list of speakers

Jamie Allen is the founding Secretary General of the Asian Corporate Governance Association, an independent membership association carrying out original research, advocacy and education on corporate governance in Asia since 1999.

Philo Alto (李家仁) is the founder of Asia Value Advisors (AVA), a purpose-driven philanthropic capital advisory firm based in Hong Kong. Through bespoke advisory services, convening, and research, AVA seeks to inform and inspire individuals and organisations to create sustainable impacts.

His work included advising The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust on program curation for its inaugural Philanthropy for Better Cities Forum in 2016 with 60 globally-renowned speakers and attracting over 1,300 delegates; convening an impact investing forum with the Rockefeller Foundation to grow impact investing in Asia; and, hosting a Foundation Philanthropy Roundtable to explore what’s next in creating sustainable value.

Philo has also co-authored two publications: Mind the Gap: Lessons and Findings from EngageHK and Adopting the London Principles: Policy Considerations to Grow Impact Investing in HK.  His work has been cited in books such as Problem Solving: HBS Alumni Making a Difference in the World (2019) and The Power of Impact Investing.

Philo received his MBA and MPA from Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School. He was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs and Citibank prior to founding AVA. Among his voluntary engagements include serving as a board chairman of the Harvard Club of Hong Kong Education Fund, an advisor to Sustainable Finance Initiative, Social Ventures Hong Kong and Shared Value Initiative Hong Kong, and an officer of the HBS Association of Hong Kong. He also serves as a global editor advisory board of Impact Entrepreneur magazine (US) and the Alliance magazine (UK).

An Indian by descent, Hong Kong-born and raised Jeffrey Andrews is one of the first ethnic minority registered social workers in Hong Kong. Committed to helping refugees and minority rights, in 2014 he travelled to the United Nations in Geneva to speak about the issues of segregated schools. He has been featured in numerous documentaries, news articles, TV programmes. He has received The Secretary for Home Affairs’ Commendation awarded in recognition of his dedicated service and outstanding contributions to the enhancement of racial harmony and integration to Hong Kong. Recently been selected as 2019 JCI Top Outstanding young persons and also 2019 Cathay Pacific’s Change Makers award and his beloved football team Manchester United recognised him as one of 7 Global heroes. He has been with Christian Action’s Centre for refugees for 11 years as a social worker and now assistant manager.

My Sustainability Goals for 2021:

Promote understanding and action in addressing systemic racism for advancements through community led initiatives within the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework.

Pushing diversity and inclusion practices at the heart of racial equity through engaging different sectors of society to Integrate the elimination of Systemic Racism, and highlight racial and ethnic discrimination, in order to bring about change to corporate and community responsibility and continuing to provide platform for dialogues, racial and cultural bridging initiatives.

Mariam Ashroff is a sustainability professional with 10 years of financial services experience. At LGT, she combines her financial services experience with her expertise in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues to embed sustainability concepts throughout the organization. Prior to this, Mariam was a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she advised asset and wealth managers on ESG integration.

My Sustainability Goals for 2021:

My goals are to raise awareness on sustainable investing; break down the complexity of the climate crisis and empower people with knowledge needed to act as a change agent; and continuously improve on my own sustainable lifestyle.

Stephen Au is the Founder and Course Director of Diving Adventure. He has trained thousands of divers and instructors at all levels in the past two decades.

My Sustainability Goals for 2021:

Stephen Au will keep leading scuba divers from Diving Adventure and other stakeholders to participate in activities related to marine conservation.

Ir Walter Au is a Director of several engineering companies within Sun Hung Kai Properties Group, providing E&M contracting and green solution services for new project development and property management. A Fellow of HKIE and CIBSE, Ir Au serves on various professional bodies and advisory committees. He actively promotes the application of advanced construction technologies, various energy and carbon reduction initiatives.

My Sustainability Goals for 2021:

Property development and management play an important role in the path to carbon neutrality. To achieve this goal, I shall stay ahead of evolving engineering trends to exceed user expectations in terms of sustainability and livability.

Anson joined KPMG in Hong Kong in 1999 and is currently a Partner based in the Hong Kong office heading up the Consumer & Retail Practice in the ASPAC region. He is part of the KPMG Global Consumer & Retail Steering Group as well as being a member of the Global Technology Innovation Centre and the Cluster Leader for the Technology, Media & Telecoms Practice based in Hong Kong.

Anson has been active in driving a number of thought leadership reports and executive briefings for senior executives covering innovation and consumers in China and across Asia. He has worked with many corporates to understand the complex markets we live in and current levels of disruption being seen with recent reports including Global Mobile Payments, Consumers & Convergence, Mobilizing Innovation: The Changing Landscape of Disruptive Technologies, The Rise of the Digital Multi-tasker, Be a Smarter Start-up, MNCs in China, Made in China 2025, China’s Connected Consumers, Global Connected Consumers, Connecting Hong Kong – Perspectives on our future as a smart city, Connected Cities – insights across the ASPAC region and The Changing Face of Commerce series.

Today, he not only mentors the next generation of go-to-market professionals at KPMG but continues to work with a growing number of C-level executives as a trusted advisor in providing the best in client innovation whilst acting as the Lead Partner for a number of strategic accounts in both the consumer and technology arena across the Asia Pacific region.

He is a frequent speaker at conferences and events around the globe and has completed his Executive Masters in Technology & Innovation with the Poly University as well as the MIT Executive Leadership & Innovation Program.

Swati Bani, an experienced finance professional, is passionate about solving most challenging social problems and helps social enterprises to reach their full potential and scale their social impact by leveraging her experience and skills.

My Sustainability Goals for 2021:

1. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by running mentoring programs.

2. Reduce inequality within and among countries by education and skill based volunteering.