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Bill Arnold
President, China at ConocoPhillipsArnold joined Phillips Petroleum Company in Lafayette, La., in 1986. His early career involved multiple U.S. work locations and various engineering roles for assets located offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, Texas, New Mexico, offshore California and North Slope Alaska.
In 1999, he led a technical evaluation team in the acquisition of the Alaska North Slope assets. In 2000, he transferred to London as asset manager, Central North Sea area. In 2002, he transferred to Aberdeen, Scotland, as manager of the Southern North Sea. In 2006, Arnold transferred to the UAE and was named president of Dubai Petroleum Company. He then moved to Houston and assumed the role of general manager, Upstream HSE in spring 2007. In 2011, he transferred to Alaska and became manager, North Slope Integrated Operations & Capital Projects. Arnold was the general manager for Norway operations from 2015 to 2018.
Arnold earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa in 1985 and served on the University of Tulsa Petroleum Engineering Advisory Board. He is a registered professional engineer and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and has held various chair positions. He served as finance chairman on the board of the International School of Aberdeen. Arnold has also authored and published The Little Black Book on Safety and multiple SPE papers and has secured a U.S. patent on a specialized well stimulation technique.
Caroline Bergman
VP, People Experience at Volvo Cars (APAC)Caroline joined Volvo Cars in 2004 and has taken several roles in People Experience including Change management and Organizational Development, Manager of Global Strategic Resource Planning/Talent Acquisition and Director of Global Talent and Organization Development. In 2017, Caroline transferred from Europe to the United States as the HR Director of US Operations and supported the startup of the company’s first plant in US. In 2021, she took the role as the Vice President of People Experience, Volvo Cars Asia Pacific and continues her journey in Volvo Cars.
In the 18 years journey along with Volvo Cars, Caroline has lived and worked in different regions such as Europe, the United States and Asia Pacific. She shared her insight and specialty in Human Recourse to help business functions bring out the best in our people and deliver Volvo’s Culture to all Volvo members.
Sissi Chao
CEO of REMAKEHUBSissi Chao is a passionate Chinese female young entrepreneur who uses innovative circular tech to turn waste into renewable material and low carbon lifestyle products. She has studied in Cambridge University, London School of Economics and Political Science, St Andrews University and Duke University. She has been made a United Nations Youth Innovator for the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia-Pacific, Forbes 30Under30, the Spain China Council Foundation "China Future Leader" representative, as well as 100 Top Asian Shaper from Tatler. She has shared her story in more than 100+ global events, and reached out 70 million individuals worldwide. Her story has been featured in more than 50 media channels such as BBC, CNA, Forbes, United Nations News, Tatler, CNC etc.
Jasmine Chen
Jasmine Chen is a jazz singer and songwriter, based in Shanghai, China. She appeared in the 2018 smash hit Crazy Rich Asians movie, directed by Jon M. Chu, as herself. Six of her songs appear in the movie, and three are featured on the movie’s soundtrack.
In addition to her film work, Chen is an ambassador for jazz music and culture. She has given talks for TEDx, and frequently speaks about jazz, music and the cultural context for any number of audiences, from corporations to universities and arts organizations. She is also involved in charity work with Educating Rural Girls in China, the Renewal Project, and the Cambodian Children’s Fund, among others.
Born into a family of professional folk dancers and actors, she was groomed to be a concert pianist but fell in love with jazz while studying at the prestigious Leeds College of Music in England. She returned to China in 2005 to follow this passion, bringing China’s rich musical heritage into the world of jazz.
She has since become one of China’s leading figures in the jazz scene, combining Western songs with original Chinese lyrics. Her unique perspective introduces one world to the other, bridging a gap between traditional Chinese songs and the West’s jazz legacy, and between forgotten folk songs and contemporary jazz singing. This rare talent for moving between two worlds and picking the best of what they have to offer has gained her a strong following from both Chinese and western audiences, and she has charmed audiences everywhere from the intimate stage of Shanghai’s JZ Club to the big lights of Rotterdam’s Northsea Jazz Festival.
Jasmine has collaborated with many great musicians around the world, including Hawaiian guitarist and Grammy award nominee Jeff Peterson; Brazilian guitarist, singer and songwriter Filo Machado; Singaporean piano master Jeremy Monteiro; and Hungarian pianist and composer Bela Szakcsi Lakatos. She has also performed with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and the Shanghai Traditional Music Orchestra.
Jasmine is currently working on a new Chinese jazz album with Danish jazz pianist Nikolaj Hess, recorded in Copenhagen.
Selena Chu
Vice President at Dow Greater ChinaSelena Chu is currently the Vice President for Greater China. She provides leadership and general management of Dow Greater China - oversight of country strategy, sites management, and people & culture development. She also serves as Asia Pacific CIO for Dow to drive digital solution development and implementation, covering areas of Digital Acceleration, Enterprise Service, and Information Security. Partners with businesses and functions to enable regional business strategies.
Selena Chu has over 20 years of consulting and industry experience covering various leadership roles including R&D Operation, Business/Innovation Strategy, Technical Information Service, and Digitization. She worked for GE (General Electric), KPMG Consulting Co, with working assignment the US prior to joining Dow in 2008. She was listed as “Top 50 Women in Tech 2021” by Forbes China, and “Top 50 Future MPW 2021” by Fortune China.
Jacob Cooke
Co-founder & CEO of WPIC Marketing + TechnologiesJacob Cooke is the Co-Founder and CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, a leading e-commerce and technology consultancy that drives growth for global brands in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
As CEO, Jacob is the driving force behind WPIC’s world class data tools, e-commerce services, and artificial intelligence technology. Under his leadership, the firm has built out an expansive solution set covering data analytics, e-commerce activations and store management, brand strategy, creative campaigns, merchandising, warehousing, 3PL integrations, and more.
Jacob has lived in Beijing since 2003 and is a regular contributor to international media on e-commerce, retail, and technology trends in China. He is a member of the MIT Sloan School of Management and holds an Advanced Certificate in Engineering from MIT’s Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
He speaks Mandarin and Japanese.
Allan Gabor
President, Merck China & MD, Merck Electronics China at MerckAllan Gabor has been appointed as the President of Merck China, and Managing Director of Merck’s Electronics business sector in China, since February 1st, 2018. He is also a permanent member of Merck’s Electronics Executive Committee (ELEC), responsible for topics in China. As President of Merck China, he is responsible for developing and driving growth strategies in this key country and building on the company’s 353-year presence and reputation. China is one of the Group’s top-selling countries with all the three Business Sectors of Merck developing rapidly. Prior to this role, he was the President of Asia Pacific for the biopharma business of the Merck Group. He assumed this position since January 2016.
Before Mr. Gabor was promoted to President of the Asia-Pacific region, he was the President and CEO for the biopharma business in China and was instrumental in expanding Merck’s Asian footprint with a series of investments including establishing Merck’s new €170 million world-class pharmaceutical manufacturing facility located in the Nantong as well as building an extensive network of collaborations with leading academic and medical institutions, thereby enhancing Merck’s commercial presence in China.
Prior to joining Merck, Mr. Gabor spent 25 years at Pfizer in leadership roles including Chairman and General Manager for China, and Regional President for North Asia, Russia, India, Turkey and Eastern Europe, across many different businesses and geographies with responsibilities within sales and marketing, strategy, mergers and acquisitions and general management. Mr. Gabor successfully directed the launch of many of Pfizer's innovative medicines into China and opened the China Regional Investment Center and a state of the art research and development center in Shanghai. In recognition of his tireless contribution towards the economic construction, social development and international exchange and cooperation of Shanghai, Mr. Gabor has been awarded the Magnolia (Baiyulan) Award twice by the Shanghai municipal government.
Mr. Gabor is a highly seasoned executive with an extensive knowledge of strategy, commercial operations and business development. He holds a BA in Communications from the College of Wooster and pursued further education at the University of Tennessee and Harvard Business School.
Sandy Gong
Senior National Marketing Director of Johnson & Johnson Medical (China)In 2001, Sandy joined Ethicon endoscopic surgery department of J&J as a product technical representative. Previously, she titled the national sales manager of Ethicon advanced energy department and senior national sales director of BW.
Sandy received an MBA from Fudan University and an MBA from the Bi Norwegian School of Management.
Xiangwei Gong
Asia President at AptarXiangwei is Asia President and an Executive Committee member of AptarGroup (NYSE: ATR), a global leader in drug delivery, consumer product dispensing and material science solutions, and serves as a non-executive director on the board of Oterra - a world leader of food natural colors. Xiangwei is fully responsible and accountable for Aptar’s business and organization in Asia, and as part of Aptar’s global leadership team, Xiangwei works closely with other Executive Committee members to set the right strategic direction, build the right culture and the strong organization, drive the growth, and build a more sustainable and socially responsible company.
Xiangwei grew up in Hunan, China, and lived and worked extensively in numerous world locations with a rich career of 20+ years spanning Beauty, Personal Care, Nutrition and Pharma industries and different functions in Asia, Europe and America. With a track record of successfully creating and growing large B2B and B2C global businesses, Xiangwei is recognized as a passionate and dynamic leader, who prides herself in her ability to think and act cross-culturally and to find win-win solutions in even the most difficult situations. Xiangwei has been working and living in Shanghai in the past 10 years, and playing an instrumental role in building new businesses by creating a vision, building cultural bridges, and developing teams.
Xiangwei received her Bachelor of Economics from the University of International Business & Economics in Beijing, and her EMBA from Columbia Business School in New York. Through her work and outside her work, Xiangwei is passionate about development and advancement of women and young professionals. She walks the talk and dedicates herself to helping young professionals to explore the biggest potential by mentoring, sharing and coaching.
Su Cheng Harris-Simpson
Founder & President of Women Empowerment CouncilSu Cheng Harris-Simpson is the Founder and CEO of SCHSAsia and President of the Women Empowerment Council (WEC). SCHSAsia is an impact-driven consultancy that offers consulting, training, and projects focused on women empowerment. Su Cheng applies her exemplary client relations and project management skills, along with her 25 years of experience in China, to driving the change towards gender equality in businesses. SCHSAsia focuses on this mission through independent consulting projects and the Women Empowerment Council, an engaged and impactful network of corporate leaders and decision-makers who are committed to sharing, learning, and participating in this essential endeavour.
WEC members are comprised with multinational organizations who understand that gender equality, sustainable development, and business success are inextricably linked. Members have opportunities to propose and test innovative women empowerment initiatives that can be incubated and developed into impactful, sustainable projects; all of which are implemented by the SCHSAsia team with support from members. These include the Women Empowerment Awards in China, the Gender Pay Project, Girls in STEMM, and much more.
Since moving to China in 1997, Su Cheng has been actively involved in the Beijing business community, served on the Board of AmCham, and is the founding co-chair of the AmCham Women Professional Committee. She has forged relationships with the American, British, Japanese, and Australian Chambers of Commerce, the U.S. Embassy, and a range of Beijing civic groups. Before becoming an entrepreneur, she was engaged in the corporate arena and held management positions at The Boeing Company, United Technologies Corporation, and The Capital Club in Beijing.
Anita Shi Wen Lai
Founder of SheLeadsAnita Shiwen Lai was born and raised in Chengdu, China and pursued her higher education in America. Graduated with a master’s degree in Management from University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom and a Distinction of Dissertation in Events Marketing, she has been actively involved in events planning industry over the years, ranging from commercial activities to business delegation meetings and visits. She currently serves at the Consulate General of Israel in Chengdu and Trade Commission to Southwest China as Trade Director, promoting business interactions between China and Israel. As an entrepreneur, she managed her own startup business Chengdu Food Tours (CDFT), where she uses food as a vehicle to promote her hometown Chengdu Sichuan. In only three years, CDFT has hosted more than 3000 individuals from all over the world to experience the best food scene and culture in Sichuan, as well as been mentioned in numerous world-scale medias such as Forbes, Conde Nest Traveler, New York Times and South China Morning Post. As a woman professional, Anita also founded SheLeads with her partner in 2018, which is a professional network and an empowering platform for all women at workplace in China. By introducing the concept of mentorship to the local community, she hopes to use this international network to help connect more female professionals for their career development and personal growth. Now SheLeads community (Chengdu & Kunming) has more than 1000+ active members from over 30 different industries.
Marco Lee
VP of Sales China at Fedex ExpressMarco Lee currently serves as vice president, sales for FedEx China and has assumed this position since 2006. Lee is responsible for designing and executing both domestic and international business sales plans for FedEx in China. He leads a sales team with over 600 members to establish and maintain sound partnership with the existing and potential customers of FedEx through various domestic and overseas sales initiatives.
Lee joined FedEx as Managing Director for Sales of FedEx China and Middle Asia Pacific division in 1995. He was appointed as managing director for Global Customer Sales of Asia Pacific division in 2000. He became managing director for Sales for FedEx China in 2001 and was promoted to vice president for Sales of Asia Pacific division.
In November 2006, Lee took on the role of vice president, Sales for FedEx China, responsible for developing and executing the strategy of expanding FedEx international and domestic business in the China market.
Lee graduated from the University of Western Ontario. Prior to joining FedEx, he was the general manager of U-Freight Limited Company based in Hong Kong and Chicago.
Echo Li
HR Director of HPE ChinaEcho Li is Human Resources Director of China for Hewlett Packard Enterprise. She leads China Human Resources team driving robust talents and organizational solutions to enable sustainable business growth.
Echo has twenty years of human resources management experience. Prior to HPE, Echo served several world’s fortune 500 companies including HP, Caterpillar, Otis, Motorola etc. Her areas of focus covering people and organizational performance, learning and leadership development, team building, change management, M&A, people relations etc. She also has a track record in designing and deploying DEI initiatives and talents programs, fostering an inclusive and conducive culture that energizes innovation and organizational performance.
Echo holds a BA in Journalism from Communication University of China and earned an Executive MBA from the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business.
Qiuyuan Li
Anchor at CGTNLi Qiuyuan is an award-winning news anchor with CGTN. She anchors China 24, CGTN’s primetime news programs that provide viewers with in-depth reports about the political, international and breaking news stories of the day. Li has been in the nerve center -- from the field and behind the anchor desk -- during countless breaking news events since she joined the network, formerly known as CCTV-NEWS, in 2011.
Li has interviewed a number of world leaders and newsmakers including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of New Zealand Jenny Shipley, former South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-Soo, and former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema.
Her documentary “Common Destiny -- China and the World in the last 70 years” has won the Ten Best Works Award in the 26th Chinese Documentary Academic Festival, and the 2019 China Media Group Best Features Award for Television News. Her show “The Last Mile”, a special series which looked into China’s endeavor to eradicate absolute poverty in rural areas by the end of 2020, has won the 18th Publicity Sichuan Good Journalism Award.
Li holds a Master of Laws degree from Peking University, and a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major of Psychology and Neuroscience from University of Toronto. She’s a Canadian journalist. In her spare time, Li is a multi-instrumentalist and a passionate percussionist. She loves travelling and is a huge dog lover.
Polly Ng
Chairman & CEO of Global Women ConnectPolly Ng is passionate about supporting and working with people to create value. Having had the luck to serve as a global and local business leader for Fortune 500 MNCs and local Chinese companies with full P&L responsibility across different countries in various digital technology sectors for over 20 years, Polly is a firm believer in the synergy of diversity, inclusion and collaboration for sustainable value creation.
Currently, Polly leads BWSea Group to develop AI technologies, products and solutions for precision aquaculture with the vision to make seafood sustainable for human happiness through blue intelligence. She is also the founder and Global CEO of GWC, a not-for-profit global platform for people to share, learn, inspire, and grow together with a mission to unleash the potential of women in different stages of life.
Besides GWC, she co-founded Hong Kong Youth Service Leader Award which is an NGO in Hong Kong SAR focusing on developing young talents to provide and lead social services to the community. She also served as the national judge of the youth social entrepreneurship competition for Enactus China (www.enactus.org).
Polly holds a PhD degree with the University of Nottingham, a global EMBA degree (in the Dean’s outstanding list) and a BBA degree with the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a frequent guest speaker/lecturer for the universities. She is also appointed as the adjunct professor for The Healthcare Big Data Research Center (A government funded research center in Qingdao University).
Joyce Renzhong Tan
Senior Specialist, Diversity Initiatives at NYU ShanghaiRenzhong “Joyce” Tan (She/They/Ta/她) is the Senior Specialist of Diversity Initiatives at New York University Shanghai (NYU Shanghai). In her professional capacity, Joyce directs university-wide programs and initiatives to promote diversity awareness, inclusion, and social justice. She also creates learning opportunities that facilitate identity exploration, allyship, and inclusive leadership development. Joyce takes special pride in empowering and championing student leaders in their pursuits of inclusion and community building.
Outside of work, Joyce is a volunteer organizer and contributor at Wequality (我们与平权), a Shanghai-based grassroot initiative dedicated to promoting gender consciousness and women empowerment. In 2020, Joyce founded “unCoVer,” a channel hosting original essays, opinion pieces, interviews, translations and a podcast that explores a variety of personal experiences and socio-cultural phenomena.
Besides reading, people-reading, and podcast-listening, Joyce energizes herself through hangouts with close friends and feminist sisters, with a lot of food and even more laughter.
Koh Tze San
President of Gas China Marketing at ExxonMobilTze San strives to live every day to the fullest. She is excited about learning new things and facing challenges. She juggles various demands at work and home by being joyful and positive. Tze San’s faith as a Christian helps her to be grounded with a strong foundation. Her loving family provides continuous support to her evolving schedule.
She grew up and was educated in Singapore. Tze San joined Esso Singapore (now ExxonMobil) in 1992 and has nearly 30 years of global, commercial and operations experience. She has served in various senior executive roles in the Upstream, Downstream, Chemical and Public & Government Affairs at several locations in Canada, US and China. Tze San was also the Global Head of Procurement for the Downstream and Chemical businesses in Houston, managing ~$20G annual spend with employees across >10 countries.
After spending 11 years in North America, Tze San recently located to Beijing as President of China Gas Marketing – responsible for ExxonMobil’s fast growing LNG business in China. She believes that the key success factors are to build and maintain credibility, and to be helpful while making a positive impact on others. She enjoys mentoring and networking. Tze San is a passionate Inclusion & Diversity advocate with the strong belief that diversity drives the best results.
Tze San was named as one of the top 50 most powerful women in oil and gas by the Diversity and Leadership conference and selected as part of the 2020 Global Female Influencer 275 list by the Women’s Energy Council.
Tze San holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Nanyang Technological University and Bachelor’s degree from National University of Singapore. She has also attended multiple executive courses at INSEAD Business School, Columbia Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business.
She has been married to her husband, Wee Chew, for more than twenty years and they have two children – Peng and Voon.
Cheri Wang
Founder & CEO of CoshipperCheri Wang, Founder and CEO of Coshipper, a Supply Chain and logistics company servicing Ecommerce sellers across the world. Involved in China’s Ecommerce ecosystem since the age of 17, Cheri has extensive experience in Global Ecommerce and Consumer product supply chain, including the founding of her own global logistics company, Coshipper, in 2018.
Coshipper ranks 1st among Amazon’s recommended Global Logistics Service Providers, serving cross-border sellers around the world. Cheri has over 10 years of product experience, 8 years of cross-border e-commerce experience, and 5 years of logistics experience. Cheri obtained her Masters in Luxury Brand Management at Polimoda in Italy, and worked for Prada, Entrepreneur of the Year at 2021 IPWS, also a junior full stack engineer.
Diane Wang
Founder, Chairperson & CEO of DhgateDiane Wang is the founder, chairperson, and CEO at DHgate, one of the leading cross-border B2B e-commerce marketplaces in China founded in 2004. By connecting micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from every corner of the world with high-quality products, DHgate takes a stand for fair world trade, upholds diversity and creativity.
Diane has leveraged over 30 years of business and digital experience to drive DHgate’s mission to empower everyone through digitalization. The critical focus is accelerating digital transformation for MSMEs and partners and empowering women and societies through digital inclusion. Under her leadership, as of 31 December 2020, the Company actively engaged 2.3 million sellers and 36 million buyers from 223 countries/regions, with more than 25 million live listings on the platform annually. In addition, the Company cooperated with more than 100 logistics service providers around the world, providing over 100 logistics routes, 40 local warehouses in China, and more than 10 overseas warehouses abroad, serving DHgate customers and others.
Before this, she served as the youngest senior executive at Microsoft China and the only female with a high position at Cisco. Then, in 1999, as the first generation of e-commerce entrepreneurs in China, she established Joyo.com, China’s first B2C trading platform.
Diane is passionate about driving the digital inclusion agenda for MSMEs and women, collaborating with international associations and agencies. She is Co-chair of Business 20 (B20) Indonesia’s Women In Business Council., member of APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), Chair of APEC Women Leadership Summit, BRICS Women’s Business Alliance Chinese National Chapter Member, Member of High-level Advisory Council of World Internet Conference, and Chair of 50 Cross-border E-Commerce Leaders in China, to name just a few of her external positions.
Rose Zeng
Founder & General Manager of Shanhao Knitting Co.Rose Zeng is the Founder and General Manager of Shanhao Knitting Co. Ltd. Zeng started her business in 2016, with a focus on creating less waste with her products. All factory workers at Shanghai Knitting Co. Ltd. are given fair wages and health insurance, and office staff at the company are funded for further career development. Zeng continues to be motivated by the environmental impact her company is making every day, and the positive impact her company can have in her employees’ lives.
Vivien Zhang
Head of IP Licensing at Yodo1Vivien Zhang, the current Head of IP Licensing, started her career at Yodo1 in an entry level marketing position in 2012. Over the past ten years she has grown professionally while also starting a family. After showing great promise in her role, Vivien was mentored by Yodo1’s co-founders and promoted in 2015 to Head of Marketing and again in 2019 to Head of Yodo1’s IP Licensing business unit. Today, she enjoys the freedom of Yodo1’s work-from-anywhere policy and unlimited paid time off to continue advancing in her career while keeping quality time with her husband and daughter.
Nina Zhao
Senior Director, Talent, Greater China of IHGNina has more than 20 years HR experience in a number of leading companies in various industries, incl. InterContinental Hotels Group, Standard Chartered Bank, Ford Motor Company, Hewlett Packard, Deloitte and BOC Gases. Located in mainland China, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and United States, she has built a progressive and successful career in various HR leadership roles, incl. HR Business Partner, HR Merger & Acquisition, Talent Management, Diversity, Workforce Planning, and Compensation & Benefits.
As Senior Director, Talent, Greater China in InterContinental Hotels Group, Nina currently leads talent strategies and the delivery of various talent and leadership programs and initiatives in the region.
Nina holds an MBA degree from Melbourne Business School (University of Melbourne), Australia.
Catherine Zheng
Head of Talent Acquisition at Johnson & Johnson ChinaAs Head of Talent Acquisition at Johnson & Johnson China, Catherine executes effective local Talent Management initiatives in line with the global Group Talent management strategy to maintain talent pipeline. Catherine has significant talent management field experience across China in her over 20 years working experience, with focus on talent acquisition, talent deployment, and leadership development. Prior to J&J, Catherine worked in Apple, Yahoo and Qihoo 360 holding important HR management positions. With rich experience in HR function, Catherine was invited as a mentor in TV shows related with talent acquisition.
Catherine holds an MBA from Pacific American University and a bachelor majored in Business Trade from Chinese Geology University.
Michael Zhu
Global VP, Managing Director of China at HPE- Male Ally of the Year Award Presentation
- Best Company for the Advancement of Women (MNC) Award Presentation
Michael Zhu is Global Vice President and Managing Director of China for Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In this role, Michael leads the HPE country management teams, representing HPE China entities with overall responsibility, managing HPE overall China strategy including strategic partnership with H3C.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Zhu served as Vice President of Product Marketing at Western Digital China leading the strategy and execution of its regional business functions of product marketing and Go-to- market operations. At Western Digital, he also served as Global Vice President of Joint Venture Operations overseeing its China joint venture strategy and operations.
Before Western Digital, Mr. Zhu held various global leadership roles over a decade at HPE, HP, and 3Com leading global product management teams, managing corporate strategic alliances and industry ecosystems. His global corporate experiences also include driving M&A and start-up investment initiatives for corporate development and managing post joint venture Go-to-market integrations.
Michael brings a unique blend of cross border cultural understanding and global leadership experiences in US, China and Japan, with a strong track record of formulating win-win partnerships and driving business growth. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Beihang University in China and earned an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University in the US.
Roger Zhu
President at AptarRoger Zhu is currently President Aptar Greater China and has been with Aptar for over 10 years . Before joining Aptar, Roger worked in Kraft Foods and International Paper for over 15 years in operations, purchasing and general management . He is experienced in turning around business, driving profitable growth, operation optimization and building synergies among plants in global business environment.
Desiree de Wit
Director, Business Growth & Expansion of BearapyDésiree, with her multi-faceted entrepreneurial and corporate management experience, has seen firsthand how easily people hit mental burnout – and did not know it. Wanting to change this, she presently works as the Director of Business Growth and Expansion at BEARAPY. Bearapy’s mission is to make mental wellbeing the forefront of companies’ agenda for the organization and individual executives. Desiree is responsible for further promoting the Bearapy presence in China by focusing on business development growth through foreign companies, chambers of commerce, embassies and non-profit organizations.
Based in Beijing, Desiree works with multinationals, governments, and start-ups to advocate awareness of emotional and mental health issues in organizations and advise senior leaders on strategies to improve the resilience of the organization as a whole – not just a one-off workshop but a comprehensive plan to promote change in mindsets and behaviours. With a marketing background in the software, telecommunications and retail space, she has seen how easily people experience mental health conditions and not know what to do or where to find support, in addition to affecting team collaboration and dynamics. Moreover, with personal family experience in clinical depression, Desiree understands those in similar plights, bringing empathy to her conversations with clients. Having grown up as an expatriate child and now continuing to move around as an adult, she is a familiar with the journey of a trailing spouse and the challenge of having to re-invent yourself in new settings, and how to build resilience through these changes whilst maintaining an equilibrium between all the priorities in life.
Previously, Desiree was the founder of a textiles company focused on marketing and distributing handwoven textiles for the Beijing retail market. During her time in Istanbul, Desiree worked as a freelance photographer. Desiree also worked as the Senior Marketing Manager at Oracle Corporation at their California headquarters and their EMEA headquarters in Amsterdam. She held various business development roles at start up technology companies including Justice Telecom and Laborum whilst living in Santiago, Chile.
Desiree’s international experience and ability to transform herself with agility is what makes her unique. She is a natural leader and is skilled in creating communities, organizing events, connecting people, and identifying marketing opportunities for her customers. To maintain her mental well-being, Desiree regularly teaches fitness classes at KOBOX Fitness Center– a boutique fitness studio in Beijing.
Desiree has lived in 14 different countries, and is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Dutch. She enjoys traveling (off the beaten path), hiking, skiing, playing golf and many more outdoor sports. She is an avid reader and loves tackling crossword and jigsaw puzzles. Desiree is married with three teenage daughters.