ESG Strategies Conference: Insights for Business Transition

Steven has lived and worked in China for over 15 years in the non-profit management industry leading and representing global trade associations, professional societies and business interest groups in the region.

Steven is a Dutch national and a Permanent Resident of China. He is a lawyer and sinologist by training. He has a native level language proficiency in Mandarin, English, and Dutch.

Rui (Juliet) Zhu is Professor of Marketing, Director of Center for ESG and Social Innovation and Member of the Board of Supervisors of the Cheung Kong Education Development Foundation at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). Prior to joining CKGSB, Juliet was associate professor of marketing, and Canada Research Chair in consumer behavior at the University of British Columbia (BC, Canada) and assistant professor of marketing at Rice University (USA). She received her Ph.D. in Marketing from University of Minnesota in 2003.

Prof. Zhu’s research interests center on behavioral science, social innovation, and brand management. Her research has been published in top journals, such as Science, Journal of Consumer Research, and Journal of Marketing Research. She currently serves as associate editor for the Journal of Marketing. She has published two books, “Enterprises of the Future: A Three-step Approach for Sustainable Business” in 2020, and “Logic of Decision: Behavioral Psychology in Everyday Life” in 2022.

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August Wu joined Volvo Car Group in 2013 and he is responsible for Strategy & Products, Volvo Car Asia Pacifc. During 2018-2020, he held the role of President of Polestar China, responsible for leading the positioning and development of Polestar’s products and services in China, including Polestar’s Marketing and Branding. Before that, Mr. Wu Zhenhao had held several senior management positions in Volvo Car Asia Pacific and Sweden headquarter.

Prior to his experience in Volvo Group, he held a number of consulting roles related to auto industry within McKinsey & Company and worked for Microsoft respectively.

Ms. Ira Zaka heads Global Marketing and Communications at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). Established in November 2002, CKGSB is China’s first faculty-governed and independent business school. Today, CKGSB has more than 40+ full-time professors, many of whom held tenured positions at leading business schools like Wharton and Yale, and over 20,000 alumni, more than half of whom are at the CEO or Chairman level and, collectively, lead one fifth of China’s most valuable brands.

Since 2010, Ira has enhanced CKGSB’s brand by organizing global business forums, overseeing public relations and social media, and managing partnerships worldwide. She has also enabled CKGSB’s growth in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

A graduate of Princeton University, Ira has spent over 30 years in China, where she has studied and worked for companies like Amazon and Hogan Lovells, primarily managing public relations and communications efforts.

Ira is fluent in Albanian, Chinese and English.

Yvonne has over 30 years of consumer brand experience in fashion, beauty, and retail industry across Asia Pacific, with a proven track record of transforming brands with sustainable growth. Yvonne joined Swarovski in 2022, after 15 years at Burberry, and leading multiple international brands’ Asia Pacific development and brand transformation, including MCM, Charlotte Tilbury, Diptyque, Byredo, Evelom, and more.

Living in Shanghai, Yvonne originates from Singapore. She now leads Swarovski Greater China market for all business units within the group. Under her leadership, she has spearheaded Swarovski’s brand & business transformation strategy in Greater China. In 2023, she launched the Master of Light global exhibition at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art; showcasing the brand’s 130 years history with dazzling Swarovski creations and precious exhibits in collaboration with renowned haute couture houses and designers. The exhibition attracted more than 12,000 visitors. In 2024, she led the launch of Swarovski Created Diamond in the Greater China market, which has become the fastest-growing product category for the region and enabled Swarovski to achieve new growth in the luxury jewelry market segment.

Celine ZENG, Production Safety Senior Engineer with a chemical background, holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Zhejiang University.

After a few years of experience at a state-owned steel and iron company and a Taiwanese fine chemical company, Celine joined Arkema Group in 1999.

She has since started her journey at Arkema, holding various positions in both subsidiaries and the headquarter, including roles in HSEQ management, operations management, project management, and as general manager.

Celine is currently responsible for HSEQ, operational excellence, and sustainable development in the Greater China region.

Throughout her career, Celine has built up extensive experience in company culture integration, plant operations, project construction, HSEQ management, sustainable development etc. Meanwhile, she remains committed to actively promoting the company’s social responsibility care.

Linky is China Corporate Affairs Director at Johnson Matthey, a global leader in sustainable technologies. We apply our cutting-edge science to create solutions with our customers that make a real difference to the world around us. We’ve been leaders in our field for more than 200 years, applying unrivalled scientific expertise to enable cleaner air, the more efficient use and recycling of our planet’s natural resources, and a transition to a net-zero society, in the energy as well as the chemical and synthetic fuel markets.

Linky joined Johnson Matthey as a chemical engineer, in Sydney Australia, in 1992, and worked in Australia, Belgium before came to China in 2000 for the establishment of Johnson Matthey’s very first operation facility from greenfield in Songjiang, Shanghai. Experiences range from operation, general management and commercial with cross-business exposure.

Linky has a Master’s degree in Catalysis from University of New South Wales in Australia, and is passionate for coaching in leadership and personal growth.

Michael has more than 20 years of experience in advising international companies on their operations in and with China. He has profound experience advising industrial clients in various sectors, covering all legal aspects of a typical investment deal like market entry and joint ventures, M&A restructuring and exit. Throughout his two decades’ practice, Michael has been gradually converging his energy on technology driven business and has built up his reputation and connections in the circle.

As the first Chinese partner of Taylor Wessing, Michael is now heading the firm’s TMC practice for China. Besides his expertise regarding general corporate and commercial matters, he specializes in IT regulatory and data/privacy protection areas. Michael holds CIPP/E certification as granted by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). At the same time, he frequently publishes articles and comments on IT and technology related legal topics.

Michael is National Vice Chair of the Legal & Competition Working Group under the European Chamber of Commerce. He also serves as an arbitrator of the Shanghai International Arbitration Center.

Michael studied law at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing (UIBE), China, where he also completed his LLB and LLM degrees in 1997 and 2000 respectively. In 2006, Michael received his law doctorate from UIBE. In 1997, Michael was admitted to the Chinese bar. After practicing in domestic law firms, he worked in the Beijing office of a major international law firm from 2000 to 2002. In 2002, he joined Taylor Wessing in the Shanghai office. As of 2007, he has been appointed as a partner of Taylor Wessing.