member news and reviews
Session: Digital Disruption and Innovation in the FSI Markets
Date: April 25, 2019, at 12:20 PM
Dirk‐Peter van Leeuwen is the senior vice president and general manager for Red Hat in the Asia Pacific and Japan. Van Leeuwen is responsible for expanding Red Hat’s presence, and overseeing all sales, marketing, and services throughout the region.
Weisheng currently leads the financial services practice for Google in Singapore & SEA, working with clients on their digital transformation journeys in both customer engagement as well as internal technology adoption. Prior to Google, he led the DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers business for Asia-Pacific as well as its joint-venture with Mitsui in Japan. Before joining the private sector, Weisheng spent ten years with the Singapore Economic Development Board, leading its international operations in the US and Latin America. He has a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University and an M.Sc in Decision & Risk Analysis from Stanford University.
Melissa is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Arbor Ventures. Prior to founding Arbor Ventures, Melissa was Managing Director and Head of VantagePoint Asia, a $4.5 billion venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. As a thought leader in the global technology community, with experience across Asia and Silicon Valley, Melissa has been recognized as one of the Top 200 FinTech Influencers in Asia 2018.
Melissa brings with her a unique set of global experience and perspective, with deep technological and innovation prowess anchored in an extensive international network. Melissa is a regular speaker on the Venture Capital markets, Key FinTech Trends, and the changing global landscape.
Anupam Pahuja is the Managing Director for PayPal India. A PayPal veteran, Anupam has spent close to a decade in the company and prior to taking on his current responsibility was the General Manager of Technology, PayPal Asia Pacific.
Anupam has a wealth of international experience in managing large-scale multinational enterprises having been an entrepreneur himself.
Prior to PayPal, Anupam was the Managing Director for India for a NASDAQ-listed Sum Total Systems, the world’s largest eLearning company. In 2000, Anupam founded MobiApps Inc, a mobile focussed company where he was the CTO and COO and sold the company in 2006. Anupam is considered one of the eminent thought leaders in the payments sector and has received 5 patents for an ‘anti-skimming payments card’ and for ‘smartcard battery charging during card use.’ Anupam holds an ungraduated degree in Computer Science from Pennsylvania and an MBA in International Business from Georgetown University.
Session: Panel Discussion-Trends in Financial Markets and Services
Date: April 25, 2019, at 11:30 AM
Sreeram Iyer is the Chief Operating Officer for ANZ Bank’s Institutional Banking business. Sreeram is a TEDx speaker and is active in LinkedIn on topics relating to Banking, Fintech, and Automation. He is a PolyFinTech100 mentor and passionate about Financial Literacy for the underprivileged. He received the “Greatest Individual Contribution to Financial Inclusion in Asia” Award (2017).
At ANZ, Sreeram is responsible for supporting institutional business strategies across multiple countries, generating value for customers through Technology and driving Operations in all the regions of ANZ’s business.
Sreeram has more than 25 years of experience; including 18 years at Standard Chartered Bank. He has earned his learning experiences from MIT (Boston), London Business School, Henley Management College (MBA), and from INSEAD. He is also a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst, Management Accountant, and a Company Secretary from India.
As the principal advisor and founding partner, Jesse’s practice focuses primarily on helping families and business owners build financial road maps that address not only their financial wants and desires but also identify critical financial events that can occur along the way. What makes Jesse’s approach unique is her integrated process that incorporates one’s personal strategies with assets and income from their operating/holding company. While many business owners recognize the importance of planning, they are often too busy growing their business. As a result, miss potential planning opportunities. Jesse maintains her BC and Alberta Life as well as her Health Insurance license and divides her time between both the Calgary and Vancouver offices. She completed her Certified Financial PlannerTM coursework in 2018 and received her Qualified Associate Financial Planner designation. Jesse was born in Vietnam and was sponsored to Canada as a refugee during the “boat people” crisis in 1981. Jesse holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Calgary, as well as several post-graduate certificates from Mount Royal University in Advanced Studies in Mental Health, Forensic Studies. In 2008 she completed level I and level II Solution-focused therapy specialized training. She has always had a deep fascination with both solution-focused planning as well as behavioral finance, and that methodical and analytic nature is aligned with and informs her philosophy, planning strategies, and process in the financial industry. Jesse Vu is a Registered Elder Planning Counselor (EPC) as well as a registered financial planner (QAFP) so you can be sure that she provides expert and professional financial planning services. To earn the QAFP designation, Jesse must complete an approved educational program, pass a rigorous examination and meet stringent experience requirements. Jesse also adheres to a professional Code of Ethics, is a member of Advocis, a professional association of financial advisors and planners Canada, and a member of the prestigious international organization, MDRT, Million Dollar Round Table where she fulfills annual continuing education requirements to remain aware of current planning strategies and financial trends. The first FiNext Tech Awards & Conference were held on the 25th & 26th of October at Ballys in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event was the much awaited Finance and Technology conference of the year 2018 which aimed at bringing together the best and brightest from the field of Finance & Technology under one roof. The conference strived to build a platform for startups, SMEs, key decision makers, researchers, investors and people from the media to interact and garner meaningful alliances.
Matthew is the CEO of Linus, a U.S. based startup leveraging Open Finance protocols to provide retail investors with enhanced investment experience. Building on a foundation of capital markets, trading, and corporate finance, he has advised multiple blockchains and cryptocurrency projects. Prior to this venture, Matthew was a Product Owner at Paybear/Savvy.io and Head of Finance for BTC Inc., the parent company of Bitcoin Magazine and Po.et. He holds an MS Finance and an MBA from DePaul University’s Kellstadt School of Business and a BA in Accounting from Rhodes College.
As Chief Strategy Officer at Bloom, Ben DiScipio brings 30 years of leadership in business development, technology, product vision, marketing, and operations. Ben is a co-founder and Advisor for Fundopolis, a broker-dealer working in the growing Crowdfunding space where he was a licensed Investment Banker. He began his career at Standish, Ayer & Wood, a Boston-based investment advisor, completely revamping their marketing materials and technology and helping to point them towards sustained growth. From there, he became a founding member of The Lab, a business process re-engineering consultancy in Cambridge, MA where he served as a consultant and Director of Operations – responsible for all aspects of the startup including technology infrastructure, design, marketing, and client services. He was the VP of Client Services for Vizy Interactive, an interactive media consultancy with offices in NY, London, and Paris. He has served in various capacities with deep experience in technology, marketing, operations, and business development. It is only fitting that his career now moves to the emerging DeFi space.
Leigh Phillips is the President & CEO of SaverLife, a national nonprofit that helps working families achieve prosperity through savings. Since joining in 2015, Leigh has led SaverLife’s transformation from a local direct service organization to a leading financial technology nonprofit. SaverLife’s flagship program, SaverLife.org, now serves over 170,000 clients across all 50 states.
Prior to joining SaverLife, Leigh was the founding Director of the San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment, spending over ten years in City Hall. Under Leigh’s leadership, the San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment spearheaded several “first in the nation” programs to increase financial inclusion, such as Bank On San Francisco, the first municipally led effort to bank the unbanked and Kindergarten to College, the first universal and automatic college savings program for public school children.
On the national level, Leigh was instrumental in the creation of the Nonprofit Leaders in Financial Technology Coalition, of which she is an active member, and the Cities for Financial Empowerment Coalition, which advocates for greater financial opportunity and protection for all Americans in cities across the United States.
Emmalyn has a keen eye for innovative technologies with the potential to upend the traditional financial landscape and strengthen economic resilience. Emmalyn co-manages Flourish and leads investments focused on promoting financial health in the US.
She has 20 years of technology investing experience, working closely with entrepreneurs to build large scale businesses. As a partner at Omidyar Network, Emmalyn co-managed the Financial Inclusion team. Prior to that, she was a venture partner at Oak Investment Partners, deploying over $150 million of capital in companies such as Bleacher Report, Huffington Post, Thrillist, and Demand Media. Before Oak, she led software and internet investments including Tellme Networks, Neoteris, and MySpace at VantagePoint Partners and the Barksdale Group.
