Country Chairs

Country Chair for Brazil: Christina Lopes

Christina K. Lopes is an emerging markets finance executive and holds board positions in the non-profit sector. As Founder of CKL Consulting, she advised on billions of dollars of transactions for clients such as EBX Holdings, in Latin America’s largest financing in the oil sector (OGX) and electricity (MPX). She began her career in 1997 at Cambridge Energy Research Associates, working on Brazil’s energy sector liberalization.

Other finance roles include Latin American Currency Strategist and Emerging Markets Trader. At Credit Suisse, she facilitated transactions of the world’s largest projects in greentech and natural resources.Lopes is an Advisory Board Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) for the Western Hemisphere, where she also oversees endowment management. IPPF is the world’s largest women’s health service provider.

She also participated in the United Nations Commission for the Status of Women, lectured at Columbia University, and founded Young Orpheus. Lopes performed with the Boston Ballet, attended University of Massachusetts, Princeton University’s Graduate School and received a Master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University.

Country Chair for Canada: Jennifer Corriero

Jennifer Corriero is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of TakingITGlobal, a non-profit organization. The vision of TakingITGlobal is to create a community that: inspires young people around the world to create positive change on a local and global level; provides the information and connections necessary for innovative learning experiences; involves all participants in the multitude of opportunities surrounding them.

Until 2003, she was a consultant to the Marketing, Web and Youth Programme for various corporate clients. She is an adviser to: the Canadian Association for AIDS Research; the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce; Chat the Planet; the Global Youth Action Network; Pollution Probe; the Toronto International Film Festival; the Youth Employment Summit. She is also a Member of the Official Canadian Delegation to the World Summit on the Information Society. Jennifer gained her BA and MES from York University.

Country Chair for Finland: Pekka Himanen

Pekka Himanen is a Philosopher and currently teaches as a Professor at the Helsinki Institute of Information Technology. He previously was Director of the Berkeley Centre for the Information Society. His works have been translated into 20 languages.

He has recently acted as an Adviser to the Finnish Parliament and President as well as leading international organizations on the issues of global information societies and ethics. Himanen currently works at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, a joint institute of the Helsinki University of Technology and Helsinki University.

City Chair for Hong Kong: Christopher Logan

Christopher Logan is a forward-thinking, global business leader with expertise in emerging markets, logistics and transport, and new business models. Currently, Christopher is Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Agility, a top-ten global logistics company based in the Middle East.Christopher Logan is a forward-thinking, global business leader with expertise in emerging markets, logistics and transport, and new business models.

Currently, Christopher is Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Agility, a top-ten global logistics company based in the Middle East.Previously, he was a partner in the global transportation practice at Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman). He has a business degree from the Ivey School at the University of Western Ontario. He lives in Hong Kong, and has previously lived and worked in the USA, China, South Africa, and Canada; and is a citizen of Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Country Chair for India: Malvinder Singh

Malvinder Mohan Singh has significant business interests in pharmaceutical, healthcare and financial services. He is the Chairman of RHC Holding Pct. Ltd. Formerly he was the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Ranbaxy Laboratories, India’s largest pharmaceutical company and the eighth largest generic company globally.

Singh is also the Chairman of the Board of Fortis Healthcare, India’s leading healthcare services company and Chairman of Relegare, India’s fastest-growing, integrated, financial services company. Singh is widely acknowledged for his entrepreneurial and out-of-the-box approach to business. He recently spearheaded a landmark deal, bringing together Ranbaxy and Daiichi Sankyo, Japan’s second largest Pharma innovator.

Singh is a Member of the Board of Visitors, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University and Member of the Board of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). He serves on the Board of the INSEAD Global India Council and is a Member of the Board of Trade, Government of India. He graduated in Economics from St Stephen’s College (Delhi) and earned his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.

Country Co-Chair for Indonesia: Veronica Colondam

Veronica Colondam founded YCAB – the “Loving the Nation’s Children Foundation” – an independent non-profit, social foundation established out of deep concern for increasing drug abuse among youth in Indonesia, in 1999. Apart from her duties to YCAB, she presently serves as an expert advisor to the Indonesian National Narcotic Board (BNN).

Colondam published Raising Drug Free Children (2007) after co-authoring several other books and writes periodically in the daily national newspaper Media Indonesia and www.kickandy.com.She studied mass communication and public relations and was awarded an MSc in Drug Policy and Intervention, Imperial College, London and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicines. She further attended the Executive Program in Global Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government and INSEAD for social entrepreneurship.

She served as a Fellow of the Asia Society 21 Young Leaders. In November 2008, she received a Social Innovator Park Fellow Award for her contribution as a social entrepreneur in Indonesia. At 29, she was the youngest recipient of the United Nations’ Vienna Civil Society Award.

Country co-Chair for Indonesia: Silverius Unggul

Silverius O. Unggul is Vice-President of Telpak and Founder of JAUH. 2006, Ashoka Fellow. 2009, Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum.Unggul is also Chairman of Yascita and the recipient of awards, including: Conde Nast Traveller Environmental Award, for fight against illegal logging (2008); Indonesia’s Social Entrepreneur of The Year, Ernst and Young.

Expertise: forestry and timber issues. Graduate studies in Corporate Social Responsibility, Universitas Trisakti.Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of IGNIA, an impact investing venture fund for Latin America focused on commercial enterprises that serve the base of the pyramid with positive impact.

Country Chair for Mexico: Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui

He is Chairman of the Board of Compartamos Banco, the largest microfinance institution in the Americas. Previously, he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of ACCION International and UNIDOS Lo Lograremos; Chief Financial Officer of Vitro; Chief Executive Officer of Farmacias Benavides; and Chief Financial Officer of Grupo Elektra. In 2008, he was invited as a Member of the Forum’s Global Agenda Councils.

He is also a Board Member of Harvard University’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies; LASPAU-Harvard University; Banamex, Mexico (Advisory Board); World Microfinance Forum of Geneva; MetroNet/Xertix (Mexico); Asociación Mexicana de Capital Privado (AMEXCAP); a Mentor of Endeavor; and a Member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. He is a Pan- American rowing medallist (1991) and was eighth in the World University Games (1989). He holds a BSc from ITAM and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Country Chair for Mongolia: Ganhuyag Ch. Hutagt

Ganhuyag Chuluun Hutagt started his career at the Mongolian Stock Exchange as a floor supervisor in 1991 and moved on to engage in the family business a year later. He joined the Central Bank’s Supervision Division after graduating from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences in 1997.He then worked for UNDP’s MicroStart Project in 1998, initially as a Finance Manager and then as Operations Manager, before becoming Executive Director of Mongolia’s first non-bank microfinance company, XAC (Golden Fund for Development) in 1999.

XAC subsequently merged with another NBFI to form XacBank, a commercial bank with a social and development mandate. He has held the position of Chief Executive Officer of XacBank since its founding in 2009. Hutagt now leads the holding company of XacBank TenGer FG.Hutagt has served as Honorary Consul of Hungary in Mongolia since 2006. He was one of the pioneers of the financial cooperative movement in Mongolia in the 1990s. He is a Member of the Board of the Microfinance Centre for CEE and NIS, and is currently Vice Minister of Finance of Mongolia.

Country Chair for Mozambique: Erik Charas

Erik Charas is the Founder and Managing Director of Charas, LDA, a private sector company investing in and driving the growth of entrepreneurship in Mozambique.He is Vice-President of the Public Services Policy for Private Sector Committee at the Confederation of Mozambican Business Associations and one of three members of the Steering Committee of the British Council Management Express (MEX) programme in Mozambique.Charas was named MSN Hero of Africa 2005 and Archbishop Tutu African Leadership Initiative Fellow 2007.

Charas chairs several boards of companies and non-profits based in Mozambique. He is also an invited lecturer at the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique’s only public university. Charas has a degree in Engineering from the University of Cape Town and over 10 years experience in the private and public sectors in Southern Africa.

Country Chair for Nigeria: Osayi Alile Oruene

Osayi Alile Oruene is the Executive Director of the FATE Foundation, a private sector-led, non-profit initiative that was created with the vision to equip enterprising Nigerian youths with skills, tools, networks and financing that can be used to create successful businesses, which will, in turn, offer gainful employment to the economy.

Her interest in working with nonprofit organizations stems from a personal commitment to the socio-economic development of the country through private sector-led interventions. Alile Oruene’s expertise has placed her on several organizations’ Boards, including After School Graduate Development Centre (AGDC), Nigerian Youths Leaders Congress, Network for Executives of Non-Profits in Nigeria, which she founded, and several private organizations.She holds a BSc degree in Sociology from the University of Lagos and a Master’s degree (with Honours) in Public Administration from Rutgers University.

Country Chair for Norway: HRH Crown Prince Haakon

His Royal Highness is heir to the Norwegian throne and son of His Majesty King Harald and Her Majesty Queen Sonja. He served in the Royal Norwegian Navy and graduated from the Norwegian Naval Academy in 1995.The following year, he served on board a patrol boat. He holds a BA in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master’s in Development Studies from the London School of Economics. He also attended the Foreign Ministry’s one-year trainee course.

The Crown Prince has an extensive number of official engagements in Norway. He is patron of various Norwegian associations, including the Norwegian International Film Festival, the Norwegian Asthma and Allergy Association and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.The Crown Prince is Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme, where he particularly focuses on promoting the Millennium Developmental Goals.

Country Chair for Poland: Jacek Olechowski

Jacek Olechowski is a Private Investor focused on media. Businesses in which he is involved include: Change Integrated, CEE’s largest and most awarded independent marketing group, EMLab SA, a publicly listed experiential marketing company and Rankomat.pl – Poland’s first direct insurance aggregator. He sits on the supervisory boards of two other public companies: Kolastyna SA (beauty care) and Internity SA (luxury retail)He is the Polish Vice-President of the International Advertising Association, where he helped launch the industry’s first CSR programme and is a Judge on the Advertising Ethics Committee.

He is a Vice-President of the Polish Business Roundtable, Poland’s most select business association and a member of the Young Presidents Organization. He is a recipient of Newsweek’s Keep Walking award (2007). Olechowski holds an MA from the Warsaw School of Economics.

Country Chair for Singapore: Penny Low

Penny Low is a Yale World Fellow and scholar, a New Asian Leader and an official link between the FYGL and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs.In 2001, Low was the youngest elected female Member of Parliament in Singapore. She is a Union Adviser, chairs the Government Parliamentary Committees for the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts and serves on the GPC for the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Industry.A pioneer in the wealth management industry, Low served on the Global Voice Editorial Advisory Board of the Financial Planning Association (USA) and the ISO/TC222 Task Force on Personal Financial Planning.

She trained senior managers and co-wrote the syllabus for the Certified Financial Planner, the Chartered Financial Consultant, the designation and an undergraduate module on financial management.In 2006, she founded Social Innovation Park, a non-profit organization promoting thought and action leadership through innovation and social entrepreneurship. Among others, she serves on the US-based Operation Hope’s Founding Board of Global Advisors and is a Board Member of the JetLiOne Foundation.

Country Chair for South Africa: Phuti Malabie

Phuti Malabie is Managing Director of Shanduka Energy of South Africa. The Shanduka Group is a leading black owned and managed investment company established in November 2000.Prior to joining Shanduka Group, Malabie headed the Project Finance South Africa unit at the Development Bank of Southern Africa. Previously, she spent six years with Fieldstone, an international firm specializing in financing infrastructure assets.Malabie’s areas of experience and expertise are project finance, privatization, private-public partnerships, energy assets, outsourcing and corporate mergers and acquisitions.

She earned a BA in Economics from Rutgers University and an MBA from De Montfort University in Leicester.Murat Sarayli served as National Chairman of the Young Businessmen’s Association of Turkey during 2004-2008. Sarayli also chaired YES, the Brussels-based European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs, for three consecutive terms until 2008, representing 40,000 members from 16 countries.

Country Chair for Turkey: Murat Sarayli

Assuming responsibilities at YES in November 2004, Sarayli made the Lisbon Agenda, Europe’s strategic plan towards greater economic growth and job creation, the hallmark of his tenure.He is the founder of Visa-Free Europe movement and sits on the Board of the International Competitiveness Research Institute (URAK) of Turkey and Energy Efficiency Association of Turkey. 

He has been active in his family-owned group of companies since 1989, currently serves as Vice-President of Sarayli Group, founded by his father 35 years ago.The Group is active in energy, trade of electricity, tourism, construction, real estate and international trade. Sarayli graduated with a degree in Management from the Middle East Technical University, attended the Global Leadership and Public Policy module at Harvard KSG.

Country Chair for US: John Hope Bryant

A Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum, an Oprah's Angel Network award recipient, a TIME Magazine 50 (Leaders) for the Future (94'), John Hope Bryant is an entrepreneur, the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Operation HOPE, the Inc. Magazine/CEO READ bestselling author of LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass), advisor to the last three sitting U.S. presidents, a thought leader, public speaker, and an innovator in the business of empowerment.

Country Chair for Pakistan: Amir Jahangir

Amir Jahangir is a strategic communication and media professional and currently the Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan. Previously he had joined SAMAA TV as Chief Executive Officer in 2008. He is Program Advisor to Stanford Research Center for Innovation and Communication at Stanford University.

He has recently launched his non-profit AGAHI to improve the state of investigative journalism in Pakistan. In the development sector, he has been working closely with the Government of Pakistan on media development, creating innovative models for healthcare delivery mechanisms and communication, advising it on skill development, sector development reforms and improving Pakistan’s competitiveness. He is one of the pioneers in creating industry-academia linkage between media and the Higher Education Commission. Jahangir was part of the launch team of the Competitiveness Support Fund, the first joint venture initiative of USAID and the Government of Pakistan.

He earned the title “Most Innovative Strategist” for developing a comprehensive strategy for Executive Opinion Surveys for Global Competitiveness Rankings to collect soft data on Pakistan. He also managed Pakistan’s partnership for the Global Competitiveness Network of the World Economic Forum.
 

Country Chair for Monaco: Marco Fiorese

Marco Fiorese is Co-Founder of The Monaco-Asia Society, a non-profit organization based in Monaco that is dedicated to humanitarian and environmental projects in several countries in Asia, and chaired by H.S.H. Prince Albert II.

The organization has been recognized for its multi-million dollar programme of reconstructing villages in Indonesia destroyed by the tsunami; building orphanages and youth training schools in Indonesia, and sustaining a protection programme of new marine life discovered in South-East Asia.

Fiorese is also Co-Founder of CODIMA Group, an independent investment company dedicated to direct investment activities in Europe and Asia, as well as the ZENZEN Co., the first Pan-Asian fast-food chain, which was nominated as best concept in the restaurant industry in Europe in 2007. Fiorese graduated in Business Economics at Bocconi University, Italy, and completed his studies at Harvard Business School (PGL).
 

Country Chair for Russia: Yan Yanovsky

BA in Economics and MBA in Finance Management, Fordham University; Master’s in International Management, Thunderbird, School of Global Management. With Central Europe Trust: 2002-04, Head, Corporate Finance Projects; with Rosbank: 2004-05, Senior Manager, Corporate Finance; 2005-06, Director, Corporate Finance; 2006-07, Managing Director and Head of Corporate Finance; with United Industrial Corporation OPK: 2007-10, Member of the Board, OPK; 2008-10, Chairman of the Board, OPK Mining; 2008-09, Member of the Board, OPK Development; 2008-10, Member of the Board, OPK Mining and President, Hediard; 2009-10, President Director-General, Financière Hédiard; since 2010, current positions.
 

Country Chair for France: Olivier Oullier

Olivier Oullier, PhD, is an expert on the behavioural and brain dynamics of decision making and their use in strategy, crisis and risk management, policy-making and communication. He is a full Professor at the University of Provence and a research associate at the Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences and GREQAM.

An adviser to the Centre for Strategic Analysis of the French Prime Minister, he is the first brain scientist to head a programme in a governmental institution aimed at improving public policy-making (health, sustainable development, education, economics, finance) with nudges and neuroeconomics.

A member of the steering committee of the Presidential Obesity Plan, he also sits on the scientific committee of the International Association for Law, Ethics and Science and of the High Council for Strategic Education and Research. Prof. Oullier had begun work with the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Decision-Making and Incentive Systems in 2009 before being named a 2011 Young Global Leader. Trained in complex systems, human movement science, neuroscience and psychology, he is currently finishing a second PhD in economics.