Meet the 2021 IPWS Women Leadership Awards Jury

April 19, 2021

IPWS is happy to announce this year’s independent WLA Jury, who will evaluate the nominations for the Women Leadership Awards (WLA). The jury will oversee the selection of top candidates across the seven award categories in the WLA 2021. The WLA Winners will be announced on Saturday May 29th, 2021 in Shanghai.

Every year, 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 independent Jury members, using the established WLA Criteria Guidelines for each award category, will review all nominations received. The Jury will participate throughout the entire selection process and following the review of all nominations, the Jury will select two finalists for each WLA category. These finalists will be notified on or before May 11th.

On May 22 (the final date and location to be confirmed when Finalists are announced) the finalists in each category will be required to represent themselves in front of the Jury for a 30-minute in-person session. The Jury will score and select the recipient of each award category based on the nominees’ presentations, and their recognized accomplishments submitted beforehand through the nomination process.

The winners will be announced and recognized at the Women Leadership Awards ceremony on May 29th, 2021.

The WLA independent jury panel:

Eric Yu, Managing Director Victoria’s Secret, Greater China
Robert E. Daudt, Managing Partner, Asia Plus Capital Ltd.
Steffi Soetebier, Interimsmanager Human Resources
Heidi Dugan, Television Host, Entrepreneur, Author, Health and Wellness KOL, Mother
Nina Kong, Strategy Director at MediaMonks China
Monte Rosen, Founder & Managing Director, ELG (The Essential Learning Group)
Jury Secretary: Rita Malvone, Executive Coach, Strategic Advisor, and International Trainer

Eric Yu

Managing Director Victoria’s Secret, Greater China

Eric Yu is the Managing Director for Victoria’s Secret, Greater China. He has over 20 years of experience in the retail industry with iconic brands such as Apple, Louis Vuitton, Starbucks and most recently Victoria’s Secret. Eric brought the iconic Victoria’s Secret lingerie brand to China in 2017 and have helped developed them to become one of China’s top lingerie and beauty care brands. Eric is originally from Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Bowdoin College, Maine. He has lived in China for the past 14 years and currently lives in Shanghai with his wife and 2 beautiful daughters.

Robert E. Daudt

Managing Partner, Asia Plus Capital Ltd.

Mr. Daudt has a successful and distinguished record spanning over 30 years in the business world. He has been involved in over 120 acquisitions and divestitures in both the United States and Asia. Mr. Daudt has worked for over 20 years in China, starting the first Sino-American underground construction venture in the country. Mr. Daudt holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Minnesota and a Juris Doctorate from William Mitchell College of Law. Additionally, he holds his CPCU, AAI and CBI designations. Prior to founding Asia Plus Capital, he was Managing Director of Lazard Middle Market in Shanghai. He is also Managing Partner at Shanghai YiXing Capital Ltd., a founding partner of Smart Capital, Senior Advisor and shareholder at Driving Force Asia, Adjunct Professor at Tongji University and founding board member of ACG China.

Steffi Soetebier

Interimsmanager Human Resources

Steffi has 27 years of experience in International Human Resources in the Chemical-Pharmaceutical Industry as well as in the Automotive Business and has spent more than half of her career in China.
For the last 5 years Steffi worked for Porsche China as the Vice President Human Resources where she put a strong focus on the development and promotion of young talents and on increasing employees’ loyalty to the company.

Today Steffi is an independent HR Interimsmanager who aims to support companies to develop their employees as well as their leaders by sharing her longstanding practical knowledge of Corporate Human Resources.

Besides her undisputed expertise in operational and strategic Human Resources Steffi has a passion for organizational development, diversity and company culture. She believes that values, attitudes and behaviours shape and characterize an organization and have an impact on the business performance and productivity.

Steffi has a pronounced service attitude, considering all employees as internal customers. Working in a Human Resources Service Center as well as a HR Business Partner and internal trainer strongly impacted her self-understanding and work ethics. Since 2015 she is a certified coach (ICF).

Heidi Dugan

Television Host, Entrepreneur, Author, Health and Wellness KOL, Mother

Heidi is an Australian living and working in China for 24 years. She is best known for her TV show “You Are The Chef” aired for 19 years to over 6 million viewers daily.

She is a director of AustCham Shanghai, Council Member of University of Southern Queensland and entrepreneur of three companies. Heidi, with her deep understanding of Chinese and Western culture, along with her excellent business skills, provides strategic advice to international brands in China.

Heidi’s brand and social media promoting healthy eating and lifestyle, reaches millions of followers through her platform Heidi中洋生活：WeChat, Weibo, Instagram and other social media. Heidi has her Tmall flagship where she sells international health, wellness and gourmet food products.

Nina Kong

Strategy Director at MediaMonks China

Nina Kong is an Asian American who is building her career around injecting personal value propositions into strategies for consumer brands. She believes there is always opportunity to align commercial with cause.

Currently Strategy Director at MediaMonks China, Nina is part of WoMMen in Tech, a global community of MediaMonks staff who have come together to raise awareness around the different ways individuals experience situations at work, with empathy as the core rallying cry.

Since 2019, Nina has also been the ChiFan for Charity Shanghai Director, a volunteer run community platform supporting local charities and non-profits through social events.

She is also co-founder of South Bund, a made-to-order suit business centered on women, built on the belief that there should be a suit for every individual – not one from their mothers or fathers, and certainly not just for the boardroom.

Monte Rosen

Founder & Managing Director, ELG (The Essential Learning Group)

Monte received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he attended the Public Management Program – the precursor to the renowned Center for Social Innovation.

He held a variety of senior management positions in technology companies in the US and Asia, moving to Shanghai with his family in 2003. Before working in business, Monte fostered educational programs around special needs. In the early 1980s, Monte ran an educational program targeted to teenagers and adults with developmental disabilities. He began leading trainings for an innovative program that helped special education professionals and parents collaborate on difficult issues. In 2006, when ELG was founded, Monte was finally able to return to his early career. Upon moving to Shanghai and working with both expats and locals, Monte’s wife, Dr. Shari Rosen, realized how desperate the need for special education services in the city. She inspired Monte to change his career of twenty years to co-found ELG. Monte is proud that his work allows him to make a difference in the lives of international and local families. In keeping with the motto of his alma mater, Stanford Graduate School of Business, he aims to ‘Change Lives. Change Organizations. Change the World’ and tries to incorporate it into ELG daily.

He is on the board of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) as Finance Chair. Monte is also a past recipient of the 2018 HeforShe Man of the Year Award from IPWS.

Rita Malvone, Jury Secretary

Executive Coach, Strategic Advisor, and International Trainer

Rita is a Shanghai-based Executive Coach and Consultant, focused on performance improvement. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies, MNCs, SMEs and entrepreneurs. Her goal is to help companies and individuals operate better, smarter and faster.

Rita’s unique ability to see both the big picture and the path to get there has led to success and recognition across a range of industries and organizations. Rita is a passionate teacher and speaker on strategic planning, leadership skills, and time management. She facilitates and trains on organization development, cross-cultural communication, leadership skill development, team building, and more. She advises on employee growth, SME development, and efficiency. Clients appreciate Rita’s direct, authentic, and hands-on style, which, coupled with her sense of humor, builds trust, breaks down walls, and gets to the core of issues.

Rita’s career has included supply chain, procurement, and strategy leadership roles at Ford Motor Company, Colgate Palmolive, and Unilever. She has a BSBA from Boston University Questrom School of Management, and an MBA from the Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University.

Rita is a member of International Coaching Federation (ICF ACC), International Professional Women Society (IPWS), Rotary Club of Shanghai, Shanghai Coaching Circle, and more.