Lâle Kesebi is a sought-after strategist, transformation expert, innovator and speaker. As Founder & CEO of Human at Work, she helps CEOs and their teams transform their businesses into high performance ventures by designing workplaces that are innovative and human-centred at their core.

Lâle has led teams in over 40 countries and worked directly with CEOs, Chairs and senior level executives, building trust, leading transformation and executing impact fully on big ideas with teams influencing change in organizations. She has lived in Asia for over 20 years working across both for profit and for impact sectors in leadership roles culminating in nearly 15 years at Li & Fung, the last 8 years of which she was a member of the executive team leading organisational transformation, building out innovation and designing the social impact of the company through purpose. Her work and that of her teams has been featured in Forbes and resulted in a co-authored case in MIT’s Sloan Review.

Lâle speaks regularly on leadership and transformation strategy. In 2017, she delivered the commencement address to the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill’s Kenan Flagler Business School. In 2018, she gave a TED talk on “Why it’s time to bring yourself to work.”

Lâle is an INED Board member of Pacific Legend, a Trustee of the Asian University for women and The Women’s Foundation in HK, and serves as an Advisory Board Member of Unified Commerce Group as well as serving as an Advisor to numerous start-ups disrupting incumbents globally.

She lives in Hong Kong with her husband and daughter, and tries to keep track of two older children studying overseas at universities in Canada. Needless to say, that’s been difficult this year.

As a senior human resources leader with broad global generalist career, across various sectors including IT/ Technology, Engineering & Service industries, she has proven experience in implementing HR strategies to support the key business transformations aligned to the business plans.

In the past 16 years at Schneider Electric, she has been very fortunate to have some enriching career opportunities around the globe. Originating from the Sydney/ Australian operations, she has worked and lived around the world with the company. Being based in Dubai, Paris and Boston and now Hong Kong, she has spent the last 9 years living outside of Australia.

This experience has enabled me to develop a strong affinity with actively supporting and driving diversity, equity and inclusive work cultures. she has been able to immerse herself in different environments, always with a strong lens for gender diversity. Specifically, she has been able to rebalance both her business and HR leadership teams to role model the benefits of a diverse culture.

With a continuous improvement mindset, she looks to adopt agile and innovative work practices aligned to the changing nature of work and digital transformations. Together with a focus on well-being and work-life balance.

Greg is head of Equities Operations in Asia and oversees Operations in Hong Kong. Previously, he was global head of Fees and Commissions Operations. Prior to that, Greg was global head of Clearing Operations Projects and Margin Operations. Earlier in his career, he was Americas Collateral Management lead and a project manager for Equity Derivative Operations and Cross Divisional Projects & Architecture. Greg joined Goldman Sachs in 2002 as an associate in Technology and was named managing director in 2017.

Prior to joining the firm, Greg worked at Boeing where he was a flight test engineer for the F/A 18 E/F military aircraft program.

Greg is the corporate representative to Woman's Foundation Male Allies program. He previously served as co-chair of the Futures Industry Association Technology Advisory Board.

Greg earned a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1997 and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2002.

Jessie Pak is Head of Investment Solutions, Asia Pacific at London Stock Exchange Group and Managing Director, Asia Pacific of FTSE Russell. She leads the Asia Pacific team to develop and implement strategies for the region, including programme of client coverage, partnership, product management and regulatory activities across three core business lines – Index, Analytics and Data Solutions.
Prior to joining FTSE Russell in 2009, Jessie was the Head of Asia, Executive Vice President of Atos Euronext Market Solutions (wholly owned by NYSE Euronext). Prior to that she was Managing Director for ADP Wilco, now known as Broadridge Financial Solutions and held various positions for buy side and sell side firms such as Standard Chartered Securities, Credifinance Securities Canada, N.M. Rothschild and Schroders.
Jessie holds an MBA from University of Ottawa, Canada.

Olivia Wong is Group Head of Diversity & Inclusion John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Ltd, a role that was newly created in August 2018. She is responsible for developing a coherent diversity and inclusion (“D&I”) strategy and aligning D&I initiatives across the Swire Group. The strategy aims to create a more supportive and inclusive work environment for all staff. Swire is one of the first conglomerates in the region to pioneer a dedicated role in D&I within the organization.

Prior to taking up her current position, Olivia was Director HR & Administration at Swire Properties Ltd. Before that she was General Manager – Leadership Development at John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Ltd and Managing Director at Ethos International Ltd, with responsibility for recruiting and fostering talent for the Swire Group. She joined Cathay Pacific as management trainee in 1988, and had almost 20 years of broad management experience in Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong, South East Asia and Europe.

Olivia graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She also has an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Olivia is a dedicated volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. She currently serves as the chair on their board in Hong Kong and also as a director on their international board. She is also a qualified scuba diving instructor.

Philly Apthorpe is the Head of Marketing and Events APAC within BNP Paribas’ CIB Brand and Communications team. She joined the bank in 2016 as Head of Marketing, Communications & Events for Global Markets and FIC APAC. Prior to that, she held various marketing roles within UBS Investment Bank in both London and Hong Kong.

Philly is a passionate advocate of D&I and holds a strong belief that diversity, in all its forms, lies at the heart of successful companies.

Philly is a member of BNP Paribas Hong Kong’s D&I Committee and is Chairwoman of MixCity Hong Kong, BNP Paribas’ gender diversity network, whose flagship programmes include Mentorship, Co-Development, Male Allies, networking and training events.

Her commitment to D&I, and in particular gender diversity, is evident through her active role in launching BNP Paribas’ inaugural Returnship Programme in APAC, the first of its kind for the bank globally. Within Global Markets APAC, Philly also helped initiate the roll out of Male Allies and is a Board Member of Women in Global Markets APAC; an initiative focused on increasing gender representation around recruitment, retention and client engagement.

Marie Swarbreck is the founder of FLEXImums, a recruitment and D&I Consultancy, and the Gender Equity Conference in Hong Kong.

Before devoting her time to Women Empowerment, Marie started her career as an International Correspondent with the South China Morning Post, International Herald Tribune & The Asahi Shimbun meeting business leaders across Asia, Middle East, Europe and Canada to develop Country Business Reports. Driven by building relationships and connecting people, Marie went on building her network as the Communications & Business Development Manager with a leading international trade fair organiser across Hong Kong, Shanghai and Paris.

With an educational background in Events and Communication Management at the Erasmus Hogeschool in Brussels and an MBA in International Business Management at Inseec Business School in Bordeaux, France, Marie has an entrepreneurial drive and passion for events and business development.