The IPWS Leadership Summit on May 25th will feature the Women Leadership Awards – the longest running international award in China for women leaders. The WLA recognizes professional women who have emerged as leaders in their field.
Each year nominees are reviewed by an independent Jury of six. Jury members are selected from a broad cross-section of industries and positions to ensure a well-rounded representation of professionals in the judging panel. Their role in business and society is also a reflection of IPWS values: to Connect, Grow, Inspire and Lead.
The Jury selects 12 finalists, two from each category. This year the Jury received 60 completed nominations to review during a two week period. Each Juror generously volunteers his/her time to carefully review each nomination and select the finalists.
Following the selection of finalists the Jury convenes for an all-day interview process where each finalist is present for a 20 minute interview.
After each interview the Jury discusses the candidates responses and at the end of the day select a winner for each category. The winners are kept under embargo until the day of the Summit where they will be announced during the IPWS Leadership Summit.
We are so grateful for the amount of time and careful consideration each Juror gives to the Women Leadership Awards. Read more about the amazing Jury below, and meet them at the IPWS Leadership Summit on May 25th at the Bellagio Shanghai Hotel. Tickets are on sale now, click here to purchase yours today.
Guergana Guermanoff – New Zealand’s Consul-General to Shanghai
Jury President
Guergana Guermanoff took up her role as New Zealand Consul-General in Shanghai in February 2015. She is a Mandarin speaker trained at Taiwan National University, and served at the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing from 1999 to 2001, responsible for the economic and trade portfolio. Guergana returned to the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing as the Counsellor for Education from 2006 to 2010.
Prior to becoming Consul-General in Shanghai, Guergana was Lead Adviser in the China team at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Her other roles have included Regional Director for Americas, Europe, Japan and Korea with Education New Zealand and working in the private sector.
Veomayoury “Titi” Baccam – Government Relations & Corporate Social Responsibility, the American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai
Ms. Baccam is the Director of Government Relations & Corporate Social Responsibility at the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. She is responsible for coordinating the Chamber’s advocacy efforts with the U.S.Government and Chinese government and its Corporate Social Responsibility programs. Prior to joiningAmCham, Ms. Baccam worked for 12 years in the U.S. diplomatic service. Her previous postings includeMoscow, Geneva, Washington D.C., and Shanghai. She received her bachelor’s degree from George Washington University and a Masters of International and Public Affairs from Columbia University.
Florian Bohnert, Head of Global Partnerships, Mobike
Florian’s personal brand is built around entrepreneurship, pluriculturalism & environmentalism. These keywords led him to China’s startup ecosystem for the first time in 2010, and most recently to Mobike, acquired by Meituan-Dianping in a USD 3.7 billion acquisition in April 2018.
As the first foreigner in Mobike (employee #37), he internationalized the company by launching the service in Singapore, opening up markets outside of China and creating international partnerships, recruiting brilliant talents & laying out the foundation for international expansion.
He is also Co-Director & Mentor in Startup Grind China, Mentor in Chinaccelerator & Lecturer at Shanghai University. Prior to Mobike, he founded WeSmart, an energy management SaaS platform, servicing MNCs in greater China, raising 7 million RMB in the company’s first round of funding.
Jinfu Chan – Chief Financial Officer, GE Power – Asia Supply Chain for Gas Power Systems
Jinfu is a Chief Financial Officer with experience working in both the Financial Services and Energy industry. She has led teams to achieve financial targets in partnership with business leaders, executed through divestitures, acquisitions and integrations as well as worked on development of joint ventures.
Jinfu was recruited into GE’s Financial Management Program and rotated through stints that provided foundational building across various finance skillsets.
In 2013, she was named CFO for GE Capital Greater China and Southeast Asia, and in 2016, was promoted to CFO for GE Power’s Gas Power Systems Supply Chain in Asia. Jinfu enjoys working with diverse teams having lived and worked internationally for nine years.
Martin Daffner – Founding Partner, Entrepreneur In Residence, Emerge Innovation
With over 25 years of experience driving innovation and building innovation organizations with firms like Procter & Gamble, Cisco and Avery Dennison, Martin comes with world leading hands-on knowledge and experience turning innovation concepts and ideas into real business outcomes. In 2006, Martin relocated to China to start up the Asia Pacific Innovation Center for a Fortune 500 company.
Most recently,Martin has been working with Fortune 500 firms in China to design and deliver incubation and acceleration programs. More specifically, he’s designed and is currently delivering idea acceleration programs for Intel China’s Ideas2Reality Program,
Johnson & Johnson’s Emerging Market Innovation Center, and Honeywell China’s Idea Incubator. Martin plays many roles in the innovation ecosystem in Asia, and is currently the Director of Innovation at Hult International Business School in Shanghai as well as a Faculty Supervisor for Jiaotong’s Global Corporate Lab Program.
Audry (Hong) Li – Partner, Zhong Lun Law Firm
Audry is a partner of Zhong Lun Law Firm based in its Shanghai office. She co-heads the firm’s M&A practice group and is also a member of the Management Committee of Zhong Lun Shanghai Office.
Her practice is focused on serving large multi-national companies as their trusted legal adviser and her clients are some of the largest private companies in the world such as Koch Industries and Koch companies. Her recent notable transactions include advising Barrick Gold Corporation on the strategic cooperation & US$ 960m sale of Veladero Mine to Shandong Gold Group and Carlyle Group/Onex Group on US$5.6bn acquisition of GM’s Allison transmission division; assisting Christie’s in becoming the first international fine art auction house to operate independently in China and bringing the first “Longines Global Champions Tour” (the world’s five star horse jumping competition) to Shanghai.
Audry has been highly ranked as Leading Individual in Corporate/M&A in China and Asia Pacific by Chambers & Partners Global and Asia Pacific each year from 2008 through 2018, and was appreciated as “a leading authority in the market” and “a spectacular practitioner” with “complete understanding of local market and excellent business sense and innovation in transactions”. She was selected as a “Top Woman Lawyer of Shanghai” by the Shanghai Bar Association in 2011 and was recognized as the “Top 15 Women Lawyers in China” by Asia Legal Business in 2012 (ranked No.1).
Join us on May 25th at the Bellagio Shanghai Hotel to thank the Jury and celebrate with the Women Leadership Awards finalists and winners!
