Financial Education Summit

Speaker Profiles

H.E. Truong Dinh Tuyen Speaker Profile - currently unavailable

Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz was appointed Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia in May 2000. She has been with the Central Bank since 1985, in a career spanning several senior positions in monetary and financial policies and reserve management. During the height of the Asian financial crisis, Dr. Zeti was appointed as Acting Governor on September 1, 1998, and managed the successful implementation of selective exchange controls to restore stability and promote economic recovery in Malaysia. In Bank Negara, Dr. Zeti presided over the formulation of the Financial Sector Master Plan, a 10-year road map for the development of the Malaysian financial system. As Governor, Dr. Zeti oversaw the transformation of the financial system, notably the wide-ranging financial reforms, evolution of new financial institutions, strengthening of the financial markets and the rapid expansion of Islamic finance, and the transition to a managed float of the Ringgit exchange rate.

Dr. Zeti received her B.Sc in Economics from the University of Malaya and her Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania. As part of her dissertation, Dr. Zeti did pioneering work on capital flows and the implications for policy. She has written extensively in the areas of monetary and financial economics, Islamic finance, capital flows, macroeconomic management, financial reform and restructuring. Prior to her career in the Bank, Dr. Zeti had served in the SEACEN Centre from 1979-1984, where she conducted research in the area of financial policies and reform in the South-East Asian region. Dr. Zeti is actively involved in the development of Islamic finance and in regional financial co-operation.

The Hon. Donald J. Johnston became Secretary-General of the OECD in June 1996. He had previously worked as a lawyer, founding the prominent Canadian law firm Heenan Blaikie in 1972. Mr Johnston also spent 10 years in the Canadian Parliament and served as a Cabinet Minister in a number of senior portfolios including President of the Treasury Board, Minister of State for Economic and Regional Development, Minister of Science and Technology, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. With the defeat of the Liberal government in 1984, Mr Johnston became Opposition Critic for Finance and, later, for External Affairs. In 1990, Mr Johnston was elected President of the Liberal Party of Canada and held the post through the election in 1993 that returned the Liberal Party to power. Mr Johnston also taught fiscal law at McGill University from 1963 to 1976. He has written many articles on taxation, law and public affairs and is the author of several books including a best-selling political memoir.

Mr Liu Zhangjun is the Vice President of China Banking Industry Association. He is a Senior Economist with a postgraduate degree. When Mr. Liu previously worked in Henan Finance Management Cadre Institute, he served on a series of roles including, the Head of Teaching and Research Office of Banking Credit Management Department, Deputy Head of Dean's office, Deputy Head and Head of Finance Investment Department. In April 1992, he was appointed the Deputy Head of the Second Department of Policy Research Office at the headquarters of People's Bank of China (PBOC). From April 1994 to February 2004, Mr. Liu served on a series of roles at the headquarters of PBOC including, the Head of Deposit Section of Banking Department, Head of Banking Supervision Section of the Second Banking Department, Head co-Associate Inspector of the Second Section. During the period, specifically in August 2002, Mr. Liu was dispatched to Xin Jiang Province in the fourth Supporting Xin Jiang program by the Central Government office, and appointed the Deputy Chief of the Kezi Autonomous Region in Xin Jiang area. From February 2004 to present, Ms. Liu has been the Associate Inspector and Inspector of the Second Supervision Department of China Banking Regulatory Committee. Since December 2004, he started to serve as the Vice chairman of China Banking Industry Association. Mr. Liu has spent more than twenty years endeavoring on the study, research and exploring of finance theory and practice. He has a firm foundation in the Finance theory and is specialized in the Banking Regulation area. Mr. Liu published one financial monograph, as well as twelve professional books in collaboration with others, which won the Award of PBOC Excellent Textbook of Financial Academy. He issued more than 30 financial and economic theses on the provincial or national publications. In addition, Mr. Liu was also the advisor to the students of many financial academies as well as Central Television University on more than 130 Graduation theses in the finance area. The Graduate Department of PBOC Head Office has many times invited him as the member and head of Thesis Defense Committee.

Anil Gaba, the ORPAR Chaired Professor of Risk Management, Professor of Decision Sciences and Dean of Faculty and Research, Asia Campus received his Ph. D. in Decision Sciences at Duke University, U.S.A, in 1989. Since 1989, he has been a member of INSEAD faculty and a visiting faculty at various universities.

His research is concerned with the assessment and use of subjective information, analysis of decisions and judgments under uncertainty and risk, evaluation of tournaments and contests, and risk management. His research has appeared in several academic journals and in Financial Times.

He teaches courses such as Applied Statistics (MBA), Decision Analysis (MBA), Judgment and Choice (Executives), and Probability Theory (Ph. D.), in many universities and in various executive programs all over the world including Europe, United States, China, Singapore, and Malaysia. He has been nominated more than ten times for the Outstanding Teacher Award in the INSEAD MBA program, and has received the award seven times.

Chong Sheau Ching. As a speaker, columnist, author, community organizer, trainer, and women's advocate, Sheau Ching has been actively involved in the development and promotion of community empowerment and poverty alleviation programs for over a dozen years. She has been a policy planner and a gender/poverty alleviation consultant for some UN country programs in Asia Pacific. In 1998, she founded a community network of women who work from home, referred to as "Mother for Mothers/eHomemakers.' The 'Working@Home' cause is her passion and she has received numerous awards and grants for her pioneering work. In 2003, she received the Women's Electronic Network Training (WENT) Award from the Association of Progressive Communication Networks and Sookmyung Women's University in South Korea for her achievements in promoting the concept of working from home through the use of information and communication technology (ICT). More recently, eHomemakers (www.ehomemakers.net) was selected as a runner-up at this year's Gender and Information & Communication Technology (GICT) Awards, organised by the Association for Progressive Communications Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) and the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP).Additionally, eHomemakers is heading a research project for the International Development Research Centre on ICT and homeworkers in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Sheau Ching is a single mother with a home office herself. She takes care of her 11- year old daughter and a brother with Down Syndrome.

Paul Clitheroe was host of Channel 9's "Money" programme from 1993 to 2003 and continues to make regular appearances on television. His "Money" tips run daily on over 80 radio stations and he is Chief Commentator of "Money" magazine. His books have sold over 750,000 copies, a rare achievement for an Australian non-fiction author. In 1983, along with four partners, he founded ipac securities, which today manages over $10 billion. Mr Clitheroe was also Vice President of the Financial Planning Association in 1992 and its President in 1993. In March 2004 the federal government appointed him as Chairman of the Consumer and Financial Literacy Taskforce. In 2005 Mr Clitheroe was appointed Chairman of the Financial Literacy Foundation, funded by the Federal Government, with a mission to improve the financial skills of Australians. Paul and his wife Vicki established The Clitheroe Foundation in 2003 to provide support for children's health and the arts.

Steve Stillwell is currently Schools Policy Specialist with the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA has a statutory duty to promote public understanding of the financial system and believes that schools have an important part to play in helping children develop into adults who are able to deal with their money with competence and confidence. In this post, Mr Stillwell is responsible for working with government, the financial services sector and other organisations to promote personal finance education in the schools and colleges across the UK. Previous to working for the FSA, Mr Stillwell spent 11 years as a school teacher in London. After a period of time as an education adviser with a local education authority, he was appointed as Regional Director with the Centre for Education and Industry based at the University of Warwick. He joined the FSA in June 2001.

Christina Tan is Deputy Director & Head (Consumer Issues Division) at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The Division spearheads Singapore's MoneySENSE national financial education programme, in collaboration with various public sector agencies and industry associations. Christina's career in the financial services industry began when she joined an insurance company as a public relations executive in 1992. She has held various portfolios including marketing, training and compliance. Prior to joining the MAS in 2003, she was the chief marketing officer of an international life insurance corporation where she was responsible for marketing, communications and business development. A business administration graduate from the National University of Singapore, Christina has also completed the Life Management Office Association's Fellow, Life Management Institute (USA) programme.

Darrell A. Luzzo, has served as Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide Senior Vice President of Education since July 2002. Previously, he served as the organisation's Vice President of Education Research, Evaluation, and Outreach. In his current role, Darrell oversees and coordinates all aspects of JA's product development, program support to Area Offices and Member Nations, evaluation of the efficacy of JA's programs, and professional outreach to various organizations to enhance the awareness of JA throughout the world. Darrell has published numerous professional journal articles and several textbooks on the topics of career development and work readiness. In addition, He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for both the Character Education Partnership and the National Career Development Association. He received his bachelor's degree in psychology, and both his master's and doctoral degrees in education, from the University of California, Los Angeles.

John Gore is the Chief Education Officer for the learning area of Human Society and Its Environment in the NSW Department of Education and Training. He is responsible for providing advice, print and electronic curriculum support and operational support to schools and regions for subjects in this learning area. John has recently worked with several banks to produce financial literacy materials for primary and secondary schools across Australia. He has18 years experience as a teacher, five years as an inspector of schools and 15 years in curriculum management. Mr Gore is the current Chair of the Pacific Circle Consortium representing education systems and tertiary education institutions in and around the Pacific Ocean.

Seongpyo Lee Speaker Profile - currently unavailable

Abu Hassan Alshari Yahaya is the Director of Corporate Communications Department, Bank Negara Malaysia. He is responsible for managing the Bank's communications strategies. He oversees and facilitates the Central Bank's media relations, stakeholders management, consumer and financial education and its publications. His past experience in Bank Negara Malaysia involved the supervision and regulation functions of the Central Bank. Abu Hassan graduated with an Economics degree from Monash University, Australia.

Rosanne Hunt is Manager of the Finance First project for YWCA NSW, which is a financial education initiative aimed at children and adults developed in partnership with Citigroup. Rosanne has been with YWCA NSW since 2003 and has an extensive background in project management, community education and marketing.

Roderic Evers is the Entrepreneurship Development Specialist of UNDP Pacific Sub Regional Centre in Suva, Fiji Islands. He has worked in the South Pacific for the past 5 years and is one of the creators of the Rural Banking Initiative and the Financial Literacy Education programme for rural communities in Fiji. Mr Evers is a business trainer and works with business development organizations to improve small and micro enterprises in the South Pacific region. Before joining UNDP , Mr Evers worked as management consultant in the private sector in the Netherlands.

Ivy Lai graduated with honours in Economics and Management Studies from the University of Hong Kong. She was elected Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, England and was accredited Certified Investment Manager by the Canadian Securities Institute. Mrs Lai practiced in various financial sectors in Canada and Hong Kong before joining the Securities and Futures Commission, Hong Kong in 1996 to set up and head its Investor Education & Communications Department. This Department conducts investor surveys, launches investor education and alert programmes and handles investor enquiries and complaints. Mrs Lai won the 2001 Ombudsman Award for Officers of Public Organisations for excellent complaint management. She has also been appointed by the Hong Kong Government to advise on the secondary school curriculum reform.

Francisco J. Colayco is Founder and Chairman of Colayco Foundation for Education, Inc., an organization dedicated to promoting financial literacy to ordinary income earners, overseas Flipino workers and students. He is an entrepreneur, management and financial advisor. His over forty years of experience covers service contracting in the Middle East, manufacturing, trading, construction, shipbuilding, management consulting, banking and financial services. He holds degrees in AB Economics and a Masters degree in Business Management from the Ateneo de Manila University. He is a radio and TV host as well as author of two books on personal finance: Bestseller and 2004 Book of the Year awardee Wealth Within your Reach and the latest Bestseller, Making Your Money Work.

Michael Ewing-Chow. Assistant Professor Michael Ewing-Chow obtained his LL.B (First Class) from the National University of Singapore and his LL.M from Harvard Law School. He teaches Company Law and World Trade Law at the Faculty of Law, National University of Sinapore. He has been a consultant to the World Bank and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore and has assisted the Company Legislation and Regulatory FrameworkCommittee (CLRFC) in its comprehensive review of Singapore's law and regulatory frameworks. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Singapore since 2001 when he initiated the Migrant Workers Financial Education Project. His main areas of interest are enrepreneurship, corporate governance and labour rights. He is also the non-executive chairman of the eFusion group of technology companies that he (with "impeccale timing") co-foundered in 2000 during the Dotcom crash

Humaira Islam is the Founder Executive Director of the Shakti Foundation for Disadvantaged Women, a widely acknowledged and successful micro finance institution. Ms Islam founded the Shakti Foundation in 1992 The foundation is committed to the economic and social empowerment of women living in the slums and squatters of urban cities through credit and savings programmes. Ms Islam is responsible for policy formulation, administration and management of the organisation and its projects. She is a Fellow of ASHOKA, an international organisation for social entrepreneurship, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Women's World Banking (WWB), Treasurer of the Executive Board for the International Network of Alternative Financial Institutions (INAFI) and a member of Academic Council of East West University, Dhaka. Ms Islam was also involved in a special task force, commissioned by the Planning Commission of the Bangladeshi Ministry of Planning to look into social implications of urbanisation. Ms Islam has presented a number of papers at international conferences concerning micro credit and in other areas of her expertise.

Kathleen Stack, Vice President, Program Development, joined Freedom from Hunger in 1984. She has thirty years of experience in international development, with expertise in program design, strategic business planning, microfinance, design of business and financial education for the poor, and training. She currently provides strategic leadership and coordination for the development and implementation of Freedom from Hunger's business plan. In this role, Ms. Stack develops new programs and partnerships to strengthen and expand the delivery of integrated financial and educational services to the poor. She also manages Freedom from Hunger's strategic alliance with Microfinance Opportunities for the design and training of MFIs in financial education. Ms. Stack recently led a demand assessment for the design of USAID's microenterprise development strategy for Nigeria and led an evaluation of CARE India's $10 million microfinance project for DFID. She has had extensive experience in international program management and consulting with PVOs, for-profit firms and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Ms. Stack is one of the co-creators of the Credit with Education methodology, and developed the strategy for linking Credit with Education to credit unions. She has authored or co-authored a number of practical manuals, guidelines and articles on Credit with Education, integration of microfinance with credit unions, and business and financial education. Ms. Stack provides technical assistance and training to financial institutions and NGOs in Africa, Asia and Latin America. She was a founding member of the Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network and served on the SEEP Board of Directors from 1994�1998. She has been an instructor at the University of Southern New Hampshire's Microenterprise Development Institute, where she taught organizational growth and transformation, and microenterprise training. Ms. Stack holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Clark University and a Master of International Administration from the School for International Training. She speaks fluent French.

Marie E. Mesa-Kerlin is Founder & Board President of the Pacific Island Microcredit Institute based in Guam. Marie and her colleague James Denney, Senior Counselor - Small Business Development Center, University of Guam, established this programme to address the high poverty levels on Guam and Micronesia. Also to its credit the team has secured funding of over $363,650 in grants. Initially, the program was rooted in the Citibank's Women in Business Program, sponsored by the Citigroup Foundation for the past seven years, culminating with the establishment of the NGO known as PIMI (Pacific Island Microcredit Institute). In addition, PIMI has partnered with University based programs working with the disabled. Participants who are predominately welfare recipients attend a six week training class where they learn personal finance, business planning and peer group development. Marie is a Managing Director for the local telephone company � GTA. She is the recently elected President of the Board of Directors for PIMI, the Chair for KPRG � Public Radio, Board Member for the Pacific Islands SBDC Network and Cadet Leader for Girl Scout Troop 077.

Dr. Mostaq Ahmmed, an expert in microfinance and development, is currently Director of th Training and Technical Support department at Planet Finance

He was respectively Deputy General Manager and Head of International Training & Information Department for ASA, one of the largest MFIs in Bangladesh operating with over 5 million clients. He has also worked in Bangladesh and in several other countries on research programs and development projects revolving around the relations between European countries and least developed countries (LDCs)

In addition, he is leading numerous microfinance projects and provided technical assistance to different MFIs and NGOs located in developing countries. Some of the projects include, but are not limited to Microfinance & Health in Benin, Microfinance & ICIs, Microfinance and Capacity Building in Argentina, Morocco, China, Pakistan, Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast.

Dr. Mostaq Ahmmed has a Masters Degree of Social Sciences from Dhaka University in Bangladesh, a Masters Degree in International Relations and European Politics from the University of Liege, and a PhD. in International Relations from Washington University-USA. He has written many reviews and articles on various issues regarding Development, Poverty and Micro Finance. ASA published his three books on Micro Finance: a) Fighting Poverty with Innovative Business Strategy, b) Key To Achieving Sustainability, and C) Micro Finance Training Handout. Thsose are synthesis of his personal views coupled with his professional experiences, which have been written with devotion and knowledge. He has written 15 training modules on different issues on microfinance management and devlopment.

He is an external resource person and visiting professor at HEC-France, ULB-Belgium an University of Bergamo-Italy where he is conducting course on "Microfinance and Sustainable Development Program". Jayshree Vyas is Managing Director of SEWA Bank, in Ahmedabad, and has been for the last seventeen years. Formerly she was a financial analyst for Central Bank of India, a commercial bank. She is from Ahmedabad. The SEWA Bank was founded in 1974 by 4,000 SEWA (Self Employed Women's Association) members each contributing ten rupees.

Gayle Osborne is Deputy Director, Community Services and Programs for YWCA NSW. She manages several YWCA offices and program areas including Finance First, a financial education initiative; Links to Learning for young disengaged people; Training delivery programs; and Y-ise Up, an abuse-prevention program for high school students. Prior to joining YWCA NSW in 2004, Gayle was a head of school at a leading girls' secondary school in Sydney. She has extensive experience in management, curriculum design and working with young people, their families and the community. Gayle holds Bachelor of Arts; Diploma in Education; Master of Education, Administration and Management.

Lyn Morris is the Financial Education National Director for the Enterprise New Zealand Trust. She has been awarded the Winston Churchill Fellowship for research into financial education and a British Council Grant to study assessment and enterprise programmes in the UK. Some of the research she has undertaken includes the match between employers' requirements and what Young Enterprise delivers, as well as the financial knowledge levels of senior secondary New Zealand students. In her capacity, Lyn oversees the creation of a financial education curriculum, including a framework and linkages to learning areas. She is also involved in the audit of the Ministry of Education's curriculum for financial education. Lyn is a member of both the NZQA Panel creating standards in Business Education as well as the NZQA Project Advisory Group for Financial Education. Lyn has also taught in a variety of New Zealand and overseas secondary schools.

Carol Chen is the Consultant of Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation (TWRF) based in Taiwan. Previously she was the Chief Executive Officer of TWRF. Ms.Chen is also a member of the Commission on Women's Right Promotion, Taipei Government. TWRF was established in 1987 as a non-profit organization to provide legal consultation and counseling to girls and women in the sex trade, and to help them return to their families and society. TWRF works with Citigroup in Taiwan to support their financial literacy and education programs within the country. To date, more than 15,000 students have participated in Citigroup / TWRF educational initiatives within the region. Ms. Chen holds Bachelors degree in Educational Technology from Tamkang University of Taiwan and is studying EMBA program from National Chengchi University of Taiwan.

Brian Tucker is the Project Manager for the Learning Society, a non-profit educational foundation promoting progressive education within the community. Mr Tucker is also a member of the senior administration staff at the Canadian International School, Singapore. The Learning Society was established in 2000 as a public-service organization to promote and support progressive educational programmes for adults and children and engage in charitable education in Singapore. The Society has partnered with the Singapore government to develop Schoolhouse by the Bay, an early childhood daycare and teaching center. The Learning Society also works with Citigroup in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong to support their financial literacy and education programs within the country. To date, more than 40,000 students have participated in Citigroup / Learning Society educational initiatives within the region. Mr Tucker holds Bachelors degrees in Arts and Education from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada and an MBA from the University of Western Australia.

Alex Jacobs has extensive experience of NGO operations, from varied field experience (particularly in sub-Saharan Africa) to management, board, consultancy and funding agency appointments. He has a degree in Social Anthropology and qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant while working as a private-sector management consultant. He has worked with rural communities in Zimbabwe and Kenya, and in many other countries with NGOs including Oxfam GB. Alex was part of the team that founded Mango in 1999. He currently sits on BOND's board of trustees and Oxfam GB's audit committee. He holds a part-time visiting fellowship at Oxford University, and teaches on academic programmes at several universities.