Based in Beijing, Wei Sun Christianson is responsible for the oversight
and global coordination of all Morgan Stanley’s business activities in
China and has been in this position since 2006. She is also a member
of Morgan Stanley’s global management committee and Asia Pacific
Executive Committee.Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Ms. Christianson was Chairman of China for Citigroup Global Markets (Asia) Ltd. She has also served as Chairman of China and Country Manager for Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). She joined CSFB from Morgan Stanley where she had been an Executive Director and Beijing Chief Representative. Ms. Christianson has advised on many landmark transactions in China, including the initial public offerings of China Life, Sinopec, SMIC, Chalco, Sinotrans, and China Oilfield Services. She has also led the execution of several significant M&A transactions involving Chinese companies.
Prior to her joining Morgan Stanley in 1998, Ms. Christianson was an associate director of the Corporate Finance Department at the Hong Kong Securities and Finance Commission (SFC) and was instrumental in developing the regulatory framework for the public listing of Mainland Chinese securities in Hong Kong. She was previously an attorney in the New York office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
Ms. Christianson received her B.A. from Amherst College in 1985 and her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1989 and is admitted to practice in the State of New York. In January 2006 she was awarded the prestigious Columbia Law School Medal of Excellence which is given annually to two alumni who have distinguished themselves professionally. Prior recipients include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger.
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Ning Yuan, is president of China Construction America, Inc. (CCA),
the U.S. arm of China State Construction Engineering Corp.(CSCEC).
Mr. Yuan started his career with CSCEC in 1988 and became President
of CCA in 2000. Under his leadership, CCA has made historic breakthroughs
in the world’s most competitive construction market; new
contracts soared from $11 million in 2001 to $400 million in 2009
with turnover exceeding $100 million in 2008. CCA is involved in
commercial, industrial, institutional and government projects, ranging
from building works to civil and infrastructure works, and in a number
of cases, is the first Chinese contractor to be awarded the contract.
With its headquarters in Jersey City, New Jersey, CCA has business
operations in New York, Washington DC, South Carolina, with more
than 150 employees, two-thirds of whom are local.Mr. Yuan holds a civil engineering degree from Zhejiang University in China, a masters degree from Leibniz Universität Hannover in Germany, is a member of the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s School of Management advisory board, and a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of International Strategic and Development, Tsinghua University, China.
Significant projects undertaken by CCA:
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2002 Santee High School, South Carolina
First public project by a Chinese contractor
2003 Marriott Harlem Hotel, New York
First CM contract by a Chinese contractor
2005 USC Aiken Center, South Carolina
First college project by a Chinese contractor
2006 NYSDOT Ramp X, New York
First infrastructure work by a Chinese contractor Awarded with Tappan Zee Award 2008, by ASCE
2007 Yankee Stadium Station, New York
First Railway & Station Project by a Chinese Contractor Awarded with Project of the Year 2008, by DBIA
2009 Alexander-Hamilton Bridge Renovation, New York First Bridge Project by a Chinese contractor
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Aziz Ahmad is President and CEO of UTC Associates, Inc., a company
he co-founded in New York City. UTC is a leading systems and network
integration company and developer of software for information technology
and telecommunications applications. An accomplished businessman
and network architect, Mr. Ahmad was the lead architect of AT&T’s
VoIP networks. He has extensive experience in developing and rolling
out new services from concept to revenue generation stage. He founded
Vonair, Inc., a leading multimedia based applications provider, including
VoIP client based, location-based applications, presence, instant messaging,
and mobile client applications.Mr. Ahmad is a board member of Grameen Solutions, Grameen IT Park in Bangladesh where Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus serves as the Chairman of the Board. Recently he was the recipient of First American Distinguished Alumni award of City University of New York. He holds B.E. and M.E. degrees in Electrical Engineering from The City College of New York (CUNY). During the past several years, he has served as an adjunct professor at City Technical College (CUNY), and he has also taught graduate-level courses at Pace University in converging technologies.
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Roshan Baig is currently Manager for Technology Services at Capgemini
Consulting Services, one of the big four consulting companies. Mr. Baig
has provided thought leadership and technology solutions through management
of system development and projects for more than 15 years.
He has successfully managed and delivered complex mission critical
solutions including enterprise resource planning, customer relationship
management, global trade services and web applications with focus in
health care, high-technology, web applications, regulatory compliance
and manufacturing verticals. Mr. Baig is an Electrical Engineer and in
his consulting role he has provided strategic direction for technology
alignment with business processes for multi-billion dollar companies
and has developed quality benchmarks for measuring
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Sonny Chabra is Chairman and CEO of ASI System Integration, Inc.
which he started in 2005. Mr. Chabra immigrated to the U.S. in 1985.
In 1988, he joined American Mini Computer, Inc., which was later
renamed AMC Computer Corp. In 1992, he purchased AMC and eight
years later, when he sold it to a private equity firm, sales revenues had
increased by more than 6,000% and achieved 34 consecutive profitable
quarters. ASI continues to be profitable quarter after quarter.
Mr. Chabra received the 2000 VARBusiness Magazine Lifetime
Achievement Award, Ernst & Young’s 1998 “Entrepreneur of the Year”
award and the “1999 Blue Chip Enterprise Executive of the Year” award
from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In recognition of his dedicated
support for the Indian community, in 2001, he received the “Ellis Island
Medal of Honor” presented by the National Ethnic Coalition Organization
and sponsored by the U.S. Congress; the “Punjabi Ratan Award” in
2000 from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton; the “Pride of India Gold
Award” in 1998 from former Prime Minister of India, Honorable H.D.
Deva Gowda.
Mr. Chabra was born and raised in India and received a Mechanical
Engineering Degree from Punjab University.
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Jae Hyuk Chang is President and CEO of ISEC USA, LLC, which is an
international sales and marketing, and trading company for petrochemical,
chemical and oil refinery industries. ISEC USA, LLC is the U.S.
arm of ILSUNG Corporation, which is an oil and gas manufacturing
company based in Korea . ISEC USA, LLC and ILSUNG Corporation
produce oil and gas related processing equipment, such as reactors, shell
and tube heat exchangers, pressure vessels, columns, CCR and skid
modules. Prior to becoming President of ISEC USA in 2005, Mr. Chang
was Director of ILSUNG Corporation for nine years. Mr. Chang is
based in Houston and travels globally about 11 times a year and spends
a lot of his time in South Korea.
Mr. Chang was raised in South Korea before moving to the U.S. He received a B.S. (Business) from the University of Southern California,Los Angeles and an M.B.A. from Rice University, Houston, TX.
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Cindy K. Chen owns and operates several businesses – Beauty Beauty
USA, Inc., Beauty Beauty International School and Farah Cosmetics
International, Inc. When Beauty Beauty USA opened in the 1990s,
it was a company with a unique concept – to provide the spa industry
with a complete line of professional products and equipment at wholesale
prices. Believing that the four key elements to a successful spa are
appeal, pricing, quality service and a hands-on relationship with clients,
Beauty Beauty, with its innovative cost structure and client service,
works with spa owners to help grow their business.Over the past 20 years, Ms. Chen has become a business professional in the beauty and wellness industry. She is devoted to her profession and takes great pride in mentoring her students individually. Her leadership qualities are evident in the professionally coordinated hair and beauty shows as well as professional products workshops that she organizes.
Ms. Chen grew up in Guangdong, China and graduated from Guangzhou Hua Nan Teacher University. She is a licensed cosmetologist and professional skincare educator.
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John C. Chen is President of John C. Chen Architect, a firm he opened in
1997. Mr. Chen was born and raised in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
and moved to New York in the late 1980’s, where he worked at several
jobs while going to college, ultimately becoming licensed as an architect in
1997 and a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1999. Mr. Chen is also the President
of JL Nail Academy, Inc., a licensed vocational school in New York.
He regularly returns to China, where he is guest professor at Sichuan
University’s School of Architecture and Environmental Sciences.Mr. Chen was formerly the Chairman of the Sino-American Business Association and has served as the senior architect and engineering consultant to the association since 2002. He has received a number of awards in Sichuan and New York for his work in architectural design and development.
Mr. Chen received an M.A in Education and Psychology from the Northwest Teachers University, China, and completed two years of doctoral research in Education and Psychology at Cornell University; an M.A from John Jay College of Criminal Justice; B.A in Architecture and Urban Design from
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Steve Chen has overall responsibility for the operations of Crystal Window
& Door Systems and its aluminum extrusion subsidiary. Only thirty, he has
already acquired a significant background in window manufacturing and
installation. His father Thomas Chen founded the company, so he grew up
in the business enabling him to see many aspects of the operations directly,
gaining critical first-hand experience. Before joining Crystal in 2003 as
project manager, Mr. Chen worked for First Union Asset Management as
leader of a team of investment account managers.Recently, Glass Magazine spotlighted Mr. Chen as one of the industry’s “20 Under 40” top executives nationwide, and was recognized by the Queens Chamber of Commerce as one of the Top 10 Business Executives Under 40. Mr. Chen continues Crystal’s community philanthropy and was honored in 2009 by The Child Center of New York and in 2006 by The Queens Library Foundation.
Mr. Chen was born in Taiwan and moved to the U.S., where he attended New York City public schools and graduated with a degree in economics from Penn State University.
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Anne Chow is Senior Vice President of AT&T Operations’ Premier
Client Group, where she leads a national sales and support organization
of over 2,000 professionals responsible for delivering a full range
of communications solutions, including wireless and wired services,
to enterprise customers, which represent one of AT&T’s largest retail
business markets with revenues of over $9 billion. Ms. Chow serves on
AT&T’s “University” governing board which supports the corporation’s
leadership development imperative, and is an Advisory Council member
the Asian employee resource group, Asian Pacific Islanders for
Professional and Community Advancement.She is a founding member of the National Board of Directors for the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, and Chairperson of the National Advisory Council for the Asian American Justice Center. Ms. Chow holds a M.B.A. with Distinction, as well as a B.S. and M.E. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, where she also was a Bellcore Engineering Scholar and was awarded the Lester B. Knight Scholarship for Excellence in Engineering and Business. Ms. Chow is a graduate from the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School of Music.
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Jennifer Ching is Director of Appleseed’s New York Office. Appleseed is
a non-profit public interest justice network with 16 offices in the U.S.
and Mexico that leverages private sector talent to engage in social change.
As Director of the New York Office, Ms. Ching has overseen the launch
of over 10 projects creating innovating public-private partnerships with
major NYC-area law firms, financial service providers, insurers and government
institutions. Prior to joining Appleseed, Ms. Ching was an
associate with the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
LLP, where her pro bono work included the representation of individuals
held in Guantanamo. She was a Gibbons Fellow in Public Interest Law
and Constitutional Litigation in 2002-2004, where she litigated a range
of civil rights matters, and a Skadden Fellow from 2000-2002, where she
started a legal services program for immigrants in Newark, New Jersey.
Ms. Ching has taught at Rutgers School of Law and has sat on the board
of a number of public interest organizations.Ms. Ching graduated from Harvard University in 1996 and obtained her law degree from NYU in 2000.
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Rennu DhillonGenius Kids was started by Rennu Dhillon in 2001 in San Francisco.
Today it boasts 5 centers with over 200 students and the future plans are
to become a franchise and leader in early education. Ms. Dhillon believes
that everyone is born a “genius”. Her unique instructional methods and
stimulating curriculum, has resulted phenomenal results and children as
young as age 5 are topping the Stanford University Gifted and Talented
Education Math programs. Her reading, math and science programs have
children as young as age 2.3 mastering fluent reading and speaking skills;
children as young as 20 months old are learning to read and speak by the
age of 2.5 years old. Her curriculum is unique to Genius Kids Learning
Center and will soon be available online. Genius Kids was recently rated
“Best of the East Bay” and was awarded “Most Likely Place to find a
Silicon Valley Inventor” in 2004. Recently, Genius Kids has been nominated
as the Best Preschool in Alameda County for 2009.Ms. Dhillon holds a BSc. (Hons) Pharmacy and DSc. Natural Sciences. She has been in the United States since 1986.
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Dr. Apurv Gupta is a principal at Atria BPH, a healthcare services and
consulting company. He was previously Interim Vice President of Medical
Affairs at Caritas Norwood Hospital (CNH) in Massachusetts, overseeing
clinical process, quality, regulatory and professional standards for over
400 physicians. As Medical Director of the Hospitalist Program at CNH
and CEO of Hospitalist Partners, LLC he developed a model t Hospitalist
system focused on performance improvement and targeted outcomes.Dr. Gupta is a Past President and current Trustee of the Indian Medical Association of New England, a 30 year old organization dedicated to physician education and charitable healthcare projects; Co-Chair of the Boston Chapter of Akshaya Patra USA, a charity providing food to 1,000,000 underprivileged children a day throughout India. He is an active member of the Plymouth District Medical Society, the Society of Hospital Medicine, the Massachusetts Medical Society, American College of Physician Executives and American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.
Dr. Gupta completed his residency from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, his MD and ScB from Brown University School of Medicine, and an MPH in Healthcare Management from Harvard University School of Public Health.
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Thejaswi Gurumurthy is the COO and co-founder of Syven Global Services,
a business consulting and knowledge services firm.Mr. Gurumurthymanages
Syvens business development and client management efforts.Mr. Gurumurthyhas significant background in helping clients solve strategy and operations issues. He has helped investment banks architect, implement and execute strategic outsourcing initiatives in the field of financial research and analysis. He has worked with senior bankers onhigh profile M&A deals, across industry sectors, to identify and execute financial analysis projects at offshore locations. Mr. Gurumurthywas instrumental in steering the companys direction towards the fast-growing knowledge services industry. Mr. Gurumurthy teaches valuation and modeling to investment banking analysts and associates at banks, universities and corporate businesses, as an instructor at Training The Street. He isan active member of the career development committee atNew York Association of Security Analysts.
Mr. Gurumurthy has a Bachelors degree in Engineering from the University of Mysore, India. He received an M.B.A. from NYU’s Stern School of business, where he graduated with Beta Gamma Sigma honors and was designated as a Stern Scholar.
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Anurag Harsh is the Vice President and Director of National Strategic
Solutions at CBS Interactive where he leads strategic media sales and
business expansion efforts for the CBS Interactive Music Group,
the largest digital music and streaming company in the world. Prior
to CBS, Mr. Harsh was the Director of Business Development at CNN
where he was responsible for driving strategic growth that led CNN to
become the No. 1 news site of 2008. Prior to CNN, Mr. Harsh spent
12 years as a management consultant leading the media practices of
Deloitte and Charles River.
Mr. Harsh authored the McGraw-Hill wireless media bestseller book
titled “M-Commerce Security”. He has a masters in classical music and
is also a trained vocalist, performing recently to a sold out solo concert
at Carnegie Hall. He chairs the Wharton Media Leaders Program of the
Wharton Alumni Network of NY. He also runs the “Save Dal Lake” philanthropic
movement comprising young Indian Americans that
focuses on the environmental degradation of India’s Dal Lake,
the largest natural lake in the world.
Mr. Harsh holds an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School and an M.S.
in Management from Wharton.
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Dr. Handan He is Director of the nonclinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
section at Novartis in the US. In recognition of her leadership,
expertise, and creativity towards pharmacokinetic sciences, Dr. He
received the prestigious Novartis Global VIVA (Vision, Innovation, Value,
Achievement) Award in 2008, which recognizes her as a life-long Novartis
Leading Scientist. Dr. He has contributed to the launch of novel drugs and
therapies and pioneered the application of modeling tools to optimize the
design of in vivo preclinical pharmacokinetic studies including drug form
selection studies. Her innovations in human dose projection have helped
Novartis to develop efficacious medicines.Dr. He is an active member on the PhRMA industry consortium exploring human dose projection methods. She has spoken at national and international conferences, including AAPS, WBA and IBC. She is an Executive Board Member for the Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association (SAPA) and has been the triple recipient of SAPA’s Outstanding Contributions and Excellence Award, and has been an invited expert speaker to China regarding regulatory filings with Health Authorities.
Dr. He is a native of China and received her Ph.D from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
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Bill Imada is the founder, chairman and CEO of IW Group, a nationally
ranked advertising, marketing and public relations firm that specializes
in the growing U.S. Asian markets. For more than 20 years, Mr. Imada
has been a leader in assisting more than three dozen corporations,
foundations and governmental agencies reach Asian Pacific American
consumers and business owners. Some of IW Group’s many clients
include American Airlines, The Coca-Cola Company, Farmers Insurance,
McDonald’s USA, MetLife, Nissan North America, Pacific Gas
& Electric Company, Southern California Edison, the U.S. Census
Bureau, Walmart Stores and many others.
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Tian-Fang Jing received his BSCE from Tsinghua University, Beijing
(1977), and spent four years as an assistant research engineer at the
China Academy of Building Research. He joined Weidlinger Associates
in 1982 and was named a principal in 1998. Mr. Jing is Design Director
of the firm’s East Coast Buildings group, as well as a shareholder and a
member of the firm’s Board of Directors. He is also an adjunct associate
professor at Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture and has published
widely in engineering journals and proceedings. Mr. Jing is known
as a generous mentor to young engineers in Asia, Europe, and the
United States.Throughout his 27 years with Weidlinger, Mr. Jing has maintained strong professional ties with China. He did the structural design for many of China’s most exciting contemporary buildings, including the Bank of China headquarters building, Beijing, and the Tomorrow Square Tower and Gaoyang International Cruise Terminal, both in Shanghai. His projects span the globe and include museums, stadiums, convention centers, airline cargo facilities, to name a few.
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Zaki Uddin Khalifa emigrated to the U.S. from Lahore, Pakistan when
he was 32. He left his career in international banking behind and
opened Zaki Oriental Rugs in High Point, NC in 1977. The company
specializes in importing high quality hand knotted rugs from India Pakistan,
China, Iran, Nepal and Turkey, with customers from all over the
world. To accommodate expanding business, the company moved into
a purpose built 100,000sq.ft. building in 1997 and donated the previous
space to the High Point Chamber of Commerce and the Business Vision
Center. Zaki Oriental Rugs has been declared “The Best of High Point”.
Mr. Khalifa lectures on the Middle East and the plight of immigrants.
He contributes to charitable organizations which benefit poor and disadvantaged
children in Pakistan, poor refugee families and those displaced
by the earthquake in Kashmir. He also supports rehabilitation of refugees
in the U.S. from different countries. He serves as Vice Chairman of
the Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the High Point Arts Council.
In 2004 he was recognized as “Citizen of the Year”.
Mr. Khalifa attended Forman Christian College and Islamia College,
in Lahore, Pakistan.
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Shahid Khan built a reputation as a strategic marketing guru in the pharmaceutical
industry working for both Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline.
Today he works independently as an international development consultant.
He is currently working with Harvard Medical International in
developing a $500 million academic medical center project in Pakistan.
Mr. Khan is one of the country’s foremost Pakistani-American social
and political activists as well as a recognized authority on South Asian
affairs. He believes in working for policy change through increased participation
at the grass roots level, and has been a relentless leader in both
the U.S. and Pakistan mobilizing groups for social and political change.
Mr. Khan serves as vice president of the Pakistani-American Congress,
a national organization created to foster awareness about civic duty.
He is a member of the Governor of Massachusetts’ Asian American
Commission and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee. He was the national finance co-chair
of the John Kerry for President Committee, serving as a liaison to both
the Muslim Americans and South Asian-American communities.Mr. Khan was educated at Punjab University and Western New England College.
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Chang Joo Kim is a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig. Mr. Kim
represents issuers and underwriters in a wide range of corporate finance
transactions, including debt restructurings, investment grade debt
offerings, equity-linked debt offerings, rights issues and securitizations.
He has broad experience representing Korean companies and global
companies doing business in Korea. Mr. Kim’s practice also focuses
on international project finance, M&A and other corporate matters,
including representations of acquirers, sellers and targets in connection
with acquisitions, divestitures and joint venture transactions.Mr. Kim has been a member of the New York Bar Association since 1996 and is listed in Global Register’s Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals. He received his L.L.B from Korea University College of Law, a Master of Law from Korea University Graduate Law School, a L.L.M. and J.D. from University of Iowa College of Law and International Law Doctorate Course from Korea University Graduate Law School.
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Dong OK Kim took the experience of being Chief Editor for Yonsei
Choonchu (the Yonsei University Campus Newspaper), and started his
career as a journalist in San Francisco by establishing the “Korea
Tribune” in 1971 when he was 28. Over the course of his 35 years in
San Francisco, he published another weekly newspaper, the “Korea
Journal”, managed “Dong-A Daily” as President and Chief Editor
and San Francisco Radio Seoul Broadcasting Company as President.
In 2004, Mr. Dong returned to Korea, where became a developer and
established KOAM International Inc., which has been very successful.Mr. Kim was very active in the community. He was Director of Korean American Political Association (1972), a Vice President of Korean American Association in Northern California (1976), Director of Northern California Korean Education Center (1978), President of Korean American Chamber of Commerce in Northern California (1978), Commissioner of San Francisco Mental Health Institution (1980), Commissioner of Race Hatred Crime Prevention Agency (1982), a President of Bay Forum (2002), and President of Holy City Movement in SF (2004).
Mr. Kim graduated from Yonsei University in Korea, and continued his studies at USF in International Politics.
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Raghu Krishnamoorthy is Senior Human Resources Manager for GE
Corporate Commercial & Communications. He has held this position
since May 2006. Mr. Krishnamoorthy joined GE Capital in 1994 as
Head of Human Resources, GE Capital in India where he was the fourth
employee in the company. He was involved in setting up GECIS and
hiring the leadership team. In 1997 he went to Hong Kong as Head of
Human Resources for Asia Pacific. After two years, Mr. Krishnamothy
joined GE Capital Fleet Services as the Global Human Resources
Leader, based in Minneapolis. In 2001 he joined GE Consumer Finance
Europe. In 2008, Mr. Krishnamoorthy was awarded the Heroes of
Growth Award by Chairman, Jeff Immelt for his instrumental work in
changing the company’s global commercial landscape. Prior to joining
GE, Mr. Krishnamoorthy worked for Xerox and American Express.Mr. Krishnamoorthy holds an MBA from the Indian Institution of Management, Ahmedabad. In 1993 he attended the University of Minnesota as a Fulbright scholar.
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Shan Lu is President of Ferma Flooring, a wood flooring importing and
distribution business based in New Jersey, which he started in 2002.
The company offers a comprehensive selection of wood types from all
over the world which conform to strict environmental guidelines that
ensure hardwood flooring is manufactured only from timber selectively
harvested and inspected under certain governmental guidelines and
sustainable forest management practices. Ferma has become one of key
wood flooring importers in the eastern U.S. region. Before emigrating
to the U.S., Mr. Lu worked for Guangdong International Trust &
Investment (Hong Kong) Corp, as an Investment Manager and
Vice President, responsible for capital investment from 1990 – 1998.Born in Guangzhou, China, Mr. Lu holds a B.S and an M.E attained in China. In 1998, he emigrated to the U.S. and in 2000 received an M.B.A. in Professional Accounting from Rutgers University, New Jersey.
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Gurudatta Nadkarni joined Con Edison as Vice President, Strategic
Planning in 2008. Before joining Con Edison, Mr. Nadkarni held a
number of positions in corporate strategy/development including managing
director of growth at Duke Energy and a management consultant
at McKinsey & Company. He previously was a senior research scientist
at International Paper.
Mr. Nadkarni earned an M.B.A. with honors in Finance and Marketing
from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Physics from Carnegie
Mellon University. He is a member of the Board of the Museum of the
City of New York.
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Chiaw Eei NgGibson is a Managing Director in Aetna’s Enterprise
Strategic Planning where she is responsible for supporting Aetna’s
business expansion in China. Previously she was Head of Aetna
Benefits and HR Economics where she was responsible for the medical
and retirement benefits strategy for 35,000 Aetna employees, 13,000
Retirees, and Aetna’s Board of Directors. Ms. NgGibson also previously
led the Strategic Planning function within HR. Prior to joining HR,
she spent 10 plus years in the company’s internal audit function.
She was Audit Director responsible for Aetna’s Health Operations,
and also managed the audit function for their Asia Pacific businesses
covering eight countries (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand). Ms.NgGibson previously held
roles at Cigna’s retirement business.Ms. NgGibson is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accounting (AICPA), and was a member of the National Business Group on Health Racial and Ethnic Disparity Board. She is a trustee of the Children’s Museum in Connecticut.
Ms. NgGibson is a Certified Public Accountant who received her B.S. in Management from University of Louisiana, and her MBA in Finance and Accounting from Seton Hall University.
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Ignacio Prats is the Director of Global Oral Care procurement for
Colgate Palmolive. He joined the company in the Philippines in 1981
as a Purchasing/Production planner and rapidly developed his skills
and personal leadership to become Director of Procurement in 1990,
when he took on a key leadership role in the evolving market of Central
Europe/Russia Division. His increased levels of responsibility took him
back into Asia as the Division Procurement Director and onto a Global
Director role in the New York office where he delivered an outstanding
$30million of savings within 2 years. He transferred to the Mexico
subsidiary to lead and develop his team during a period of rapid business
and manufacturing growth. In 2008 his team delivered an outstanding
FtG delivery in 2008 of $27million. His role is being expanded
to include the Procurement of flavor and fragrance ingredients.Mr. Prats holds a bachelor degree in Industrial Engineering from De la Salle University in the Philippines.
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Jinjun Qi/span> is the Chairman of China Da Sheng Biotechnology Co.,
director of Gansu DS-Biology Engineering Research Institute and
President of Gansu DS-Biology Science and Technology Stock Co.
DS Group is based in New York City and its headquarters are in Gansu
Province, China. Mr. Qi is a well respected economist and agronomist
who has made significant contributions to revitalizing China’s agricultural
industry through science and technology. Currently DS is working
on a project in the U.S. to convert soil to fertilizer. Under Mr. Qi’s leadership
DS Group has received numerous awards inside China. In 2008,
he received a “Certificate of Appreciation” from the U.S. Department
of Commerce.Mr. Qi received a B.S. in from Gansu Agricultural University, a graduate degree from the Business Administration College of Lanzhou University, and graduate degree in economics from Gansu Provincial Committee Party School and M.B.A degrees from Tsinghua University and Australia National University.
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Neerja Raman, Senior Fellow, Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Media-X,
Stanford University, is a seasoned executive in innovation research and new
business creation. At Stanford, Ms. Raman is researching business models
and metrics for technology-based solutions for sustainable development
and is coach and mentor for social entrepreneurs. Prior to joining Stanford,
Ms. Raman was Director, Strategic Planning and founder of the Imaging
Systems Lab at Hewlett Packard Labs which delivered product ideas and
advanced research for HP’s flagship printing, digital imaging and multimedia
businesses. Ms. Raman has served for two terms on the advisory
committee for Cyber-Infrastructure, National Science Foundation, an initiative
launched for improvement of science education in the U.S. She was
inducted into the Hall of Fame, Women in Technology International.Ms. Raman was recognized by the California State Senate and Federation of Indo-Americans. She has written an acclaimed leadership and management book “The Practice and Philosophy of Decision Making”. Her blog, Digital Provide: from Good to Gold, is a resource for investors and entrepreneurs interested in social business creation.
Ms. Raman is a graduate of the Kellogg Executive Program, Northwestern University, and has Masters Degrees from S.U.N.Y Stony Brook, New York and Delhi University, India.
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Dr. Imran Shah is co-founder and Managing Partner of IBB Consulting
Group, a top boutique consulting firm serving leading broadband-related
product and service providers in cable, mobile and media industries,
including AT&T, Comcast, Cox, Microsoft, Rogers, Sony, Telenor, Time
Warner Cable and UPC. An acclaimed specialist and thought leader in
convergence strategies and technology, Dr. Shah has been involved in
many of the most significant projects in the broadband industry. Prior to
IBB, Dr. Shah held senior consulting and industry positions at Philips
Electronics and PA Consulting Group.Dr. Shah was awarded the 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in IT Consulting. He is on the Columbia Engineering School’s Entrepreneurship Advisory Board and also on the Board of OPEN’s New York Chapter. IBB Consulting Group was honored in 2007 by being named #1 in Consulting Magazine’s Seven Small Jewels of Consulting, and was honored by Inc. 5000 in 2008 as one of the fastest growing private companies in the US.
Dr. Shah holds a BS, MS and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering all from Columbia University, along with 15 patents.
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Alex Suh is a founding Managing Director with California Technology
Ventures, LLC, a southern California venture capital firm that focuses
its investments in the fields of life sciences and information technology.Mr. Suh is also a founding Managing Director with J.J. Jacobs Enterprises, LLC and Jacobs Capital Group, LLC, both California-based venture capital and fund-of-fund firms that invest in other venture capital funds globally that offer a strategic fit with California Technology Ventures. Before co-founding Jacobs Enterprises, Jacobs Capital Group and California Technology Ventures, Mr. Suh has founded and sold companies, helped develop the first small business incubator in the San Gabriel Valley, managed several small business lending programs, consulted with nonprofits and cities on economic development projects and taught college in entrepreneurship, business, and management.
Mr. Suh currently serves on the corporate boards of Oncotech, SurroImmunology, Insert Therapeutics, BladeGamesWorld, Inc., China Genetics Inc., and SupplyEdge in addition to a handful of others. He holds a degree in Management from the University of Denver’s School of Business.
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Dante Raul Teodoro “DR” Teodoro is a Filipino-born, New York-based
entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the Chief Executive Officer of
JUNO Investment and Management, Inc. (JIMI) and President of Juno
Healthcare Staffing Group of Companies with subsidiary offices in
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Arizona, California and Manila,
Philippines. JUNO Healthcare Registry of Los Angeles, CA was
awarded the Gold Seal of Approval by the Joint Commission. Out of
nearly 21 million companies in the U.S., JUNO Healthcare Staffing
Systems, Inc. was cited by Entrepreneur Magazine as Hot 100 fastestgrowing
businesses in America for 2008.Mr. Teodoro established Foundation for God’s Glory in 2004 as a way of giving back to the community for the success of his healthcare recruitment and staffing agency. The private operating foundation supports several nonprofits in the U.S. and runs scholarship, hunger alleviation and disaster relief programs in the Philippines.
Mr. Teodoro is a graduate of Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently doing his second year in Harvard Business School Executive Education and expects to graduate by March 2010.
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Manmeet Singh Virdi, is a partner and CEO of Aequor Group of
companies, a privately held group started by the Virdi brothers (Manmeet
and Kamalpreet) in 1998. Currently the group has $37 million in
assets, and consists of Aequor Technologies, Aequor Healthcare, Aequor
Homes, Aequor Funding, and CPLC Education Centers. Consistent
growth is attributed to common goals that have allowed the company
to develop new technologies and take advantage of market opportunities.
Mr. Virdi was born in New Delhi and moved with his family to the
United States in 1992. He started his career while he was in college
with a small company that made computers. He then worked in companies
such as Lucent Technologies, Sun American and Citibank, and the
experience gave him the vision on how to transform a small company
into a large organization. Since founding Aequor, he has been working
towards growing Aequor and CPLC into a larger conglomerate. Recently
CPLC Education Center was awarded Outstanding Education & Training
Institution by the National Minority Business Council.Mr. Virdi earned his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and Master’s degree in Computer Information System from New Jersey Institute of Technology.
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Mariels Winhoffer has been with IBM for 23 years, with 11 years of
experience in the manufacturing and consumer electronics industries.
In Ms. Winhoffer’s current position as Vice President, she provides
sales leadership and direction to IBM relationship professionals in the
West Region for Industrial Sector Integrated Marketing Team (IMT).
Previously, she led the sales professionals in Central Region for Industrial
Sector, which has been integrated to the West Region. Her primary focus
is to enable her to team to drive innovation, trusted relationships and
enhanced IBM leadership and partnership with industrial sector clients
that are in the electronics, automotive, aerospace and defense, industrial
products, healthcare, financial services industries. She currently serves
in the Client Executive Certification Board and is the Executive Sponsor
of the IBM Midwest Asian Diversity Network Group and a member of
the Asian Leadership Initiative and an active Executive member of IBM
Corporate Asian Diversity Network Group.Ms. Winhoffer was born and raised in Manila, Philippines. She graduated Cum Laude at Fordham University, with a dual major in Finance and Computer Science. She continues to drive cross geo mentorship between the U.S. and Philippines to enhance Asian leadership in the U.S.
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Jeffrey Yao is a Vice President of Chubb & Son, a division of Federal
Insurance Co. He is the Manager of Chubb’s Director and Officer and
Employment Practice Claim Department in Simsbury, CT and responsible
nationally for all Healthcare Director/Officer and Employment
Practice claims. He has experience in a wide variety of claims involving
corporate governance, federal securities, takeovers, antitrust, employee
benefits, and class actions. Prior to joining Chubb in 1998, Mr. Yao
practiced law in Pittsburgh, PA.Mr. Yao serves as a Vice-Chair of Chubb’s Asian American Business Network (AABN), an employee resource group whose mission is to attract, develop and retain Asian American talent and business. He is a mentor in Chubb’s Claim Diversity Council mentoring program and has been a board member of Chubb’s Minority Development Council.
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Vance Yoshikawa is the New York Vice President - Agency for State
Farm Insurance, the country’s leading property and casualty insurer.
Mr. Yoshikawa has executive leadership over a sales force of 580
independent contractor agents and agency leaders. Prior to beginning
his State Farm career as an agent in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1992,
Mr. Yoshikawa was a junior high school teacher and coach, and he
brings this passion for education and development to his work at State
Farm, where he is a strong advocate of mentoring and diversity. He is
the executive sponsor of the company’s Northeast Zone’s Young Business
Professionals employee resource group, the Hispanic Business
Development initiative and AsiaNET employee resource group.Mr. Yoshikawa is a member of the Japanese America Citizens League (JACL) and received JACL’s “Champion” award in 2007. He supports the Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP) and OCA National Asian Pacific American organizations.
Mr. Yoshikawa graduated from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah and has completed executive leadership programs through Harvard Business School, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Thunderbird School of Global Management and the Center for Creative Leadership.
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