Professor Ilan Noy Inaugural Chair in the Economics of Disasters & Professor of Economics
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Ilan is the Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change - Te Āwhionukurangi, at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. His research and teaching focus on the economic aspects of natural hazards, disasters, and climate change, and other related topics in environmental, development, and international economics. He is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of the SpringerNature journal Economics of Disasters and Climate Change. Ilan studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He previously worked at the University of Hawai’i, and has consulted for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, OECD, UNDRR, the IMF, ASEAN, and several governments -including Australia, Brazil, Chile, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States.

Mr Said Faisal
Former Executive Director
AHA Centre

Said Faisal is a Strategic Advisor on Disaster Risk Management and Crisis Response. He started his career as a manager trainee at Phoenix Home Life, a financial services company in Chicago USA in 1999 and concluded his full-time career as the founding Executive Director of the ASEAN AHA Centre in 2016.

He was Deputy Minister/Head of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) of the Indonesian government following the 2004 mega tsunami that devasted Aceh and then served as Senior Advisor to the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of ASEAN in Myanmar, responding to the 2008 catastrophic Cyclone Nargis.

He also served as Senior Advisor to the Minister/ Head of the Indonesian National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB) and previously worked at the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics/management from USK Aceh, Indonesia, and a master’s degree in insurance/finance from the University of Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

Ambassador Ong Keng Yong Executive Deputy Chairman
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Ambassador ONG Keng Yong is Executive Deputy Chairman of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore since November 2014. Concurrently, he is Ambassador-at-Large at the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, non-resident High Commissioner to Pakistan and non-resident Ambassador to Iran. Mr Ong also serves as Chairman of the Singapore International Foundation (SIF).

Mr Ong was High Commissioner of Singapore to Malaysia from July 2011 to October 2014. He served as Secretary-General of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), based in Jakarta, Indonesia, for five years from January 2003.

He was Singapore's High Commissioner to India and concurrently Ambassador to Nepal from 1996 to 1998. From September 1998 to December 2002, he was Press Secretary to the then Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Goh Chok Tong. From 2008 to 2011, he served as Director of the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Mr Jan Gelfand
Head of Delegation, Country Cluster Delegation
IFRC Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Representative to ASEAN

Jan Gelfand is the IFRC Head of Delegation, Country Cluster for Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Representative for ASEAN for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Jan possesses an extensive and unique combination of skills and background in Senior Management, Disaster Risk Management, Health, community development, cross cultural education, disaster response, programme management and evaluation, as well as in training. Jan recently arrived from Panama where he was the Deputy Regional Director in the Americas Regional office with responsibilities for providing strategic and operational oversight on the application of IFRC Strategies of Implementation and Areas of Focus.

During 12 years of full-time employment in the Movement he has held senior field positions with both the Canadian RC and the IFRC Secretariat. He has led strategic planning processes and developed inter-institutional and inter-sectoral partnerships with government, non-governmental organisations and community groups. Jan’s work history with the IFRC also includes Regional Desk Officer in Geneva and IFRC country offices positions.

In his capacity as General Director and principle consultant of Development Focus International, Jan has carried out contracts with the United Nations, European Commission, the UK government’s Department for International Development, the Canadian International Development Agency and various international NGOs throughout the Americas, Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. He has taught sociology and community development at the senior undergraduate level in the departments of Sociology, Recreation Administration and the School of Native Studies at the University of Alberta in Canada. He has also extensive experience working with community-based organisations both in Canada and throughout Latin America.

Jan is Canadian by birth although he has lived abroad for the last 22 years. He holds a Master of Science in Rural Sociology with a focus on participatory research. Jan is married and has three children.

Professor Joy Jacqueline Pereira
Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Initiative (SEADPRI-UKM)
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Professor Dr. Joy Jacqueline Pereira is a Principal Research Fellow at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Initiative (SEADPRI-UKM) and Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. Professor Pereira is Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group 2 on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. She has been involved in the preparation of several major IPCC Reports since 2014. Prof. Pereira is also a Member of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Asia-Pacific Science and Technology Advisory Group (AP-STAG), and leads the Asian Network on Climate Science and Technology (ANCST), working closely with University of Cambridge. Prof Pereira jointly led a research project funded by the Newton-Ungku Omar Fund that has developed the Kuala Lumpur Multi-hazard Platform (KL-MHP), a forecasting system for climate influenced geophysical and atmospheric hazards in cities, which could be replicated in tropical Southeast Asia.

Mr Suriyan Vichitlekarn
Executive Director
Mekong Institute

Mr. Suriyan Vichitlekarn is the Executive Director of Mekong Institute (MI). A dedicated professional in sustainable development through regional cooperation and integration, he has over 20 years of experience in development cooperation partnership, particularly in agriculture & rural development, public-private partnership and trade facilitation.

Prior to joining MI, Mr. Suriyan worked with GIZ Thailand, the UN FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, ADB Greater Mekong Subregion Agriculture Secretariat, the ASEAN Secretariat and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC).

Mr. Suriyan is a graduate of Faculty of Fisheries, Kasetsart University, Thailand. He studied a master degree at the Wageningen Agricultural University, the Netherlands.

Ms Danielle Welsh-Rose
Head of Sustainability
Institute APAC, Aberdeen Investments

In her role as Head of Sustainability Investment Specialists, Danielle leads the team supporting end-to-end client sustainability propositions, including incubating sustainability commercialisation ideas, owning the sustainability narrative, and leading the development of sustainability training.

As Head of Sustainability, APAC, and Head of the Sustainability Institute, APAC Danielle develops and leads ESG strategy for the region, supports the integration of ESG factors into investment decision-making across Asia-Pacific, and advocates for the importance of sustainability capabilities with clients and other stakeholders across the region.

Previously, Danielle was Head of ESG for the Victorian Funds Management Corporation, and held senior roles in consulting and superannuation focusing on sustainability investing. Danielle has over 20 years of industry experience, and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University, a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance from Kaplan, a Masters of Environment from The University of Melbourne, and a Masters of Laws (Juris Doctor) from Monash University.

Professor Rowena Cristina L. Guevara
Professor XII
University of the Philippines Diliman

DR. ROWENA CRISTINA L. GUEVARA is a Professor XII at the University of the Philippines Diliman, at the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute, specializing in digital signal processing.

She served the Department of Science and Technology for 10 years until July 2022, as Undersecretary for R&D, Undersecretary for S&T Services and Executive Director of DOST-PCIEERD. She was the proponent and first program leader of the DOST Science for Change Program that received the United Nations Public Service Award in June 2022. She was the youngest and first female Dean of the UP College of Engineering from 2004 to 2010. She received her BSEE and MSEE degrees from the
University of the Philippines Diliman and her PhDEE degree from the University of Michigan. She has been the recipient of several awards in engineering and education, including the 2010 Metrobank Outstanding Teachers of the Philippines, 2018 Gawad Career Executive Service Presidential Award.

Mr Ling Young Ern
Deputy Commissioner (Future Technology and Public Safety)
SCDF

Mr Ling Young Ern joined the Singapore Civil Defence Force in 2001 and has served as Director Operations, Division Commander of 4th SCDF Division and 3rd SCDF Division, Head Operations Branch of 1st SCDF Division and Officer Commanding of Jurong Island Fire Station. He has vast operational experience, having been involved in the management and mitigation of many major fire, hazmat and rescue incidents, notably the 32-hour fire at a large oil refinery on Pulau Bukom in 2011.

Young Ern was seconded to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in 2008, to coordinate the national preparedness efforts in contingency planning and capability development for peacetime crises and terrorism incidents. In 2018, he was seconded to MHA as Senior Director, International Cooperation and Partnerships Division, taking charge of international government-to-government relations and driving capability development through partnerships with the industry and international organisations.

Young Ern now leads the digital transformation of SCDF and the development of future technological solutions and capabilities in public safety and disaster management.

Mr David Pong
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Wateroam

David Pong is the CEO & Co-Founder of Wateroam, a water innovation enterprise that designs & builds portable water filters to provide safe drinking water to communities in rural and disaster-hit regions. These water filters are built to be simple-to-use, swift to deploy and can operate without electricity. Since 2014, Wateroam has provide clean water access through its partners to more than 230,000 people across 42 countries globally including Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Nepal, Malaysia, and Myanmar.

Ms Manja Vidic
Head of OCHA Philippines
United Nations

Manja has been with the UN for ten years, both in the field and headquarters, working on humanitarian coordination, partnerships, strategic planning as well as climate change issues.

In January 2021, she became Head of the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Philippines, where she has
been since 2019 as Deputy Head. Prior she has been working for five years with OCHA Geneva on humanitarian coordination mechanisms and
partnerships with the private sector. During her tenure with OCHA, she has been seconded to the World Humanitarian Summit secretariat in New York and Istanbul to forge strategic partnerships; she worked with OCHA Iraq in the aftermath of Mosul liberation as Head of Communications and Reporting; and OCHA Yemen based in Saudi
Arabia as a liaison to Yemen operations.

Prior to OCHA, she has been working on environmental issues and climate change with the UN Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva. She has five years of experience working with the private sector for a
global top-tier strategic management consulting company on strategy development and change management. She is fluent in English and French and holds a Masters degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Manja has a 17-years old son.

Professor Mely Caballero-Anthony
President's Chair in International Relations and Security Studies
Head of Centre of Non-Traditional Security Studies
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Mely Caballero-Anthony is Professor of International Relations and holds the President’s Chair of International Relations and Security Studies at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She is also Head of the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. Prof Anthony is currently a member of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network on Nuclear Non-Proliferation (APLN) and is Secretary-General for the Consortium on Non-Traditional Security Studies in Asia (NTS-Asia). From 2013 to 2017, Prof Anthony served on the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (ABDM) and was its Chairperson in 2016. She was Director of External Relations at the ASEAN Secretariat from 2011-2012.

Her research interests include regionalism and multilateralism in Asia-Pacific, global governance, human security and non-traditional security, nuclear security and conflict prevention. She has published extensively on a broad range of political and security issues in Asia-Pacific in peer-reviewed journals and international academic presses. Her latest books, both single-authored and co-edited, include: Nuclear Governance in the Indo-Pacific (Routledge, forthcoming 2021), Negotiating Governance on Non-Traditional Security in Southeast Asia and Beyond (NY: Columbia University Press, 2018), An Introduction to Non-Traditional Security Studies (London: Sage Publications, 2018), Human Security and Climate Change (UK: Routledge, 2013).