Robert Barclay is International Alert’s Country Director in Myanmar. Previously he worked as a Senior Programme Design and Assessment Officer in the peacebuilding issues programme. Robert has worked on development and peacebuilding projects in Asia and Africa for humanitarian and development NGOs, including Mercy Corps and Oxfam. He also worked for the UK government’s Conflict Pool programme in Somalia. Robert has an MSc in Violence, Conflict and Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

Nicole Barnes is the Vice President, Business Strategy and Communications, for the International Development Group (IDG) at RTI International. In her 11 years with RTI she has held numerous technical and senior leadership roles. With a background in public finance, she has worked in several countries on education finance, implementing local governance support programs, urban service delivery and local economic development. Ms. Barnes has worked in international development for 19 years, including 11 years working overseas on long-term assignments. Half of her time overseas has been spent in Africa, in Uganda and South Africa. She has also worked in India, Indonesia, Montenegro and Pakistan.

Vicky Bowman has been the Director of Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) since July 2013. Prior to that she worked at the global mining company Rio Tinto, where she led its policy approach to transparency, human rights, and resource nationalism and resource curse issues from 2011. She was Director of Global & Economic Issues and G8 sous-Sherpa for the United Kingdom from 2008-2011 and Head of the Southern Africa Department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK Government from 2006-2007. Vicky served as ambassador of the UK to Myanmar from 2002 to 2006 and as second secretary in the Embassy from 1990 to 1993. She also previously worked in Brussels as Member of Cabinet of European Commissioner Chris Patten and as press spokeswoman for the UK representation to the EU. Vicky speaks Burmese and is married to Myanmar artist Htein Lin.

William Costley was appointed vice president of operations for Southeast Asia, Hilton Worldwide in January 2011. He is responsible for planning and implementing strategies across a variety of key functions in the region, including revenue management, central marketing, owner relations, and human capital planning. Since his appointment, William has played a key role in aligning and driving regional initiatives across over 30 hotels in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Maldives, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He works across several Hilton Worldwide brands, including Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton, and Hilton Garden Inn. William is an associate member of Hotel Catering International Management (HCIMA) and British Association of Hotel Accountants (BAHA), and was previously the board member and director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Daniel Crapper is the Deputy Country Director of PSI Myanmar and has over eighteen years of experience leading, managing, and inspiring people with diverse backgrounds and cultures in both the private and not-for-profit sectors. Achievements include creating long-term strategic vision for organizations to enable them to expand health impact, fostering innovation, building meaningful enabling relations with government officials and stakeholders, and raising funding from a wide portfolio of donors to enable these visions to be realized. Working primarily in East and Southern Africa and Southeast Asia, Mr. Crapper has managed a diverse portfolio of projects, including social marketing and social franchising of HIV, reproductive health and family planning, malaria and other maternal and child health services. He qualified as a chartered accountant in the UK in1997, holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Economics from Cambridge University and speaks fluent English and French.

Nick Cumpston has worked with the Australian Government’s aid program since 2006. Since joining the then AusAID he has worked in the Pacific and South East Asia, including a posting to Vanuatu as head of development cooperation from 2008-10. From 2011-14 Mr. Cumpston was an economic adviser to Australia's aid program to Indonesia and Timor-Leste, and commenced in his current role as head of development cooperation at the Australian Embassy Yangon in December 2014. Prior to joining AusAID, Mr. Cumpston worked with the Australian Treasury between 1997 and 2004, including a deployment as a fiscal adviser to the Papua New Guinea Ministry of Finance in 2003. He also worked with Coffey International as an adviser to the Papua New Guinea National Economic and Fiscal Commission from 2004 through 2006.

Dr. George Dura has been the Deputy Head of Cooperation for the Delegation of the European Union to Myanmar since June 2014. He joined the European Commission (Directorate General for Development and Cooperation) in June 2011 as Programme Manager in the field of Governance, Democracy and Human Rights. Prior to that he was employed as a researcher on EU Foreign and Security Policy at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels since 2005. During that period he also collaborated with several research institutes and think tanks such as European University Institute and Freedom House and published numerous articles, research papers and chapters in particular on the subject of the EU's Neighbourhood Policy. George Dura holds a PhD in Political Science which he obtained at the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve.

Don Ellison is a Senior Vice President in ICF’s International Health and Development Division. A demographer by training, he has over 25 years of experience conducting and managing a number of research and evaluation projects in sectors such as energy, health, media, food security and labor. His work has occurred in many parts of the world including Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South/Southeast Asia.

Stephen Groff is Vice-President for East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific of the Asian Development Bank. He is responsible for the full range of ADB’s operations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. Before joining ADB, Stephen was Deputy Director for Development Cooperation at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. He also served as OECD’s envoy to the G20 Working Group on Development and was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council. Prior to this, Stephen was Deputy Vice-President for Operations at the Millennium Challenge Corporation. In addition, Stephen has served as deputy director and chief economist on a USAID project designed to encourage private sector development in the southern Philippines; a Program Director for the U.S. Refugee Program; and a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer. Stephen has worked across Asia, Africa, and Latin America and writes regularly on development issues. He also serves on a number of advisory boards for development-related organizations.

Richard Harrison is Pact’s Country Director in Myanmar, where he manages a portfolio of integrated programs that helps local communities to define and address their development needs. Richard brings to his role broad experience in strategic leadership, general management, operations and supply chain management, marketing, research and the development of private and public sector partnerships. He is a multi-lingual professional with 18 years of experience in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Europe, the former Soviet Union and Africa, and has a diverse background in international development, financial journalism, and investment banking. Prior to joining Pact, Richard worked for 11 years at Population Services International (PSI), leading a broad portfolio of health-related social marketing programs in Zambia, Botswana and Pakistan. He has held positions as Executive Director, Deputy Country Director, New Business Development Director, and Chief of Party, including PSI’s Deputy Director to Myanmar from 2002 to 2005 where he launched multiple health services and products.

Andrew Kirkwood is a professional engineer and rural development planner. He has 25 years of experience in the areas of infrastructure and rural development in Africa and in Asia. He has experience with the UN, NGOs, and the private sector. Andrew moved to Myanmar in 2004 and worked for nearly 7 years as the Country Director for Save the Children. Since 2011 he has been the Fund Director for the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT). LIFT is a multi-donor fund established to help Myanmar to reduce the number of people living in poverty and hunger. At the end of 2015, after five years of operations, LIFT had funded 93 projects with over 50 partners, covering 157 of the country’s 330 townships. To date, 628,000 rural families – or roughly five percent of Myanmar’s population – have received LIFT support.

Raj Kumar is the founding President & Editor-in-Chief of Devex, the media platform for the global development community. A social entrepreneur and digital media executive, he's been a part of nine presidential campaigns and was a co-founder of a successful financial information company. Raj saw the world-shaping potential of Devex while a graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School and promptly dropped out to build it. He has been profiled in Forbes, the Financial Times, Foreign Policy, and the Washington Post, where Devex was called the Bloomberg of foreign aid. Raj is also an active investor in ground-breaking startups, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Clinton Global Initiative, and chair of the World Economic Forum's humanitarian council.

Toily Kurbanov is currently the Country Director of UNDP Myanmar. Prior to this engagement, he was the Deputy Resident Representative in UNDP Fiji and worked in a number of different roles at UNDP Headquarters in New York. Toily began his career with the Government of Turkmenistan where he first served as the Head of Treasury, then as First Vice-President of the Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs, and he was eventually appointed as Minister of Foreign Economic Relations. His last assignment with the Government of Turkmenistan was as the Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia. Toily holds a Master Degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Diploma in Economics from the Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics, Moscow.

With a background in work and organizational psychology, Melanie Lange began her career in HR in the private sector for Accenture and Helios Solutions in various countries including India and Czech Republic. In 2012, she transitioned to the non-profit sector by working as an HR officer for Merlin in London, where she supported programs in East Africa, then as HR Advisor in the emergencies department on the preparedness of a surgical mobile field hospital. Melanie took up her post as Country HR Manager in Myanmar with Merlin last year and also facilitated the transition to Save the Children International. Her current projects in include overseeing the Learning and Development department, which implements training, mentoring, and talent management initiatives for SCI’s 1300 staff based in Myanmar.

Andrew M. Lee leads GE in Myanmar as Chief Country Representative. With over 20 years of experience in management consultancy, sales, marketing and operations, he has an exceptional background in developing new markets and implementing strategic business plans including new product innovation through effective risk management, new business development, profit & loss projection and cost cutting initiatives. Prior to joining GE, Andrew worked for various multinational companies such as Panasonic Company, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, B2BGalaxy.com, Dun & Bradstreet, and JP Morgan Chase Card Services. He also co-founded the telephony software company AGM Telecom and went on to be Principal Consultant for Lee Consulting LLC, where he worked with small and medium sized businesses. In addition to advanced training in the banking and investment sectors, Andrew holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Marketing from Rutgers State University. He actively participates in investment clubs and enjoys fundraising for community events, golfing, cooking, and keeping up with current financial markets in the Euro zones and Southeast Asia regions.

Aaron Leonard is a capacity development specialist with over 10 years' experience working with civil society and multilateral institutions in areas of organizational development, local governance, and knowledge exchange. In Myanmar Aaron manages Pact’s Capacity Development and Governance Group, where he supports the USAID funded Shae Thot integrated development program and oversees capacity development initiatives with Global Fund and 3MDG implementing partners. He has a passion for smart, innovative and participatory development. Aaron is a graduate of the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California.

Andrew Lewis is the current senior vice president for Chemonics' Asia division. Previously, he served as Chemonics’ senior vice president for both the South Asia, and the Egypt, North Africa, and Yemen regions. An education, youth, and workforce development specialist, Mr. Lewis joined Chemonics in 2009 as an education practice director providing technical assistance and leadership to Chemonics’ education portfolio. He serves on the executive committees of the Alliance for International Youth Development, and the Basic Education Coalition. He has managed projects in Egypt, Georgia, and Zambia, as well as provided consulting services to USAID’s global missions. Mr. Lewis began his international career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Samoa. He holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Tennessee and has done graduate work at the George Washington University and Tulane University.

Gavin McGillivray has been head of the UK Department for International Development Office in Burma / Myanmar since June 2013. Gavin was previously based in DFID’s London office where he headed DFID’s Private Sector Department, Global Funds & Development Finance Institutions Department, and International Financial Institutions Department. He also served as the UK Director on the Boards of Global Alliance for Vaccines & Immunisation and UNITAID. From 2003 to 2013, Gavin was responsible for DFID’s oversight of CDC Group plc and Private Infrastructure Development Group. Prior to joining DFID in 2000, Gavin managed long-term agricultural sector development programmes in Bolivia, Honduras, Colombia and the Caribbean. In the middle of these assignments, he spent 8 years in London with the international corporate finance house Campbell Lutyens, of which he was an Executive Director.

Chris Milligan was sworn in as mission director to Burma on August 29, 2012. Prior to this appointment, he served as deputy assistant administrator in USAID’s Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning. A senior Foreign Service Officer, Milligan deployed to Haiti as the U.S. response coordinator for the U.S. Government’s relief efforts following the January 2010 earthquake. Previously, he was the senior USAID advisor on the Secretary of State's Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. He has been posted to overseas missions in Indonesia, Zimbabwe and Ecuador and served as deputy mission director in Iraq. A graduate of the National War College, Milligan also has served as the regional director for the Near East in the Office of the Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance (F) in the State Department, and as the acting administrator for USAID's Bureau Public and Legislative Affairs.

Ms. Su Mon works with Proximity Designs, a social enterprise that designs, builds and markets affordable products and services that vulnerable rural families can use to transform their lives. She currently serves as Head of Rural Energy Business Unit, leading a team of managers, analysts and direct sales force across Myanmar to offer alternative lighting options to off-grid rural families. Previously, she managed the Knowledge and Social Impact Team which gathers market insights and conducts rigorous socio-economic impact assessments of Proximity’s work on rural households. Prior to joining Proximity Designs, Su Mon worked for the international development consulting firm Social Impact. She holds a master’s degree in International Development from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a bachelor’s degree in Finance from College of Saint Elizabeth.

Erin Murphy is Founder and Principal of Inle Advisory Group. Having worked in Asia since 2001, Erin is a subject matter expert on Myanmar and the greater Asia region, and is frequently solicited for her views and input by The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Reuters, Bloomberg, and Associated Press. She is a featured author in The Huffington Post, Myanmar’s Crossroads, and publications by the National Bureau of Asian Research. Prior to founding Inle Advisory Group, Erin was Special Assistant to the State Department’s first-ever Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Myanmar. She joined Secretary of State Clinton on her historic trip to Myanmar in 2011, overseeing the easing of economic sanctions, and advising and supporting the Office of the Special Representative during the unprecedented warming of U.S.-Myanmar ties. Erin previously worked as an analyst on Asian political, foreign policy, and leadership issues at the Central Intelligence Agency. She also participated in the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program, where she discovered her passion for Asian history, politics, and regional ties. Erin received her master’s degree in Japan Studies and International Economics from Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies, and her bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Spanish from Tufts University.

Keiichiro Nakazawa currently serves as Chief Representative of the Myanmar office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). He came to this position in late March 2015 after serving for one year at JICA headquarters in Tokyo as Deputy Director General for Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam, and for four years as Chief Representative of the U.S. office of JICA in Washington D.C. Before working at JICA, Mr. Nakazawa had a 20-year-long career at the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan (OECF), where he focused on Japan’s ODA loan operations in Asia and operational policies. He also served as OECF Representative in New Delhi, India, from 1991 to 1994. Mr. Nakazawa won a World Bank Graduate Scholarship to study at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he graduated with a Master’s degree in Public Policy. He was also a visiting lecturer on development economics at Tokyo University and Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan. Since 2002, Mr. Nakazawa has served as a government-authorized advisor on management for small to medium-sized enterprises.

Scott Neal is President of Unocal Myanmar, a position he assumed in January, 2015. As president, he is responsible for Chevron’s interest in the Yadana gas field in the Andaman Sea offshore Myanmar and the Block A5 PSC located offshore Rakhine State. Prior to this position, he served as the Small Field Asset Manager in Chevron’s Sumatra Operations unit in Indonesia. Scott received his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of California, Riverside and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Geophysics from Indiana University. He joined Chevron in 1999 as an exploration geophysicist and has held various positions in Exploration, Technology, Asset Development and Strategic Planning.

Dr. Kim N. B. Ninh is The Asia Foundation's country representative in Myanmar, and a member of the senior team that re-established its Yangon office in 2013. Dr. Ninh oversees the Myanmar office’s programs focused on supporting the country’s challenging political and economic transition within a rapidly changing society. Dr. Ninh has decades of development experience including designing, evaluating, and managing programs at the country-specific level, as well as in multi-country efforts. She has served in several key leadership positions at the Foundation, including country representative in Vietnam, director of Conflict Management Programs, and assistant director of the Governance, Law, and Civil Society Programs. Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Ninh held research and teaching appointments at Australian National University, the East-West Center, and the University of California, Berkeley. She is a frequent speaker and writer on development issues in Southeast Asia.

In his role as RTI Asia regional office director, David Spiro provides overall leadership and management of the corporate operations team, serving a US$300 million portfolio of programs. Mr. Spiro represents RTI regionally in all aspects of RTI program development and expansion in the Asia region, and is responsible for working with home office and other internal stakeholders to develop opportunities and lead proposals for RTI Asia. Spiro is an international development career professional who has worked as country director in Indonesia for RTI and in Nepal for Helen Keller International. In these roles, he created and drove country strategies to develop programs in evidenced-based research, government relations, partner development, financial management, and fund-raising.

Mr. Ngwe Thein is the Director of Capacity Building Initiative (CBI) based in Yangon. Since joining CBI in 2003, he has been involved in developing training programs that strengthen the capacity of national staffs working in INGOs and local NGOs, as well as individuals working in small CSOs. Prior to CBI, Mr. Ngwe Thein worked on education development and capacity-building projects with the World Bank, UNDP, and ILO in Lesotho and the Philippines. From 1972 to 1994 he worked with the Ministry of Cooperatives of Myanmar in the field of Education and Training. He took part in designing and implementing cooperative education and training programs strengthening the capacity of Cooperative Departmental staffs, Coop Society staffs and the Executive Committee members of cooperative societies. He also played a key role in upgrading the Cooperative Training Schools into Cooperatives which were open in Yangon Division and Mandalay Division in 1994. Mr. Ngwe Thein holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Rangoon, and diplomas in Economic Planning and Human Resource Management.

Pete Troilo manages Devex global research, analysis, and consulting operations from the Devex Manila office. Prior to joining Devex, Pete was a political and security risk consultant who advised leading multinational companies, international organizations, and embassies on the complexities of doing business in Asia. An experienced emerging markets consultant, Pete was also a member of the Iraq Policy and Operations Group – the US Government’s interagency strategic planning, program management, and communications office for Iraq affairs in the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pete is a principal author of the implementation guidance tools for the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights – a globally recognized standard for extractive companies operating in developing countries. He holds a Master’s degree from Georgetown University and a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI).

Paul Wilson is the Managing Director of Myanmar Capital Advisors a consultancy specializing in the Myanmar market. MCA is Microsoft’s Market Development Partner in Myanmar, responsible for leading Microsoft’s business and creating a vibrant partner ecosystem. MCA is also the Secretariat of the US-Myanmar ICT Council, supported by the US Agency for International Development. The Council is an industry-led initiative to maximize the ways in which technology can support Myanmar’s national development. Founding members include Google, HP, Qualcomm, Microsoft and Cisco Microsoft. Paul is also the Managing Director of Four Rivers a US-owned business investing in Myanmar’s future. Four Rivers shareholders include leading institutional investors, as well as some of the largest international family offices. Paul and his MCA colleagues are based in Yangon and he is a member of the AMCHAM Executive Committee in Myanmar. He is a graduate of Clarkson University (BS), Georgia Tech (MSEE) and the USC Marshall IBEAR MBA program.