Natalie Lowe is the Founder and Principal Consultant of comm&d, and Managing Partner and Co-founder of The Orangeblowfish, boutique communication and branding design agencies with a presence in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Having spent more than 15 years in Asia, and the last 10 years in China, Natalie’s international background, coupled with her Western personality and Chinese roots, gives her the edge to bridge communication and cultural gaps that help MNCs be successful in the APAC region, and vice versa for Chinese companies in the international arena. Natalie started her aviation communications career in 1999 in Singapore, and spent eight years developing the regional communications function for Pratt & Whitney and United Technologies Corporation across Asia Pacific. Natalie has also worked for leading global agencies including The Hoffman Agency as Managing Director, where she was responsible for the overall operational leadership of six offices across Asia Pacific, and more than eighty employees, as well as Weber Shandwick as Vice President, where she played a key role in building the Emergent China Practice that provided counsel and support to Chinese companies going global.

Nayoung Mathiesen is a serial entrepreneur born and raised in S. Korea, with entrepreneurial and professional backgrounds from S. Korea, the U.S., Norway, and Singapore before coming to Shanghai in 2014. She founded STIA (Skills Training Institute of Asia) Shanghai - a digital (eLearning) training and health information provider using interactive digital content in the healthcare sector with a specific focus on the Aged Care segment. She started her career as a CPA in New York before starting on her journey as an entrepreneur or a top executive in various countries in various industries. She worked as CEO/President at Kids Herald (daughter company of The Korea Herald) in Korea. Other experiences include Director of Development at Seoul Foreign School, the largest international school in Korea and ideated a new international school (YISS) in Korea which achieved a sizeable concession (free land and funding) from the Korean government. In Norway, she created a unique and innovative retail food concept called SUSHISI (make-your-own sushi) which was sold at all major retailers. As an entrepreneur, her most notable experience have been her fights to save her businesses against the three largest financial crises in modern history (1998, 2000, 2008). She also co-chairs the Entrepreneurship Committee at AmCham Shanghai.