GCUC APAC

A leader of the global coworking movement, Liz Elam blends a spirit of collaboration and innovation with an unwavering commitment to excellence and pushing boundaries.

Founder of the largest coworking conference in the world, Elam has grown the Global Coworking Unconference Community (GCUC) from inception to a cross-cultural go-to for the workspace industry in the U.S., South America, China, Canada, the UK, Australia and beyond.

Elam unapologetically pushes the coworking movement to adopt sound business practices and think bigger about the vision and impact individual operators and workspace brands can make. Her work to dismantle the loneliness epidemic through coworking and community-building resonates with space operators and members, alike.

Brad’s been growing businesses for over 20 years. As CEO and Founder of Hub Australia, he surrounds himself with growing businesses and passionate people everyday. His mission is to create a national network of workplace that people love.

Annie is a sales, operations and management expert with over 13 years’ experience in the Flex Office, Space-as-a-Service, coworking, brokerage and asset management industries. She is passionate about design, technology and innovation in commercial real estate. Currently as a Director at Hines in their Office of Innovation she is responsible for the roll out and operations of their flexible office platform, including The Square, the coworking brand developed by Hines. Previous to joining Hines, she led sales and operations for The Carr Companies, including Carr Workplaces a coworking platform with over 30 locations across the US. As Vice President at Carr, she helped create their managed office, property management and brokerage division, WorkrReady, now Preferred Office Network and BluPrint Offices.

Annie holds a Masters of Real Estate Finance & Development from Georgetown University and a BA in Political Science & History from Gettysburg College. At Georgetown University, her research quantified the financial impact of flexible office products including coworking on asset valuations.

When she’s not in the office, at a project site or traveling, you can find her at home with her girlfriend and puppy, usually prepping a delicious meal with a great glass of wine, or on her bike exploring and enjoying the great outdoors.

Ms. Wong is the Chief Executive Officer of Champion Real Estate Investment Trust, overseeing its strategic development as well as asset management and enhancement. She also spearheads the team to seek for growth opportunities, formulate acquisition and investment strategies and monitor the capital structure of the Trust, including the planning and overseeing of capital raising activities from the market.

Ms. Wong has almost 20 years’ experience in local and overseas financial industry. Prior to joining the Trust, she worked at Citigroup and J.P. Morgan’s investment banking division to offer strategic advice to a number of blue chip corporates and Hong Kong real estate companies. She has also executed numerous landmark IPOs, capital markets fund-raisings and strategic M&A transactions.

Ms. Wong graduated from University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) – Ross School of Business with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. She was honoured with the titles of Best CEO by FinanceAsia in 2020; Best IR by CEO by the Hong Kong Investor Relations Association in 2017, 2018 and 2019; Directors Of the Year Awards 2018 – Listed Companies Executive Director by the Hong Kong Institute of Directors in 2018; and Asia’s Best CEO by Corporate Governance Asia in 2017, 2018 and 2019. She is the Chairperson of Asia Pacific Real Estate Association Hong Kong chapter and a Fellow member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Cathy Hsieh is Head of Operations at Blueprint, a premium brand for contemporary flexible workspaces and event venues. Blueprint is developed, owned and operated by Swire Properties, and is a cornerstone amenity situated in its Grade A Taikoo Place portfolio, catering for the different business needs and working realities of today. Cathy is responsible for all aspects of Blueprint and its drive as an inspiring space for inspiring minds.

Cathy started her career in Australia as a professional consultant with Deloitte, where she certified as a Chartered Accountant. She moved to Hong Kong with PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Prior to heading Blueprint, she was Director of Business Analytics at FOX Networks Asia.

Jonny leads the Flexible Workspace Consulting business for Colliers in Asia, having founded the business line in 2015. Flexible Workspace Consulting works with operators, occupiers, asset owners and investors offering consultancy, advisory and transaction services to leverage the fast growing and dynamic sector.

Jonny has overseen more than 2 million sq. ft. of flexible workspace transactions on behalf of operators and advised some of the largest asset owners in Asia on their strategy towards integrating flexible workspace and thoughtful amenities to their portfolios, while also supporting Colliers’ occupier clients.

A leader of the global coworking movement, Liz Elam blends a spirit of collaboration and innovation with an unwavering commitment to excellence and pushing boundaries.

Founder of the largest coworking conference in the world, Elam has grown the Global Coworking Unconference Community (GCUC) from inception to a cross-cultural go-to for the workspace industry in the U.S., South America, China, Canada, the UK, Australia and beyond.

Elam unapologetically pushes the coworking movement to adopt sound business practices and think bigger about the vision and impact individual operators and workspace brands can make. Her work to dismantle the loneliness epidemic through coworking and community-building resonates with space operators and members, alike.

ob Zheng is a pioneer of China’s co-working industry. In 2010, Bob started the first coworking space in China called “People Squared”. His work brought the company to set up over 30 spaces in China and serve more than 20,000 members by today.

Bob is also a serial entrepreneur and has great insight of Chinese startup eco-system. He brought Google for Startup and Alibaba Innovation Network to the startups in People Squared. Bob is also the curator for Shanghai Startup Digest and mentor at Startup Weekend.

Data evangelist, Francois heads up Neoma, a guest-centric tech company which accumulated 25+ years of experience in location-based technologies, IoT and Machine Learning to create Gaia, a world-class AI staff assistant that delivers VIP journeys at scale. Working with clients and partners across the globe, Neoma helps hospitality and real-estate companies generate incremental revenues while gaining operational efficiency. Prior to Neoma, Francois worked at the French Chamber of Commerce in HK, the private equity firm Siparex and strategy consulting company Smartfact Partners. He holds a Master degree in Entrepreneurship from French business school Grenoble Graduate School of Business.

Yves is a business and brand strategist with over 20 years of track record in advising senior management, board of directors, and family-owned business leaders in Asia-Pacific.

On a mission to future-proof companies, products and services and to build tomorrow’s go-to businesses, Yves deploys a road-tested expertise spanning business transformation, branding, business model innovation, product and services innovation, customer experience, loyalty strategy, employee and investors communications, marketing, and sales strategies.

Building on his competitive DNA acquired though a professional rugby career in France, Yves developed a rare combination of humility and will, an invaluable asset in driving successful change and cultivating high-performance teams for clients and Spectra.

Expertise: Consumers insights & analytics, design thinking, innovation, youth marketing, growth strategy, Proptech and AI.

Industry experience: Consumer Goods, Financial services, Hotels & F&B, Commercial real estate, Residential & Co-living, Airlines & airports, Startups

Client experience: Blackstone, Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Land, Swire, Emirates, Estee Lauder, Marriott , Peroni, Dyson, HSBC, KEF, Moet Hennessy, Four Seasons, New World Development

Chelsea Perino graduated with a Masters Degree in Public and Organizational Relations with a focus on digital communications and brand strategy. She spent 2 years working for a leading digital advertising agency in New York City where she worked on the digital strategy team for several of Pernod Ricard’s portfolio brands, before embarking overseas to open a satellite office in Seoul, South Korea for another New York based agency. For the next two and a half years Chelsea lead digital strategy for a global telecommunications brand, a role which took her all over the world and involved projects such as implementing the brand communications program from the 2016 Rio de Janiero Summer Olympics and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

In her most recent role based in Hong Kong, Chelsea is the head of Global Marketing for The Executive Centre, a premium flexible workspace provider with a presence in over 32 cities across APAC, where she has built both the marketing department and full brand strategy from scratch. She is passionate about how an effective 360 degree marketing program can be used to effectively achieve defined business objectives, increase a brand’s transparency and build trust within the marketplace, and create meaningful relationships between brands and their target consumers. As an expert in international brand relations, she has an acute ability to navigate diverse cultural landscapes, adapt global brand strategies to effectively reach local markets, and bridge the gap between international clients and agencies.

Frank Fu (Fu Kaifeng) is the CTO and Founding member of Artisan Technology. Formerly, he was a business analyst at State Street Zhejiang , PAM localization. Prior to that he taught at the New Oriental School. Frank Fu has a degree in Psychology from Zhejiang University.

A leader of the global coworking movement, Liz Elam blends a spirit of collaboration and innovation with an unwavering commitment to excellence and pushing boundaries.

Founder of the largest coworking conference in the world, Elam has grown the Global Coworking Unconference Community (GCUC) from inception to a cross-cultural go-to for the workspace industry in the U.S., South America, China, Canada, the UK, Australia and beyond.

Elam unapologetically pushes the coworking movement to adopt sound business practices and think bigger about the vision and impact individual operators and workspace brands can make. Her work to dismantle the loneliness epidemic through coworking and community-building resonates with space operators and members, alike.

Becky Andree is the CEO of Vertical Leadership Consulting. As an international talent management visionary, leadership development expert and connections architect, Becky’s 20+ years of experience with Fortune 100 companies allows her to understand first-hand the pressures and stress within organizations today. Her disruptive and visionary approach to talent management and leadership development have resulted in millions of dollars to an organization’s bottom line. Her passion is evidence-based solutions to navigate the complexity of work – developing complex thinking and high-quality connections.

Recognized as a Top 50 Visionary by Radical Business Magazine, Becky is finalizing her PhD research on the effect of adult development on a leader’s experience of high-quality connections. She is currently piloting a program with several organizations in building high-quality connections to increase overall wellness, resiliency, community, and outcomes.

Chelsea Perino graduated with a Masters Degree in Public and Organizational Relations with a focus on digital communications and brand strategy. She spent 2 years working for a leading digital advertising agency in New York City where she worked on the digital strategy team for several of Pernod Ricard’s portfolio brands, before embarking overseas to open a satellite office in Seoul, South Korea for another New York based agency. For the next two and a half years Chelsea lead digital strategy for a global telecommunications brand, a role which took her all over the world and involved projects such as implementing the brand communications program from the 2016 Rio de Janiero Summer Olympics and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

In her most recent role based in Hong Kong, Chelsea is the head of Global Marketing for The Executive Centre, a premium flexible workspace provider with a presence in over 32 cities across APAC, where she has built both the marketing department and full brand strategy from scratch. She is passionate about how an effective 360 degree marketing program can be used to effectively achieve defined business objectives, increase a brand’s transparency and build trust within the marketplace, and create meaningful relationships between brands and their target consumers. As an expert in international brand relations, she has an acute ability to navigate diverse cultural landscapes, adapt global brand strategies to effectively reach local markets, and bridge the gap between international clients and agencies.

Richard’s work examines how people handle the complexity and ambiguity of modern organisational life and how creative and critical thought emerges in fast-changing, highly uncertain, often toxic environments via antifragile coping methods, such as irony and black humour. He designed the leadership module for Macquarie Business School’s Global MBA (#6 worldwide | CEO Magazine). He is the CEO of roundPegz, an interdisciplinary community of disruptive thinkers, and Chief Cognitive Officer of eqLab, an Extended Intelligence Laboratory exploring future-readiness in leadership, organisation, strategy and transformation.

I lead the SHE (Sustainable and Healthy Environments) Lab, which develops a program of applied research aimed at understanding how the built environment can improve sustainability and health, thorough the design of high performance spaces. I am interested in Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE), Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), workspace design and climate responsive design in tropical and subtropical climates.

Graham Barkus has 30 years of experience in guiding personal, organisational and systemic change, in senior organisation development roles and as an external coach and consultant. His focus is helping people master complexity, uncertainty and change, both to deliver and sustain peak performance and to reduce the costs of work-related stress on organisations, their people and the wider community.

From his base in Hong Kong Graham’s experience has spanned employment and consultancy roles to clients across Asia and the UK/Europe, in diverse industries including banking and finance, insurance, aviation, logistics, healthcare, real estate development, engineering consultancy and FMCG. His work has typically involved spanning boundaries of language, culture, structure, interests and habit in personal as well as professional contexts.

Graham holds postgraduate degrees with distinctions in Clinical Organizational Psychology (INSEAD); Strategy & Innovation (University of Oxford), and an LLM in Arbitration and Dispute Resolution from the University of Hong Kong. He is certified in cognitive-behavioural and integrative healthcare coaching; he is a Founding Fellow at the Institute of Coaching at Harvard University and a member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations and the Australasian Society for Lifestyle Medicine.

Pratik leads the Wellness and Building Performance team within the sustainability section at Northrop Consulting Engineers. Over the last 15 years, Pratik has maintained his unwavering passion on bioclimatic and biophilic built environment without losing the sight of the carbon and resources footprint. As a qualified architect, he has always been immensely interested in what draws people to a place. He believes it comes down to ‘comfort’, be it the comfort of being around loved one, or comfort of great food, or simply the physical and environmental attributes of a place that imparts comfort.

With his ‘people’ and ‘planet’ focus in parallel, Pratik is able to unlock the wellness and sustainability potential for his clients and projects. Pratik has also been one of first WELL Accredited Professionals in Australia and recently a WELL Faculty. In 2020, Pratik has joined the WELL Airport Sector Advisory as well as WELL Air and Thermal Comfort Concept Advisory.

Pratik has extensive Green Star experience as a Green Star Accredited Professional for new developments and fitouts as well as GSAP-Performance for existing buildings and portfolios. Pratik also holds LEED Accredited Professional (Building Design and Construction) as well as an Infrastructure Sustainability Accredited Professional credential.

Tori Shepherd serves as Senior Associate at the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the organisation leading the global movement to transform our buildings and communities in ways that help people thrive. Tori has supported project teams across the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand as they’ve created healthier spaces, buildings and communities through WELL Certification and the WELL Health-Safety Rating. Tori coaches various APAC and global WELL Portfolios as they seek to advance their ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) goals, to enhance building performance and to improve human well-being at scale. Tori also leads WELL’s sector development for coworking and hospitality, providing high-touch support to meet the needs of these space types, organisations and occupants.

Tori has gained expertise in human health and environmental sustainability through her journey at IWBI, her WELL Faculty and LEED Green Associate credentials, her previous work in interior design and ecological research, and her Environmental Studies & Sustainable Design degree from Yale University. Through collaboration across design, sustainability, public health and other industries, Tori strives to create a healthier world.

A leader of the global coworking movement, Liz Elam blends a spirit of collaboration and innovation with an unwavering commitment to excellence and pushing boundaries.

Founder of the largest coworking conference in the world, Elam has grown the Global Coworking Unconference Community (GCUC) from inception to a cross-cultural go-to for the workspace industry in the U.S., South America, China, Canada, the UK, Australia and beyond.

Elam unapologetically pushes the coworking movement to adopt sound business practices and think bigger about the vision and impact individual operators and workspace brands can make. Her work to dismantle the loneliness epidemic through coworking and community-building resonates with space operators and members, alike.

Sylvia has over 20 years of real estate experience spanning business operations, finance, consulting and technology. Sylvia is the Head of Digital and Business Solutions at CapitaLand Singapore, responsible for transforming its portfolio of workspaces to be ready for the future of work – developing, strategizing and implementing new space mixes and solutions for tenants, as well as leading the business’ digital and technology strategy. Prior to CapitaLand, Sylvia led the Asia Pacific Occupier Consulting business for JLL with a team of 30 consultants across 8 cities, providing advisory services such as portfolio optimization, workplace strategy and M&A due diligence. Sylvia was also instrumental in the development of JLL’s business intelligence and technology innovation offerings to clients.

Hamish Stuart is the Head of Leasing, Office for AMP Capital Office & Logistics, responsible for the strategic and operational delivery of the leasing function for the office assets of AMP Capital’s clients.

An international real estate professional with 16 years’ experience, Hamish joined AMP Capital in 2017, bringing a background spanning all stages of the investment life cycle in all major asset classes throughout Australia, the Middle East, South East Asia, and Africa. With particular expertise in commercial leasing and investment management, Hamish has extensive real estate experience in both the listed and private sectors, with a focus on operational turnaround and improvements, strategic planning, and managing joint venture partnerships.

Prior to joining AMP Capital, Hamish worked in Dubai for more than eight years, holding roles in asset management with the last five years in particular working for the private equity arm of the Dubai Government managing a portfolio of luxury hotels across Thailand and Africa. Hamish’s experience also includes asset management and transactions roles across commercial, industrial and retail sectors at EG Funds Management, Valad Property Group and Dexus.

Hamish holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney.

Michelle is an integral part of the Brookfield Properties development team, assisting to deliver the company’s $2 billion Brookfield Place development above Wynyard Station in the Sydney CBD.

With more than six years of real estate industry experience, Michelle’s primary responsibility on Brookfield Place is the leasing and management of major commercial office tenants Allianz, Brookfield and Hub Australia at Brookfield Place. In addition to project leasing, Michelle assists in all areas of the project delivery requiring stakeholder management across all disciplines, including Transport for NSW, the NSW State Government, the City of Sydney and the project’s incoming subscribers, commercial and retail tenants.

Prior to joining Brookfield Properties in 2017, Michelle performed various roles with the international real estate agency, CBRE, across advisory and transaction management services for key occupier clients. Michelle holds a Bachelor of Property Economics from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Paul Bennett is Senior Asset Manager at Hongkong Land, a major listed property investment, management and development group. Founded in 1889, the Group owns and manages more than 850,000 sq. m. of prime office and luxury retail property in key Asian cities, principally in Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing and Jakarta. Its properties attract the world’s foremost companies and luxury brands.

Paul established and leads the Centricity platform for Hongkong Land. Centricity is an exclusive, best in class collection of services for Hongkong Land tenants; the platform is designed as an innovative integrated offering of concierge services and privileges, event spaces and F&B services connected through an App.

Prior to this, Paul was part of the Asset Management team at Hongkong Land and prior to that, Vice President at JP Morgan, responsible for Asia regional real estate strategy. He started his career in the UK Capital Markets team for DTZ Debenham Tie Leung; he is a qualified member of and an APC assessor for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Paul holds a Batchelor of Arts from Manchester University, United Kingdom and a Master of Science in Real Estate Investment from CASS Business School, London, United Kingdom.