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Kenneth Jarrett
President at The American Chamber of Commerce in ShanghaiKenneth Jarrett, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai since September 2013. Prior to that he was the Greater China Chairman for APCO Worldwide, a Washington-based public affairs consultancy from 2008 to 2013, and before that a U.S. diplomat from 1982 to 2008. During his 26-year diplomatic career, his postings included Consul General in Shanghai, Deputy Consul General in Hong Kong, and Director of Asian Affairs at the White House National Security Council. He also served in Beijing, Chengdu, Singapore, and had several assignments in Washington, DC. Mr. Jarrett has degrees from Cornell University, Yale University and the National War College.
Frank JOSEPH
Commercial Officer at U.S. Consulate General ShanghaiFrank Joseph is part of an elite core of international business development specialists that are posted overseas by the U.S. government. Working in Beijing, Shanghai, Sichuan Province, Ho Chi Minh City, Rome and Washington DC, Joseph brings 20+ years of experience providing strategic consulting to American companies big and small. Over half that time was spent in China where Joseph’s experience runs deepest to guide American firms on market entry strategies, sales channel management, protecting IPR and navigating China’s unique business environment. Joseph currently works as a commercial officer of the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai, which he joined in August 2016.
Bruce Gillispie
Vice President of Hypermarket Merchandising at Walmart ChinaBruce is currently the VP of Merchandising Support, leading Line Review Excellence, Co-op Administration, Policy & Training, as well as Project Management Organization for Walmart China Merchandising. He is responsible for developing new working processes cross-functionally, and has proactively planned and aligned resources and implemented process improvements to increase efficiency and results. He had been VP/GMM of Home & Hardline department-Walmart China between July 2016 and December 2016, leading the team to deliver improving financial results with clear directions.
Prior to his assignment to China, Bruce had worked for Walmart US Merchandising Home team as Sr. Director of Strategy & Integration. His career with Walmart is more than 35 years with rich experience ranging from buying through product development and brand management. Bruce holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting & Business Management from Southeast Missouri State University.
In addition to the successful career at Walmart, Bruce was a founding member and chairperson of the PRIDE LGBT associate resource group in the US. He is a tireless champion for diversity and inclusion, and is a role model for Walmart Basic Beliefs. For 2013, he was one of four individuals in Walmart US recognized with the Social Responsibility award.
Manoj MEHTA
CEO of naked GroupManoj Mehta is CEO of naked Group. He leads the growth of naked by setting up the strategic direction, creating process driven systems, attracting & retaining global talents and developing the fresh naked work culture.
Under the leadership of Manoj, naked Group has created a diverse business profile which includes the newly launched co-working space business, naked Hub. The naked Retreats business has expanded in recent years also, with new projects like naked Castle, naked Sail and the upcoming naked Water. naked has successfully progressed from a resort business into a lifestyle brand. Manoj’s experience in business development and management has made naked one of the most innovative companies in Asia which has resulted in financial and operational growth.
Prior to naked, Manoj worked for Goodyear and Ford Motor Company. Manoj has an extensive educational background with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The State University of New York at Buffalo, and an MBA in Strategy & Finance from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Manoj’s multicultural background, senior management experience and strong academic foundation allow him to perfectly combine strategic thinking with practical execution. Beyond his work at naked, Manoj is an active member of the American Chamber of Commerce and also serves on the Advisory panel of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Ningling Wang
Managing Partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLPNingling Wang serves as the managing partner of the firm’s Shanghai office. Her practice involves patent prosecution, opinions, due diligence, client counseling, licensing, and patent litigation in the areas of chemicals, chemical engineering, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, semiconductor materials, 3D printing, and nanotechnology.
Ms. Wang has extensive experience working with multinational and Chinese companies, providing legal advice on IP portfolio management, due diligence, licensing, litigation, and trade secret protection and enforcement. She has been involved in various cases before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and U.S. district courts. She has also represented foreign companies with IP enforcement in China, including judicial and customs enforcement actions.
Ms. Wang speaks frequently at conferences and seminars in China and internationally on patent-related topics. She taught a graduate course on U.S. IP law at Renmin University of China Law School and a graduate course on U.S. IP law, with patent mock trial, at Shanghai Jiao Tong University KoGuan Law School. Ms. Wang also served as a program professor of law at China Science and Technology University.
Jay Boyle
Managing Partner at ECFO Service Ltd.Jay Boyle is the founder and managing partner “ECFO Service Ltd” and founder and managing director of a software startup “Decision Modeling Systems LTD”.
Jay’s experiences in Asia over the past 20 years span start-ups, turnaround and pre and post transaction work in manufacturing, sourcing, service, food and beverage industries. He specializes in providing a cross functional approach to financial, accounting, strategic and operational support to companies building businesses in Asia. Jay implements controls, diligence, ERP, product costing programs, develops strategic Initiatives, and designs expansion plans and advises on merges acquisitions and divestitures.
A “jack of all trades”, Jay has over 35 years of business, manufacturing, industrial rigging, salvage, logistics, start-up, accounting and finance roles. He was a cofounder and later the controller of Kuhl Clothing a US outdoor brand and served as start-up and later CFO for Dura-Line China, TJC, The Jordan Company’s first private equity investment in China. Dura-Line was a telecom duct systems provider that built China’s first fiber networks in the 1990’s. Since ECFO’s founding in 2001, Jay has provided ongoing advisory to over 120 companies and has worked on over 50 transactions.
Jay has been a lecturer at the University of Arizona Thunderbird Graduate School of International Business and has published articles on doing business in China.
Jay holds a Masters of Business Administration from The Thunderbird School of Global Management of Arizona State University, a Bachelor of Science from State University of New York at Fort Schuyler and a US Merchant Mariner’s Third Mate’s Unlimited Oceans Tonnage License.
Jay serves on the board of directors of ACG, the Association of Corporate Growth, a middle market private equity association. He is a member of AmCham and the Asia and Transformation and Turnaround Association.
Scott Williams
Chairman & Founder of BMD Enterprise Ltd.Scott Douglas Williams is the Chairman and Founder of BMD Enterprises Ltd. Headquartered in Shanghai, BMD Enterprises and associates is a wholly owned foreign enterprise engaged in connecting China to U.S. M&A investment projects and activities primarily in sports, theme park, innovation technology, and industrial park engineering. Newly registered, BMD Enterprises and its network of associates constitute a rich background working and managing U.S.-China investment operations over the past three decades. Accounting for more than USD $2 billion in investment projects, BMD and associates are heavily experienced in investment processes. From procurement, development, and promotion in Greenfield, JV and M&A investments, BMD Enterprises and Associates is highly diversified. Since 2016, Williams has also been Chair of the InvestUSA Committee (IUSAC) in China, facilitating and promoting investment into the United States. Prior to IUSAC, Scott was the Vice President of Programs & Services from 2012-2016 at AmCham Shanghai.
Riccardo Benussi
Manager of International Business Advisory at Dezan Shira & AssociatesRiccardo Benussi is a Manager on the International Business Advisory team for the Shanghai office of Dezan Shira & Associates. Benussi assists foreign invested companies from Europe, North and South America with their investments in China. Benussi’s areas of expertise include setting up of wholly foreign-owned enterprises and representative offices, and trademark filing in China. His industry experience includes international food and beverage, manufacturing, and high-tech. Benussi also co-manages the Italian Desk with Dezan Shira & Associates’ Managing Partner, Alberto Vettoretti.
Prior to joining Dezan Shira & Associates, Benussi worked on the trademark team at one of Asia’s largest IP law firms after gaining experience at a large Italian-based IP advisory firm. Most recently, he was the legal consultant for a Sino-American construction company based in Shanghai.、
Riccardo was previously a post-graduate fellow with the Italian Trade Agency, based in Rome, Shanghai and Beijing. The course focused on Intellectual Property management and internationalization for SMEs. Riccardo holds a bachelor’s degree in Intellectual Property and East Asian Law from the University of Bologna. He is fluent in Italian, English, German and Spanish and is proficient in Chinese.
Frank Wu
Partner at Advisory Services, Grant ThorntonFrank has fifteen years experience in China transaction advisory services. Prior to joining Grant Thornton, Frank worked with a big four accounting firm and a leading Chinese investment firm.
He has assisted multinational enterprises to invest in China in a variety of projects including financial due diligence, business forecast and valuation, investment feasibility study and business plan compilation.
Frank also has two-years’ working experience with a Chinese investment firm, acting as a senior finance controller. He was involved in many investment projects with focuses on financial due diligence, modeling and valuation, deal financing, post-deal integration, and implementation of exit plans. The firm managed assets over RMB 400 billion and its portfolios span across the globe.
Frank graduated from Shanghai International Studies University and holds a Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) certificate.
Fang Zou
Deputy Director of the investment promotion center at Tianjin Economic Technological Development AreaIn 2001, Ms. Della Zou graduated from Tianjin University and entered TEDA. She is responsible for investment promotion and project approval since then and is experienced in investment projects authority. The projects she engaged includes the industrial manufacturing ones, like Vista, Akzo-Nobel, the relevant support providers of Volkswagen, as well as the new internet innovation projects such as Didi, Tencent etc.
Michael Joseph ROSENTHAL
President at US Green SolutionsMichael has more than twenty years’ experience managing organizations. He began his career as a lawyer, working for two US Federal Courts. He served eight years as a Federal Prosecutor with the United States Department of Justice (receiving an Outstanding Attorney Award in 1993 and 1996), and as Minister of Justice and Special Prosecutor for the Republic of Palau. In early 2005, Michael moved to China to serve as Asia Pacific CEO for Day Light Inc., USA, and has subsequently worked in businesses in various industries including environment, education, human resources, fashion, retail, health/beauty and media. He is the founder of US Green Solutions and serves as President of JuQi Wenhua Media. He also runs various beauty competitions. Michael is a professional trainer and business coach who has serviced International companies including Baxter, Bayer, Shanghai GM, Johnson Controls, SAP and others. Michael serves as Chairman of the Shanghai American Chamber of Commerce Environmental Committee, sits on the WildAid International Advisory Board, and runs the Chicago China Club in Shanghai. He is also an actor and model who has written and produced short films and appeared in movies, television shows, commercials and promotional videos.
Jack Gao
Managing Director of Ningbo Intelligent Manufacturing Industry Research InstituteJack Gao is currently the managing director of Ningbo Intelligent Manufacturing Industry Research Institute, who is playing a leading role in the area of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in China. He has been working in AI product research, engineering and development, and also in financial investment and equity management for the company.
Prior to his assignment to China, Jack had worked for Saloman Smith Barney, JP Morgan, Citi Group and other Wall Street Investment Banks in New York City for over ten years. In addition, he had been involved with several startups with cutting edge technology.
Jack Gao received the Bachelor and Master degree of Science from Shanghai Fudan University. Then he went to Ph.D. Program in Shanghai Jiaotong in Physics and City University of New York in Electrical Engineering respectively.
Humayun RASHID
Managing Partner at Xavor CorporationHugh is the Co-Head of the Innovation & Technology Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai. In addition to his role as Managing Director of Xavor Shanghai, a division of Xavor Corporation, Hugh is frequently a lecturer at Fudan University on the topic of Innovation & Design Thinking.
Cameron JOHNSON
General Manager at Sigmatex(Shanghai) Composite Materials Co., Ltd.Johnson is the General Manager for Asia at Sigmatex, the world’s largest independent converter of carbon textiles. Since Johnson joined Sigmatex in 2012 to drive its Asia expansion, he has brought an average of 40% revenue growth per year, defined Chinese industry standards for material traceability, and is creating a regional supply chain for the automotive industry. Johnson participates extensively in the American Chamber of Commerce and is chairman of the Aerospace sub-committee at AmCham Shanghai.
Prior to joining Sigmatex, Johnson was the Operations Director for China at Tiger Global, an entrepreneurial sourcing and risk management company, and served as Business Manager for a Microsoft JV (Wicresoft).
Johnson’s expertise focuses on business growth and strategy in difficult market environments, driving rapid expansion for multinational businesses in high-tech industries, and operational excellence across a global company.
Johnson received a Graduate Business Certification from the University of Wales, and graduated from the University of Washington with Bachelor degrees in Communications and Comparative Religion.
Hailin Li
Deputy General Manager at International business Department, ICBC Shanghai BranchMr. Li Haibin joined ICBC in 1997 and has 20-year work experience in cross-border financial business. He has engaged in the launching and promoting financial products and service innovation of Shanghai Free Trade Zone since 2013 and boasts in-depth knowledge and insights into cross-border settlement, cash management and financing as well as product innovation.
Mr. Li is now in charge of cross-border corporate banking business, Free Trade Zone business, cross-border RMB business and ICBC global inter-group cooperation for MNCs and “Going out” Chinese enterprises.
Steven Xiong
Global Partner Manager at Alibaba (China) Technology Co., Ltd.Xiong has been working for Alibaba’s Global Supplier Department for 7 years.
From 2011 to 2015, he was a Senior Business Consultant at Alibaba to providing international online business consulting services works to more than 1000 SMEs across the world.
For the past two years, he has served as Global Partner to help its China partners explore e-commerce markets around the world.
As a Global Partner, Xiong now oversees Alibaba.com, with a team of over 100 members. He is committed to helping Alibaba Group realize its globalization strategy and has empowered more than 2000 customers from over 100 countries.
Xiong also has a strong ability to get results, excellent team management, and expertise in organization building. He has a profound understanding of Alibaba’s culture, values, management and operation.
Don Xu
Principal Consultant at Tension Leadership Consulting, LLCMr. Xu is a seasoned expert in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, with more than 21 years of experience in different industries and different sized companies (16 years in China, 5 years in Canada). He worked as Asia Procurement and Supply Chain Directors in various multinational companies during the past 10 years, and has significant experience handling the differences between Chinese and Western culture. Mr. Xu got his MBA from Western University in Canada and Bachelor degree from Tsinghua University in China.
Mandy Tu
Vice President of Supply Chain and Customer Satisfaction at Tension Leadership Consulting, LLCBefore joining Philips Lighting, Mandy worked as SC Director in Johnson & Johnson Medical in China, AP & the U.S. She has more than 20 years working experience in SCM, customer engagement and vendor partnership, SC strategy development, and SC model design and data management to support business transformation and M&A.
Jessica He
Legal Counselor at SFG Human Resources Consulting Co., Ltd.Jessica He holds national legal professional qualifications. Mrs. He has been dedicated to HR compliance consulting service and provides ER practical management solutions and company internal training to clients mainly in mechanical manufacturing, engineering, energy industries and Japanese commercial groups.
Sean Gao
Senior Account Manager at FSG Human Resources Consulting Co., Ltd.A 12-year work experience concentrating on theoretical study and practice of HR management. Service as a critical role on HRM outsourcing in FSG group. A profound understanding of the performance management system, as both HR and strategic instruments. Frequent contacts over 100 HR professionals covering all industries.