of the US, adapt to the emerging Chinese power and the intensified US-China rivalry.

With scholarly work on global cooperation at its highest in the light of the ongoing Covid-19 situation, she sees great potential for there to be improved engagement and collaboration between countries and thus she is highly motivated to pursue a career where she can contribute to a better understanding of Asia and a bridging of stronger ties with Asia.

Prior to commencing a Master of International Relations at Australian National University, Fangyuan obtained a Bachelor of Political Science majoring in International Relations at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, South Korea. Prior to joining Chung-Ang University, she completed an intensive Korean language course at Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea. After her graduation from Chung-Ang University, she undertook an intensive Japanese language course at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. She is fluent in Mandarin and Korean and also has limited working proficiency in Japanese.

Chris is also a Councillor at the Australian Institute of International Affairs, NSW. As councillor, he has helped coordinate events and has expanded the institute’s outreach to younger audiences. He has been involved in a number of community initiatives, including founding the largest language exchange program in the Illawarra region, ‘The Language Exchange’.

Chris is passionate about understanding how societies in the Asia-Pacific can economically develop while also maintaining stable structures of political governance. In 2018, he completed his International Relations degree at the University of Wollongong, where his thesis was awarded first class honours and the University Medal for Academic Excellence.

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.