Our Board

POLLY NG

Founder & Chairman& Global CEO of GWC

Polly is a seasoned business management professional with extensive experience across Greater China and Asia Pacific. Prior to her current position, she was the Asia Pacific Regional Business Director and Worldwide Sales Operations Director of Kodak.

Polly is a passionate contributor to make a better society. In addition to GWC, she is also the co-founder and vice chair of Hong Kong Youth Service Leader Award, and Board Director of OneMBA Alumni Association Asia. Polly holds BBA degree and Global EMBA master degree (in Dean’s list for outstanding performance) from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is also a visiting speaker to the university. Currently Polly is based in Shanghai.

NOR COQUILLARD

Former CEO, Cargill China
Former Chairman, AmCham Shanghai, US based

Nor spent 31 years with Cargill, 25 of which were in Asia running their operations in Korea, Japan and China. Throughout his tenure the company significantly expanded operations in these three countries. In 2010 Nor became the Chairman and President of Enactus China, the China branch of the US non-profit, Enactus. During his six years as president the organization grew rapidly adding over 40 new sponsoring companies and 175 universities to its network. In 2011 Nor began his association with IMA Asia which provides a peer group forum for Asia based CEO’s.

Nor served as Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in 2008 and 2009 and received Shanghai’s Silver Magnolia Award as an outstanding expat resident in 2002. He currently is based in Seattle and serves as the Executive Director of the Washington State China Relationship Council.

JACKIE ROBB

Chief Operating Officer, Chemist Warehouse, Australia based

Jackie has vast and deep management experience as she excelled in several senior executive roles like President, VP Supply Chain, Chief Information Officer, Chief Financial Officer at listed organizations like Sigma Healthcare and Staples Greater China (division of Staples Inc). Her qualifications include Senior EMBA, FCPA, GAICD and MBS.

Relocating to Shanghai for more than 5 years, Jackie turned around the Greater China businesses, where she delivered tremendous improvement exceeding Staples’ expectations. Jackie was awarded the Shanghai Silver Magnolia award by the Shanghai Municipality in 2016 and won the Australian China Alumni Association 2016 Women in Leadership award. Jackie joined Chemist Warehouse in Australia as the Chief Operating Officer in December 2018.

Jackie is passionate about promoting the welfare and progress of women in the work place, actively acting as a mentor/coach for women in leadership whilst leading the set-up of the GWC Australian affiliate.

KRISTI L SWARTZ

Partner, DLA Piper, HK based

Kristi Swartz is a partner at DLA Piper’s Intellectual Property and Technology Practice. She is an experienced fintech lawyer and has been instrumental in developing Hong Kong’s fintech ecosystem. She advises clients on various matters, including structuring, licensing, and corporate governance. She provides advice on digital assets, stablecoins, payments / alternative payments, and the licensing and development of equity crowdfunding, robo-advisory and the running of compliant crypto exchanges, to name just a few. She has a strong track record of successful SFC licence applications.

Kristi has practiced in Hong Kong for over 20 years. She is recognized by Legal 500 as a “Leading Individual”, and clients have described her as a “Fintech Superman”. Kristi cares deeply about our community and sits on the board of directors of the Faith In Love Foundation Limited (a Hong Kong-registered charity) and is a founding member of the 30% Club’s Hong Kong chapter. Kristi also serves on The Women’s Foundation’s Fundraising Committee and is an active Ambassador.

RANGA VELLAMORE

Co-Founder, ZETA-V
Former VP & CEO, Infosys Greater China, China based

Prior to his current position, Ranga was the Chief Executive Officer of Infosys China for the past 18 years. He has 25 years of experience in Information Technology. He has worked extensively in US, Australia and Greater China markets in various roles. He performed leading roles in client management and delivery in technology outsourcing and consulting business. His key interests are in motivating and developing high performing team.

Ranga has been in Shanghai for more than 8 years. Under his leadership Infosys China has expanded its business and operations across 7 cities in China and has developed large relationship with large Chinese corporations.

He has Bachelor of Technology degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Prior to Infosys, he worked in large corporations in India and in Indian Civil Service.

MARTIN KOLKMAN

Entrepreneur, former VP of Hyva International & Western Europe-Middle East-Africa

Martin is a passionate leader and pioneer with 20+ years of experience in leading companies and organizations around the world under dynamic contexts of cultures, organization levels, and genders. He has a great enthusiasm for inspiring people develop their missions and leadership potential. Born in The Netherlands and lives in Dubai, UAE, Martin values his family and the people around him. He connects the world around him based on respect, trust, and appreciation.

Being a global mentor since the inception of GWC, Martin believes "seeing, listening, sharing and connecting the dots" are the key fundaments that support the development of GWC as a global platform for all female leaders to advance. He takes a co-founding lead in the regional chapter of GWC along with other co-founders to strengthen local positioning and visibility while connecting the dots with the GWC global platform. Martin endeavors a "GLOCAL" approach to enable the full potential of (female) leaders and an inclusive world. In his opinion, "GWC is a great initiative, organization, people and inspiring platform that offers new insights and continuous learning opportunities for female leaders to overcome challenges, pursue their dreams and get hold of their lives."

Jackie Robb

Co-Founder and Chair of GWC Australia Chapter

Polly Ng

Founder & CEO of GWC

Melissa Kalan

CEO of GWC Australia Chapter

MELISSA KALAN

CEO of GWC Australia Chapter
Founder & CEO of the Australian Revenue Management Association (ARMA)

Melissa Kalan is the CEO and founder of the Australian Revenue Management Association (ARMA), providing specialised online education programs for the hospitality industry and academia and member services. Her life philosophy is centred on the principle of “always learning” and her background includes revenue and yield management leadership positions within The Ritz-Carlton, Hotel Company, and Qantas Airways Limited.

Melissa wrote the first nationally accredited online VET short course in revenue and yield management, developed the online Graduate Certificate of Revenue Management in partnership with Torrens University Australia, founded the annual APAC Revenue Management Summit, and developed YIELDMAX® - a game-changing revenue and yield management training tool for academic partners. She also recently published her first book drawing on her extensive public speaking experience titled “How to Conquer Your Fear and Boost Your Credibility”.

As an experienced and innovative business leader Melissa is delighted to join the GWC Australian Governance Board in the capacity of CEO.

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