Ami Valdemoro is a social change agent, health advocate, and entrepreneur intent on empowering others to improve the quality of life in their communities. Ami has have lived and overseen projects in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia, and each time she takes on a new endeavor she is more convinced that the challenges that perplex us are also opportunities for young people to change things for the better. Ami has built health projects and programs from scratch; advocated for stronger health policies with a consortium of civil society organizations at the United Nations; advised social enterprises on how to scale up their initiatives globally using digital technology; and led social businesses in the Philippines in their growth phase to ensure a sustained impact of their social investments in education and livelihood. She is the Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer of Three Points Ventures, a firm specializing in strategy, execution, and leadership development for nonprofits and businesses working in the social impact sector.

Since 2012, Ami sits on the Board of Directors of Liter of Light, a social enterprise that has redesigned solar lighting for the developing world.

Sophie Methler was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany before arriving in the Philippines 8 years ago in order to pursuing her passion for the environment. Her first stop in the Philippines was on Boracay Island where she stayed for a year. It was where she realized how tourism has impact on a region in may different ways. However, Sophie soon realized that in order to address environmental challenges in a truly sustainable way, a solution must be found which also addresses the problem of inequality in the Philippines.

Sophie joined the mission of Make A Difference, or MAD Travel, a social tourism platform which works with Gawad Kalinga, one of the leading NGOs in the Philippines to develop responsible tourism which leaves no one behind.

Scott Friedman, Certified Speaking Professional, and former President of the National Speakers Association (NSA), speaks over 60 times a year on employee experience & engagement, customer experience and how to create a happier, healthier workplace.

In addition to being the CCO—Chief Celebration Officer—at Friedman & Associates, Scott has written “Celebrate! Lessons Learned from the World’s Most Admired Organizations,” “A Celebration a Day! 365 Ways to a Happier, Healthier Workplace,” “Happily Ever Laughter—How to Engage Any Audience,” and “Using Humor For A Change.” He is also the co-author of four additional books.

Scott is the 2013 NSA Cavett Award Recipient, presented annually to the NSA member whose accomplishments over the years have reflected outstanding respect, service, honor, and admiration in the Association and the speaking profession. Scott was awarded the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) 2013 Recognizing Industry Success and Excellence (RISE) Award. “This award honors those rare individuals who by visionary hard work and creative insight have positively changed the global meetings and events industry community (MPI

Apart from speaking, Scott is very involved in philanthropic projects. Scott co-founded Together We Can Change the World (TWCCTW.org), a 501c3 foundation focussed on anti-trafficking, social business, clean water, and the health and education of less fortunate girls and women. Currently they have over 25 projects in seven SE Asian countries.

Liz Jackson has 30 years in the association community of Washington, DC in executive career roles including 20 years as a member of several professional association boards of directors. Serving a vice president of Association Management Group and president of Associated Luxury Hotels has given her a view of many sides of the association world.

She is currently focused on consulting and speaker roles using her diverse experience and knowledge of salesmanship, international meetings, leadership development and association management skills. Her background includes analyzing and expanding associations’ business practices, selling conference services to associations, as well as leadership training for management, board leaders, staff members and women.

Some of the awards presented to Liz Jackson include Meeting Professionals International Member of the Year, Greater Washington Society of Association Executives’ Board Member Award, Airline Salesperson of the Year and American Society of Association Executives Fellow selection for leadership.

Susan Sarfati focuses on creating high performance individuals, teams and organizations to achieve extraordinary bottom line results. For 25+ years, she served as executive staff and CEO of the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives, the founding CEO of The Center for Association Leadership and Executive Vice President of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).

She has created extensive relationships in the association and business community. Her expertise focuses on leadership, management, sustainability, women’s issues, creating extraordinary customer experiences and cultures, high performance organizational strategies, sales and marketing, innovation, and creating successful meetings and learning communities.

She was named Non-profit Times Executive of the Year for her forward-thinking and creative leadership. The Destination Marketing Association International gave Susan its prestigious Spirit of Hospitality Award for her distinguished service to the meetings and hospitality industries. Meeting News named her one of the 25 most influential people in the meetings industry and the organization for Community and Justice gave her their Diversity and Inclusion Award. Sarfati is also a Fellow of ASAE and recently was the first recipient of the ASAE Lifetime Achievement Award.

For more than 25 years, JERRY SIBAL, a world-renowned, leading event designer and floral artist and founder of New York based Jerry Sibal Design, has been creating magical settings, lavish wedding, a corporate retreat or charity ball- is a distinctive work of art.

Born in 1958 in Manila, Philippines, to Filipino Chinese parents, Sibal earns his degree in architecture in 1980 before embarking on a career that has seen him teaching Traditional Chinese Painting and Philippine folk dance in the Philippines, traveling overseas as a government-appointed Goodwill Ambassador, and moving to New York to work with international event designer Preston Bailey before opening his own firm, Design Fusion, with lifetime partner Edwin Josue.

An Event to Remember presents a portfolio of some of Sibal’s finest and most visionary work–with dramatic photographs that will make you wish you’d been there. Throughout, Sibal reveals how he coordinates architecture, lighting and audiovisual systems, interior decor, tabletop arrangements, and his trademark floral extravaganzas to create such gloriously spellbinding environments. Venues from all over the country are featured, from the world famous Metropolitan Museum in New York City, to Doria Phamphilij in Rome, Italy, to Miami Beach’s Setai Hotel, to Atlantic City’s Borgata Resorts Hotel & Casino, to outdoor settings such as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and a California hillside with breathtaking Pacific Ocean views. The book was published in October 2009 by Stewart, Tabori, and Chang, an imprint of Abrams, It is sold at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Rizzoli and other bookstores all over the world.

His clients include Sir Richard Branson, Citibank, Celine Dion, The Frick Collection Museum, Marilyn Horne, Gloria Vanderbilt, Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani of Qatar, and a plethora of celebrity clients and friends.

In Spring and Summer 2015, Jerry worked at Wynn Palace in Macau as an Executive Director of Floral Operations and was responsible in designing the World First Flower Theme Casino.

As a full time speaker, Tyler has had the privilege to present at over 800 live events in the last six years. He is passionate about helping his audiences by sharing information in a way that is engaging, lively, and most of all, practical. This has enabled him to work with Fortune 500 companies and large organizations, such as Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Johns Hopkins, Siemens, Sinclair Broadcasting, and hundreds of smaller groups. He is excited to share his message with you today.

Tina Altieri is a dynamic and engaging communicator who has earned respect throughout her 30 years in the Australasian broadcasting industry. As a television news presenter, lifestyle program host or Master of Ceremonies, Tina has been seen in lounge rooms, over three decades, all over Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Tina relishes the opportunity to work with leaders who need to deliver their stories more powerfully and has developed an exclusive, result-oriented communications program – Mastering the Media – for leaders seeking the skills, strategies and confidence for effective engagement with the media.

Hailed as a “Food Guide Maven” and the “Singapore’s de Facto Street Food Guru” by New York Times and CNN respectively, KF Seetoh, a prominent food consultant, commentator, entrepreneur, photographer, writer and TV culinary host, is seen as a champion of comfort street food culture, buzz and business. After 16 years of professional stints in the media industry, KF Seetoh put a lucrative photography business aside and founded Makansutra 1998.

He has published food guides, develop and manage many food halls – and operating, Soul Food By Makansutra, Makansutra Gluttons Bay at The Esplanade, Singapore since 2004, Makansutra Asian Food Village (Manila) and Makansutra Hawkers at SM Megamall, Philippines and was consulting for the now nixed Bourdain Market in New York.

KF Seetoh host, creates and produces eight TV series since 2001, and Food Surprise series still being aired on Discovery’s TLC channels. He made many guest appearances in numerous guest appearances in regional and international television shows. This includes many of Anthony Bourdain’s TV series, The Martha Stewart Show”, Australia Channel 7 with Neil Perry & Luke Mangan to Metro TV (Indonesia) with William Wongso and Thailand’s PBS Special “Inside ASEAN”. In addition, he guest judged on USA’s “Top Chef” and guest chef on New Zealand’s “Masterchef” show.
He is also the creator and curator of The World Street Food Congress which saw its 4th edition in Manila in 2017 garnering international and local media value of US$12million and an record attendance of 70,000 people.

He is well sought after for speaking and cooking engagements at various events such as the Fullerton-St Joseph’s Institution Leadership Lecture, NYU’s (New York University) City Food Seminar, Food and Wine Festival in Aspen Colorado, Singapore Day and at Lee Kuan Yew School of Policy. He was accorded and recognised as Singapore’s Food Ambassador by then President Mr SR Nathan. He is a regular keynote speaker at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, San Francisco.

Peng Ee was recently appointed to transform TTG’s Global Commerce Business Unit, however, in the last 9 years, he lead the exhibitions and events team in TTG Asia Media. The recently concluded IT&CMA in Bangkok saw the largest Philippines contingent in the history of the event. The 2018 Bangkok event is the most successful in the history of IT&CMA. TTG’s MICE show in China is also acknowledged as the leading international MICE exhibition for the China market. Its co-located Corporate Travel World (CTW) Conferences attracts corporate travel managers from leading organizations in the region.

Closer to home, his team together with the Department of Tourism Philippines and the team at TPB managed the very successful ASEAN Tourism Forum held in Manila in 2016. In his role of managing IT&CM Events and ATF for various ASEAN governments, Peng Ee and his team worked closely with stakeholders from the region and around the world. This gives him the access and unique opportunity to understand and appreciate the challenges in developing MICE in Asia and beyond.

Prior to joining the exhibitions and events team in 2009, Peng Ee was division manager for publishing services at TTG Asia Media and Miller Freeman. In this position together with the global agency MEC, he established the infrastructure in launching TTG’s online publishing business. He was instrumental in developing internal and external capabilities in supporting its trade show dailies production, and TTG’s buyers acquisition operations.

His expertise includes content development and management, audience acquisition, and engagement, and marketing. His strength lies in applying IT to business transformation and process management. Peng Ee holds an MBA from Henley Management College, UK, and is a Stanford University Professional Publishing alumni.
He was president of his neighborhood toastmasters club, and has held elected leadership positions in various clubs and societies, including past Vice Chairman of the Direct Marketing Association of Singapore. He was chairman of his college tennis club and vice-captain of the team. He enjoys swimming, tennis and mentoring the next generation of young professionals.

Jason is founder and CEO of GIS Group, a leading meeting solution provider in Taiwan since 1991. Jason is now the Honorary President of Taiwan Convention and Exhibition Association, a Board Member of International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) and Chairperson of ICCA’s Asia-Pacific Chapter. To constantly contribute to the MICE industry, Yeh is a Lecturer at National Taiwan Normal University (Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation) and an ambassador of Kaohsiung MICE Alliance.

In 2016, he released his first book The Driving Force Behind Destination Marketing, analyzing the secrets behind destinations bidding for international meetings. Yeh’s great work and active presence in the field, he has been awarded The 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry for 2017.

She is the Senior Manager Asia of GainingEdge, a consultancy specializing in the MICE industry. Prior to joining GainingEdge in 2009, she was the Regional Director Asia Pacific of ICCA – International Congress & Convention Association. She co-authored two UNWTO publications on the Asia Meetings Industry (2012 and 2017) and just released a report on Universal Accessibility in the Meetings Industry, a joint project with Rehabilitation International and BestCities Global Alliance.

Grace Gayoso is a development communication professional with over 12 years of experience in strategic communication, public speaking, and health education and promotion. After graduating magna cum laude from the University of the Philippines with a BA Broadcast Communication degree, she worked as a writer and researcher for TV networks and did corporate sales and marketing. She then served as a Communication Specialist in an international non-profit organization, initially handling Philippines and eventually providing technical assistance to countries within the Asia Pacific region. Granted by ASEAN with full scholarship, she pursued graduate studies, still in Communication, from one of the top Asian university in the world — the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. Spending most of her career in non-profit, she worked on the challenging task of teaching complex medical and health concepts to urban and rural poor, most of whom never finished primary or secondary school. Since then, she has been an advocate of using simplicity in speaking.

Karun Budhraja is a travel aficionado who joined Amadeus in 2001 based in his home-town of New Delhi, India. Apart from travel, his second passion in life is Marketing & Communications, and he’s also happy to call it his job.

Karun has held the position of Vice President, Corporate Marketing & Communications, Amadeus Asia Pacific since 2007. Based in Bangkok, Amadeus’ regional headquarters, Karun oversees all communication and marketing activities for Asia Pacific.

With over 25 years’ experience in marketing and communications, Karun is responsible for enhancing the region’s awareness of the Amadeus brand, as well as positioning and increasing the understanding of Amadeus’ technology among travel industry stakeholders.

Karun joined Amadeus in 2001 as the Senior Marketing and Corporate Communications Manager, South Asia & the Indian Subcontinent and was based at New Delhi, India. During this period, Karun successfully established Amadeus as a market leader in media and public relations circles. His efforts received further recognition when he received the Excellence Award in Marketing from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) in 2003.

Concurrently, Karun was also Head of Marketing Communication for all business verticals of the conglomerate, The Bird Group, the parent company of Amadeus India.

Prior to joining Amadeus, Karun held marketing communication roles with Air France in the Indian subcontinent and France.

Karun has a Master’s in Business Administration from Faculty of Management Studies, New Delhi, India, specialising in Communication Strategy and B2B Marketing. He also has a Bachelor’s of Arts in English literature from Delhi University, India, and a Diplome Superior in French from Alliance Française de Delhi, India.

Karun speaks English, Hindi and French and loves the buzz of the ever-changing travel industry where there’s always something new to learn.

Anton worked for the biggest multinational company in the Philippines for 12+ years, straight out of college, before becoming a full-time Online Entrepreneur. He was the Chief Information Officer of Procter & Gamble Philippines when he finally quit his day job and decided to take his blog, Our Awesome Planet, to the next level in 2008.

OurAwesomePlanet.com, which he started in 2005, is the number #1 food and travel blog in the Philippines with close to a million hits in a month, hundreds of thousands of followers, and is still growing. His advocacy is to promote the “Food and Travel Awesomeness in the Philippines and South East Asia”!

She is an integrated consumer behaviour and marketing data expert with strong quantitative and qualitative skills for analysis, designing of multi-industry bespoke enterprise solutions with focus on technology, eCommerce, digital innovation, and transformation. Her area of expertise is in designing marketing and communications platforms focused on consumer data protection and privacy of personal data for cybersecurity of individuals. Currently GDPR expert consultant for banking, retail, travel and government sector based in London, United Kingdom.