Special Joint Chamber Event: "Women Success Stories"

Chew Chan, or CC as she is more commonly known, spent 10 years as a professional athlete, competing at the highest level for the Malaysian national Taekwondo team. The training, drive and determination remains with CC today despite having retired from professional sport in 2010.

CC enjoyed an illustrious athletic career that saw her compete in the Beijing Olympics, finishing 7th in her class, be the first medal winner for Malaysia in the 2009 South East Asia Games as well as being Malaysia’s only ever gold medal winner for Taekwondo. At her peak, CC was ranked 6th in the world in her weight division.

Following her retirement, as she transitioned back into ‘civilian’ life, CC remained close to the sport and the Malaysian Olympic Council and travelled throughout Asia and Europe as a motivational speaker, inspiring students and amateur athletes in seminars for schools and Taekwondo Academies.

Over the last few years CC has combined her passion for people development and training, moving it away from the sports arena and into the corporate office. Having made a huge transition herself, from professional athletics to the corporate world, CC is focused on developing tomorrow’s leaders across Asia and coaching those who find themselves in a period of transition. Based in Shanghai, CC spearheads Gemini Development in China, focusing on leadership development and coaching support for those transitioning in their careers and Outplacement services, she recently promoted as Gemini Personnel’s Shanghai Branch Manager, focusing on Permanent Recruitment and Executive Search.

Eveline Goodman, PhD. Psychology, Human Resources, Neuroscience. For more than ten years, Eveline Goodman has prepared individuals to approach challenging tasks with enthusiasm and ability, pushing them to grow beyond their own boundaries. She is trusted not only by international companies and renowned organisations – public figures too rely on her abilities to deliver results.

Eveline Goodman comes from a family of diplomats. She intimately understands the meaning of the words, “between the lines,” drawing on her personal and professional experience of juggling different cultures to see behind the psychological curtains. This background is, however, just the starting point from which she uses her enormous energy to put her ideas and vision into action. She combines her comprehensive academic education (PhDs in Psychology, Human Resources, and Neuroscience) with the practical lessons that arise in her life as an internationally-operating businesswoman to deliver success.

Eveline Goodman recognises potential, links it to tasks and positions, and takes pleasure in regularly overstepping the boundaries of conventional personnel and management training. For many years, she has lead workshops, presentations, road shows, and coaching sessions for individuals, companies, and organisations from diverse sectors (real estate, medicine, journalism, among others) - both in German and in English.

Cathy Huang founded CBi China Bridge in 2003, the first insight- based innovation consulting firm in China. Most recently, she co- founded Successful Design, a social enterprise aiming to amplify the value of design.

Having broad influence both socially and in the global design industry, Cathy is frequently invited to conferences in North America, Europe, and Asia- Pacific. She enjoys adventures - from crossing the Gobi desert in Dunhuang to bungee jumping in New Zealand. Her continued dedication to challenging the limits fuels her creativity for both business and design.

Cathy has won many professional design awards, while also accruing honors for her leadership as an entrepreneur and a woman in business, such as the Innovation Category of the 2014 Women Leadership Awards presented by EPWS (Expatriate Professional Women’s Society), "China’s Women to Watch” award by Advertising Age in 2012, and "Female Hero Honor of Shanghai". She promotes the image of Chinese design and aims to leverage her role as a female mentor to inspire a new generation of start-ups in China.

Sophia Slingerland graduated from Germany as an architect, Sophia has rich studying and working experience in France, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and China.

Her first company, a+a Corporation, was founded in Frankfurt, Germany in 1999, and the second company, Ateliers PHI SA, in 2009, successfully registered two brands: Atelier Phi-a for urban architecture and Atelier Phi-i for interior architecture & design and high-class boutique furniture.

In 2014, Sophia started her business in China, producing and selling furniture. In the following year, she soft launched her furniture brand in Shanghai, and then witnessed her success in opening of an architectural study in Shanghai and becoming a member of the Chinese Passive House Alliance. In 2017, she opens a showroom for lifestyle and furniture in Shanghai.

Sophia loves learning different languages. Art, music, horses, traveling are her hobbies. Sophia has 4 Children, aged as 20, 17, 14 and 10.

Joanne K. Wood is the Founder and Managing Partner of Capital Eight, an investment banking boutique specialized in corporate finance and headquartered in Shanghai. She is also one of the longest serving foreign expats based in China, having lived and worked here for 29 years.

Joanne has previously worked in senior corporate finance positions with UBS in Europe, the USA and Greater China with over 35 years of investment banking experience, 25 of those years focused on a wide range of China M&A, Debt and Equity Capital Markets, and infrastructure transactions. At Jardine Fleming (now JPMorgan), she was a member of the first dedicated team of M&A professionals based in Asia and was internationally ranked as a leading Asian-emerging markets financial advisor. Listing many Fortune 500, FTSE 100 and Sino 400 entities amongst her clients, Joanne continues to advise companies on China domestic and cross-border investment strategies, capital structuring, fund-raising plans and transaction negotiations.

Joanne has been active in representing the Foreign Financial Services Industry in China, engaging in peer dialogue with the Chinese Government. She is currently Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce Financial Services Focus Group and a non-executive Advisory Board Chairman and Director of two digital-tech start-ups. Joanne has also worked with the UK Government to promote the adoption of PPP infrastructure financing in China and is a former Vice Chair of the EUCCC’s Investment Working Group.

Joanne is a regular speaker at international conferences and often asked for her views on China’s financial services industry and the China investment environment. Amongst other engagements, she has participated in the BBC’s globally televised debating series “Intelligence Squared”. Joanne holds an MBA from London Business School, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Adelaide, South Australia and reads, writes and speaks Mandarin.