This International Women’s Day, be part of a powerful dialogue on the decisive steps that we can take as individuals to #AccelerateAction for gender equality.

Hear from our panel as they draw from their personal and professional experiences and engage in a candid sharing on how they are actively driving inclusivity and equality – be it calling out stereotypes, challenging discrimination, questioning bias, celebrating successes and empowering women.

This is more than just an event - it’s a rallying call for action and to ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to positively impacting women’s advancement. Are you in?

Panelists and Moderator Bios:
 

Moderator:

Stella Choe, Global Head, Corporate Coverage, CIB, Standard Chartered Bank

Stella Choe is a senior banking executive with more than 25 years of experience in the international banking sector working with some of the world’s largest companies and financial sponsors.

Stella was appointed to the position of Global Head, Corporate Coverage, CIB on the 1st of April 2024. In this role, she leads Standard Chartered’s Corporate Banking business globally.

Stella has held a variety of senior positions across Asia, EMEA, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Prior to her current appointment, she was the Global Head of Global Subsidiaries for Standard Chartered Bank.

Prior to joining Standard Chartered in November 2023, she was the Head of Global Subsidiaries Group, APAC and Head of Global Network Banking, APAC at Citibank. Previously she was the Head of Corporate Banking and Financial Institution group, Australia and New Zealand at Citibank.

Stella spent six years in Hong Kong developing a regional Acquisition Finance group and a regional Fund Coverage business for HSBC. Prior to HSBC, Stella led the EMEA Leverage and Acquisition Finance Syndication division at Morgan Stanley, structuring and distributing a wide variety of cross border M&A related financings, LBO’s, restructurings, and emerging market transactions. Stella began her career in finance in New York originating High Yield transactions at JP Morgan.

Prior to her banking career, she worked with several international organisations including the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva. She also worked with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Brussels working on migration and trafficking issues. In 2003, Stella took a sabbatical to volunteer with UNICEF in their APAC regional headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand where she developed corporate partnerships across the region.

Stella has been an active mentor for the Women in Banking and Finance. She was a member of the 100 Women in hedge Funds Hong Kong chapter. She previously sat on the Advisory Council of the Royal Opera House in London. Apart from spending time with her two children, she enjoys fly fishing, skiing, opera, arts and bikram yoga.

Stella holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Panellists:

Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (2007-2015)

Dr. Noeleen Heyzer was an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (2007-2015) and the highest-ranking Singaporean during her term. She was first woman to serve as the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) since its founding in 1947. Responding to the 2008 global financial crisis, she developed ESCAP as the platform for the region to rethink and implement new drivers of inclusive and sustainable development. Before that, she was the first Executive Director outside North America to lead the United Nations Development Fund for Women (1994-2007). She was widely recognized for playing a critical role in the Security Council’s adoption and implementation of landmark Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace, and Security, undertaking numerous missions to conflict-affected areas worldwide. Dr. Heyzer served under four UN Secretary Generals (UNSG) and was the UNSG’s Special Adviser for Timor-Leste (2013-2015), working to support peacebuilding, state-building, and sustainable development. She was also a member of the UNSG’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation (2017-2021) and the UNSG’s Special Envoy for Myanmar (2021-2023).

Dr. Heyzer, a founding member of several international women’s networks, served on numerous boards and advisory committees of international organizations, including the UNDP Human Development Report, the Board of Trustees of the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Governing Board of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (NUS), Board Member of the Asia Global Institute, the Kofi Annan Global Commission on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age. She was also on the High-level Commonwealth Commission on Respect and Understanding chaired by Nobel Laureate Prof. Amartya Sen, and a jury member of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Innovation Award for Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment 2010.

Born and raised in Singapore, Dr. Heyzer was the top sociology student of her year, holding a Bachelor of Arts (Upper Hons.) and a Master of Science from the University of Singapore, and later a Doctorate in Social Sciences from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. She has received numerous international awards for leadership, including the Dag Hammarskjold Medal (2004) given to “a person who has promoted, in action and spirit, the values that inspired Dag Hammarskjöld as Secretary-General of the United Nations and generally in his life: compassion, humanism and commitment to international solidarity and cooperation”.

In her memoir “Beyond Storms and Stars” (Penguin Books 2021) she shares the story of growing up in childhood poverty and social disadvantage in post-war Singapore, becoming a woman leader committed to harnessing the power of community agency, and fostering a more “people-centred multilateralism” to create a fairer and more secure world in turbulent times.  

Sharad Desai, Global Head, Markets Sales & Structuring, Standard Chartered Bank

Sharad Desai joined Standard Chartered Bank as Global Head, Financial Markets Sales in September 2019. From December 2021 to April 2024, Sharad was also Global Head of FI, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking (CCIB) Client Coverage - responsible for managing Banks and Broker Dealers, Correspondent Banking and Fintech, Strategic Investors Group, Public Sector & Development Organisation clients and the Strategic Enablement teams globally.

The business serves to provide Standard Chartered’s clients with markets related services including Foreign Exchange, Rates, Credit, Commodities and Capital Markets.

He is a member of the Financial Markets ExCo and is based in Singapore.

Sharad brings 30 years of global experience in Fixed Income sales. He began his career with ANZ Grindlays in Mumbai in 1990 (as a branch manager in retail banking) before moving to HSBC in 1992. During his fourteen years at HSBC, Sharad held various senior sales roles in Mumbai, Hong Kong, London and New York. In his last few roles at HSBC, Sharad was responsible for promotion and distribution of Asian products through their European and US franchises and so he has deep experience in leveraging the network. Sharad moved to JP Morgan in 2006 (based in London), where he was most recently the Head of FICC Sales for Asia Pacific, based in Singapore for the last 9 years.

Sharad graduated from Delhi University where he obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics. Sharad is married with three children.

Nicole Schmidt, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Bridgewater Associates (Singapore) Management

Nicole joined Bridgewater in 2009 and is currently based in Bridgewater’s Singapore office serving as an advisor to many of Bridgewater’s strategic relationships in Asia Pacific across a broad range of institutional clients including sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations, superannuation, and corporate pension plans. Over the course of her tenure, she has worked with a range of the firm’s largest global investors in Asia, the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Before transitioning into her current role, Nicole worked as a Marketing Associate, where she focused on business development with the firm’s US Public Pension Plan and Canadian clients. Prior to joining Bridgewater, Nicole was the Research and Marketing Manager for Scout Real Estate Capital, a luxury real estate investment and development company. Nicole received her B.A. in Economics from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Registration

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