Pia-Maria Norris - Chair

Ms. Norris is a former International Spokesperson for one of the leading cosmetic brands in Scandinavia, and has over twenty years of experience in marketing communications, public relations, and brand management.

Her career began as an international fashion model and grew to include multiple roles in the entertainment industry from television productions to event organization and performance hosting. Ms. Norris was the co-host for a family entertainment show on a major television network in South America for four years, and she was honored as a celebrity judge at the Ford Supermodel of the World Contest in 2005.

Born in Finland, where she received her marketing degree in 1987, Ms. Norris has since lived in 9 countries and speaks five languages. Over the course of her travels, she has gained an appreciation for diverse cultures and peoples. Her passion for eastern arts, cultures, and helping those in need has always been especially strong, and she has worked extensively with various related charitable efforts. Ms. Norris currently chairs or serves on the boards of multiple charitable organizations.

Robert Kasten

Senator Kasten is the President of Kasten & Company, an international banking and business consulting group. Mr. Kasten was previously a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin from 1981 to 1993, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1974 to 1978 and a member of the Wisconsin State Senate from 1972 to 1974. He was a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, a member of the Defense Subcommittee, and Chairman of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, which has funding and oversight responsibility for all U.S. assistance programs, the Export-Import Bank, the World Bank, the multilateral development banks, and the Eastern European Development Bank. He also served on the Senate budget committee and was the ranking member on the Surface Transportation Subcommittee of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.

Senator Kasten served on the Board of Directors of the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce established to promote private enterprise and market-oriented reform worldwide. He has served as Chairman and Director of the Emerging Markets Group which managed the Democratic Century Fund, LLP, a hedge fund investing in emerging markets securities. He is also a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Senator Kasten has served on numerous boards of directors and is currently a Director of EarthWalk Communications, a Trustee of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and a Trustee of the American University in Cairo. Senator Kasten holds a B.A. in English from the University of Arizona and an MBA in Finance from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

Stephen L. Norris

Mr. Norris is co-founder of The Carlyle Group, a private global investment firm in Washington, D.C. He served on the Boards of Directors of major Carlyle portfolio companies, and helped recruit George W. Bush to serve as director of one of its portfolio companies in addition to enlisting former Secretary of State James Baker III and former Secretary of Defense Frank C. Carlucci to be senior partners of Carlyle.

Mr. Norris also acted as a principal financial advisor to one of the world’s most successful investors, and helped structure and negotiated the highly successful recapitalization of Citibank. Mr. Norris' business relationships also made possible the investor’s subsequent investments in Euro Disney and Four Seasons Hotels. Mr. Norris has been a principal advisor and independent consultant in numerous transactions, including real estate investments in Europe and the United States. Currently Mr. Norris serves on the board of multiple corporations.

Mr. Norris was appointed by president George H.W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as one of the five governing members of the over $100 billion Federal Retirement System -Thrift Investment Board. Mr. Norris earned a B.S. and a J.D. from the University of Alabama, an LLM (Tax) from New York University and was a fellow at Yale Law School.

Pamela Newman

Dr. Newman is the Chairman of the Newman Team at Aon plc, the leading global insurance company. She specializes in Fortune 500 clients worldwide and advises Aon as an independent broker in her role as President & CEO of PJN Strategies. Ms. Newman has extensive experience in working with major private equity groups, including The Blackstone Group, Veronis Suhler Stevenson, Heartland Industrial Partners, Easton Capital, Hermes, The Carlyle Group, Highfields Capital Management, Columbia Partners, Atlantic Capital Partners LLC, and Westwood Capital, LLC.

Dr. Newman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Club of NY. She serves on the Board of the Police Athletic League of New York and The College of Mount Saint Vincent. She is on the Corporate Board of Carnegie Hall and is a Member, Associate Committee of the Juilliard School. She is a Member of the Business Executives for National Security, Member of the Women’s Medical Center Advisory Board of NY Presbyterian Hospital and past President of the Financial Women’s Association. Pamela also serves on the Board of PCI Media, NYC Mission Society and as Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army.

Dr. Newman earned a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from The University of Michigan. She has co-authored two books; Organizational Communications and Behind Closed Doors; A Guide to Effective Meetings.

Man-Yan NG

Man-Yan NG is a former Vice President of marketing and sales at the international technology group ABB, where he was responsible for the global market. Since 1970, after completing engineering studies in Sweden, Man-Yang worked for different international technology groups, such as ASEA, Sandvik in Sweden, and ABB in Germany, where he held various positions in the area of industrial and power automation.

Man-Yan currently works as an independent management consultant for the business community and different government bodies. He is also the President of the European operation of the fast-growing Epoch Media Group, and is a board member of the International Society for Human Rights (www.ishr.org), a major German human rights organization. As a China expert, he is responsible for monitoring the human right situation in China.

Man-Yan was born in Hong Kong. His interest in Chinese culture and history, Chinese philosophy and wisdom, combined with his extensive business and social experience in China as well as in Europe, makes him a unique China expert. His speeches on China at different forums at many national parliaments in Europe, the European Parliament, as well as associations and different international business panels, have been very well received.