Speakers

PEGGY FANG ROE

Peggy is the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Asia Pacific, Marriott International, Inc. who is responsible for Brand, Marketing, Sales and Consumer Services for 12 countries, 9 brands and 180+ hotels in the Asia Pacific region. She is focused on building the Asia Pacific customer base, hotel performance and the go to market strategies for Marriott’s brands.”.

Prior to this role, Peggy served as Vice President, Global Operations at Marriott’s global headquarters where she lead the “Future of Meetings” global innovation initiative designed to bring next generation meeting experiences to event planners and customers. Prior to Marriott, Peggy held roles at GE Capital, Amazon.com and Homestead.com in Silicon Valley.”.

Peggy received her master’s degree from Harvard Business School and bachelor’s degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of Michigan. She lives in Hong Kong with her husband and kids.”.

STEPHANIE LINNARTZ

Stephanie Linnartz is one of the most influential players in the travel, leisure, and lifestyle space, overseeing a wide range of critical business functions at Marriott, the world’s largest hospitality company with over one million rooms, 30 brands, and 500,000 employees in more than 100 countries. As Global Chief Commercial O_icer, Stephanie oversees consumer interaction with some of the world’s most venerable brands, including: The Ritz-Carlton® , St. Regis® Hotels & Resorts, The Luxury Collection® , Marriott Hotels® , Sheraton® , W® Hotels Worldwide, Courtyard® , Residence Inn® , Westin® , Renaissance® Hotels, and Le Méridien®.

Growing up in a hotel industry family, Stephanie started her career at Hilton Hotels Corporation. She joined Marriott in 1997 as a financial analyst, working her way up in a wide range of positions with increasing scope, and is now one of the company’s highest-ranking executives, responsible for all aspects of marketing, ecommerce, digital, sales, reservations, revenue management, information technology, and consumer insight functions worldwide. A penchant for technology and trends drives her passion for predicting and managing against important shifts and disruptors in the dynamic travel industry.

Named one of the world’s most influential marketing executives by Forbes , Stephanie has a unique perspective on consumer sentiment and spending across the globe. She has been a speaker at the World Economic Forum and is a sought-after conference panelist. Her professional ascent has been covered by multiple media outlets, including FORTUNE , where she also contributes commentary for the magazine’s popular ‘Most Powerful Women’ series. Additional bylined thought-leadership pieces can be found on Overheard@Marriott.

Stephanie is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, holds an MBA from William & Mary, and has completed additional graduate studies at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Development. She remains involved in academic circles through guest lectures and commencement addresses. An active member of the Marriott Board of Director’s Committee for Excellence and the company Diversity and Inclusion and Green Councils, she also serves on the board of Fair Chance, a non-profit focused on transforming the lives of children living in poverty. Stephanie travels the world extensively, is an avid runner, and resides in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband and two young children.

IPSITA DASGUPTA

Ipsita Dasgupta graduated from Columbia University in NY and Harvard Business School. She has held leadership roles at General Electric, Cisco and IBM. Ipsita said there’s nowhere she would rather work than General Electric while starting a family.“The support for women here is by far the best of all the companies I’ve worked for, which is surprising for an industrial company,” she said. “But I think that’s exactly why GE is such a good environment for women. We focus on results,” she said. Reflecting on her own MBA experience at Harvard Business School, Ipsita says that the most valuable skill she learned was the ability to develop a credible and informed point of view on any project or idea. “In a big company people sometimes go through the motions without developing a point of view.”.

CHEF ERMANNO LELLI

Ermanno Lelli is the Executive Chef, Entrepreneur and Food Consultant and has lived all over the world, spending the last nine years in Asia, six of them in Hong Kong, running various cooking enterprises and marketing consultancies. Born into a large Neapolitan family, where meals were always made from scratch, he is justifiably passionate about traditional Italian food. He believes being able to cook is not only an important life skill, but also a hugely adaptable talent which meant he has never been short of work. Previously worked at Le Meridien, Shanghai as well.

BEN CAPELL

Ben is a management consultant and an academic researcher, based in Hong-Kong. Ben partners closely with executives, senior HR managers and professionals to enable them to grow their organization and careers in today’s fast paced and complex business environment. His areas of expertise include talent development, cross-cultural management, organizational and personal trust, people development and diversity and inclusion.

Over the years Ben had the opportunity to design and implement large scale people management initiatives in a variety of global organizations. Between the years 2004 to 2011 Ben worked for Hewlett-Packard where he headed regional and global roles in the areas of leadership development, D&BEN, talent management and employee engagement. His experience comprises a wide portfolio of successful projects with a diverse range of organizations, including Danone, Air Products, Nike, PricewaterhouseCoopers, The UPF University, Barcelona Fire Department, Electrolux, Gensler, Grenoble Business School and Lafarge.

Ben’s international experience includes living in the U.S., Japan, Israel, Spain, Turkey and Hong-Kong, and leading multinational teams located in wide range of locations across four continents. Ben speaks various languages, including English, Hebrew, Spanish, Catalan and Japanese.

Ben has a Ph.D. in Management Sciences with a focus on people management from ESADE Business School in Barcelona (Spain). In addition, Ben holds a Masters degree in Management Sciences from ESADE, a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Hartford (U.S.A), and a B.A. in Human Resources Management from Tel-Aviv College of Management (Israel). In addition Ben is head researcher of ESADE's Future of Work Chair, an academic research unit that is dedicated to help organizations prepare for tomorrow's workplace reality and a Research Fellow at the University of Hong Kong.

ABBY ZHANG

Abby Zhang co-founded YEECHOO in 2014. Prior to YEECHOO, Abby worked with Citi in New York, Credit Suisse in Hong Kong, involved in numerous cross-border M&A in consumer, mining and financial sectors. In 2013, she successfully helped the U.S. tech education startup General Assembly expand its Asian markets. She holds a Bachelor (Honors) in Politics & Economics from Georgetown University. When not working, you might find Abby skiing in Hokkaido, backpacking in Nepal or scuba diving in Australia.

SHAN SHAN

Shan Shan co-founded YEECHOO in 2014. Before pursuing her passion for fashion, she has had over 6 years experiences with Investment Banking Division at JPMorgan, UBS and Jefferies in both Australia and Hong Kong. She was involved in numerous multi-billion mergers, acquisitions, IPOs, equity and debt transactions. She holds a Bachelor (Honors) in Actuarial Science, University of Melbourne. Besides running an exciting fashion startup, Shan Shan enjoys travelling and spending quality time with her 1.5 years old daughter and family.

CRAIG S. SMITH

Craig Smith is President and Managing Director of Asia Pacific for Marriott International. He is responsible for the strategic leadership of all operational and development functions spanning 20 countries and 20 brands. He oversees more than 500 hotels and 124-thousand employees.

Prior to his current position, Craig served two-and-a-half years as President of Marriott’s Caribbean and Latin American region. Before moving to Caribbean and Latin American region in 2011, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Asia Pacific. Being son of an American diplomat, Craig has lived in 13 countries, working in North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Australia. He is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Portuguese.

Craig has earned an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, an Executive MBA from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, an Executive MBA from Sao Paulo Business School, and a Bachelor of Science from Brigham Young University. An alumnus of Harvard Business School, he graduated with the 188th Advanced Management Program.

DEBBIE MARRIOTT HARRISON

Debbie Marriott Harrison is Marriott International’s Global Officer, Marriott Culture and Business Councils. In this role, which she has held since October 2013, Ms. Harrison oversees the strategy for the company’s 82 Worldwide Business Councils and works with Marriott associates, owners and franchisees to promote and protect Marriott’s culture and legacy – one of the company’s key competitive advantages. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Marriott International and serves on the board of the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities..

Ms. Harrison, an honors graduate of Brigham Young University with a degree in History, has held several positions within the company since 1975, including accounting positions at corporate headquarters and operations positions at the Key Bridge and Dallas Marriott hotels. More recently, Ms. Harrison served as Senior Vice President of Government Affairs from June 2007 through October 2013 and as Vice President of Government Affairs from May 2006 to June 2007. She also has served on the board of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp.

An active member of the community, Ms. Harrison serves on the Board of Directors of the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, and on the board of the D.C. College Access Program. She was involved in the Mayo Clinic Leadership Council for the District of Columbia, the Bullis School board, and has served on the boards of several mental health organizations, including The National Institute of Mental Health Advisory Board, Depression and Related Affective Disorders Association, and the Center for the Advancement of Children’s Mental Health in association with Columbia University.

As the daughter of the Executive Chairman and the granddaughter of Marriott International’s founders, Ms. Harrison’s leadership includes an extensive knowledge of the company, its history, its culture and its mission. Ms. Harrison’s enthusiasm, judgment and deep experience with the company and its culture provides valuable insight and strategic focus.

KAMAL AHMAD

Kamal Ahmad is the Founder of the Asian University for Women. Based in Bangladesh the University is dedicated exclusively to the education and leadership development of women from throughout the region (www.asian-university.org). Opened in 2008, the University now has students from 15 countries.

Kamal also serves as the President & CEO of the Asian University for Women Support Foundation based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and in that capacity spearheads a global effort to mobilize resources for the University. Nearly $100 million in cash and in-kind contributions have been contributed to AUW.

Growing up as a teenager in Bangladesh, he founded at age 14 a series of highly successful internationally-funded alternative schools for underprivileged children. As a freshman at Harvard College, he also founded and ran the Overseas Development Network – a national network of 70 campus student groups dedicated to engagement in and promotion of grassroots international development.

He served on the staff of the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation and UNICEF prior to entering law school. While practicing law with the New York law firm of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, he also conceived and co-directed the World Bank/UNESCO Task Force on Higher Education & Society (www.tfhe.net). He has also practiced in London with the US law firm of Mayer Brown.

He previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of BRAC USA. He also served as a jury member for the Cartier Award for Women’s Entrepreneurship.

He is a recipient of a number of awards including United Nations Gold Peace Medal & Citation Scroll, given by the Paul G. Hoffman Awards Fund for “outstandingly significant work in national and international development”; Time magazine College Achievement Award which cited him as “one of 20 most outstanding undergraduates in the nation”; Global Leader for Tomorrow Award from the World Economic Forum; and the John Phillips Award from his alma mater the Phillips Exeter Academy.

He holds a B.A. from Harvard College and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He is admitted to practice law in the State of New York.

RIMU BYADYA

Before college, Rimu had a desire to have a broader perspective of the world. Indeed, this was one of the reasons why she applied to AUW: “AUW aims to prepare women to be leaders in their community as well as country, and I always wanted to be one to bring positive changes in people’s lives through my education and work.” While her parents were at first not supportive, they were convinced once they saw the “international student body and faculty,” aspects which Rimu deeply appreciated of her undergraduate experience.

Right after graduating, Rimu began working as a Junior Fellow at the Asian University for Women, where she feels she is giving back to the community that helped her so much. In this job, she led a team of students to volunteer as peer health educators, and collaborated with the Health and Wellness Center to address students’ health concerns. She also served as a Teaching Assistant for a course called Understanding the Human Body.

Since her work as a Junior Fellow, Rimu has been selected for the BRAC Young Professionals Program, where she focuses on maternal health. Her first project aimed to improve maternal, neonatal, and child care in Mymensingh. Her role in the project was to analyze opportunities for recovering costs and to ensure that the program was sustainable. Her favorite aspect of this job was “meeting new people everyday, learning about their economic conditions, and how microfinance is helping them to fight against poverty.” She adds, “It’s just like discovering a different Bangladesh within Bangladesh with a new lens.” In addition to working there, Rimu also worked as a Co- Director of School of Life, a project sponsored by the United States Department of State. For this project, Rimu engaged various schools in Bangladesh in career planning initiatives and service activities. With all of this on her plate, Rimu credits her AUW education for having prepared her. There, she participated in many debates and discussions about real world problems and ethics, volunteered at the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center, and taught English to children in slums. “AUW’s liberal arts education has prepared me in every single way so that I can give back to society,” she says. “During my undergraduate years, I was actively engaged with community service. The AUW education also emphasized not only writing skills but also communication skills, which enabled me to pitch myself.”

After graduating, Mursal worked in the Government of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Counter Narcotics in the General Planning and Policy Directorate. She, along with Fatima Sabri, also an AUW graduate, designed the orientation program for interns and new fellows. Towards the end of her fellowship, she and her fellow AUWian created a campaign to promote awareness about sexual harassment in the workplace. The campaign was broadcasted in local newspapers and on local news channels.

Now, Rimu has graduated from the BRAC Young Professionals Program at the top of her cohort. She was selected for an exposure visit to Liberia and Sierra Leone, where she worked with Ebola survivors and observed gender roles. Upon her return, Rimu was named Senior Sector Specialist for the Health, Nutrition and Population Program. Going forth, Rimu “would like to work to improve the public health awareness among people, especially regarding reproductive health and women’s empowerment.” Her goal is to “create a sustainable model of BRAC health program.”

MURSAL HAMRAZ

Mursal, the youngest of nine children, grew up in Kabul watching her sister secretly teach young Afghan girls in their home. When questioned by Taliban authorities on the frequent visits from neighboring girls, Mursal’s sister lied, claiming she was only teaching from the Qur’an. Mursal grew up surrounded by examples of strong women who valued education: her mother returned to school when Mursal was a teenager, after having to drop out in 9th grade to get married. Nevertheless, just as Mursal was completing high school, she witnessed her mother earn her own secondary school degree and enroll in an institute of higher learning. Dreaming of pursuing her own higher education, Mursal discovered the Asian University for Women through her father – a vocal retired police officer – who encouraged her to apply.

Since then, Mursal not only traveled by herself to a new country for the first time, but she has also opened her heart and mind to the world’s plurality of ethnicities, religions, and opinions by living and learning with the diverse AUW student body. After her second undergraduate year, Mursal described her arrival at AUW as a “warm welcome in my soul.” Mursal decided to major in Economics in order to explore her interest in how the developing world’s economies continue to evolve.

At AUW, Mursal excelled in academics and beyond. She volunteered at the JAAGO Foundation to promote the rights and living standards of the underprivileged in Bangladesh. Mursal also joined the Center for Leadership Assistance and Promotion, a student organization co-founded by an AUW classmate, through which Mursal worked with children from the slums of Chittagong and the hijra communities living on the fringes of society. In her first year at AUW, her writing led her to be selected to be a World Pulse 2010 Voices of Our Future correspondent. Later on, she attended the US-Afghan Women’s Council meeting in New York City as the AUW representative in 2011. During one of her summers, Mursal worked as an intern with the Government of Afghanistan in the Ministry of Counter Narcotics. After impressing them with her work ethic and creativity, Mursal was offered a one-year fellowship at the Ministry of Counter Narcotics following her graduation.

After graduating, Mursal worked in the Government of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Counter Narcotics in the General Planning and Policy Directorate. She, along with Fatima Sabri, also an AUW graduate, designed the orientation program for interns and new fellows. Towards the end of her fellowship, she and her fellow AUWian created a campaign to promote awareness about sexual harassment in the workplace. The campaign was broadcasted in local newspapers and on local news channels.

After the fellowship at the Ministry, Mursal joined the Office of the First Lady of Afghanistan as a Technical Assistant. Meanwhile she joined some youth organizations and campaigns including Afghanistan Needs You Campaign to raise and address the recent issue of illegal outmigration of Afghans, and Youth Thinkers’ Society to later become part of the organizing committee for the first ever Model United Nations Conferenced called Pamir in Kabul.

After working for a couple of months in the First Lady’s Office, she joined an educational programming project of the US embassy in the Girls’ Dorm inside Kabul University where she worked as Student Affairs Specialist coordinating and organizing educational workshops and seminars on leadership and career services skills, cultural and fun activities events, and arranging informative sessions on various educational opportunities such as scholarships, internships, workshops outside the dorm and so on.

She recently joined the First Lady’s Office once again as Secretary to her Excellency the First Lady whom she considers an inspirational and influential role model not only to her but all other Afghan women.

GAUTAM BHANDARI

Gautam Bhandari is an international hospitality executive, currently based in Hong Kong and serves as Marriott International’s Vice President of Revenue Strategy - Asia Pacific, where he oversees Top Line performance for all hotels across the continent.

He joined Marriott International as Area Director of Revenue Strategy for South Asia, Malaysia, & Australia, and advanced to operational roles in Mumbai, initially as a Hotel Manager and subsequently as General Manager. In 2013, he took on a regional role as Vice President, Sales & Marketing of Asia-Pacific excluding China. His leadership and commitment to excellence have resulted in numerous awards for revenue growth, turnaround performance, and customer service.

He spent his early career at InterContinental Hotels Group and Marriott Hotels Australia in revenue management, sales, and operations roles.

JENNIFER BROWN

Jennifer Brown is the General Manager of the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel. Prior to returning to Australia Jennifer spend five year in the United States, firstly as the General Manger of The Ritz-Carlton Battery Park, New York before moving to Washington DC for over four year as General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown.

Prior to working in the United States Jennifer spent two years in Turkey, joining the pre-opening of The Ritz-Carlton Istanbul as Hotel Manager and nine years in Australia with Ritz-Carlton roles including the positon of General Manager at both The Ritz-Carlton Double Bay and The Ritz-Carlton Sydney.

Prior to joining The Sydney Harbour Marriott, Jennifer has spent time on many pre-opening projects to launch new properties and has been part of opening team in, Bali, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, Korea, Turkey, Mexico and the United States. After graduating from hotel school in England, progressed her career through a graduate management programme with extensive experience in hotel operations holding leadership roles in most operational departments.

Jennifer was an active speaker during her time in DC to external organisations for The Ritz-Carlton Leadership School in customer service philosophies and internal culture and was awarded the Women in Business award by the Washington Business Journal in 2006. Jennifer is an industry advisory board member of the Laureate University Blue Mountains International Hotel School and Tourism Transport and Infrastructure Advisory Board in Australia.

MINNIE XU

Minnie has been with Marriott for 23 years, first hotel job was department secretary and had professional exposure in rooms, sales and marketing, revenue and 5 hotels opening experiences. She had work in different market including Shenyang, Wuxi, Tianjin, Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuhan, Hangzhou. Minnie is the first local General manager in greater china and has served in several GM roles and received many awards such as hotel of the year, leadership excellence and GM of the year for multiple years. In 2013, Minnie start the cluster GM role look after the properties in Hangzhou and surrounding cities and recently be promoted to MPVP Hangzhou.

JANET MCNAB

Janet McNab oversees all of the hotel operations at the 4,000-room Sheraton Macao Hotel – the largest Sheraton worldwide – as well as the 400-room St. Regis Macao. Australian-born, but of Italian descent, Ms. McNab began her career with legacy Starwood Hotels & Resorts 25 years ago out of Brisbane. She has spent more than 13 of those years in Asia, working at properties throughout Thailand, China, Indonesia, and now – Macau. Prior to her current assignment, Ms. McNab served dual roles as both Area General Manager, legacy Starwood Hotels & Resorts in South Thailand and General Manager of The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa from 2013 to 2015.

REBECCA SAINT CLAIRE

Rebecca is originally from the UK, Rebecca Saint-Claire is the Director of Finance (DOF) at the JW Marriott Khao Lak, a unique property with many learning opportunities and challenges. Working on a resort of this size is a very different experience to life in a city hotel and broadens her skills and expertise in different areas. Previously working as DOF and was involved with the Courtyard opening at Mexico City Airport in April 2012. This was an exciting new opportunity, working internationally and a chance to learn a second language. Prior to relocating to Mexico, Rebecca had spent the last 5 years working for Marriott Vacation Club International based in Thailand.

PETER HILDEBRAND

Peter Hildebrand set his sights on a career in the hotel business after completing an Economics degree at University of Queensland, Australia. Having spent most of his career moving up through the ranks of sales and marketing, eventually as Hyatt International’s Director of Marketing for China and Taiwan, Peter decided he wanted P&L responsibility and moved into operations in 2006. Now with more than 2 decades of hospitality experience, and having worked in Australia, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore, Peter returned to Hong Kong in November 2011 after an interesting stint as the pre-opening and then operating General Manager of Westin Fuzhou, a 5 star hotel in “up-and-coming” Fuzhou, in China’s Fujian province. Peter is now General Manager for W Hong Kong where brings its signature Whatever/Whenever® service philosophy and imaginative sensory experience, it enchants jetsetters and businessmen with an award-winning bliss spa, advanced business facilities, superior recreation facilities, two signature restaurants Sing Yin and KITCHEN, an eventful WOOBAR, and WET DECK poolside bar. With the passions for fashion, music and design, the 393-room property offers guests high-profile “W happenings” with glamorous experiences. Peter completed an EMBA from Rutgers State University of New Jersey while based in Shanghai in 2005.

CHLOE CHICK

Chloe is the Founder of SisuGirls, a Singapore registered social enterprise, which aims to encourage girls to be determined, b