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Laurien Field
Global Gender Lead for Disruptive Technologies and Funds at IFC Private Equity Funds GroupLaurien leads IFC’s work in gender globally across private equity and venture capital funds, as well as direct venture capital investments. She is also an Investment Officer, responsible for originating, executing and supervising investment in PE and VC funds across Asia, based in the Bangkok office. In previous roles with IFC she worked on direct equity and funds investments in Africa and South Asia. Laurien started her career in Ernst & Young’s private equity advisory team in London. She is a Charted Accountant and holds a BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics.
Heather Kipnis
Global Product Lead, Gender and Economic Inclusion Group at IFC Private Equity Funds GroupHeather oversees the development and delivery of gender and inclusion solutions for the private sector that supports the economic participation of women and underserved groups. She is responsible for global product development, partnerships, and thought leadership for new solutions covering inclusive investing, disruptive technology, and supply chains. Heather co-led IFC’s groundbreaking research on gender diversity in private equity and venture capital and has co-authored several tools including IFC’s guide to gender-smart investing for private equity funds drawing insights from over 160 fund managers in emerging markets. Heather brings over 15 years of experience in international development and financial services across Latin America & the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East. Heather started her career in Lehman Brothers private wealth management and has served as an advisor for the Aspen Institute’s ANDE Gender Programs, the Global Impact Investing Networks (GIIN) gender-lens investing initiatives, and 2xGlobal. She holds an MBA in Global Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a BS in Decision and Information Sciences from University of Florida.
Audrey Woon
Managing Director and the Chief Compliance Officer of HillhouseMs. Woon is a Managing Director and the Chief Compliance Officer at Hillhouse. Prior to joining Hillhouse in 2021, Ms. Woon spent 16 years at Goldman Sachs (Asia), most recently as Managing Director and Head of Asia Prime Services Consulting where she supported new hedge fund launches and provided ongoing regulatory advisory to alternative asset managers. For the first 13 years at Goldman, Ms. Woon was in Global Compliance where she was Deputy Co-Head of APAC Securities Division Compliance, managing a team of 70 compliance professionals across the region that covered equities and fixed income sales and trading as well as investing businesses. Ms. Woon started her career as a corporate associate in law firms based in Los Angeles and Tokyo. Ms. Woon holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Cornell University and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Cornell Law School, both in New York.
Hemal Mirani
Managing Director of HarbourVest Partners (Singapore) Pte LtdHemal Mirani rejoined HarbourVest's senior management team in Asia in 2015 to focus on investments and investor relations across the Asia Pacific region.
Hemal first joined HarbourVest in 1997 and spent eleven years developing relationships with leading Asian private equity managers and working with our investors and consultants across the region to advance and optimize their private market investment programs. She rejoined HarbourVest after six years with CVC Capital Partners in Hong Kong, where she was head of investor relations in Asia and Chief Administrative Officer.
Hemal received a BA in Commerce from Sydenham College (Bombay) in 1989, an MA in International Studies with a Japanese language concentration from the Joseph H. Lauder Institute, and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School in 1997. The latter two were part of a joint degree program at the University of Pennsylvania. Hemal speaks fluent Japanese.
Roshini Bakshi
Managing Director of Everstone Capital Asia Pte. Ltd.Roshini is the Managing Director, Private Equity at Everstone Capital Asia Pte and the Head of Impact for the entire group. As an MD , she is focused on evaluating new opportunities, including thematic strategies in the consumer sector, and driving operational improvement in portfolio companies in the areas of, human capital management, brand transformation and implementation of ESG and Impact. She manages a diverse portfolio of companies based in India, and South East Asia as part of her remit.
Roshini has more than 30 years of general management and marketing experience and strong track record in consumer industries, setting strategy for creative consumer-driven services and improving operational effectiveness to create greater financial returns. Prior to Everstone, she was the CEO for the Walt Disney Company’s consumer, media and retail business for South Asia, where she set up and grew the business to more than $300 million in revenue. Some of her earlier roles were with Unilever, American Express, Mattel and Polaris.
Roshini serves on the boards of Persistent Systems, JM Financial Products as an Independent Director and on Everlife Pte, Singapore and Culinary Brands , India as a nominee director. She believes very strongly in young entrepreneurs as the future for innovation and growth and works closely with Endeavor.org as a mentor and global panelist helping shortlist the next generation of growth businesses.
Roshini holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad, India) and an undergraduate degree in economics from St Stephens College (Delhi, India).
She lives in Singapore and is a keen marathoner and is very passionate about running, finding a way to run and discover places on foot wherever she travels.
Carmen Yuen
General Partner at Vertex Venture Management Pte LtdCarmen Yuen joined Vertex Ventures Singapore office in 2014. Her focus is in Singapore and Southeast Asia, leading investments and helping portfolio founders to grow their companies into regional and global champions. Carmen sits on the board of many of our portfolio companies and works closely with founders on the companies' strategies including fundraising, recruitment and market penetration. Carmen has served many years in Singapore’s government-backed venture capital initiatives including EDB Investments and Spring SEEDS Capital where she worked closely with many start-up companies in Singapore.
Prior to joining Vertex, she was with Majuven, a Singapore angel fund. Carmen currently serves on the Board of TickledMedia (dba The Parentinc).
Carmen received her BBA from Simon Fraser University.
Suresh Chandra Dalai
Managing Director of Growtheum Capital Partners Pte LtdSuresh is a Managing Director at Growtheum Capital Partners’ Portfolio & Operations team. He drives value creation within portfolio companies and supports the assessment of potential investments. He is also a member of Growtheum’s Diversity, Inclusion & Gender; Investment; and Valuation Committees.
Suresh has 20+ years experience in planning and executing transformations, having held senior-level operating roles within consumer brands as well as consulting. In his previous role as Senior Director in Alvarez & Marsal’s Performance Improvement services in Asia, Suresh co-led the retail and consumer practice in the region. He helped PE-owned portfolio companies and corporates execute on strategic growth, process, organization, and digitalization opportunities.
Suresh served as interim COO / Board member of CVC-backed sport retailer in Indonesia, PT MAP Aktif Adiperkasa Tbk. He worked with the management team to transform processes & capabilities to accelerate product flow through the end-to-end value chain. The company and PE successfully launched an IPO.
Suresh also led operations as a part of the leadership teams for Ermenegildo Zegna, Greater China and Levi Strauss, Asia, Middle East, and Africa.
Suresh speaks extensively throughout Asia about achieving operational excellence in retail and has shared his perspectives with publications such as CNBC, The Economist, and Forbes. He has worked in the U.S., China, SE Asia, India, and Japan. He has an MBA from Columbia University in New York.
Amanda A. Satterly
Principal Social Development Specialist (Gender and Development) Private Sector Operations Department at Asian Development BankAmanda leads the efforts of ADB’s private sector operations to integrate gender into its investment projects and operation. She is responsible for overseeing and providing advice on ADB-financed private sector investment projects across a broad range of sectors and countries in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Asia and the Pacific.
Before joining ADB in 2019, she had more than 15 years’ experience working with the private sector to empower women and drive inclusive growth in developing markets across Africa and the Asia Pacific.
Amanda has a Master of Science in Poverty Reduction from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from the University of Queensland.
Tabongkod (Khun Thom) Peunchob
Partner at Navis Capital (Thailand)Tabongkod (Khun Thom) Peunchob is a Partner of Navis based in Thailand and an Investment Committee member. She focuses on investments in Thailand and Vietnam where she leads investment teams in making, monitoring and exiting investments, and sits on the boards and/or executive committees of several Navis portfolio companies.
Prior to Navis, Khun Thom was formerly from the Quant Group Company Limited Thailand, where she was a Director since 2008. She has advised Navis Capital in acquiring Golden Food Siam in Thailand and has assisted Navis to divest Dunkin’ Donuts and Au Bon Pain business in Thailand. Prior to that she was with CRP Jewelry Thailand as Assistant to Managing Director for 6 years.
Khun Thom holds an MBA (Finance & Entrepreneurial Management Major) from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance major and Marketing minor) from Thammasat University Bangkok.
Alison Eskesen
Impact Investing Director of Investing in WomenAlison Eskesen is the Impact Investing Director for Investing in Women, a development initiative of the Australian Government. Alison has significant industry, ESG, and international development experience in growing small businesses and broadening market access. Prior to Investing in Women, she was Managing Director of Impact and Strategy at a private credit asset manager. Alison opened and led the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth in Asia Pacific, the company's philanthropic hub. Her tenure with Mastercard culminated with the U.S. Secretary of State - in recognition of the India economic inclusion portfolio - bestowing the Global Award for Corporate Excellence to Mastercard. Alison was a founding Director of Grow Asia, an agriculture multi-stakeholder partnership, which was catalyzed by the World Economic Forum and the ASEAN Secretariat. Alison spent the majority of her career at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where she mobilized $2.8 billion in domestic private capital for local development projects.
Ms. Eskesen received a M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University and B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Colgate University. She is a Fulbright Fellow, who researched the network effect of women role models in Paraguay. Alison has previously served as an Advisory Board member of the Aspen Development Network (ANDE) Southeast Asia chapter and on the Advisory Committee for the ANDE Gender Equality Action Lab.