Catherina ChangFounder/Managing Director ThrivUP

Catherina Chang Founder/Managing Director at ThrivUP Catherina has over 25 years of experience working with global Fortune 500  multinationals. She is a seasoned executive with long history of success  leading and supporting executives across a variety of sectors in navigating  complex transformations in challenging business environments. She offers  extensive experience supporting B2B & B2C businesses in China and Africa  and overseeing multicultural teams, with professionals hailing from five  continents and 100+ nations.She is the Founder of ThrivUP Integrated Business, Culture & Talent  Transformation Platform since 2016. Consults with business leaders to  innovate and transform business, talent and culture; achieve strategic  alignment; build agile change management capabilities; provide executive 1on1 and team coachings; and, accelerate leadership capability and capacity  for business growth.  Previously, she worked with The Coca-Cola Company for thirteen years in greater China & Africa, and with SABMiller  for four years in Africa.…

Jacquelien BrusseeCEO China, Jones Knowles Ritchie

Jacquelien Brussee CEO China, Jones Knowles Ritchie   Hailing from the Netherlands, Jacquelien has been in and out of China since she was 11. She is a seasoned executive with 18 years of experience across Europe, Middle East and Asia, and has worked with both B2B and B2C organizations to lead business and client growth, digital transformation and innovation. Jacquelien is currently the CEO China at Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR), a design-led creative company with offices in London, New York and Shanghai.The 300-strong team believe in designing brands from the idea out to drive growth, build distinctiveness and create engagement. Since its inception in 1990, JKR has partnered with companies including Unilever, Kraft and Mars Inc through to category disruptors Hippeas, Ugly and The Gut Stuff.Prior to joining JKR as its first-ever China CEO, Jacquelien was the Group VP at Labbrand and GM at Labbrand, where she led the firm’s full-fledged development from corporate branding, digital integration to business growth. Jacquelien is an avid speaker, and serves as guest lecturer at Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Global EBA program on topics like brand transformation, innovation, marketing, organizational culture. She is passionate giving value to the industry community by leveraging her domain expertise and her network for instance by chairing the Dutch Marketing Network Shanghai, a community of over 60 Marketing senior executives. She speaks fluent Dutch, English and Mandarin. Keywords and Expertise: #China #Brand Innovations #Business Strategy #Branding #Transformation #Design #Blockchain Strategy #Asia #Innovation #Digital

Stephen ThomasSenior Communications Advisor

Stephen Thomas Senior Communications Advisor Stephen is a senior communications and brand leader. He has effectively led corporate reputation management programs in complex, dynamic environments across the Asia-Pacific region. His experience covers CEO communications, media relations, earnings announcements, issues management, transactions,…

Abbe SerphosCommunications Consultant, Advisor to CEOs on Reputation and Awareness

Abbe Serphos Communications Consultant, Advisor to CEOs on Reputation and Awareness Abbe Serphos is an independent communications and marketing consultant and advisor to CEOs and senior leaders on reputation and awareness. She counsels clients on public relations, publicity, internal communications, social media, issues/crises, thought leadership, writing and live event production, including program creation and curation.Previously Ms. Serphos was Global Head of PR and Communications at Reuters. In that role she was the chief Reuters spokesperson globally and oversaw all aspects of Reuters external and internal communications, marketing and related materials, Reuters comms social channels and strategy, thought leadership, the Reuters historical archive, editorial events, the Reuters Newsmakers platform and issues/crisis management.From 2006 to 2016 Ms. Serphos was a corporate spokesperson and senior communications strategist at The New York Times Company where she served as a communications counselor to senior leadership, including C-suite and other executives. There she handled media relations, strategic, corporate, financial and brand communications, global internal communications and issues/crises.  Before joining the Times Company Ms. Serphos held communications roles of increasing responsibility at Barnes & Noble, Kraft Foods, The Buoniconti Fund/theUniversity of Miami School of Medicine and Vorhaus & Company. She began her career at Howard Rubenstein Associates.Ms. Serphos is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany and completed extensive MBA graduate coursework at Baruch College/CUNY. She is a member of several industry organization and serves on various boards.

Iñaki Pedroarena-LealHead of Partnerships at StartEngine

Iñaki Pedroarena-Leal Head of Partnerships at StartEngine Iñaki Pedroarena-Leal is StartEngine’s Head of Partnerships, the leading U.S.equity crowdfunding platform with over $300M raised for 500+ companies.By creating mutually beneficial relations with business servicescompanies, accelerators, VC’s and angel networks, Iñaki helps…

Hei ChengFounder @ Halo Design and also worked as the Director of Innovation at vivo

Hei Cheng Founder @ Halo Design and also worked as the Director of Innovation at vivo   A strong creative and system thinker, Hei works with clients to help them understand the innovation process and user-centered design, navigate and simplify…

Mate KovacsFounder at Water Lily Pond and Pitches of Paradise / Co-Founder at TLA CEE

Mate Kovacs Branding Consultant at Life Beyond Product   Mate specializes in strategic brand development and marketing communications with more than 15 years of experience. His ‘Brand. Life Beyond Product’ approach focuses on how only brands (not products) can truly…