Board of Governors' Candidate Bio AGM – 28Th
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Board of Governors’ Candidate Bio AGM – 28th November 2019 Warren Allderige My wife Kathie and I have lived in Asia for over 20 years with the majority of this time in Hong Kong. We are Americans and our son, William, is in Year 10. Will joined Kellett as a Year 4 student at the Kowloon Bay campus in its inaugural year. Since then, Kathie, Will and I have fallen in love with Kellett and its diverse and rich educational environment, dedicated faculty, energetically involved parents, and kind and gentle ethos. As background, I grew up in a university town in New York State that was centered around education, with a major research university (Cornell University) and a small liberal arts college (Ithaca College) as its focus. My father was on the faculty at Cornell as were the parents of many of my classmates in primary and senior school. After senior school, I received a bachelor's degree from Cornell and an MBA from Harvard Business School and have remained active in the Cornell and Harvard communities in the United States and Hong Kong since. Due to this lifelong engagement with the education community, I am particularly interested in supporting Kellett, its faculty and its philosophy. My background has also given me a deep appreciation for all that Kellett has accomplished in its over 40 years and all that can be accomplished in the growth and development of its senior school and in the continuation of the long-established success of its primary school. Aside from being an enthusiastic Kellett parent, I am an active youth lacrosse coach and ice hockey parent. I also work with the Harvard Club of Hong Kong in their Prize Book Award program that recognizes accomplished student essayists. Professionally, I am an investment manager who has worked in New York, London, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong in both the public and private markets. I have served on company boards in each of these jurisdictions. I have been honored to work to help preserve the tremendous accomplishments of the parents, faculty and board that have built Kellett into the amazing school that it is today and to work with the Kellett community to achieve its goals for the future. On the Board, I am active on the Finance Committee, the Governance Committee and the Principal’s Evaluation Committee. I have also helped informally in assisting Kellett in increasing its outreach to American universities. Board of Governors’ Candidate Bio AGM – 28th November 2019 Peter Goulston For nine very fulfilling and enjoyable years I have been honoured to serve on the Kellett Board. My wife Stephanie and I have been Kellett parents since 2008 when Cara joined Reception. She is now taking her GCSEs in Year 11 with Darcy also at the Senior School in Year 9. Our youngest, Hugo, is in Year 4 at Pok Fu Lam. Hong Kong has been my home since the late seventies and I was delighted to return in 2000. Since then I have lived in Hong Kong, working as a banker and spending my weekends as a chauffeur, sub-standard sports coach, party planner and ATM! I have been fortunate to be Chairman of the Board for three years. With our excellent management and staff, plus the support of my fellow Board members, we have achieved successes such as the introduction of the Positive Education initiative, the hiring of a new Head of Senior School and the new Principal & CEO, and the continued enhancement of our curriculum and facilities. Kellett is a school of considerable success and I am delighted we have further strengthened its emphasis on student well-being. I hope that Kellett continues to provide all our students with the opportunity to thrive and leave happy with a world- class, rounded education. I look forward to continuing to support the Principal and his senior management team as Kellett builds on its achievements and excellent reputation. I welcome the opportunity to remain on the Board for one reason – like all parents, I care passionately about my children’s education and development, and feel privileged to be able to contribute to their school. Thank you for your support. Board of Governors’ Candidate Bio AGM – 28th November 2018 Jonathan Harris I have lived in Hong Kong since 1983. I am a High Court Judge and my Wife, Yuka Shigetomi, as her name hints, is Japanese and a Partner in Ernst & Young. We have 2 children at Kellett. Erika is in year 7 at Kowloon Bay and George is in year 4 at Pok Fu Lum. We anticipate that Erika and George will remain at Kellett for their entire education. I have been on the Board for 3 years. I am currently one of the 2 vice-chairs and I sit on the Finance Committee. I have spent most of my life here and seen and experienced Hong Kong’s considerable development since the early 80s and in recent years had some direct involvement in that process. Hong Kong currently faces severe challenges, which it seems sensible to assume will require the School to respond quickly to potential problems, such as increased rates of attrition, and identify in this fast changing environment strategies for continued development of the School in ways, which retain our strengths, providing a highly quality, contemporary British style education, whilst meeting the needs of an evolving pupil demographic. I believe that my familiarity with Hong Kong and the challenges it faces will enable me to assist Kellett navigate its way through these challenges and continue to develop as an outstanding School. Board of Governors’ Candidate Bio AGM – 28th November 2019 Cynthia Lam I have been a Kellett parent since 2015. My children are Isaac (Y4) and Dylan de Bont (Y2), both of whom have been at the Kowloon Bay campus since entering Reception. My husband is Dutch and we are a multicultural family with a diverse background and have experience with different education approaches in four different countries. I was born and raised in Hong Kong and educated at local primary and secondary schools. I then emigrated to Canada where I studied and worked for 10 years. My education includes a MBA at Schulich School of Business and Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Toronto. I am also a qualified CPA and CFA Charterholder. I worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers as a Tax Accountant and later as a Management Consultant on the Electricity Market De-regulation project for the Ontario government. I am fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Upon my return to HK, I have worked at several investment banks including Morgan Stanley, UBS, Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan for 17 years as an Equity Research Analyst and then later as an Institutional Equity Sales in the APAC region. My work has helped me kept abreast on a vast array of topics including global macroeconomics, politics, capital markets, in-dept industry and company knowledge, as well as the latest developments including education, finance, and technology trends. My desire to be part of Kellett’s Board of Governors derives from a genuine interest in education and the strategic direction of our school. I have a deep-rooted belief in the importance of education for all. I feel I will add diversity to the Board and my insights and skills will help support it in fulfilling the school’s mission in our continuously changing world. I would seek to do this in an inclusive, responsible and unprejudiced way to the best of my ability. I love the warm and welcoming community at Kellett and would like to see all Kellett students continue to excel in a well-balanced and happy environment in order to reach their fullest potential. Board of Governors’ Candidate Bio AGM – 28th November 2019 Alex Woodthorpe My wife, Kerilee, and I have been Kellett parents for the past five years. Our eldest daughter, Mia, is in Kowloon Bay Year 5, Isla is in Year 3 and Anya is in Year 1. Kerilee, is Isla’s Class Parent and this is her sixth year as a Class Parent. We are both passionate about our children’s education, which means, in turn, we are passionate about the success of Kellett. I have been involved in public, private and charity funded education in Hong Kong for more than twelve years, opening an extra-curricular language school in partnership with the Po Leung Kuk in 2009, which has educated over 2,500 of Hong Kong’s poorest children. In addition, I am the resident Governor of the Marlborough College Foundation in Hong Kong. As a Governor of Kellett for the past three years, I have sat on the Development Committee, which I have chaired since late 2017, and the Estate Planning Committee. Together with other members of the Board and the school’s senior management, I have played a leading role in the creation of the Kellett Foundation which is being established to allow transparency, accountability and flexibility for all of Kellett’s philanthropic activities, and I have overseen a review of how Kellett gives and how the school, the board and the parents committee can best work together to enhance the school’s strategic vision. The first twenty-two years of my career were spent as an investment banker, and from 2009 to 2018 I ran an energy business in South East Asia. Since the sale of this business I have committed an increasing amount of time to my role as a Governor of Kellett and it would be a great privilege to continue to serve on the Kellett Board of Governors.