AmCham Vietnam Board of Governors

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2019 AmCham Vietnam Board of Governors

Amanda Rasmussen

CHAIRWOMAN, Chief Operating Officer, Indo Trans Corp (ITL)

Amanda Rasmussen is the Chief Operating Officer of ITL Corp, a leading logistics and supply chain company in Vietnam and one of VNR’s TOP 50 Best companies and TOP 500 Biggest companies in Vietnam for the 12^th consecutive year. ITL is a leading regional solutions provider of Aviation, Integrated Logistics, Warehousing, Freight Management, Customs and Distributions services in Vietnam and Indochina. ITL is also a leader in international and domestic eCommerce and express logistics solutions in Vietnam and operating 12 joint venture, agent or other companies and brands under the ITL portfolio in Indochina, with 2 more launches planned in 2019.

Today, ITL has 1,800+ employees with more than 70 branch offices and distribution centers in Vietnam along with offices in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.

Amanda has 20+ years’ experience in logistics, transportation and supply chain management, having held previous roles in DHL, Maersk, Damco and running her own logistics and supply chain training and consulting company until a successful sale.

Amanda is married with one child and has lived and worked in Vietnam since January 2003 and is the newly elected Chairwoman of Amcham Ho Chi Minh City in 2019. In addition to the Amcham Board of Governors, Amanda is the previous Chair of the Logistics and Transportation Sector Committee and a sitting Board of Governor since 2016.

Born in the U.S., Amanda has an MBA in International Business Systems from Loyola Marymount University and a BA from the University of Tennessee.

Michael Beckman

VICE CHAIR, Partner, Ernst & Young and Leader of Ernst & Young Law Indochina

Michael is a partner at EY and Leader of EY Law Indochina.

Prior to joining EY, Michael worked as a lawyer in Vietnam, as a corporate associate at Sullivan & Cromwell and Debevoise & Plimpton in New York, Los Angeles and London, focusing on securities and M&A transactions. He is a member of the bar in New York and California.

Outside of law, Michael was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company in their Pharmaceutical and Medical Products practice group. After leaving McKinsey, he launched his own hedge funds, which he managed for a decade.

Michael graduated with his BA magna cum laude from Cornell University, received an MA from Princeton University and his JD from Yale Law School. He also studied at both Cambridge University in England and Georg-August University in Germany.

He serves as the AmCham representative on the Board of the Vietnam Business Forum and works closely with the Healthcare and Education Committees

Minh Nguyen

VICE CHAIR, Country Manager, Vietnam, Aetna International

Minh Nguyen oversees the Vietnam market for Aetna International in Asia Pacific. In this role, she is responsible for managing relations with fronting partner and reinsurance companies, ensuring operational excellence, ensuring that international standards are provided to valued customers, exploring new market segments and overseeing business operations nationwide. An Aetna employee since 2015, she was previously with AIG (American International Group) for nearly a decade. With her broad experience and expertise, Minh is a proven leader and strategic thinker.

Aetna is a Fortune 50 company and one of the five largest health insurers in the United States, providing 46.7 million people with coverage as well as information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their healthcare. CVS is the largest pharmacy health care provider in the U.S, with integrated offerings across the spectrum of pharmacy care, serving 5 million customers served by CVS every day. The recent merger of CVS Health and Aetna will have US$260 billion in annual sales, making it the second largest corporation in the US and the seventh largest corporation in the world by revenue.

Aetna continues to rapidly expand across Asia, most recently by licensing in Hong Kong in 2018 and acquiring Bupa Thailand in 2017, as well as launching its Asian Innovation Hub in Singapore in 2016, which seeks to develop region-specific health solutions tailored for local markets in Asia. Vietnam is the fasting growing insurance market in the world and has one of the fastest growing ultra-high net worth (UHNW) population . We have the ambitious vision to make Vietnam into a market with new and unique health cover options which go ‘broader and deeper’ into the local health care market,bringing high quality and affordable healthcare to many more Vietnamese.

Keith Schulz

SECRETARY, General Director, Vilube Corporation

Keith Schulz is the General Director of Vilube Corporation, a subsidiary the Motul Group. The company manufactures, markets, and distributes automotive lubricants from its plant in Nha Be for the Vietnamese market and Motul’s markets across Asia. In the past year, Keith launched a new division to produce and sell a range of lubricants for use in metal-working and general industrial equipment under the MotulTech brand.

Previously, Keith served as Senior Portfolio Director for Navis Capital Partners, a buy-out fund focused on SE Asia with $5 billion under management.

Keith led operations as Managing Director at investee-company RPS Technologies, a manufacturer of precision automotive components. Keith’s initiatives opened up the Chinese and EU markets for RPS sales. Earlier, Keith worked for DaimlerChrysler in Detroit and Singapore in several functions. While a procurement manager responsible for SE Asia, Keith developed parts suppliers across across the region in preparation of AFTA initiatives. This included several serving operations at Mercedes-Benz Vietnam.

Keith’s first professional experience in Vietnam was as director of the HCM City office of VATICO, Inc., one of the first US companies to return to Vietnam after 1975. The consulting firm advised clients, including Chrysler, Amway and Hughes Electronics, on on trade and investment issues, pre- and post-normalization.

Alan Danner

TREASURER, Director of Finance, Intel Products Vietnam

Director of Finance for Intel’s manufacturing operations in Vietnam. Leads a team of ~30 direct and matrix finance professionals responsible for all financial support including Corporate Finance and Accounting, Global Tax and Trade, Risk Management and Operations Finance. This role requires extensive interactions with Senior Vietnamese Government officials and other external parties. Focused on keeping Intel legal and compliant, growing our business, accelerating our operational effectiveness and developing our regional capabilities and leadership pipeline.

Prior to the assignment in Vietnam, Alan was the Senior Finance Controller for Intel Americas Sales and Marketing where he led an organization of 23 finance professionals responsible for driving revenue growth on a global scale as well as supporting sales incentive structures and providing risk management capabilities. Over a span of 20 years with the firm, Alan has held a variety of finance roles spanning from manufacturing to product design to marketing support. His experience leading global teams has developed an in-depth understanding of Intel’s diverse geographical presence and unique challenges in the marketplace.

Walter Blocker

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vietnam Trade Alliance

Walter Blocker is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vietnam Trade Alliance, with offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Can Tho, Da Nang, and Hanoi Vietnam. He is a native of Kentucky and has been a resident of Vietnam since 1995. The firm provides nationwide FMCG and Material distribution from 6 hubs and cross docking in 45 provinces. The Vietnam Trade Alliance offers nationwide, 24 hour direct distribution, and cash collections with real time reporting using its own proprietary Alli management software.

Walter served three terms as Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, served on the board of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) Vietnam, YPO Southeast Asia, and is past Chairman of the Asia Pacific Council of American Chambers.

Walter is first and foremost an entrepreneur. Over the past 20 years, he founded several business units encompassing industrial scale milk, juice, and tea production, nationwide warehousing and distribution, brand management, and general asset management. The group serves as the exclusive supply chain provider for numerous multinational consumer product companies in the beer/beverage, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and industrial chemical space. His firm was twice recognized by the Vietnamese Government for being one of the top 10 foreign enterprises in both Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai and is one of the nation’s largest private American investors.

Sandra Cho

Sustainable Manufacturing & Sourcing (SM&S) Regional Director, SE Asia for Nike Inc.

Sandra Cho is the Sustainable Manufacturing & Sourcing (SM&S) Regional Director, SE Asia for Nike Inc. In this role, Sandra is responsible for leading programs and policies in environment, health & safety, labor rights and hazardous material, providing a fair and safe workplace for 500,000 workers in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Nike Inc. is a $36 billion company, and manufacturing in Vietnam accounts for approximately 47% of total Nike Brand footwear and 28% of total Nike Brand apparel. Since Nike Vietnam was established in 1995, there has been continuous growth and a critical part of Nike’s sourcing strategy is managing approximately 95 independent contract manufacturers.

Sandra has been in the corporate responsibility and sustainability field for 20+ years and joined Nike five years ago as the SM&S Licensee Manager, where she launch a long-term strategy to enhance Nike licensee corporate responsibility performance. Then, Sandra moved on to the SM&S Labor team where she managed relationships with external partners and integrated HRM into Nike’s LEAN manufacturing ecosystem. Prior to Nike, she was at Columbia Sportswear, where Sandraled Columbia’s licensee and Mountain Hardwear programs, partnership and adoption of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index, engagement strategy for various industry groups, and managed relationships with NGOs and the media.

In addition, Sandra has chaired the Outdoor Industry Association’s (OIA) Sustainability Working Group; served on the board of Executive Development Institute; and is a recipient of Portland Business Journal’s 40 under 40. Sandra holds a bachelors degree from University of Oregon in Journalism and Women’s Studies.

Sandra, her husband (Judd), and six-year-old daughter (Olivia) are Portland, Oregon natives but have been living in Vietnam for two years.

Mark Gillin

Founder, Chairman and Managing Director AIM – American Indochina Management

Mark Gillin has been identifying, developing and investing in business opportunities in Indochina since 1993. He is a founder, Chairman, and Managing Director of America Indochina Management Ltd. (AIM) a diversified Holding Company with operations throughout Vietnam and Cambodia. Since its founding in 1996, AIM has established market leadership in a variety of product categories covering a diverse range of industries including Construction Materials, Specialty Furniture, Consumer Products and Industrial Consumables.

He is also a founder and Chairman of AIM Capital Management Ltd, an investment management company that provides expansion capital and strategic and operational support to small and medium sized companies throughout Indochina. AIM Capital Management has invested in Healthcare, Media, Technology, Furniture, Hospitality, and Consumer Products.

Mark has successfully managed businesses in a number of different markets at various stages of development (Japan, Hong Kong, Guam, Vietnam, Cambodia). Prior to coming to Vietnam in 1993, he spent five years with Getz Bros., the oldest and largest US non-commodities trading company, where he worked closely on marketing and distribution issues with leading MNCs including Nestlé, Mobile Chemical, Kimberly-Clark, Abbott Labs, Colgate-Palmolive, Heineken and others.

He has served as non-executive board member of Navigos, AA Corporation, Japan Vietnam Medical Corporation and Indochina Assets Limited. During his previous six years service as a member of Board of Governors, 2010-2015, he was Chairman in 2013 and Vice Chairman in 2012 and 2014.

Michael Edward Kelly

Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, Board Member, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of ACDL and Ho Tram Project Company

Relocating full time to Vietnam in September 2015, the Ho Tram Strip’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Michael Kelly brings over three decades of experience to the helm of one of Asia Pacific’s most talked about integrated resort projects. The company operates the largest foreign invested tourism project in Vietnam and is also the largest private equity investment from the United States in Vietnam.

The Philadelphia-native has full day to day responsibilities for all aspects of the company’s operations and its $4.2 billion (USD) development including its award winning 541 room integrated resort and casino The Grand, its highly acclaimed championship golf course ranked #35 in the world, The Bluffs, the under construction 560 room Beach Club and accompanying water park and amphitheater, its multiple residential developments including The Gallery Villas and forthcoming condotel, Ramada Ho Tram , as well as managing the company’s various offices in Seoul and Macau.
The seasoned hospitality and gaming veteran has extensive experience managing both private and public resort/gaming companies, as well as deep knowledge of operations, finance and marketing. He is well versed in development, start up and re-branding of integrated casino resorts with multi-jurisdictional experience, including Las Vegas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado and New Jersey in the United States.

His extensive experience in capital markets has seen him raise in excess of $1.5 billion USD, while his proven leadership qualities, with extensive experience in both startups and distressed operations have seen him hold positions including Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and General Manager of some of the most recognized casino/hospitality companies in North America including Harrah’s, Fitzgerald’s, Empress Entertainment, Majestic Star, and Legends Gaming. From 2004-2011, Mr. Kelly was the founding partner and Chief Executive Officer of a private gaming and resort company that owned and operated two integrated resorts in North America. Mr. Kelly and the companies he has operated have received numerous awards and accolades including being named “Company of the Year”.

In 2016, Mr. Michael Kelly was named Chairman of the Tourism Committee for AmCham-Hanoi and in 2017 was elected Vice Chairman of AmCham Hanoi and in 2018 was elected the Chairman of AmCham Hanoi, Mr. Kelly also in 2018 was appointed the National Chairman of AmCham Vietnam overseeing both the Hanoi and HCMC Chapters.
A graduate of Villanova University, Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

Ly Le

Legal and Public Affairs & Communications Director, Coca-Cola Indochina

Ly Le joined the Company in 2013 as Legal and Public Affairs and Communication Director of Coca-Cola Indochina.

Prior joining Coca-Cola, she was responsible for all aspects of legal work, government affairs, regulatory affairs, general legal services and ethics and compliance matters of the Vietnam operations of a global cosmetics firm, and from 2010, in addition to her Vietnam responsibilities, Ly Le has overseen legal work in Thailand for the firm. She has been actively involved in various non-government business associations, including the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Direct Selling Committee, the Vietnam Association of Oils – Aromas – Cosmetics, the Vietnam Association of Trademark Protection, and the establishment of the local Vietnam Direct Selling Association.

She has served on AmCham Boards of Governors from 2001. She led the development of the AmCham Food and Beverage Committee in 2013 and has become the Vice Chair of F&B Committee. She is also the Chair of Corporate Social Responsibility Committee in AmCham. She is appointed as Vice-Chair of U.S- ASEAN Business Council in 2016 and 2017. In 2016, she was elected to be the Chair of AmCham Vietnam as the first Vietnamese woman holding this chairmanship. She also receives ASEAN Women’s Entrepreneur Award for her leadership to contribute to local women business community in Vietnam.

Her versatile expertise adds much value to high-level diplomatic ties through U.S. – Vietnam relationship by corporate engagement, making her contribution highly recognized by the company, government bodies, and civil societies.

Ms. Ly Le holds the Bachelor of Degree in Law, Swinburne University of Technology (Australia) in Corporate Law, Singapore Institute of Management in Contract Negotiation and Management.

Thuy Hang Nguyen

Partner, Baker & McKenzie

Hang Nguyen is a partner with Baker McKenzie and head of the Employment and Labor practice in Vietnam.

Hang’s practice focuses on employment and labor, M&A, Corporate and Compliance matters. Her diverse working experience, broad knowledge in various areas of law, and business management qualifications allow her to provide clients with practical and commercially savvy legal advice, creating effective, strategic and innovative solutions to navigate around the ever-changing legal landscape of Vietnam. As head of the Employment and Labor practice, Hang is in charge of developing and providing strategy for the practice, training and coaching team members and coordinating the global and regional employment practices when related to Vietnam. She is also a member of the Steering Committees for the Firm’s Asia Pacific Employment Practice Group and the Global Immigration and Mobility Group.

Hang received her legal education in both Vietnam and the U.S., obtaining her bachelor’s degree in International Law from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, completing an LL.M. at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, and earning an Executive MBA from University of Hawaii’s Shidler College of Business. Hang is one of the few lawyers dually admitted to practice law in New York State and Vietnam. During her 11 – plus years with Baker McKenzie, she has worked in the Vietnam, Spain and UK offices of the Firm.

Hang has been an active AmCham member since 2006. She represented AmCham and broad business community in numerous expert working groups, seminars and conferences, working face-to-face with Vietnamese Government agencies for close to a decade on employment and labor law issues, including the overhaul of the Vietnam Labor Code in 2012 and adoption of various implementation decrees and circulars. In 2013, she was nominated to become the Chair of the HR/Labor Committee and has held this position since then. In her capacity as Chair, she has revived the committee by organizing extremely successful events and activities for the benefit of AmCham members and administered the AmCham scholarship program. Hang is also the point of contact for the Board of Governors and other Committees when it comes to employment and labor issues. She has been deeply involved in policy discussions on labor and employment issues arising during the negotiation of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, and other issues that affect the business community in Vietnam, frequently acting as an adviser to US Government agencies and industry stakeholders on Vietnam employment and labor law.

John Nguyen

Chief Strategy Officer, DiCentral Vietnam

John Nguyen is the founder, board director and chief strategy officer of DiCentral Corporation, a 16-year old Houston-based supply-chain solutions and services company. He is responsible for the company’s business strategy and corporate development. Prior to founding DiCentral, John Nguyen worked as an equity research analyst covering wireless telecom at Lazard, an investment bank in New York City. With over 27 years of industry and business experience, he has held technical and marketing positions at AT&T, Siemens, Alcatel and Nortel Networks. He co-founded and managed four technology start-ups: InTouch PCS, Paragon Solutions, Neopoint and OpenWorld Communications. He successfully raised over $17 million in combined seed funding for these ventures.

John earned an M.S. in computer science from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a B.S. from Aurora University in Chicago. He is an avid golf enthusiast, and, weather allowing, spends his weekends honing his swing on the fairways.

Soren Schouw Pedersen

Vice President Marketing/Vietnam Country Manager, SSA Marine, Seattle USA

I’m a Danish national and have worked in Asia for more than 25 years. I first came to Vietnam in January 1993. I was based in Singapore during the 90’s where I was heading up Maersk Line’s regional shipping organization (MCC Transport). Vietnam was a focus area for us then as trade and FDI increased at a very fast pace. Over a 10-year period we grew our transportation network until we serviced the entire Vietnamese seaboard. The ability to reach international markets efficiently and at a competitive price was as relevant then as it is today.

HCMC has been my home for the past 6 years. It is a pleasure to work in Vietnam again and to witness this country’s incredible transformation.

I believe that AmCham has a role to play addressing Vietnam’s high logistics costs. If elected, I will endeavor to enhance the advocacy agenda through a dialogue with government agencies and relevant industry stakeholders. Our aim should be to unlock efficiencies in the logistics chain through a streamlining of processes. Vietnam has already made considerable investments in transportation infrastructure. Let us find ways to try and use these resources better. This will in turn stimulate trade growth between Vietnam and her trading partners, notably the USA.

Alexandra Sasha Stinchfield

Associate Managing Director & Chief of Staff, Arizona State University

Sasha is the Associate Managing Director and Chief of Staff of Arizona State University Vietnam Representative Office.

Ranked the past four years by US News and World Report as the #1 most innovative university in America, ASU is the largest comprehensive public university in America with 111,000 students and over $500M in annual research expenditures. Since 2009, ASU has been a force in Vietnam leading public-private partnerships to improve the quality of higher engineering education. These capacity projects leverage deep and diverse government-industry-academic partners that share a goal of tightly linking science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) instruction in Vietnamese higher education institutions to produce work-ready engineers and scientists. By strategically working with industry and government partners, we extend ASU research, faculty and programs to support the development of a world class and competitive workforce and technology innovation ecosystem for Vietnam. To date, over 10,000 Vietnamese faculty have been trained at ASU in Arizona and in Vietnam with many programs achieving peer-evaluated regional and international level accreditation creating sustainable quality and assessment systems to validate student learning outcomes are achieved.

Since 2016, Sasha directs the ASU Vietnam project operations and leads a portfolio of education innovation and workforce development projects working closely with the public and private sectors. Before joining the ASU Vietnam team, Sasha was the global portfolio manager in the ASU International Development Office where she led the strategic development of new grants, project management, processes innovation and relationship management. In this role, she led technical project activities in Brazil, El Salvador and Kenya.

Sasha graduated from Arizona State University with BA in Global Studies and Master’s in Sustainability Leadership with research focused on strategies for corporate social responsibility programs. As a former collegiate track and field athlete, Sasha enjoys running, hiking and traveling.

Bill Watson

Managing Director, Coats Phong Phu Co. Ltd. – Vietnam, Cambodia & Korea

Bill is the Managing Director of Coats Phong Phu, a 28 year old joint venture between Coats Group plc and Phong Phu Corporation. With a rich heritage dating back to the 1750s, Coats is the world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer and a major player in the Americas textiles crafts market. Headquartered in the UK, Coats employs 19,000 employees in over 60 countries across 6 continents around the world. Bill has been leading diverse, multicultural teams in Asia since 1994. With a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA, he first came to Asia with Milliken Chemical, div of Milliken & Co to set up their speciality chemical business throughout Asia. With experience in both manufacturing, commercial and general management, Bill has led multicultural, diverse teams for over 23 years, and has specific expertise in change management, culture building, teamwork, and risk management and compliance. In his current role at Coats he leads 1750 people and is responsible for 3 manufacturing operations in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Korea.

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Click here for a list of the 2016 Board of Governors

Click here to see the 2016 Board of Governors • Biographic Information