Priyanka Chopra
Petra Nemcova
Peggy Liu
Yang Lan
Irene Ang
Isable Aguilera
Sasha Hashemi
Elle MacPherson
Mary Buffett
Robin Meredith
Rossana L. Llenado
Priyanka Chopra
Bollywood Actress and former Miss World
Priyanka was born on July 18, 1982, in the Chopra family, consisting of her dad, Dr. Ashok, and mom, Dr. Madhu (nee Akhauri), and has one younger brother. Her dad is Punjabi-speaking, while her mom is a Malayali from Bihar. As a child, she suffered from Asthma and was very close to her dad. Her family affectionately called her “Mimi”.
While she was born in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, she also spent her childhood in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh as well as in Lucknow, where she was enrolled in the La Martiniere Girls’ School. These frequent re-locations took place as Ashok was a doctor in the Indian Army. She subsequently re-located to the U.S., where she studied in Newton’s Newton North High School and then in Cedar Rapid’s John F. Kennedy High School in Massachusetts and Iowa, respectively.
In 2000, she returned to India and enrolled in Jai Hind College and Basant Singh Institute of Science in Churchgate, Bombay, but had to leave abruptly as she was crowned Miss India. She was subsequently crowned Miss World in the same year – a year which proved to be a year for Indian Beauty Queens – as Lara Dutta and Dia Mirza were also crowned Miss Universe and Miss Asia Pacific, respectively. Ironically, beauty pageants are banned in India’s conservative state, Uttar Pradesh.
After completing her responsibilities as a Beauty Queen, she first appeared on the tinsel screen in India in a Tamil movie Thamizhan (2002).
She made her debut in Bollywood with The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003) in 2002, and then went on to act in over 28 movies, as well as lent her voice as a playback singer in Barsaat (2005). She has won 11 awards to date for her performance in Andaaz (2003),Aitraaz (2004), The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004) &Krrish (2006).
As of June 2007, she is involved in the filming of ‘Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam’, ‘Kajri’, Drona(2008), ‘London Dreams’, ‘Qurbani’, ‘Chamki Chameli’, Love Story 2050 (2008), amongst others.
Petra Nemcova
Supermodel, Philanthropist, survivor of the Tsunami
Petra Nemcova was the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue covergirl of 2003 and a courageous survivor of the tsunami in Thailand. Despite the devastating blow she was dealt, Nemcova remains a captivating beauty with charm and wit to match and has become an international phenomenon.
Since her introduction to modeling, Petra Nemcova has worked with some of the industry’s most prominent photographers, most notably, Mario Testino, Gilles Bensimon, Patric Demarchelier, Vincent Peters and Christophe Kutner. Her sultry looks have been featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan. She has appeared in advertising campaigns for high-profile brands such as Pantene, Lancaster, La Perla, Max Factor, Clarins, and Cartier.
In August 2006 she was chosen as the face of a major campaign for the John Lewis department store group in the UK.
A survivor of one of the world’s most destructive natural disasters, Petra Nemcova tells the inspiring story of what she learned about the preciousness of life and the importance of living in the moment. She shares the message that everyone has the choice to learn from hardship and use the experience to help make the most of everyday. She provides excerpts of her autobiography, Love Always, Petra to further illustrate her powerful and uplifting message. In a more light-hearted presentation, Nemcova provides humorous anecdotes about the un-glamorous side of fashion, and what really goes on behind the scenes.
As a young girl in Karvina, a small town in her native Czech Republic, Nemcova dreamed of becoming a model and her wish finally came true when she was hand-picked by an agent at a local talent show. The Czech beauty was always intrigued by the world of fashion and actually studied design before being discovered.
In 2005, Petra Nemcova established the Happy Hearts Fund with Give2Asia to support children who are the victims of natural, economic and health-related disasters. Her commitment to raising funds for charity has been recognized by numerous organizations including Glamour’s “Women of the Year” and Vanity Fair’s “Women in the Know.”
Petra Nemcova currently lives in New York City.
Peggy Liu
Expert on China’s Sustainability
Peggy Liu, Chairperson of JUCCCE, the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy, is internationally recognised for her expertise on China‘s sustainability landscape and for fostering international collaboration with China. JUCCCE is a non-profit organisation dedicated to accelerating the greening of China, because a green China is the key to a healthy world. JUCCCE is a leader in creating systemic change in sustainable cities, sustainable consumerism and smart grid, and most noted for its multi-sector convening power.
Peggy is also an executive adviser to Marks & Spencer and HP, an advisor to the World Economic Forum Project Board on Sustainable Consumption, and an advisor to GE’s Global Insight Network. She served as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils on Sustainable Consumption 2012-13 and on New Energy Architecture 2011, and an energy adviser to the Clinton Global Initiative in 2008.
As one of the leading green thinkers in China, Peggy was honored as the Hillary Step for Climate Change Solutions in 2012, a Time MagazineHero of the Environment in 2008, the Hillary Laureate of 2010 for climate change leadership, a Forbes “Women to Watch in Asia” in 2010, a Huffington Post “Greatest Person of the Day” in 2011, one of China’s top 50 innovative business leaders by China Business News Weekly in 2012. In Chinese press, she has been recognized as a green leader on covers and in features such as Oriental Outlook (“China Dream”), Global Times (“Green Goddess”), Beijing Tatler (“Green Miracle”), Vogue China (“3 Women Who Better the World”), Psychologies (“10 Green Handkerchiefs award”), Madame Figaro “Top Life” award 2012, L’Officiel, Elle, Good Housekeeping, Rui Li, Southern People Weekly,Shanghai Daily, The Bund, 21st Century Herald, China Daily, QQ, Sohu.com.
In 2007, Peggy organised the MIT Forum on the Future of Energy in China from which JUCCCE was formed. This forum was the first public dialogue between US and Chinese government officials on clean energy in China. Prior to JUCCCE she was a venture capitalist in Shanghai. In the 1990’s Peggy was on the cover of “Red Herring Hits” as an internet pioneer in Silicon Valley heading Channel A, one of the earliest e-commerce companies. Other executive positions in Silicon Valley included General Manager of Consumer Applications at Zaplet, a dynamic email communications platform, and VP of Marketing at SeeUthere.com. Peggy also served as a management consultant at McKinsey and a software product manager for Internet Chameleon.
She is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and completed a program in Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a program at the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.
Peggy has a passion for making the world a better place. She believes in the power of one person to inspire collaboration, that the most helpful skill is telling a good story, that cultural translators are the most important job of the next generation, and that those who can, should.
Yang Lan
The ‘Oprah’ of China, Co-Founder and Chairperson of
Sun Media Group
Yang Lan is co-founder and Chairperson of Sun Media Group, one of China’s leading private media groups.
A leading broadcast journalist and media entrepreneur, Ms. Yang first made her name when she hosted CCTV’s “Zhengda Variety Show”, which earned her “Golden Microphone Award” in 1994. Her show (“Yang Lan Studionow named “Yang Lan One on One”) for Hong Kong based Phoenix TV, has become China’s longest in-depth talk show of more than 600 interviews with leaders around the world. In 2005 she created “Her Village”, a TV talk show geared towards Chinese urban female audience, which was developed into a multimedia community to empower women.
An entrepreneur, she co-founded Sun Media Group in 1999, which has since grown to become one of China’s leading private media groups, well known for creating high-quality original content and developing cross-media, cross-country communications. In 2000, Ms. Yang and her husband launched Sun TV, the first satellite channel on history in Greater China. In 2005, she and her husband also founded the Sun Culture Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to advocating and promoting the growth of society, by improving education and promoting philanthropy. She remains Chairperson of the Sun Culture Foundation.
She was chosen to represent China as the ambassador for Beijing’s bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, and was named as Goodwill Ambassador for 2010 Shanghai Expo. Currently she is the Global Ambassador for Special Olympics Movement and the first UNICEF Ambassador in China, and the Co-Chair of Lincoln Center China Advisory Council.
Ms. Yang has received many awards, including “Chinese Women of the Year” award, “Top Ten Women Entrepreneurs” award, “She Made It” award by The Paley Center For Media, “Global Leadership Award” by SIPA of Columbia University, “National Philanthropy Award” and “Women’s Achievement Award” in China.
She graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University with Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature, and earned her Master’s degree in International Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Irene Ang
Author, Entrepreneur, & Entertainer
The poster girl for over-achievement. Running four burgeoning businesses while juggling a successful television career, she is an entrepreneur, entertainer and personality non-pareil. Having worked her way up from her days as a wubbie, Irene is the quintessential success story; of someone who has reached her acme, and yet shows no signs of slowing down. She does not scale peaks, she creates them.
Irene made her first impression on television audiences as Rosie Phua in the Singapore’s most popular sitcom Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd. Irene received the Best Comedy Actress Award at the Asian Television Awards 2002 for her convincing antics as Singapore’s best loved floozy tai-tai Rosie. Her other TV works also include The Donny Lee Show, Love Matters, Moulmein High, Growing Up and Champs. Her credits on the big screen include supporting roles in local films like Coming Home, A Sharp Pencil, Stories About Love and Body Puzzle, collaboration between Hong Kong & Singapore. Irene also crossed to Ch 8, starring as the memorable Mabel in the popular sitcom, I am Lobang King.
Irene has also hosted several TV programs for Ch 8 as well. She hosted Project Slim season 2, Stars Beat It!, C.I.A, and Maid to Order 1 & 2 , and the travel show, Good Bargains, Good Fun! for Ch 5.
Theatre credits include Theatreworks’ Pan Island Expressway, Singapore Repertory Theatre’s Ah Kong’s Birthday Party, The Necessary Stage’s 1+1=3, Mardi Gras, Igorís Cabaret Wednesday and she reprised her role as Rosie in the PCK Musical. She was most recently seen as Wan Choo in Wild Rice’s musical Beauty World in which she received favourable reviews.
Irene’s solo stand-up The V Conference in 2007, her first in 10 years was another peak she scaled. Back by popular demand, The Return of the V also played to sold-out audiences in 2008.
Constantly finding ways to give back to society, Irene is currently involved in giving motivational talks to people of all ages and stature in society, including the Singapore Management University, Fujitsu Asia, Hewlett Packard, the Singapore Girlsí Home, Enyouth Singapore, National Library Board, MediaCorp Radio, MediaCorp Studios, Singapore Council Of Womenís Organisation (SCWO) and Raffles Design Institute. Irene was the opening speaker of the Singapore Womenís Congress 2005, as well as a panel speaker for the same congress back in 2004, having also given speeches in the World Speakerís Summit.
Her latest venture is co-writing a book titled “The FAQ Book on Public Speaking”. The book is a natural extension, in which she shares her valuable views and opinions on public speaking and being a motivational speaker.
Isabel Aguilera
Former President of General Electric Spain and Portugal
The Wall Street Journal included Isabel Aguilera amongst its “30 Most Influential Business Women in Europe” in 2001 for her role in leading Dell Computer to the top of the market, with the largest volume of trade results achieved in Spain. Ms. Aguilera is also considered one of the “Top 25 Senior Managers in Europe” by The Financial Times, and was one of the “100 Most Influential People in Spain” in 2006, according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
From 2002 until 2005, in her role as Chief Operating Officer for NH Hotels, Isabel Aguilera looked after every detail of the company’s 240 hotels in 18 countries.
Prior to joining NH Hotels, Isabel Aguilera served as Dell Computer Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer and Business Unit Director for Spain, Italy and Portugal. Under her sound leadership, Dell increased its market position in Europe and moved from 9th to 1st in the Spanish market. Additionally, Ms. Aguilera served in sales and marketing capacities at Olivetti PC, Airtel Movil (Vodafone), and Hewlett-Packard.
Later in 2006, she combined her role as Country Manager of Google Iberia with her work as an independent consultant. In addition, Isabel Aguilera was General Electric’s President for Spain and Portugal until 2009.
Today, her 20 years of experience in marketing and operations serve Isabel Aguilera well in her role at the Board of Directors of Indra, the leading Spanish IT company.
This tireless business maverick holds a degree in Architecture and an MBA by the Instituto de Empresa and a PDG (General Management Programme) by the IESE
Sahar Hashemi
Co-Founder of Coffee Republic, author of Switched On
Sahar Hashemi founded Coffee Republic, the UK’s first US style coffee bar chain with her brother and built it into one of the UK’s most recognised high street brands with a turnover of £30m.
Giving up her career as a lawyer in London, she staked everything on a dream – and made Coffee Republic one of the main players in the ‘coffee revolution’ that transformed a nation of tea drinkers into one obsessed with ‘triple decaf half-caf lattes.
Sahar left the day-to-day management of Coffee Republic in 2001 and published a bestselling book called ‘Anyone Can Do It- building Coffee Republic from our kitchen table’’ which has been translated into 6 languages and is 2nd highest selling book on entrepreneurship after Richard Branson’s book.
Sahar was named ‘Pioneer to the life of the nation’ by Her Majesty The Queen and Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos. She was also named one of 100 most influential women in Britain by Daily Mail and 35 top women in British business by Management Today. In a Shell Livewire survey of inspirational role models Sahar was among the top 5 along with James Dyson and Dame Anita Roddick. She has been on the cover of Director Magazine, Management Today, Observer Magazine, New Business Magazine, Business 550 and Voyager.
In 2005 Sahar started Skinny Candy, a high profile brand of sugar free sweets which she sold to confectionery conglomerate Glisten Plc in 2007.
Her most recent book ‘Switched On: 10 Habits to Being Highly Effective in Your Job, and Loving it ’ about entrepreneurial mindset for employees was published in March 2010. Sahar says, “The future is all about being entrepreneurial in the employee context. You need to bring your whole personality – not just the ‘professional’ you – to work. Move outside your comfort zone, ignite your innate creativity and forget the ‘this is how we’ve always done things’ mentality. Don’t fear failure, fear complacency. You need to see having fun as an essential part of professional success. Living and making a living should be the same thing.”
In 2011 Sahar was nominated by Director magazine as one of the Top 10 Original Thinkers, alongside individuals such as Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web and Jonathan Ives, Vice-President of Design at Apple and designer of the iPod. It praised her view that, “Entrepreneurially minded talent shouldn’t have to leave large corporations in order to achieve fulfilment. Entrepreneurial behaviour, including ideas like bootstrapping, prototyping and celebrating failure, can help turn stuffy corporations into creative environments. They can also transform automatons into valued, engaged employees”.
In 2011 she was invited to join the Entrepreneurs Forum set up by UK Business Minister Vince Cable to give advice to the government on enterprise and business policies. She currently sits on the Consumer Council of EON UK Plc.
In June 2012 Sahar was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list “for services to the UK economy and to charity”.
An internationally recognised speaker, Sahar’s captivating and uplifting speeches are unique as she converges her own enthralling ‘story’ with key themes of change management and employee engagement. By telling her very personal journey, she connects with the audience on an emotional level and brings to life the passion, determination and open mindedness needed to succeed. She makes a strong impact, igniting the audience with a ‘can do’ spirit and the tools and habits to ‘make it happen’.
Elle MacPherson
Supermodel turned fashion entrepreneur
Elle Macpherson is a prominent figure in business, fashion, film and television. She oversees one of the most well-known, and expanding, brand names in apparel and women’s fashion. She is also the mother of two sons and an ambassador for three global charitable organisations. Elle is perhaps best known for her record five cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue beginning in the 1980s. She is also known as the founder of a series of business ventures including Elle Macpherson Intimates, a lingerie line, and “The Body”, a line of skin care products.
Elle Macpherson, together with Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Pavlína Poøízková and Cindy Crawford, Elle became part of the new generation of supermodels in the 1980’s. In 1994, she left her agency, Ford Models, to work more lucratively for her own company, Elle Macpherson Inc. Elle went on to produce her own highly popular series of calendars, each of which was accompanied by a “making of” television program in 1992, 1993, and 1994. She used this success as a springboard to create the “Your Personal Best The Body” series of workout videos.
Elle Macpherson later diversified her portfolio of businesses, and in 1990 launched her lingerie collection ‘Elle Macpherson Intimates’. Intimates met with remarkable international success, becoming the single best-selling lingerie line in both the UK and Australia. Breaking the mould of many models, Elle took an active role in the development and management of the company, serving as Chief Marketing Officer and later Creative Director. While nursing her second child, she spearheaded the development of a signature maternity bra line. Intimates has retained a high brand recognition into the 2000s, appearing as a featured brand on America’s Next Top Model.
More recently, Elle Macpherson created her own label of beauty products: “Elle Macpherson The Body”. She has also launched or served as spokesmodel for campaigns by Boots, Invisible Zinc, and Hot Tuna. In 2008, Elle signed a three-year spokesperson deal with Revlon cosmetics. She has since been featured in print and advertising campaigns for that company. She also expanded her underwear line by creating a new Lingerie Collection baptised ‘Obisidion’ which launched in 2010
The BBC TV series The Money Programme aired a documentary which followed Elle through her day-to-day business as she continued to develop her international lingerie business, and in 2010, she became the host and executive producer of TV’s Britain’s Next Top Model.
Elle Macpherson is a hugely successful businesswoman and talks with charm and wit about her life, business and motivation.
Mary Buffett
International Speaker and Author
Mary Buffett is a best-selling author, international speaker, entrepreneur, political and environmental activist. Ms. Buffett’s first book Buffettology, co-written with David Clark in 1997, was an immediate New York Times and Business Week best-seller. Since that time, all seven of Ms. Buffett’s books have been best-sellers.
Ms. Buffett appears regularly on television as one of the top finance experts in America including CNN Business News, CNBC’s Squawk Box, Power Lunch with Bill Griffith, Bloomberg News, Fox Business News, MSNBC’s Headliners and Legends and BBC News. She has appeared around the world as a principal speaker at some of the world’s most prestigious organizations including recent appearances with Bill Cosby, Laura Bush, Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani and other prominent achievers filling arenas around the country as part of the Get Motivated seminar series.
Ms. Buffett has worked successfully in a wide range of businesses including extensive work as a consultant to a number of Fortune 500 companies including AOL Time Warner, as an executive at Columbia Records and as co-founder or her own music and editorial post-production companies, Independent Sound and Superior Assembly, working with many of the music industry’s biggest stars. She has also taught Business and Finance at several California State Universities, including UCLA.
She serves on the Corporate Board of the Environmental Media Association on the advisory board of The Luncheon Society and a founder of the board of The America China Bridge. Her continued advocacy of women’s issues is shown by her featured role in the upcoming documentary, Femme, focusing on successful international women making a difference in society.
She is the proud mother of three successful children and lives in California.
Robyn Meredith
Asia-Pacific Business and Finance Correspondent
Robyn Meredith is one of the world’s best-respected Asia analysts through her work as an award-winning foreign correspondent and best-selling author of the definitive book on India and China, “The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What it Means for All of Us.” Robyn is a veteran of Bloomberg TV, Forbes Magazine and The New York Times. She is based in Hong Kong.
A seasoned business journalist with more than a decade’s experience reporting on global business and economic trends from Asia, Robyn served for two years as Asia Correspondent for Bloomberg Television, where she interviewed heads of state and global CEOs.
Prior to joining Bloomberg Television in January 2011, Robyn served as Senior Editor, Asia for Forbes, also based in Hong Kong, where she covered economics, global finance, Asian markets and foreign policy. Robyn joined Forbes in April 2000 as the magazine’s Detroit Bureau Chief and moved to Hong Kong in 2001. For Forbes, Robyn wrote cover stories on General Motors, Microsoft, Sony, Kodak, Toyota, Philips, Ratan Tata, Li & Fung, and Infosys. One of her articles was included in the 2002 Edition of the book “The Best Business Stories of the Year.”
Robyn spent five years covering Detroit for The New York Times before her time at Forbes. As a writer for USA Today and American Banker, her compelling reporting exposed a pattern of insider deals at savings and loans that led to an overhaul of U.S. banking regulations governing initial public offerings after four Congressional hearings.
Meredith received a B.A., cum laude, in English Literature from Boston University and spent the 1998-1999 academic year as a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan Business School.
Accolades given to Robyn’s book, The Elephant and the Dragon.
Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist,calls The Elephant and the Dragon “an exciting and journalistic account of one of the great economic stories of our time – the transformation of China and India.”
Mike Wallace, 60 Minutes, CBS News, says,”Every day we hear about the huge percentage of things we buy coming from China and the equally dramatic number of American jobs being outsourced to India. Together, these giants account for more than one-third of the world’s population and although the implications of their rapid industrialization are felt simultaneously; until now each has been considered separately. Robyn Meredith’s systematic analysis fills the gap in a spirited, readable manner.”
Mike Eskew, Chairman and CEO of UPS, says,”Robyn Meredith totally gets it – globalization is about opportunity. Her story is not just about the remarkable rise of China and India, but the dramatic shifts in global commerce that are impacting virtually all businesses and consumers. Those who are willing to adapt and respond will reap the benefits.”
Ernesto Zedillo, Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and Former President of Mexico, says,”Robyn Meredith is a sharp observer of the two fastest growing developing countries. Her fine writing gives us a thoughtful and entertaining account of the challenges and achievements of these Asian giants that, hopefully, will be key propellers of global prosperity throughout the 21st Century.”
Wall St. Journal, says,Robyn gets straight to the point of how the simultaneous emergence of these two giants is affecting how the whole world does business.
Robyn Meredith’s Speech Topics
THE FUTURE OF CHINA
China’s next president takes over in March and is expected to serve for the next 10 years. He will push for changes, including that China must go beyond being “Factory to the World.” This political change comes with profit potential as well as pitfalls. Chinese are spending more, and for some industries China has already become the world’s biggest market. To prosper, business leaders must understand where China is heading under new leadership.
You’ll learn from this speech:
– What China’s goals for itself are
– Why foreign companies may soon find it harder to do business in China
– How China’s next leaders face gridlock, and what that means for companies
– Which industries and geographic regions offer the most lucrative opportunities
JAPAN’S JUMP-START: ABENOMICS
Japan has launched a dramatic turnaround attempt known as Abenomics, which aims to restore economic growth after two painful lost decades. The most controversial part of Abenomics is a vast money-printing effort intended to jolt the country out of deflation – one that so far has yielded mixed results.
You’ll learn from this speech:
– How Japan’s dramatic policy change will affect the U.S.
– Why the new monetary policy has roiled global markets
– What exporters – and investors in them – need to know about the weak yen
– How Abenomics is affecting the rest of the world economy
– How the U.S. can avoid the ‘lost decades’ Japan experienced
NAVIGATING GLOBALISATION
Globalisation is reshaping everything from business to the environment, from labor markets to luxury markets, from military strategy to technology. And while China and the world are moving closer together economically, some forces are pushing them apart politically. Understanding globalization’s changes allows better business decisions.
You’ll learn:
– Of the greater potential for clashes as China’s economic power grows
– About the business forces behind the U.S. military pivot to Asia
– How North-South trade, not just East-West trade, is growing fast
MAKING THE MOST OUT OF ASIA’S RISE
China, India and other Asian economies are more closely connected than ever to the West. But they have ended the era of double-digit growth many Western companies had been counting on. Opportunities have changed, and companies must adjust their plans.
You’ll learn:
– What Asia’s younger consumers are buying
– That selling to Asian customers increasingly takes place outside Asia
– How China and India are taking very different approaches to economic growth
– Which other Asian nations to turn to as costs rise in China
– How successful companies use Asian operations for inexpensive innovation
Rossana L. Llenado
President, Ahead Learning Systems
Rossana Llenado has been empowering students to perform better in school, gain admission into the world’s most prestigious universities, and eventually pursue rewarding careers for two decades now. She has also been involved in the training and development of school principals and teachers around the Philippines for ten years and parents for 15 years.
An outstanding alumna of her high school and college in the University of the Philippines, she has also pursued postgraduate studies at the Ateneo de Manila University and the Asian Institute of Management.
She founded AHEAD Learning Systems in 1995 and has since then become a recognized and multi-awarded leader in the Philippines. She is among the first Filipino business leaders to receive the Entrepreneur 10 Award of Entrepreneur Magazine and is among the 75 Most Admired Entrepreneurs in the Philippines. Her exceptional entrepreneurial and marketing acumen has also been acknowledged with business awards from the Aurelio Periquet, Jr. Foundation, the Philippine Marketing Association, and the International Association of Business Communicators, among other organizations. She also received the Teodora Alonzo Award, Who’s Who in the Philippines Award for Educational Administration, the Ulirang Ina Award and the Balance Awards from Working Mom Magazine. In 2012, she was cited as one of the 100 Most Amazing Filipinas by Summit Media.
As she rears four children of her own, she impacts the lives of hundreds of young tutors and staff. She tirelessly advocates the importance of education in nation-building, frequently being invited to speak about education, entrepreneurship, women, leadership, parenting, and youth development.
Always seeking dynamic individuals to join her team, be her partners, and offer services to new markets, she actively looks for investors who will work with her in bringing the goal of making AO one of the world’s top 10 online tutoring and test preparation services to fruition.