The Leading Speakers Bureau

Founder & Managing Director of Corston-Smith Asset Management

Shireen Muhiudeen founded Corston-Smith Asset Management in 2004, and is today its managing director with offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Singapore, where it is an exempt fund manager. Under her stewardship, Corston-Smith is now a partner of British Telecom Pension Scheme (BTPS). She was chief executive of the Malaysian arm of insurance giant AIG Investment Corporation from 1991 till 2003.

“Shireen Muhiudeen is an experienced voice in Asian financial matters”

[expand title=”In detail”] Shireen Ann Zaharah Muhiudeen began managing Shariah funds in 1988 and has been a licensed fund manager representative with Malaysia’s Securities Commission since 1996. She is a member of the CFA Institute and of the International Corporate Governance Network. At AIG she managed its insurance portfolio and third-party money invested in Malaysia, Indonesia, and India, as well as AIG’s Asia Emerging Fund region-wide, save for Japan. Shireen has also singlehandedly drawn international investors to Malaysia by launching the ASEAN Corporate Governance Fund in 2008 and the ASEAN Shariah Corporate Governance Fund in 2009. An avid sportswoman, Shireen represented Malaysia in the Junior Wimbledon tennis championships and served on the board of Tourism Malaysia, as well as her country’s Sports Advisory Council.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Shireen Muhiudeen brings to her extensive current ASEAN client portfolio more than 22 years of focused fund management experience. Besides having her own monthly column, Governance Matters, in Malaysia’s biggest-selling daily – The Star, Shireen is regularly sought after for her views by global broadcasters such as Bloomberg and CNBC, providing some interesting comparisons on how far women have progressed in the corporate world internationally and a completely fresh perspective on the value of having women in the Board Room. A proponent of Governance, transparency and Islamic Finance she is a regular speaker at seminars and forums.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]An avid advocate of equal gender representation in boardrooms, Shireen Muhiudeen is a powerful and astute orator who engages and informs worldwide audiences.[/expand]
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Highly Acclaimed Film Director, Writer and Producer

Mira Nair is a highly acclaimed film director, writer and producer. From her debut film, the Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay! to her Amelia Earhart biopic, Amelia, Mira Nair has established herself as one of the most formidable directors working today. Her latest film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, is a striking commentary on identity, immigration, and terrorism. Away from the camera, Nair has mentored as part of the Rolex Protege Arts Initiative and her company, Mirabai films, established a non-profit, Maisha, in support of screenwriters and directors in East Africa and South Asia.

Mira describes documentary as “a marriage of my interests in the visual arts, theatre, and life as it is lived”

[expand title=”In detail”] Mira was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. Her first film was Jama Masjid Street Journal which was also her Master’s thesis project. She was appointed as the mentor in film by the prestigious Rolex Protégé Arts Initiative to help guide young artists in critical stages of their development. In 1998, My Own Country was awarded the NAACP award for best fiction feature. Nair returned to the documentary form in 1999 with The Laughing Club of India, which was awarded The Special Jury Prize in the Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels 2000.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Mira Nair discusses the craft of filmmaking as well as the issues she so passionately explores in her films: the tug of competing worlds felt by millions of immigrants, and ways to bridge the gap between cultures, races and genders. In the process, Nair shows you how film can challenge stereotypes and generational assumptions. [/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Mira Nair is a natural on stage (she began her career in film in front of the camera, not behind), she challenges audiences to think about assumptions, stereotypes, and prejudices, and how these manifest themselves in our relationships. With natural charm and humour she draws her audience into a discussion of the issues explored in her films, as well as the art of filmmaking and the craft of storytelling. [/expand]
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First female UN Police Advisor and Internationally known Social Activist

Dr Kiran Bedi is India’s first and highest female ranking officer who joined the Indian Police Service in 1972. Her expertise includes more than 35 years of creative and reformative policing and prison management. As the first and highest-ranking female officer in the national police force, she earned a reputation for being tough yet innovative on the job. Her latest initiative, Mission Safer India, aims to ensure that police log and address citizen complaints. She brought awareness of public rights to ground level through her reality T.V show: App Ki Kachehri Kiran kay Saath (Your court with Kiran).

“Internationally recognized for her work towards Women Empowerment”

[expand title=”In detail”] Dr Bedi was the First female advisor to UN Police. With decades of wealth of experience, she represented India on International Forums for crime prevention, drug abuse, police and prison reforms and women’s issues. Being one of India’s top cops; she is tough, innovative and committed to social change. She is a Nehru Follower running two NGO’s; Navjyoti and India Vision Foundation to provide Education and Health care to under privileged children. She has won Ramon Magsaysay Award also known as Asian Nobel Prize. Currently she is vanguard of nationwide movement “India against Corruption”.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Dr Bedi shares various strategies that she has personally used to achieve all of her professional goals, inspiring and interacting with audiences. She explains how creating mission statements for our lives can help us to know what we want and what is important to us.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Dr Bedi has a unique presence and aura of energy and awe that fills audiences with excitement and inspiration. Her messages are powerful and revealing, presented in the highest of professional styles.[/expand]
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Turkey’s Most Renowned Harpist, Founding President, Association of the Art of the Harp

Praised by the Washington Post as a “major talent of international caliber”, for Şirin Pancaroğlu, discovering a variety of musical identities for the harp is a central endeavor. Trained as a classical musician, the leading harpist of Turkey is equally active in the realm of Turkish traditional music, improvisation, electronic music, tango and semi-staged performances as she is in mainstream harp repertoire to which she contributes with new works commissioned for her.

[expand title=”In detail”] Recognized for her thorough interpretative skills and multifaceted personality, Şirin Pancaroğlu has been touring with four large collaborative projects since 2010, namely Elişi (Handcraft), Resonating Universes, Harmonies of Istanbul and Cafe Tango. Ever since her return to Istanbul in 2000, she has been in search of her roots, connecting them with sophisticated taste to her worldly ideas, a glimpse of which she promises to share in her concerts. Her work on unearthing the historical Turco-Ottoman harp called the “çeng”, as well traditional and contemporary Turkish music have earned her a unique place in the history of performers in Turkey. Born in 1968 in Ankara, Sirin completed the European part of her education at the Geneva Conservatory and subsequently received a Master’s degree from the Indiana University School of Music in USA.She has been a guest soloist at the Festival Printemps des Arts, Berlioz Festival, the Festival de la Harpe en Avesnois, the Chirens Chamber Music Festival, the Semaines Musicales de Villeveyrac and the Trièves Festival in France; the Imagine New Music Festival, the Millenium Stage, the Ebb and Flow Arts Festival in the USA, the Belgrade Harp Festival, the International Jerusalem Oud Festival, the Rio de Janeiro International Harp Festival, Seduced by the Harps Festival, Edinburgh International Harp Festival, the Festival de la Cuidad de Mexico and at all the major international festivals in Turkey.

Ms. Pancaroğlu is also credited for her remarkable efforts to introduce the harp to wider audiences in her native Turkey. Her work as the founder of the Association for the Art of the Harp which she established in 2007 took her into a journey of exploration in the field of non-governmental organizations in Turkey, working with official funds, forming alliances with various other organizations and professionals related to the art and business of music. Şirin Pancaroğlu led a career of academician for six years and has been working with children and adult beginners for many years. She is a published writer of articles on education and musical culture in reviews and newspapers and has been serving on the board of World Harp Congress since 2011.[/expand]
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Journalist, Producer, Host

Defne Samyeli is one of Turkey’s best known and top-rated media personalities and journalists. Having spent more than fifteen years hosting flagship news programs on Kanal D and Show TV, interviewing prime ministers and politicians of all stripes, she became a trusted source of news in Turkey. She is a gifted communicator, reknowned in Turkish television circles for not having to rely on scripts or teleprompters, speaking with precision, clarity and from the heart.

[expand title=”How she presents”]Those are some of the reasons Ms. Samyeli was entrusted by the Turkish Football Federation to present, in Geneva, the country’s recent bid for the Euro 2016 Championships . [/expand]

[expand title=”In detail”] Defne Samyeli can provide expertise on a range of topics: communications; politics; journalism; leadership; physical and emotional wellness and, given her degree in Business Administration, the critical nexus that exists between commerce and communications.

Ms. Samyeli is Executive Board member of American Studies ,Bahcesehir University, member of KAGIDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey), member of Homeless Animals and Environmental Protection Society and Participant/activist for organizations to promote equal rights for women. She is a participant in SHOW TV project: ‘Yasasin Okulumuz’ to establish schools for underprivileged children. She has also lectured on ‘Media Practices’ at Bahçeşehir University’s journalism school ( 2009-2010).

Ms. Samyeli is currently founder & partner of television production company, Samyeli Production which provides all production services for news shows and segments for various media outlets in Turkey & abroad ,since 2008. She is Executive Editor of Milliyet TV.

She has a special interest in singing musical theatre, reading, and spending time with children and animals.[/expand]
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Sociologist

Prof Nilüfer Göle (born 1953) is a prominent Turkish sociologist and a leading authority on the political movement of today’s educated, urbanized, religious Muslim women. From 1986 to 2001 a professor at the Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, she is currently Directrice d’études at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS), Centre d’Analyse et d’Intervention Sociologiques (CADIS), in Paris. Göle is the author of Interpénétrations: L’Islam et l’Europe and The Forbidden Modern: Civilization and Veiling.

[expand title=”In detail”] Through personal interviews, Göle has developed detailed case studies of young Turkish women who are turning to the tenets of fundamental Islamic gender codes. Her sociological approach has also produced a broader critique of Eurocentrism with regard to emerging Islamic identities at the close of the twentieth century. She has explored the specific topic of covering, as well as the complexities of living in a multicultural world.[/expand]
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The First Spanish Woman to Summit Everest

Araceli Segara is a model, television and radio presenter, a mountaineer and star of the IMAX film “Everest”. She is probably best known as the first Spanish woman to stand on the summit of Everest, and for the numerous climbing expeditions she has organised. In the spring of 2007 Araceli will be going back to Everest with the IMAX team to film a new documentary called ‘Return to Everest’.

“Spain’s most famous mountaineer”

[expand title=”In detail”] Araceli began her prestigious career as one of the world’s leading female climbers at the tender age of twenty years, when she successfully climbed Mount Kenya, the highest peak on the African continent. Just one year later she organised and played a leading role in her first major expedition to the Himalaya. But her real breakthrough came in 1996 when as part of the Catalan Everest North Face Expedition Team Araceli stood on top of the world.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]The multi-faceted, charming and charismatic Araceli is in great demand as a speaker at leading conferences around the globe. She talks in depth about her climbing experiences and inspires audiences with her fantastic stories.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Both an experienced media personality and conference presenter Araceli’s presentations are highly enjoyable and backed up with dramatic and awe-inspiring images from her expeditions.[/expand]
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Award Winning Television Journalist; Chief News Correspondent for BBC TV

Kate Adie is the award winning journalist. Kate became the BBC’s Chief News Correspondent in 1989. Since then she has covered major international crises, including the Gulf War, conflicts in former Yugoslavia and events in the Gulf, Armenia, Albania, Rwanda, Kosovo, China and Sierra Leone. Kate won awards for her coverage of Northern Ireland, the American bombing of Tripoli and the student uprising in China in 1989 and in 1993 was awarded an OBE.

“One of the best known female war correspondents of recent times”

[expand title=”In detail”] Kate’s broadcasting career with BBC started in 1968 when she joined local radio in Durham as a studio technician. She moved to BBC Radio Bristol in 1970 as a producer specialising in farming and arts programmes before joining TV outside broadcasts to direct sport and religious programmes. She joined BBC TV News in 1979 from BBC regional TV, having been a reporter in Plymouth, Southampton and Brighton. She covered general news stories for the network, including many overseas and spent two years as Court Correspondent.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Kate uses her considerable experience to entertain and educate decision makers from all fields with her insight into world events many of which she has witnessed firsthand.[/expand]

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A well known face to television viewers, Kate is an experienced speaker and continues to be in great demand at prestigious events world-wide.[/expand]
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Economist, Author and Leading Expert on Economic Globalisation

Noreena Hertz is a bestselling author, academic and thinker whose economic predictions over the past 15 years have proven to be visionary. The Observer has named her “one of the world’s leading thinkers”. Vogue calls her “one of the world’s most inspiring women”, the Guardian has identified her as “one of the top British Public Intellectuals”. Noreena is Chair of Globalisation and Finance at Duisenberg School of Finance and is Associate Director of the Centre for International Business at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge.Business School.

‘Young Global Leader of Tomorrow’ – The World Economic Forum 2004

[expand title=”In detail”] Noreena received her M.B.A. from Wharton and her Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, before beginning her career as an expert on Russian economics and working for the World Bank advising the Russian Government on its economic reforms. Noreena advises major multinational corporations, CEOs, NGOs and politicians, as well as start-up companies, and sits on various corporate and charitable boards. She played an influential role in the development of (RED), an innovative commercial model to raise money for people with AIDS in Africa, having inspired Bono (co-founder of the project) with her writings.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Noreena Hertz successfully takes her argument against the actions of multinational corporations from behind the picket line and into high-level economic arenas, including the World Economic Forum. She offers not just an economic and political critique of globalisation, but real solutions for businesses and individuals as well as an outline as how your organisation can prepare for the main global trends. [/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Noreena delivers highly respected, passionate messages to both grassroots organisations as well as worldwide corporations. She is a sought after broadcaster and commentator and regularly appears on flagship television programmes globally including on the BBC and CNN.[/expand]
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Business Editor of ITV News

Laura Kuenssberg is a Business Editor who leads all business coverage for ITV News, providing analysis of the latest business stories, both in the UK and internationally. Formerly Chief Political Correspondent for the BBC, Laura won acclaim for her coverage of the 2010 General Election and the formation of the Coalition government. Other major stories Laura has covered include Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign, the build-up to the Iraq war and the accession of the Eastern European countries into the EU from Prague, Warsaw and Berlin.

“A leading business journalist”

[expand title=”In detail”] After a brief spell reporting from Newcastle, Laura joined The Daily Politics Show in 2003. She advanced to become the Chief Political Correspondent for the BBC. During her time at the BBC, she also reported for BBC News, Newsnight, the Today programme, and BBC Breakfast. She is one of the most high profile UK journalists on Twitter, using the social networking service to deliver breaking news. Laura has more than 60,000 followers.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Laura Kuenssberg is a respected commentator on the world’s current affairs and is revered for her penetrating insights of current global economic trends and policies.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Laura provides organisations with the latest business and economic insights. She takes her audiences to the frontline of commerce and industry against the background of the coalition government in the UK and the Euros zone crisis. Her training as a journalist and broadcaster make her well equipped to host and facilitates a wide range of events in all sectors of industry from panel debates to interviewing management and stakeholders on-stage.[/expand]
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