Dr Aaron Opdyke is a Lecturer in Humanitarian Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney. His research focuses on humanitarian response and disaster risk reduction, strengthening preparedness for and recovery after disaster and conflict through the lens of safe and equitable shelter and settlements. Aaron has worked closely with governments and organisations across the Asia-Pacific region on resilient and sustainable infrastructure to address global development challenges.

Mr. Ajay Suri is an economist and a development expert with long standing experience in formulating strategies and managing people-centred development programmes across various states and cities in India, south Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives), south-east Asia (Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam), West Asia (Lebanon), Central Asia (Iran) and Africa (Kenya).

His main areas of expertise are urban policy and strategy formulation, urban poverty assessment, city-wide service delivery profiling, participatory planning for livelihoods promotion and service delivery, programme management, and institutional strengthening for improved governance. He has earlier worked with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) at Bangkok and New Delhi besides Government of India and an eminent urban policy think tank.

James is the Executive Director of the Manila Angel Investors Network, the largest committed private investors network in the Philippines. A non-profit, MAIN was formed to support the country's startup ecosystem by connecting investors with promising early-stage companies. Apart from providing capital funding, it also mentors entrepreneurs, provides expertise, support, and opens networking opportunities. An award winning Urban and Social Development technical specialist, James has over 25 years of experience on major government and corporate projects internationally. In his most recent development role, James was head of a country mission for a United Nations specialized agency.

Janet has been working with the United Nations on environmental sustainability over the last 15 years, with a focus on sustainable resource management. Currently, she manages a program called Closing the Loop, which uses plastic pollution calculators and remote sensing from land and space to monitor plastic pollution in South East Asia cities, after which is supports them in the development of city action plans to prevent plastic leakage. Previously her focus has been on sustainable consumption and production, and circular economy solutions, which she applied through science policy interfaces (International Resource Panel), national policy development, private sector strategy, education and consumer facing programs. She established the Asia Circular Economy Leadership Academy, and the Asia Pacific Low carbon lifestyles challenge, a startup competition for entrepreneurs with alternatives to single use plastics and carbon intensive products. She has a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of New South Wales (Australia), and is currently undertaking a part-time PhD on Integrated Sustainability Analysis at the University of Sydney.

Lisa is Co-Founder of Global Urban Village, an impact investing company focused on startups with solutions in housing innovation, HR tech, and healthcare, and an emphasis on women-led businesses. Using a collaborative approach across public and private stakeholders, she delivers capacity development programs, investment readiness support, and places capital and program related investments. As a former senior leader at Fortune 500 global consulting firm, Mercer (MMC), she draws on deep experience in leadership development, business strategy, and marketing to drive innovations for a better future.

Marcia Yu is part of the Global Tourism Retail & Housing Team for the International Finance Corporation. Marcia has over 18 years' experience in the financial industry in emerging markets and has sourced, structured and executed debt and equity financing to support housing developers, fund investors and pref ab manufacturers across the housing value chain in four different continents. Part of the World Bank Group, IFC has provided close to US$1 billion in debt and equity financing in over 20 projects to support affordable housing developers and construction technology providers globally, including Mexico, India, Indonesia, Morocco, China, South Africa and Vietnam."

Marie Lisa M. Dacanay, PhD is the founding President of the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia (ISEA), with more than 30 years of experience in development management and consulting, social entrepreneurship and international development cooperation. She is a mentor of social entrepreneurs, a pioneer in research and education on social entrepreneurship in Asia and an advocate for developing collaborative partnerships between social enterprises, businesses and governments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr. Dacanay was recognized by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and World Economic Forum as Outstanding Social Innovation Thought Leader of the Year 2019. Among the pioneering initiatives she has led was a multi-country research that resulted to a set of Benchmarks and Guidelines for Transformational Partnerships and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Agricultural Value Chains (AVCs). These benchmarks and guidelines are being promoted by the Women’s Empowerment, Livelihoods and Food in Agricultural Value Chains (WE LIVE FOOD) initiative, one of five multi-stakeholder platforms that ISEA is co-convening with partners towards inclusive recovery, building back fairer and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. As ISEA President, she also convenes the Social and Community Enterprise Constituency of the Asia-Pacific Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism that deals with the United Nations system on the SDGs.

Dr. Dacanay has a degree in B.S. in Statistics (1984) from the University of the Philippines, a Master in Development Management (With Distinction) from the Asian Institute of Management (1996) and a PhD from the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark (2012). She has more than 30 years of experience in development management and consulting, social entrepreneurship and international development cooperation

Professor at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. His specialties are housing and community development, especially disadvantaged communities, post disaster community resilience, integrated area development and social innovation. He is the Director of Institute of Urban and Regional Studies and currently Senior Dean of Social Sciences.

In her role as brand and corporate communications lead for Whirlpool Asia, Pansy directs internal and external communications to advance the reputations of Whirlpool across different markets in the Asia Pacific region. She is responsible for all aspects of communications and special projects related to company stakeholder, media and government relations, brand engagement, crisis communication and sustainability.

Her passion for the community runs deep as she volunteered in community programs related to energy and climate change, healthcare services, and youth development. And she has served as board and committee members in a few non-profit organizations in Hong Kong and Greater China.

Pansy is a creative and result-oriented team player with extensive experience and success in integrated corporate and marketing communications, brand engagement and sustainability strategy in global, diverse enterprises. She is a graduate of University of Hawaii at Manoa, U.S.A. and has a MBA from the University of Manchester, U.K..

Curt Garrigan is Chief of the Sustainable Urban Development Section for the Environment and Development Division of UN-ESCAP. In this role, he contributes to ESCAP’s efforts to work with governments to localize the Sustainable Development Goals and promote sustainable urban development solutions in cities throughout the Asia Pacific region. Before joining ESCAP, he spent seven years with UN Environment Programme in Paris, France as Coordinator of the Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative and as Cities and Buildings Programme Manager. He led UNEP’s efforts to launch the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, which promotes building sector climate actions. He also coordinated a UNEP project assisting countries in Southeast Asia to develop Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs). Prior to joining the UN system, Mr. Garrigan served more than 22 years in a number of operational and management roles for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville, Tennessee USA, including Deputy Mayor, Parks Director, and Infrastructure and Planning Coordinator of the city’s post-Flood Recovery Team.

Ms. Paulette D. Liu is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Primary Structures Educational Foundation, Inc. - School of Knowledge for Industrial Labor, Leadership and Service (PSEFI SKILLS).
PSEFI is the corporate foundation of the Primary Group of Builders, a conglomeration of businesses in the fields of construction, real estate, shipping and logistics, health and lifestyle, and human resources based in Cebu, Philippines. SKILLS is a technical vocational institute managed by PSEFI. Ms. Liu serves as PGB’s Senior Vice President for Human Resources and Administration, which are key roles dedicated to ensuring alignment of human resource strategy and systems with the overall goals of the group.
Ms. Liu is a graduate of Psychology with a post-graduate diploma in Human Resources Management. She led the formation of PSEFI in 2008 and the incorporation of SKILLS in 2016. PSEFI SKILLS is committed to the training and certification of globally competent Filipino workers. PSEFI SKILLS achieves its mission through its academic and technical vocational education and training programs dedicated to marginalized Filipinos particularly out of school youth, unemployed women, and differently-abled persons. To create impact in communities, PSEFI SKILLS focuses on three core social development advocacies such as women empowerment, inclusion of differently-abled persons in the workplace, and industry certification to elevate the dignity of skilled workers.
For her efforts in human resources management and social development which span over three decades, Ms. Liu received local and global recognitions such as 100 Most Influential Filipina conferred by the Filipina Women’s Network in 2016 and 100 Most Influential HR Professional by the World HRD Congress also in 2016. In 2018, Ms. Liu was the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s grand chamber awardee for Socially Responsible Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2019, the industry certification advocacy of SKILLS won the Innovation Award for Policies and Partnership during the Asia-Pacific Housing Forum of the Habitat for Humanity.

Puja Sawhney is the People-Public-Private Partnerships (P4) Associate Director at Habitat for Humanity. She leads the formulation of a global P4 framework which will build upon and help to accelerate Habitat’s P4 multilateral existing initiatives. She also leads in developing and establishing national, regional and global coalitions focusing on addressing affordable and adequate housing challenges.

Puja has more than two decades of development work, from research, policy analysis, program and project implementation, policy research, and to coalition building. She has served as an expert on various development concerns, from climate change, to disaster management, and sustainable development and has established and led many networks and platforms. Her work has covered the breadth of the Asia Pacific Region, as her various engagements has spanned 48 countries.

Puja has extensive experience of working for international organizations, the UN, International organizations and NGOs.

Puja holds a Ph.D. in Natural Science, a double Masters of Arts degree in Environment and Development and Geography, and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography.

Alexander Charalambous is a senior partner at Living Prospects, a boutique consultancy firm specializing in the green/circular economy. He leads the EU SWITCH to Green Facility, contributing to EU policy and implementation efforts towards a just transition to a circular economy globally. He is also engaged in the GIZ led Circular Economy Solutions Dialogues, as a Thematic Lead Convener for Cross Cutting Topics, informing the T20/G20 process. An environmental planner by education, Alexander is currently involved in the assessment of green economy activities around selected nature parks and protected areas in Kenya, Uganda and the DRC, under an EU funded study.

In her almost 29 year tenure at Whirlpool Corporation, a global manufacturer of homeappliances, she’s held multiple positions. In her current role of Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility, Rosa is responsible for developing, defining and driving Whirlpool’s CSR strategy and objectives.

Skinner joined Whirlpool Corporation in November 1992, where she started her career as a part of the corporate flight crew. She traveled the world and hosted many passengers for 23 years.

In 2016 Rosa made a career shift to focus on another one of her passions of Corporate Social Responsibility, she has held numerous positions and is currently serving as Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility. She lives out her life purpose through her philanthropic work.

Skinner is a native of New York City, NY, and she attended Andrews University in Berrien Springs, MI.

Zinaida Fadeeva is the Team Leader of the Sustainable Consumption and Production Facility (SCP Facility) of the SWITCH-Asia Programme. Zinaida has over 25 years of leading international professional experience in policy for and practice of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and Education for Sustainable Development, amongst others working with the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Studies of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). Her work has focused on diverse topics such as tourism, plastics, construction, small and medium enterprises, procurement, and lifestyle. Zinaida has worked extensively with governments, the private sector, international organizations, and academia in East, South East, South, and Central Asia.

Mr. Laxman Perera serves as a Human Settlements Officer at the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP). Mr. Perera is responsible for UN-Habitat programmes in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Vietnam. He is also the focal point for housing and slum upgrading, urban basic services, private sector partnership, human rights, and safer cities programme at the regional office. He has served as the UN-Habitat Habitat Programme Manager in Sri Lanka for over 5 years and as the Deputy Country Manager of UN-Habitat in Myanmar. Prior to his engagement with United Nations, he has served more than 20 years in the Sri Lankan government as a senior official of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service and worked in the fields of urban development, housing, urban basic services, post-disaster and post-conflict reconstruction, and community development. Mr. Perera is a Sri Lankan national and has a Master of Arts in International Relations.

She is the President and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees for Base Bahay Foundation, an initiative supported by the HILTI Foundation. Maricen also serves as the liaison for the projects of Hilti Foundation in Asia which covers Affordable Housing and Technology, Economic Empowerment and Music for Social change. She is responsible for providing the strategic direction for the organization, in coordination with the other Board members ,as well as ensuring that it continues to live up to its Vision and Mission as technology provider for high quality social houses that have a social, environmental and economic impact. This involves working with a network that can initiate, organize, undertake, and participate in livelihood, economic, cultural, educational, and social development programs and activities for the benefit of selected beneficiaries Prior to Base, Maricen presents over 30 years of Sales, Marketing and Operations experience covering consumer goods, banking and real estate, in different senior management positions. She is also engaged in entrepreneurial ventures and continues to support private relief and livelihood projects and is focused on her calling for nation building.

Entrepreneur I Sustainability Advocate & Investor

Steve is an investor, advisor and award-winning tech entrepreneur with 28 years’ building businesses in Asia and Europe. This includes scaling teams from 2 to 1,300 people, raising over $300M funding, leading M&A deals and investing in and mentoring GreenTech start-ups. He’s passionate about entrepreneurship, climate change and social equality.

In 2007, Steve co-founded PropertyGuru in answer to his own personal house-hunting frustrations. He led the business as CEO for first 10 years, growing it from scratch into a PropTech unicorn used by 37 million people in 5 countries and with 1,300 staff today. Steve serves on the board.

Steve founded Planet Rise in 2019 to help companies tackle climate change and social inequality – using tech to achieve impact at scale. He has invested in and advises 17 Asian start-ups in clean energy, clean water, clean air, sustainable food, circular economy, sustainable finance, migrant worker rights and women-led enterprises.

Steve is a member of Asian Venture and Philanthropy Network (AVPN) and Top Tier Impact (TTI). He is also sponsor and mentor for Habitat For Humanity’s Sheltertech affordable housing accelerator, Capitaland’s Sustainable Buildings accelerator and judge/investor for Temasek Foundation’s The Liveability Challenge, recognising the best sustainability tech companies globally. Steve supports some charities including FoodBank, Asia Startup Network (low-income families) and LightHouse (migrant workers).

Steve has supported the development of Southeast Asia’s start-up ecosystem over the last 16 years. He is an angel investor in approximately 30 start-ups, as well as LP and venture partner at VC fund Wavemaker Partners, focused on sustainability tech.

Previously, Steve invested in and then led ComiAsia, a Singapore mobile content start-up. Previously, he founded Business2Profit in Europe to help enterprises to innovate and start-ups with scaling. Prior to this, Steve held leadership roles in the tech sector for 10 years, his last position was director of a $500 million turnover business at Cable & Wireless helping internet, content, emerging telco and mobile players.

In 2007, Steve was awarded the “Spirit of Enterprise Award” in recognition of contributions to entrepreneurship in Singapore. He is a keynote speaker and regularly interviewed by media on start-up, venture investing and sustainability topics.

Market-based development practitioner and leader with a track record and more than 15 years of experience designing and managing programs that drive social impact on a range of development challenges including economic and private sector development, housing, agriculture and food security, health, disaster risk reduction, and humanitarian response. He has worked in rural and urban areas in over a dozen countries throughout South and Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Balkans. He has also trained over 150 development practitioners in value chain and market systems program design. He currently works for Habitat for Humanity's Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter leading teams to facilitate more inclusive housing markets around the world.

Co-founder and CEO of Villgro Philippines

Priya is an entrepreneur, investor and gender advocate based in Manila, Philippines. She is the co-founder and CEO of Villgro Philippines, an early stage impact incubator that funds, mentors and nurtures social entrepreneurs. She also co-founded Unlock Impact, a social impact advisory firm focused on scaling inclusive solutions that tackle gender and climate across the Asia Pacific. Priya is the Co-Chair of the ANDE East and Southeast Asia Steering Committee. She is the host of the podcast Talk Impact, a show for and about leaders at the frontlines of social change in Asia. In 2020, she was recognized as a Youth Gender Champion by the UN Women WEPs Awards for Asia Pacific.

CEO of Holcim Romania

Horia Adrian, Romanian executive with over 18 years of management experience within the LafargeHolcim Group, occupies the position of Country CEO of Holcim Romania starting February 1st. Horia Adrian also takes on regional responsibilities as LafargeHolcim Market Head for Emerging Europe, area that includes Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova and Azerbaijan.

Horia Adrian (48) is a graduate of the master’s degree Programme in Business Administration at Anjou University and of the bachelor’s and Masters Programme in Mechanical Engineering at “Dunărea de Jos” University in Galați. He joined the LafargeHolcim Group in 2000 as Project Manager for Holcim Romania’s Ready-mix and Aggregates Division. Between 2004 and 2010 he was the Sales, Marketing and Logistics Director, and respectively the CEO, of Garadagh Cement, the Swiss subsidiary of Holcim.

His results and his management model have recommended him for the following senior management positions within the group, as the CEO of Holcim Russia, CEO of Eastern Europe and CIS, CEO for Middle East. Prior to being appointed as the CEO of Holcim Romania, Horia Adrian held the position of Head of Business Transformation for LafargeHolcim group.