Read More About the 2019 WLA Finalists

May 26, 2019

During the IPWS Summit, held this Friday, May 31st in Shanghai, IPWS will announce the winners of the 2019 Women Leadership Awards.

The WLA is the longest running international award in China for women leaders, and was the only such award for over a decade. The WLA recognises professional women who have emerged as leaders in their field. As leaders, these inspiring women – and since 2016, men supporting women – have made a marked difference in our community and have forged paths for others to follow. The WLA recognizes leadership in women (and men) from all nationalities and across all industries.

After careful consideration of all completed nominations, the independent WLA Jury has selected the following professionals to be our WLA 2019 Finalists!

Scroll to learn more about each finalist and grab your tickets to join us this Friday at Kathleen’s Waitan on the Bund for an afternoon of amazing speakers, an active conferencing portion led by Unravel and of course, to celebrate the 7 winners of the Women Leadership Awards.

2019 Winner – Lifetime Achievement

Theresa Hudzinski

Senior Manager, Workforce Management, Shanghai Disney Resort

From the moment Theresa Hudzinski entered Disneyland in Anaheim, California, energy and excitement buzzing around her, she knew this where she belonged. She was 10 years old. At 17, she packed her things and moved from Rochester, NY to sunny California.

This is where her journey with The Walt Disney Company began, over 25 years ago at the bottom rung of a corporate ladder which at that times was a fairly male dominated industry, and climbing into roles with continued expanding leadership, and living the values of Walt Disney: to Dream, to Create, to Inspire.

As Theresa developed her leadership style, she quickly learned that relationships with her clients and how she treated her employees was the tipping point and critical success factor in achieving not only her goals but the goals of the overall organization. At her core … she was at what is now known as a “Servant Leader.”

In 2005, Theresa jumped at the chance to build a team in Hong Kong for the Grand Opening of Hong Kong Disneyland, bringing those Disney values into a new environment and culture. With an even greater appreciation of relationships returning to US, Theresa focused on key strategies involving employee engagement and retention. After a few years, she realized that she missed working internationally. Encouraging, developing and motivating employees in their Disney Career became her passion.

In 2009, she returned to Hong Kong Disneyland to build, develop and sustain a high performing team that not only supported the business but employees as well. In 2013, she raised her hand to be part of the opening team at Shanghai Disneyland Resort. Theresa knew that she could bring key learnings (positive and negative) from other sites and build an organization unique not only to Shanghai but all of China market.

In this leadership role at the Shanghai Disney Resort, Theresa continued to build on the Disney values, and was honored with a lifetime achievement award: The Walt Disney Legacy Award. Through this career, Theresa has lived these 7 core values of leadership for success at Disney: Openness, Honesty, Integrity, Diversity, Creativity, Respect, and Balance. Living these values has led to Theresa’s ability to create magic for Guests, inspire her teams and fellow coworkers, drive effective business decisions, and deliver business results.

Business Leader of the Year

Anna Chitty

CEO, PHD China

Anna Chitty is a globally recognized senior media practitioner who has worked across multiple markets. With more than 20 years of experience, Anna joined the OMG family in 2006, where she helped land blue-chip clients including Pepsi Foods and Beverages, Dongfeng Citroen & Peugeot, Intel, Danone, and Unilever, the largest media pitch ever in China at the time. Anna’s leadership reflects on how she fosters talent, grows teams and manages projects, nurturing an agency of forward-thinking individuals that together, support the business development of PHD China’s offices. Recognized by local and international award shows, she was named Greater China’s Media Planner/Buyer of the Year and winner of Campaign Asia’s Women Leading Change Award 2018.

Terecina Kwong

Chief Operating Officer, HSBC China

Terecina Kwong is Chief Operating Officer (“COO”) of HSBC Bank (China) Company Limited (“HSBC China”).

Terecina joined HSBC in 2000 as a Management Trainee and has extensive international experience working in Hong Kong and London in Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Commercial Banking and Operations, Services and Technology management (HOST), held country, regional and global roles.

In her current role, Terecina manages 10 functions, with approx. 1,200 staff nationwide. She leads firmwide transformation programmes while also responsible for operational resilience of HSBC China. In addition, Terecina established Balance China Employee Resources Group in 2018 and participating as a Co-Chair of it. The mission of Balance is to support the recruitment, development and engagement of a gender balanced workforce within HSBC. Balance focuses on enhancing the skills and knowledge of all current and aspiring leaders of the Bank, improving their ability to recruit, manage and lead a diverse workforce.

Prior to this role, Terecina was Group Head of Operational Management for HSBC Group Chief Operating Officer (“COO”) Office from 2016, based out of London, and additionally assumed her roles as COO and Head of Centres of Excellence for HSBC Chief Control Office for HSBC HOST in 2017, leading strategic global transformation initiatives. She assumed her current position as COO for HSBC China in February 2018.

Terecina holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia, Canada and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of London, United Kingdom. She also holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a member of the Chartered Management Institute, United Kingdom.

In her free time, Terecina participates extensively in corporate sustainability and community services. She also enjoys swimming, hiking and music.

Young Business Leader of the Year

Cassandra Dewi Sariganon

General Manager, BA YAN KA LA

A chemical engineering graduate, and Thai-Australian mix, I’ve grown my career in the skincare & scent industry, working with BA YAN KA LA since 2013 until today. I aim to spread awareness on the negative impacts of harmful chemical materials, and want to introduce more of nature’s benefits to the world. I also run “theNarcist” wechat blog to share scientifically-backed articles about how our choices define our happiness, and how to lead a well-balanced life with a positive mindset.

Emily Spink-McCarthy

R&D President & Educational Chief Officer, American Eagle Institute

Emily Chen is the R&D president and Chief Education Officer of American Eagle Institute. She began her career as an English teacher after graduating from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and has been working in the education field for over 10 years.

The company is a family business founded by her mother. For 20 years, the business focused on providing children 3-15 years old North American standard English education, and to date has two international Kindergartens and over 100 language schools.

Emily is in charge of curriculum development, teachers training programs, and academic quality control of the schools across China. The company expanded from Taiwan into Mainland China in 2010, since then, Emily has been leading the company’s new course development, such as the early childhood program, and also the introduction of an online learning APP.

She believes that a happy work environment helps people to be more creative and productive, so you will find the office is always full of laughter. When Emily’s not at work, you will find her playing hide and seek or reading books to her 3-year old daughter. Now that she’s expecting a second child along the way, she feels very lucky that her husband is always there to support her, especially those times when pregnancy cravings ask for different food every hour.

Entrepreneur of the Year

Layla Dong

Founder & CEO, Blockshine Technology Corporation

Founded Blockshine in 2017,Layla has led and completed the acquisition of Path Corporation (TYO:3840). Under her leadership, Blockshine has invested 18 million USD in more than 10 Blockchain projects. Till now, Blockshine has provided all-in-one business consulting and technology service to over 30 Blockchain start-up companies. As the Board Member of Blockchain Centre, the first non-profit education and knowledge hub, Ms Dong has succeeded to promote the global engagement of Blockchain Centre. Layla has been a Foundation Board Member of WEF Global Shapers Foundation since 2016.

Barbara Ex

Founder & CEO, WhiteSpace

When someone is getting to know me, there’s usually a point in the process where I respond to a rhetorical question with a literal answer. When I recognize it, I laugh, apologize and explain that I’m a former engineer, so I think in process flow diagrams and numbers but I know that’s not normal. Even though I haven’t worked as an engineer in more than 2 decades, I believe it still influences how I think about the world. I’m interested in effectiveness and workability over glamour, so I’m really interested in how to make a business productive and reach the greatest number of people. I’ve worked in chemicals, manufacturing, ship-building, construction and business-to-business IT. I like to think of the things I do as the invisible gears of industry that most people never think about but that make modern life run so smoothly.

The second most important factor in my life is that I truly consider myself a global citizen. When I was in my 20’s I was working in consulting and the company offered the opportunity of an international relocation, to move from Boston and join the European team in Cambridge, UK. I jumped at the chance. Working with clients in every country across Western Europe showed me how varied working cultures could be, even within the same continent. When I decided it was time to learn more about business, I chose to get my MBA in London because the business school there one of the most international in the world. And that decision played out well, as only 6 later, my Australian husband and I moved to China together. Now I’ve lived in China for almost 15 years, and I still wonder at my luck to find myself with a front and center seat to watch (and hopefully be part of) the development of the 21st century. And as much as I admire and take part in the explosive growth China’s social, mobile and tech platforms, I love contributing what I know best to the business economy of modern China – an affordable, efficient operation that service ordinary Chinese businesses. I’m dedicated to WhiteSpace and hope it makes a difference in the lives of my customers.

Social Contributor of the Year

Rosie Manmeet Chawla

Global Projects Advisor, GreatChina International Education

My name is Rosie and I have 16 years of corporate business experience from United States. I work in the education field to promote peace, conflict resolution, gender equality, religion equality, and global thinking. I have a master’s in Conflict Resolution and Negotiations from Columbia University in New York. I came to China to inspire future leaders of China and its civil society to focus on public and social good by creating projects on global issues.

Corinne Richeux Hua

Founder & Executive Director, Stepping Stones

Corinne Hua is the Founder and Executive Director of Stepping Stones, a non-for-profit that seeks to improve the education and welfare of Shanghai’s migrant children. Corinne is half British and half French, and a graduate of Chinese studies from Cambridge University. In 1993, she moved to Shanghai with her husband and began work in the Commercial Section of the British Consulate General and as H.R. Senior Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

After 12 successful years, she left her corporate career to pursue her dream of working with children. She has always been passionate about social service, volunteering, education and cultural exchange, and derives inspiration each day from the amazing people that Stepping Stones brings together from all walks of life in Shanghai. She has been working tirelessly over the last 8 years to grow Stepping Stones into a successful and influential organization.

Because of Corinne’s previous work experiences, she already knew a lot of English speakers in Shanghai who were looking for a meaningful way to help others. Shanghai benefits from a large expatriate and local English-speaking community, many of whom are eager for meaningful volunteering opportunities. Stepping Stones was founded to match this rich resource to a real need in the community. Stepping Stones recruits, trains, coordinates, and supports hundreds of volunteers to teach thousands of students in more than 30 migrant schools and community centers in Shanghai and more than a dozen of schools in rural China.

Innovator of the Year

Clare Cheng

Co-founder of ClareKnows, Founder of GastronoMeet and Founder of 4inGroup-brand Consulting

Clare specializes in creative branding, integrated marketing, public relations programs, new business development and brand sponsorship. She has been acclaimed by major media outlets in Taiwan, China & around the world as one of the leading creative brand marketing specialists in Asia. She holds a MA in Marketing Communication from Boston University, and BA in Commercial Design from CYCU. She has published three Best Selling Books and has also been a contributor to The Economist: Business China on Branding in China and has authored lifestyle columns for magazines in China, such as Target, Re-Luxe, Food & Wine Magazine.

After starting her advertising career at the LLT ad agency in NYC, Clare joined Ogilvy Advertising in Taipei. She later was head of brand marketing communication for Tower Records, and help positions at Hachette Filipacchi, TVBS, and California Fitness. In 2005, she co-founded the 4inGroup in Shanghai to meet the strong demand for creative branding and lifestyle marketing in the Chinese market. 4in Group has worked with leading brands, such as Loreal, Siemens, and Moet Chandon. Her company planned and coordinated large events such as the Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai World Expo, Thai 10/10, and is an official partner for Mobile World Congress.

In 2016, in response to the exponential growth in social and her passion for food, Clare created the foundation for a global network of food and wine lovers called GastronoMeet. It’s a platform for international food and wine lovers to share their stories and passion for travel, food and wine. In 2018, she partnered with leading AI expert Ed Gogel to found ClareKnows, an AI-driven marketing platform. ClareKnows won the Shanghai NTT Data Open Innovation Award in December 2018.

Gina Li

CEO & Co-Founder of Beach Creative Technology

Born from the Desert of the Gansu Province as an only child, Gina moved alone to Shanghai and graduated in 2007 from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics with a major in Business. Having been brought up to be strong and independent, she took her self-belief and became an entrepreneur. After years of working in the financial funding industry, she created her first business in 2010 focusing on marketing and production, channeling her passion to take opportunities, learn and apply her creative mindset to help businesses with their marketing and event needs.

With a great open mind, she had the chance to be exposed to different viewpoints on creativity, business and culture by opening up her own company in the international community in Shanghai – Beach Creative Tech ( www.beachcreative.com). From its humble beginning offering design services, Gina has directed and nurtured Beach into a team international team capable of creating the new product innovations across a wide variety of products and industries. The growth of Beach reflects Gina’s unyielding and fearless drive to exceed her and the teams own expectation and strive for greatness. Now, Beach is on the cusp of a level that has launched their own products in CES Las Vegas and worked with a great number of companies that has took innovation to a new market.

HeforShe Man of the Year

Miguel Z. Boy

Co-Founder at Boomi

Miguel Angel Zambrano Boy was born in Lima (Peru), where he attended a Chinese-Peruvian school. When he was 16 years old, he moved to Singapore City on his own with a scholarship at United World College, a school that focuses on sustainable growth and equality. He then took a gap year working for two high schools helping students with learning disabilities in Beijing (China) and Bogota (Colombia). He is currently enrolled in New York University Shanghai studying political science. Together with a high-school friend he founded Boomi, a start-up that aims to become a guide for sustainable living in China and SouthEast Asia by empowering individuals to uptake a zero-waste lifestyle in the city and to generate a trickle down effect in the community. Although he is still finishing up college, he didn’t want to wait any longer to start making a change, so he just did it.

George Ubbelohde

Dean, YueXiue Institute of Hospitality Administration

George is a hospitality and education industry executive with considerable global international experience in Europe, Middle East and Asia over 30 years. Devoted to hospitality education, next to his current role as the Dean of YIHA- YueXiu Institute of Hospitality Administration, he is a faculty member, certified master trainer and educator of AHLEI – American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute, holding the prestigious titles of CHA- Certified Hotel Administrator, CHE- Certified Hospitality Educator and CHT- Certified Hospitality Trainer. George regularly conducts various quality assurance projects as certified “Excellence Assessor” and “Quality Auditor” from renowned worldwide organizations.

Join us at Kathleen’s Waitan on May 31st for the 2019 IPWS Summit – click here for tickets and to read more about the program and speakers of the day.

Group Tickets:

Group Ticket of 5 – RMB 3250
Group Ticket of 10 – RMB 6000

Individual Tickets:

IPWS Members – RMB 650*
Ticket + IPWS Annual Membership – RMB 800**
Non-member – RMB 750
After Party Only – RMB 250

Purchase Ticket

*Registered IPWS Friends refers to Chinese passport holders who have registered as IPWS members by paying the annual membership fee at ipwsconnect.com. Or that you hold a valid membership with an official supporting partners. Membership status will be confirmed at the door.

**Get great value and purchase the Summit ticket and IPWS Annual Membership combination! Receive admission to the Summit as well as all member benefits and admission to IPWS and partner events for 1 year at member price. Read more about IPWS Membership on our website at ipwsconnect.com>membership

EVENT DETAILS

Date:
Friday, May 31th, 2019

Time:

12:00 – 6:00 PM (Registration from 12noon, the Leadership Summit officially starts 1.30pm sharp)
6:00 – 9:00 PM After Party Cocktails & Canapés

Venue:

Kathleen’s Waitan at The Cool Docks, 453 Waima Lu, Laomatou, No. 5 F/5 Near Zhongshan Nan Lu, Shanghai, China

Dresscode:
Business casual.

Who is invited:

We welcome everyone to join the IPWS Summit, our flagship event of the year: members and non-members, women and men, all professional levels and all nationalities.