Meet Our Inspiring Reinventors & Thought Leaders
Abhijit Bhaduri is an executive coach to leaders and an advisor on talent management and culture. His clients include Fortune 100 companies and late stage startups. He has been chosen as a LinkedIn Top Voice and he has more than 850,000 followers on LinkedIn and Twitter making him a top influencer on the Future of Work. Previously he held HR Director roles at Microsoft, PepsiCo, and Colgate, and was Chief Learning Officer at Wipro. He teaches at the Executive Doctoral Program for CLOs at the University of Pennsylvania, formerly part of Wharton.
Alex Castillo is an executive consultant serving as strategic advisor to private, non-profit and public sector CEOs and is a founding member of Star Insights, a strategic advisory firm focused exclusively on the social impact space. Alex began his career in the fast-moving consumer goods industry working for Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and Kraft Foods for over a dozen years. He then moved to Los Angeles to pursue his passion for the performing and filmmaking arts, most recently co-starring in "Clemency", the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winning death row drama.
Andy Levine is the creator and host of “Second Act Stories” a podcast that shares the stories of people who have made major career changes to pursue more rewarding lives in a second act. A fascination with storytelling and second acts, he has traveled extensively to conduct face-to-face interviews with podcast guests, and has produced 83 episodes since its inception in 2018. He lives in a seaside town in New Jersey about five blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. Andy manages a specialized marketing firm for his day job.
Azran Osman-Rani builds disruptive new businesses that challenge the status quo and his current venture, Naluri, is a digital health therapeutics company that uses AI tools to augment professional care for chronic diseases and mental health. He was previously part of the start-up team at iflix, an internet television service, and was the founding CEO of AirAsia X. Earlier, he held leadership roles at Astro All Asia Networks, the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, and McKinsey & Company. An Adjunct Professor and Advisory Board member, he mentors high-growth companies, invests in technology start-ups, and is an Ironman triathlete.
Dr. Carl Allamby is an Emergency Medicine Resident Physician at Cleveland Clinic Akron General. Carl started an automotive business at the age of 19 and was a business owner and professional automotive technician for 25 years. He gave up this career to pursue a lifelong dream and graduated from medical school at the age of 47. His story of career change has been featured in many newspapers, TV news outlets locally and nationally, appearing on CBS Evening News with Steve Hartman, NPR’s Morning Edition with Scott Simon and The Kelly Clarkson Show.
Dorie Clark helps individuals and companies get their best ideas heard in a crowded, noisy world. She has been named one of the Top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, and was honored as the #1 Communication Coach in the world at the Marshall Goldsmith Coaching Awards.She is the author of Entrepreneurial You, which was named one of Forbes’ Top 5 Business Books of the Year, as well as Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of the Year by Inc. magazine. Dorie has been described by the New York Times as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.”
Elaine Pofeldt is a freelance writer, editor, and ghostwriter who has worked with publications including The Economist, Fortune, Money, Inc., CNBC, Crain's New York Business, Forbes and many others. Her book "The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business'', shows how a single individual can generate $1 million in revenue - something only larger small companies have done in the past, synthesizes advice from hundreds of business owners who've done so, and outlines the pathways to joining this entrepreneurial movement.
Enrique Rubio is the founder of Hacking HR, a global learning community with thousands of members from all over the world. He is also co-founder of Cotopaxi, a recruitment platform focused on Latin America and the Caribbean. Enrique started his career as an engineer and came to the United States from Venezuela as a Fulbright Scholar. Most recently he worked as an advisor to the Chief Human Resources Officer at the Inter-American Development Bank. Enrique is one of the top 100 HR global influencers, and an HR, Tech and Future of Work expert.
Eric Sim is one of the most followed thought leaders on social media globally, with over 2 million followers on LinkedIn. In December 2020, he was named to both Linkedin Singapore Top Voices and Linkedin China Spotlight lists - making him the first person to be on two LinkedIn lists in the same year. Eric teaches at Queen’s University (in Canada), and at the National University of Singapore. He is the founder of Institute of Life (IOL) whose mission is to train young professionals to be successful at work and in life. Earlier, Eric spent over two decades in banking based in Singapore, London, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.
Fermin Diez is the Deputy CEO and Group Head of Human Resources for Singapore's National Council of Social Service. He is also an Adjunct Professor, a Board Director, co-author of three books, consulting and training entrepreneur, HR thought leader and public speaker. He has over 30 years of experience in HR which includes consulting, corporate and academic roles in more than 40 countries in all continents. Previously, he was Senior Partner at a global consulting firm, and Regional Head of HR for two large MNCs in AsiaPac and in Latin America.
Guillaume Levy-Lambert is a conceptual artist and self-professed serial reinventor. A serendipitous encounter with a painting in Los Angeles led him on a quest to understand and on a mission to spread art’s unique transformative power, which eventually led him to co-found The MaGMA Collection and Art Porters Gallery. Guillaume's first career was in financial services with BNP Paribas Asset Management, where he held increasingly senior assignments in Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. He then joined the communications industry, as Asia Pacific regional chairman for Publicis.
Hyam Asher Bolande has for the last two years been leading a social-marketing operation in the Philippines, for the country’s largest private provider of contraceptives. Prior to that, he spent 5 years establishing and rapidly building up a greenfield start-up operation in Myanmar for the same global non-profit organization, DKT International. In the first chapter of his professional career, Hyam was a journalist, then a technology writer, where his experience in the industry led him to become a regional telecommunications analyst. From there, he evolved into a strategic marketing director at Alcatel-Lucent, moving from the Asia-Pacific region to global headquarters in Paris.
James Taylor started his career managing high profile rock stars. He is now an in-demand keynote speaker and internationally recognized leader in business creativity and innovation. For over 20 years, he has been advising CEOs, entrepreneurs, educators, governments, leaders, writers and rock stars on how to build innovative organizations, unlock creative potential, and increase productivity. His debut book 'SuperCreativity: Augmenting Human Creativity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence' is released in 2021.
John Wood is the Founder of Room to Read, the most impactful NGO working on education across the developing world. Through its work, Room to Read has impacted over 20 million children with the lifelong gift of education. Prior to Room to Read, John held numerous executive positions at Microsoft, including Director of Marketing for the APAC region and Director of Business Development for the Greater China region. He is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, and a four-term Advisory Board member of the Clinton Global Initiative.
Lynda Gratton is a Professor of Management Practice at the London Business School and founder of the Hot Spots Movement and the Future of Work Research Consortium. She has written extensively on the future of work and the role of corporation; ‘The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity’ was shortlisted for the FT Business Book of the Year. Lynda has served on Prime Minister Abe’s “Council for Designing 100-Year Life Society.” She has been named one of the Top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50 since 2011.
Mashizan Masjum is the founder and creative director of luxury footwear brand MASHIZAN. Currently based in Paris, he was born in Singapore and began his career as a broadcast journalist. Prior to his switch to the fashion industry, he was an award-winning TV documentary producer for almost 20 years, having produced and directed shows for National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and History. Launched in 2015, his made-in-Florence footwear brand has a small but loyal cult following and has been seen in various international fashion publications including Vogue UK and Italia, Elle Singapore, and more.
Peter Schindler’s professional life can be divided into three distinct periods. Period 1 was dominated by his professional motor racing career, where he raced automobiles for four years in Europe (Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula Super-V and Renault Elf). In his second chapter, he focused on his consulting career, and joined Accenture eventually rising to become the associate partner in charge of the firm's advanced I.T. practice in China. Peter is currently in his third phase of life, where he returns to his first love, and is the founder of On the Road Experiences.
Richard Smith is a Professor at Johns Hopkins University where he also serves as a Vice Dean of the Carey Business School. Earlier, he was a Professor and Deputy Dean at Singapore Management University. Prior to his academic career, he spent 30 years in business consulting and retired as a Senior Partner at Accenture. During his consulting career, he held a variety of leadership roles while living in Asia, Europe, and America. Today, he is known for balancing the academic and practice views in his teaching, research, and speaking on topics of leadership, human capital, and organization effectiveness.
Rosaline Koo is a Singapore-based entrepreneur, innovator, and businesswoman who is the founder of Insurtech of the Year, CXA, a platform that enables employees to choose from a wide range of health and wellness perks based on a benefits budget provided by the employer. She started her career working for Proctor & Gamble as a manufacturing manager, and then worked her way up to Vice President at Bankers Trust on Wall Street. She launched two dot-com start-ups before moving to ACE insurance, and subsequently grew Mercer Marsh Benefits' business in 14 APAC countries 800% over 8 years.
Sharon Au was a flight stewardess with Singapore Airlines before being scouted to become an actress and host. She won many awards as an artiste before taking a sabbatical at the peak of her career to pursue graduate studies on scholarship in Japan. Upon her graduation in 2011, she worked as an executive in the media industry and in 2017 was appointed publisher of ELLE Singapore. The following year, she relocated to Paris and reinvented herself again - she is currently an investment director for a private equity firm. Sharon speaks English, Chinese, Japanese, French and basic Spanish.
Simone Heng is a human connection speaker inspiring people to connect in a world thirsty for connection. As a former international broadcaster for one and a half decades, for the likes of CNBC, CNN, HBO Asia, and Virgin Radio Dubai, it was her job to connect on-air, on-stage, online and one-to-one with people. She now speaks to organisations around the world on the connection techniques that authentically bring us together. Her keynotes have been described as “oratory movies,” weaving together story and Simone's diverse cultural learnings.
William Wan is an irregular re-inventor who is a lifelong learner and multi-professional – ordained minister of the church, lawyer, academic, psychometric analyst, mediator, public speaker, published author, active ager, mentor, scrabbler, bucket list enthusiasts, passionate promoter of “matters of the heart”. As the General Secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement, he is also a passionate fundraiser for charities, a motivator of ground-up movements for the common good, and an advocate for second chances to offenders and ex-offenders.
Tan Yen Yen is a non executive independent director who serves on the boards of several public and private organisations in Singapore and Europe. She also is an advisor to a private equity firm and a private university. She started out in the technology industry and over three decades, held leadership roles at Vodafone, SAS, Oracle and Hewlett-Packard. She was the first woman conferred the title IT Leader of the Year by the Singapore Computer Society and she mentors early stage startups through TNF Ventures, to groom the next generation of tech leaders.
Yip Yew Chong, a Singaporean self-taught Artist, has painted over 70 street murals since 2015 when he started dabbling in art while holding a full-time Accounting job. In mid 2018, he left his Accounting career of over 20 years, to become an artist. He currently practices street murals, canvas paintings, sketches, digital art and installations. The themes of his artworks often reflect scenes of local life, especially of a bygone era. Thus they are often connected to other platforms for education, mental healthcare, and heritage conservation. Yew Chong debuts his first two solo exhibitions in Jan and Feb 2021 in Singapore.
