Erna Witoelar
Chair
Erna is a board member of KEHATI Trust, the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation, from where she initiated and coordinated the Indonesian Philanthropy Initiative since 2003. She is at present the UN Special Ambassador for the Millennium Development Goals in Asia Pacific, and co-chair of Earth Charter International Council. Before joining the government as Minister of Human Settlements and Regional Development (1999-2001), she spent two decades working in different capacities with the NGO sector: she founded and led the Indonesia Forum for the Environment (WALHI) and Friends of the Environment Fund (DML); was president of the Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI) and president of Consumers International (1991-1997). She founded the Community Recovery Program (CRP) during the economic crisis in 1997, served as the Executive Director of the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium
(1997-1999), and is founder and board member of the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia.
Christine Edwards
Deputy Chair
Christine is the Chief Executive Officer of The Myer Foundation and the Sidney Myer Fund, both of which continue the philanthropic legacy of Sidney Myer and the succeeding generations of the Myer family. Her career has been in both health and community services, having served as Chief Executive Officer of St. George's Hospital and Health Service and Bethlehem Hospital, both in Victoria, Australia. She is an Associate Fellow of the Australian College of Health Service Executives, and a member of the Institute of Public Administration Australia. She is a graduate of Curtin University in Western Australia and holds postgraduate qualifications from Flinders University in South Australia and Latrobe University in Victoria.
Safi Rahman Khan
Honorary Secretary
Mr. Safi Rahman Khan is currently the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Freedom Foundation, an indigenous philanthropic organization. Prior to joining BFF, he was engaged as the NGO Corporate Governance Advisor to the Corporate Governance Strengthening Project (CGSP) at the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute. His first entry into the non-profit sector was with the Programme for Research on Poverty Alleviation, Grameen Trust following which he joined as the Bangladesh Country Representative of Ashoka Innovators for the Public (USA). Safi has taught courses on NGOs and Social Entrepreneurship at BRAC University, and consulted with the World Bank reviewing NGO Financial Management and Accountability issues. He is the Founder and Trustee of Jamil-Sarwar Trust (an education trust), Treasurer of Nagorik Uddyog (a human rights and legal aid organization) and Board Member of the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium (APPC) based in Manila. Safi holds a BA and MBA degree.
Roberto Calingo
Honorary Treasurer
Bobby is the Executive Director of Mirant Philippines Foundation, the corporate citizenship arm of one of the largest energy providers in the country. He previously served as Executive Director of the Philippine Business for Social Progress, a private foundation established in 1970 by some of the country’s business leaders. He received his Master in Development Management from the Asian Institute of Management and his BA in Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University. He studied Developing Income Generating Enterprise at the Cranfield School of Management in the United Kingdom and was a fellow of the Synergos Institute from 2001-2003.
Dr. Darwin Chen, SBS
Honorary Member
Darwin Chen is Chair of Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium, Chair of Habitat for Humanity China, and Trustee of United Way International.
He serves on the board of several charities including the Hong Kong Salvation Army, China Youth Development Foundation and Shanghai NPO Development Center.
He was responsible for the establishment of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, Hong Kong Ballet and Hong Kong Dance Company while serving as Director of Cultural Services of the Hong Kong Government in the 1970’s. He currently chairs the Government’s Committee on Performing Arts.
He also chairs the Careers Advisory Board and the Advisory Board of the School of Professional and Continuing Education of the University of Hong Kong.
In recognition of his service to the community, Chen was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong Government and the honorary degree of Doctor of Social Sciences by the University of Hong Kong. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Noshir H. Dadrawala
Noshir is the CEO of the Mumbai-based ‘Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy’, a company specializing in areas of charity law, finance, management, taxation, resource mobilization and human resource development. He is also Director of ‘Resource Alliance” and a member of the Coordinating Committee of the ‘Worldwide Initiatives and Network of Grantmakers’(WINGS). He has written several resource books including,‘The Art of Successful Fund-Raising’, ‘Management of Philanthropic Organizations’ and ‘Merchants of Philanthropy – Profiles in Corporate Citizenship’.
He is a trustee of Charities Aid Foundation (India), India Sponsorship Committee, Make A Wish Foundation (India) and the J.D. Bharda Education Society. He is also visiting faculty at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies and the S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research.
Contact details:
Mr. Noshir H. Dadrawala
Chief Executive
Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy
Mulla House, Fourth Floor, 51, M.G. Road, Flora Fountain
Mumbai 400 001, India
Tel: 91-22- 2284 6534
Mobile: +919 820173255
Email: centphil@vsnl.com
Website: www.capindia.org
Robert L. Buchanan
Rob is the Director of International Programs at the Council on Foundations in Washington, D.C., which seeks to serve the public good by promoting and enhancing responsible and effective philanthropy in the United States and around the world. His experience includes ten years with Oxfam America and work on global environmental and development issues with EarthAction. He has also worked on foreign policy issues as a legislative staffer at the United States Senate and House of Representatives. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. His published works include Making a Difference in Africa: Advice from Experienced Grantmakers, which he co-authored and was published by the Council on Foundations in 2004.
Joyce Yen Feng
Joyce is the Dean of Student Affairs and Professor of the Department of Social Work at National Taiwan University. She has conducted extensive research on Taiwan’s nonprofit sector, including writing the chapter on nonprofit law in Taiwan for Philanthropy and Law in Asia, also research on corporate foundations, and is involved the NPO self-regulation movement in Taiwan. Apart from her academic research on the Third Sector, she is also directly involved in many nonprofit organizations. She has served as Executive Director of the Child Welfare League and is currently the President; she is on the Board of the Dwen An Social Welfare Foundation and a Council Member of United Way Taiwan, among other NPO engagements. She holds a PhD in Social Work from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Contact Details:
Prof. Joyce Feng
Dean
Office of Student Affairs, National Taiwan University
1 Roosevelt Road, Section 4
Tel:886-2-33662995
Fax: 886-2-23919095
Email: fengyen@ntu.edu.tw
Website: www.ntu.edu.tw/english/main/html
Jennifer Mary Gill
Jennifer is currently the Chief Executive of the ASB Community Trust, a post that she has held since 2004. Established in 1986 after the restructuring of trustee savings banks and the sale of the Auckland Savings Bank, the ASB Community Trust is the largest grant making foundation in Australasia. Jennifer's career in philanthropy began in 1985, when she was appointed the Executive Officer of the Roy McKenzie Foundation. She has been appointed as a trustee of a number of family foundations in New Zealand, including the J R McKenzie Trust and has since helped to found a number of philanthropic organizations, including the Wellington Regional Community Foundation, the Funding Information Service, and Philanthropy New Zealand, of which she has been a life member since 1995 and currently holds the position as Chair. Prior to her appointment to the ASB Community Trust, she served for ten years as the Executive Director of Fulbright New Zealand, which administers post-graduate and mid-career fellowships between New Zealand and the US. Jennifer has published and spoken widely on the role of philanthropy in New Zealand society.
Contact details:
Ms. Jennifer Mary Gill
CEO
ASB Community Trust
PO Box 68-048
Newton
Auckland
Tel: 64 9 3604680
Fax: 64 9 3786965
Email: Jennifer@asbcommunitytrust.org.nz
Hideko Katsumata
Deko is the Managing Director and Executive Secretary of the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE), which she helped to establish in 1970 after she graduated from the University of Sacred Heart. She currently serves as the external director of the Chubu Electric Power Company; board member of the Sacred Heart School Corporation; Council member of the NHK Communications Training Institute in Japan; Screening Committee member of the ORACLE Volunteer Activities Fund; auditor of the Public Resource Center; and a steering committee member of the Tokyo Voluntary Action Center. She has also been involved in recent citizen movements to strengthen the nonprofit sector in Japan and served as a member of the Council for the Reform of the Public Interest Corporations of the Prime Minister's Office. She served as a vice chair of the NHK Advisory Council on International Broadcasting; Review Committee member of the Asahi Newspaper; She contributes many articles on civil society which includes "Japanese Philanthropy: Its origins and Impact on U.S.-Japan Relaions" in Philanthropy & Reconciliation: Rebuilding Postwar U.S.-Japan Relations. (2006)
Contact details:
Ms. Hideko Katsumata
Managing Director
Japan Center for International Exchange
9-17-Minami-Azabu 4-chome, Minato-ku
Tokyo 106, Japan
Tel: 81-3-3446-7781
Fax: 81-3-3443-7580
Email: deko@jcie.or.jp
Website: www.jcie.or.jp
Won Soon Park
Won Soon Park leads many initiatives in the philanthropic and nonprofit sector in Korea. As Executive Director of The Beautiful Foundation, he is actively developing various ways to promote philanthropy in his country. As Secretary General of the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Director of its Executive Committee, he has played an important role in the implementation of PSPD’s programs against government abuse and in advocating for the continued reform of laws and policies. He has been a member of the Parliament Reform Committee, the Korean National Assembly and the Korean Bar Association’s Executive Committee. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the Danguk University, a Diploma in International Law from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences and is a Visiting Fellow of the human rights program at Harvard Law School. He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in August 2006.
Natalia Soebagjo
Natalia is a graduate of Chinese Studies from the University of Indonesia and holds a Masters degree from UC Berkeley. She is also an Eisenhower Fellow (1990) and an Asian Fellow (2005). A licensed stockbroker and underwriter, she ran her own securities firm before deciding to pursue her interest in philanthropy and media. Her 10-year career as a stockbroker included stints on the Listings Committee of the Jakarta Stock Exchange and industry-related associations. Other civil society appointments include serving as the first Executive Director of Indonesia Forum and Board member of the Centre for Strategic & International Studies, LEAD Indonesia, and the Centre for Electoral Reform. A Past District Governor of Rotary International, she served on many international assignments including country chair for Population and Development issues. Most recently she helped co-found "AsiaViews," a regional magazine supported by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and major regional media groups.
Chee Koon Tan
Chee Koon is the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC)’s first CEO, having assumed this position in 2003 following the expansion of the then National Volunteer Centre which she also headed, into philanthropy promotion as well. The Centre is a government-supported not-for-profit organisation which functions as the lead agency to promote and develop the spirit of giving in Singapore. Amongst its many key initiatives is the coming establishment of The Community Foundation of Singapore.
She sits on numerous boards and committees in the non-profit sector, including the Tsunami Reconstruction Facilitation Committee, the Advisory Council of World Vision Singapore, and the Board of the International Association of Volunteer Effort (IAVE).
She is a graduate of the University of Singapore where she studied under an ASEAN scholarship and graduated with top honours in Political Science. She attended Stanford University’s Executive Program for Philanthropy Leaders in 2007.
Contact details
Ms. Chee Koon
Chief Executive Officer
National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre
7 Maxwell Road, #05-01, Annex B
MND Complex , Singapore 069111
Email: tanck@nvpc.org.sg
Sukich Udindu
A businessman by profession, Sukich has devoted his life equally to both business and philanthropy. In the business world, he is the CEO of TG Advance Concrete Co., Ltd., which promotes modern prefab building technology and energy saving methods. In the social service, he is a President of The Community Foundation Institute Thailand, which promotes the growth and development of local philanthropy through community foundations. He is also the Secretary General of REACT, an association advocating for responsible and ethical behavior relating to alcohol consumption in Thailand.
He holds over ten years of management experience with international corporations in the US, EU, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. He has worked as a consultant for several government agencies, international institutes and civil society organizations and continues to advise and serve on the boards of various Thai NGOs. He holds a degree in Architecture and Business Administration and has taught courses on Management, Public Relations, Marketing, Design, Energy, Social Development and Fundraising
Priya Viswanath
Priya, Chief Executive Officer of Charities Aid Foundation India and Founder of Catalyst-Social Development Consultants, has been involved with social development issues in India for over a decade. She serves on a number of not-for-profit boards and is associated with a number of development organizations in India and the US. Since 1999, her work has focused on setting up foundations and institutions to help local resource mobilization. She has written extensively on corporate, diaspora and local philanthropy. Her book, Diaspora Indians…On the Philanthropy Fast Track focuses on the Indian diaspora in the UK, US, Far and Middle East and their contributions to India’s development. She left the consulting space in 2003 to take over the helm of Charities Aid Foundation India and to spearhead their work with the corporate and voluntary sectors in the country.
Shahnaz Wazir Ali
Shahnaz is the Executive Director of the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy, which promotes philanthropy in Pakistan with the specific objective of enhancing development and promoting social investment. She has had a long and distinguished career in public service, primarily in the education sector, where she spent 18 years in teaching and administrative positions in the private sector before serving as the Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank from 1997-2001. Her achievements include the development of The National Education Assessment system for measuring learning achievements in Pakistan. Shahnaz has served twice on the Federal Cabinet -- as Minister of State for Education (1988-1990) and as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Sectors (1993-1996).
As a member of civil society, she founded the Women’s Action Forum in Pakistan, where she joined many women activists in protesting against the oppressive regime of General Zia-ul-Haq. She also serves on the Boards of a number of prominent nonprofit and charitable organizations – Education Trust Nasra Schools, Social Policy and Development Centre, National Education Foundation and the National Commission for Human Development. Shahnaz holds two graduate degrees - a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Arkansas, USA and a Master’s Degree in Education Administration from Trenton College, New Jersey, USA. In addition, she has Diploma in Principal’s Certification from Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.
Ailing Zhuang
Ailing is a leading advocate for the abused and differently-abled sectors in China. She co-founded the country’s first-ever Crime Prevention and Intervention Center housed at Nanjing University and the Division of Blindness Prevention and Special Education at Amity Foundation. In 1997, she was given the Award for Outstanding Services to the Disabled by the China State Council. A training management expert, Ailing’s experience includes serving as an independent consultant to the government and local NPOs; and putting up the management system and training personnel for Orbis International China as their Deputy Country Director. She has a Master in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a PhD in Sociology from the Nanjing University