Singapore

With more than 15 years’ experience working with the Chief Financial Officers of multinationals in multiple countries, Simon is an experienced strategy advisor, leadership consultant, mentor and connector of people. Simon leverages his extensive network in business, finance, policymaking, defence and diplomacy to enable member success.

Simon is a Trustee of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, and his prior roles include strategy consulting and journalism. He is a member of the UK’s Institute of Directors and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Singapore

A highly experienced corporate events leader, Ee May creates the environment in which members and their Finance teams share ideas and experience as peers. With a focus on generating successful interactions, Ee May’s team facilitates unique experiences in both Asia and Europe.

Prior to joining the Global CFO Network, Ee May was an event organiser, musician and educator. She has extensive global experience, having lived in three countries.

London

As a British Army officer, James has had the privilege of commanding Grenadiers for the last twenty years. His career has taken him to Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other conflicts zones around the globe. He has also been fortunate to meet, engage and train soldiers from different nations and teach Officer Cadets and the globally renowned Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

His greatest privilege was commanding 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards from July 2020 – December 2022. More broadly, James attended US Army Staff College 2010-12, became part of the Army’s membership of the Forward Institute and continues to expand his understanding of military and civilian leadership methodologies.

Singapore

Taimur Baig, Ph.D., heads global economics as well as macro strategy for interest rate, credit, and currency at DBS Group Research. He also advises the bank on risk management and investment strategy.

Prior to joining DBS, Dr. Baig was a Principal Economist at the Economic Policy Group, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Earlier, he spent nine years at Deutsche Bank’s Singapore office, where his last position was Managing Director and Chief Economist, Asia.

During 1999-2007, he was based in Washington, DC, at the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund, where his last position was Senior Economist.

Dr Baig has published extensively for both specialists and a general audience, on areas including monetary policy, digital currency, financial technology, climate change, demographics, frontier markets, fiscal policy efficacy, and financial market contagion. He is the host of “Kopi Time,” a widely followed podcast series on markets and economies.

Dr Baig serves as Director Fellow at Asian Financial Cooperation Association, China. He is a council member at the Economic Society of Singapore and Women’s World Banking.

Dr Baig holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He attended London School of Economics and Wabash College for his B.A. in Economics.

Kuala Lumpur

Syaza Shukri is an associate professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia, where she also earned a PhD in 2018. She also serves as a Visiting Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and as a Non-Resident Research Fellow at the European Centre for Populism Studies.

Her specialisation is comparative politics, particularly political Islam and democratisation. She has written widely for both academic and mass media publications on populism, identity politics, and geopolitics. Bloomberg, Germany's ARD, Channel News Asia, South China Morning Post, Turkey's Anadolu Agency, New Straits Times, the Malay Mail, Free Malaysia Today, Malaysiakini, Bernama and BFM, among others, have all sought her expert advice.

She received her Bachelor's degree with highest honours from the University of Pittsburgh, where she majored in both history and political science. Her Master's degree is from the London School of Economics and Political Science.