A New Generation of Reformers for a Developing Asia

 Golden Gate University is privileged to host an evening with The Asia Foundation Development Fellows. These 12 global leaders representing 12 developing Asian nations will discuss their unique work and perspective as social entrepreneurs and reformers in a panel format moderated by Jeffrey Yergler, Ph.D. The panel discussion will be followed by a wine and cheese reception.
You are invited to meet the 2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellows along with GGU faculty, staff, students, alumni, and business leaders from around the Bay Area for an evening of discussion, exploration, and networking. Admission is free.
http://asiafoundation.org/2017/02/15/new-generation-reformers-2017-asia-foundation-development-fellows/


Asia is home to 60% of the world’s population, and by 2030, the region will represent two-thirds of the global middle class and account for over 40% of global middle-class consumption. While the most dynamic and transformative region in the world, Asia’s challenges surrounding youth unemployment, rising inequality, pervasive conflicts, and urbanization are ever more pressing.
Given the diversity of Asia’s populations and cultures, and the depth and complexity of Asian’s extraordinary development challenges, the need for supporting creative, inspired, and transformative next-generation leadership has never been more imperative.



Meet the Asia Foundation Development Fellows: 
Khouanfa Siriphone
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Writer & Social Entrepreneur, Laos
Mr. Khouanfa Siriphone is co-founder of STELLA, a social enterprise that supports youth development in Laos. He has combined his background in communication, capacity development, entertainment, and education in an “edutainment” approach to bring creative thinking, problem solving, and social inclusion training to more than 300 Lao youth. Siriphone was previously a Communication Officer at the Learning House for Development, a network of Lao Not-for Profit Associations. He was also appointed Curator of Global Shaper Vientiane Hub, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Creative Industries from Queensland University of Technology.



Kimberly Junmookda
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Environmental Specialist, Thailand
Ms. Kimberly Junmookda is Plan International’s Climate Change Specialist managing the organization’s climate adaptation program in Asia. She works to increase climate change awareness of children in Thailand and adjacent countries and works with communities to build resilience in a region most prone to climate-related disasters. Previously, Junmookda spent time at the Rockefeller Foundation where she helped launch the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network, a platform connecting those working to build resilience for the poor living in Asia’s secondary and megacities. She has worked as a Program Officer for the Institute of International Education’s USAID HARVEST project, an initiative to build climate change adaptation, environmental, and natural resources management capacity. Junmookda holds a master’s degree from Stanford University and a bachelor’s from University of Redlands.



Febriarti Mudjiono
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Social Entrepreneur, Indonesia
Ms. Febriarti Mudjiono is the founder of Bintang Sejahtera, a waste management social enterprise. She has been actively engaged in economic and community development, environmental protection, and women and youth empowerment on Lombok Island for ten years. She has also participated in a number of international exchange programs in Canada and the United States to strengthen her role as young women leader in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. Mudjiono was awarded the Indonesian Women of Change by US Embassy Jakarta in 2015, and the Tupperware “She Can” Award, presented by Tupperware Fortune Indonesia, which recognizes 58 inspiring Indonesian women who work in community empowerment, education, and local development. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English Education from Mataram University.?



Surya Karki
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Education Non-profit Director, Nepal
Mr. Surya Karki is the United World Schools Director to Nepal, where he oversees the education of more than 650 children and the construction of thirty-five primary schools in the Sankhuwasabha and Gulmi districts. He is also the co-founder and CEO of the Diyalo Foundation, which works to develop sustainable, energy, education, agriculture in Nepal. In 2014, he was awarded the Prince of Wales and UNILEVER Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneurs Award, and in 2016, he was recognized as one of 30 under 30 International Literacy Association leaders. Karki recently received a master’s degree in Global Affairs in Economics and Business at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic.


Iromi Perera
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Urban Development Policy Researcher, Sri Lanka
Ms. Iromi Perera is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a think tank based in Colombo, and leads Social Indicator, CPA’s public opinion polling unit. Iromi’s research and advocacy focuses on urban development and displacement, specifically looking at the experiences of the Sri Lankan government’s vision to transform the capital city of Colombo into a “world-class city.” In 2015, she was awarded a Fulbright Professional Scholar Fellowship and was based at the Urban Institute in Washington DC. She is also a co-curator of The Picture Press, an online platform that uses photographs as an entry point into broader development issues facing Sri Lanka and South Asia. Perera holds a post graduate diploma in Development Studies from Colombo University, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Sociology from Christ College in Bangalore.



Trina Talukdar
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Gender Empowerment Activist, India
Ms. Trina Talukdar is co-founder of Kranti, which transforms underage girls from red-light areas into leaders of social change. She is also a Venture Manager at Ashoka: Innovators for the Public where she explores models of work in social entrepreneurship, through Ashoka’s Fellow Selection and Support process. In 2014-2015, Trina took a year-long sabbatical from Ashoka to become an Atlas Corps Fellow working with American Express, Philanthropy, in Washington, D.C. and New York on the American Express Leadership Academy Alumni Network for nonprofit leaders. In 2012, she was featured by The Week magazine in London as one of the top 30 most inspirational leaders of the year for her work with Kranti. Talukdar holds a master’s degree in Medical and Psychiatric Social Work from Christ University in Bangalore, and a bachelor’s degree in English, Political Science and Sociology from St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata.



Jalila Haider
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Human Rights Attorney, Pakistan
Ms. Jalila Haider is a human right attorney and founder of We the Humans – Pakistan, a non-profit organization which works to lift local communities by strengthening opportunities for vulnerable women and children. She specializes in defending women’s rights and provides free counseling and legal services to poverty-affected women. The first female attorney of her Hazara community, an ethnic minority group in Baluchistan, in 2015, Haider was selected as one of ‘News Women Power 50’ list of Pakistan’s most influential and powerful women. In 2014, she was selected as an Atlantic Council Emerging Leaders of Pakistan Fellow and was a member of the first batch of Pakistan Social Entrepreneurs by Rajeev Circle Fellows in 2015. She was also a 2016 Swedish Institute Young Connectors of the Future Fellow. Haider holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Balochistan.



Savin Mao
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Investment Manager, Cambodia
Mr. Savin Mao is a founding member of Emerging Markets Investment Advisers (EMIA), a private equity fund managing investments in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. He also a co-founder of the Cambodia Investor Club, a financing platform supporting young entrepreneurs’ access to innovative financing solutions. Mao also co-founded CRDT, a local NGO working to improve livelihood of rural communities whilst conserving natural resources, and co-founded CWF, a conversational English training institution providing English training to disadvantaged students and generating sustained income for CRDT. Mao holds a master’s degree in Finance from Charles Sturt University, Australia, and a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Maharishi Vedic University.



A. Naveed Noormal
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Diplomat, Afghanistan
Mr. Ahmad Naveed Noormal is Policy Implementation Coordinator at the Office of the Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs in Afghanistan. He has worked as in-charge officer of the ‘Heart of Asia’ – Istanbul Process within the Regional Cooperation Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. He has also worked as Head of Operations and Program Manager for the U.S. Embassy Projects in Kabul. Noormal is a Fulbright scholar and holds a master’s degree in Coexistence and Conflict Resolution with a specialization in Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Management from Brandeis University, and a bachelor’s degree in Academic Law from the University of Mysore.



Kyi Pyar Chit Saw
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Governance Consultant & Women’s Nonprofit Founder, Myanmar
Ms. Kyi Pyar Chit Saw is a consultant with The World Bank group’s Myanmar public sector modernization program. She has published reports on local governance, public administration reform, and decentralization with the Myanmar Development Resource Institute/Center for Economic Social Development (MDRI-CESD) and The Asia Foundation. She also serves as a Board Member and Donor Relationship and Strategic Advisor for the Action for Public, a nonprofit focusing on women empowerment and economic development, which she co-founded in 2008. Saw was a 2015 Trust Women scholar, awarded to outstanding leaders around the world working on women issues. She is also a Fulbright Scholar and recently graduated from the Executive Master of Public Administration program at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.



Lkhagva Erdene
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Investigative Journalist, Mongolia
Lkhagva Erdene is an investigative journalist and executive producer of news at Mongol TV in Mongolia. In his role at Mongol TV, he has helped to earn its position as the most-watched prime-time news channel in Mongolia. A former court interpreter and ministerial aide, Erdene is a founding member of the Media Council of Mongolia, the country’s first-ever independent media council and currently serves on the ethics committee. He is a member of the Global Shaper Community—Mongolia, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, and was named a ‘”30 under 30?‘ by Forbes Mongolia in 2015. In 2017 Lkhagva was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team of journalists who collaborated on the Panama Papers project led by The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.



Nureen Anisha
2017 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Environmental Researcher & Television Host, Bangladesh
Ms. Nureen Anisha is a researcher and activist in the field of climate change, environment, and water resources. An engineer by training, she is also an award-winning public speaker, debate coach, and TV show host. Anisha’s research projects in the domain of climate change focus on gender dimensions, socio-cultural, and political dynamics of climate change. Her TV show, “Projonmo Agami,” which finished airing its third season, raises social awareness on religious tolerance, communal harmony, civic responsibility, and other contemporary social issues impacting youth in Bangladesh. Anisha holds a master’s degree in Climate Change and Development from Independent University, Bangladesh, and a bachelor’s degree in Water Resource Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.