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Alexandra Harney is the author of The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage (Penguin Press, 2008) and a respected voice on labor and economic issues in China and Japan The China Price, which drew on two years of undercover reporting, examines the human and environmental cost of China’s success as the world’s factory through the stories of ordinary Chinese. The book, published in six languages and optioned for adaptation to film and television, was named a best book of the year on globalization by Library Journal. Alexandra spent seven years as a correspondent and editor at The Financial Times, and has also written for the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Forbes, Slate, the China Economic Quarterly and Foreign Policy. A fluent Japanese and Mandarin Chinese speaker, Alexandra is the co-founder of Visibility Media, which conducts research for investors and institutions about economic, business and social issues in Asia, a contributing editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, and a regular commentator on the BBC, NPR and Japan’s Yomiuri TV.
www.alexandraharney.com |
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Born to Swiss and Yugoslav parents, Mara McCaffery was raised and educated in South Africa. After completing an Honours degree in Speech and Drama, she spent a year travelling the USA, Canada and Europe. Back in S.Africa the travel bug would not leave her and she decided that a career in travel would best satisfy her desire to continue travelling and exploring the world and other cultures. By 1991 she had set up her own retail travel agency specialising in personalised itineraries and unusual destinations mainly in the East and Asia. She also set up an import business and retail outlet featuring hand crafted furniture and artefacts from Indonesia, Madagascar and Africa. She travelled extensively in Indonesia and it was on one of these trips to Kalimantan that she met “Gistock” – an orangutan who was to have a significant effect on her life. In 2001 Mara and her husband left South Africa and made their home in Hong Kong. Currently most of her time is spent on voluntary work for animal causes, Orangutan Aid - a society which she set up in 2009, and also as a teacher for the Animals Asia Foundation’s Professor Paws programme.
www.orangutanaid.com |
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Director, ActionHouse International. Vivian LEE is responsible the day-to-day operations of the ActionHouse Hong Kong office as well as business development and project management in Hong Kong and China. Vivian is an Asian Games Silver Medalist in Swimming. She has a keen interest and passion in sports and education. She started her career in 1999 with an international sports event and PR consultant agent (Octagon), where, for four years she gained extensive event management and Public Relations consultancy skills. Her sporting background and competitive passion has driven her to work on various sports events. She has managed over 50 international and local events and press functions including Omega Hong Kong Open, Standard Chartered Marathon, Asian Games 2006 Bid, Yao Ming HK Visit, Tiger Woods Challenge, and the Cathay Pacific Championship. Vivian also worked for an International Communications Consultancy (Fleishman-Hillard) in 2003 where she was responsible for strategic public relations consultancy, day-to-day client contact and implementing marketing campaigns on behalf of both international and local Hong Kong corporate and consumer clients including Starbucks, Outback Steakhouse, Abbott, Watsons and Huawei.Short bio of this speaker.
www.actionhouseintl.com |
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Frank Forencich is an internationally-recognized leader in health education and performance training. He earned his B.A. at Stanford University in human biology and neuroscience and has over 30 years teaching experience in martial art, functional movement and health promotion. He holds black belt rankings in both karate and aikido and has consulted to major corporations, human resource groups and fitness professionals. Frank has climbed mountains across North America and has traveled to Africa on several occasions to study human origins. He is the author of Play as if Your
Life Depends on It.
www.exuberantanimal.com/frank |
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Kelly Yang is the founder and director of The Kelly Yang Project, an award-winning creative writing and critical reasoning program for students ages 2-17 in Hong Kong. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. Kelly went to college at the age of 13 and is one of the youngest women to graduate from Harvard Law School at the age of 20. Upon graduating from HLS, she took a radical departure from law to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher. She is also the author of two books of creative and inspirational short stories for students in China. She wrote her first book when she was just 12 years old. Kelly has won some of the most coveted awards in the United States for her efforts in education including: California Legislature's 2000 Woman of the Year; USA Today All-USA College Academic 1st Place Team and; "CosmoGIRL! of the Year" CosmoGIRL! Magazine. She writes the Kelly Yang column on education in the South China Morning Post. Kelly regularly gives talks on education and most recently was a speaker at The Education Project global summit on education in Bahrain, where The Kelly Yang Project came in No. 2 for Best Small Education Seedling Project in the World. In April 2010, Kelly and The Kelly Yang Project were profiled on CNN. Kelly teaches Critical Reasoning classes, Public Speaking classes, Creative Writing classes, and SAT classes at KYP. She is also on the board of directors of the Harvard Club of Hong Kong.
www.kellyyang.com |
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Dr. Ng is responsible for the development of corporate environmental policy and strategy across the CLP Group. She joined CLP upon the establishment of the Group Environmental Affairs department in 2003. Dr. Ng has extensive experience in the environmental industry and has held senior roles in international environmental/engineering consulting companies prior to joining CLP. She was involved in most of the early Hong Kong governmental air pollution and climate strategy and policy studies and is regarded as one of Hong Kong's experts in air and greenhouse gas emissions inventories. Dr. Ng is a frequent guest lecturer on environmental and sustainable development issues at various Hong Kong universities and is currently the Chair of the Advisory Committee of the School of Energy & Environment at City University of Hong Kong and a Member of the Local Advisory Committee of the Division of Environment at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology...
www.clpgroup.com |
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Su-Mei Thompson is the Executive Director of The Women's Foundation - one of Hong Kong's leading NGOs dedicated to the advancement of women through research, community programs, and education and advocacy. Passionate about education and the empowerment of women, Su-Mei started her career as an associate at Linklaters and a tutor in law at London University, before taking up senior regional management positions at Disney, the Financial Times and Christie’s. In 2009, she co-founded Intelligence Squared Asia - the Asian arm of the world's premier debating forum which has recently staged sell-out debates on art, climate change and the Internet. She is a member of the Women’s Commission’s taskforce for Hong Kong women’s development goals and writes for the South China Morning Post on women’s and gender issues.
www.thewomensfoundationhk.org |
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| Born in Montreal and raised in Edmonton, Pakistan and Singapore, Christine pursued her university degrees in Ottawa, Ontario. Christine is the Vice Consul at the Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong. She also previously worked with the Government of Canada’s Consular Bureau, assisting Canadian citizens during such events as Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami, and the 2006 evacuation from Lebanon. Her experience on stage includes theatrical performances and acting as Master of Ceremonies for numerous events. Christine brings to the TEDx speaking series a wide range of perspectives and is passionate about exploring the social powers that come to play in the development and implementation of new ideas. |
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TEDxPearlRiver Curator
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| "Entrepreneur and scientist focused on technology applications and venture development for meaningful purposes. Former member of Boards and Committees: Canada's Advanced Networking Organization for Research Industry & Education, Ensis Growth Fund, ISO/TC229, listed and private companies and NFP. He has been a consultant for many private sector organizations, the Government of Canada, the Government of Manitoba, and NGOs. He is passionate about helping Canada's aboriginal communities jump right into the 21st Century via sustainable technology and business practices..." |
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