Impact Accelerated: APAC Data and AI for Good Showcase

Assistant Secretary Johannes Paulus B. Acuña, also known as Asec. JP, is an accomplished Information Technology professional with more than 16 years of experience in digital transformation, data governance, and IT consultancy.

Michelle Banawan is Assistant Director for Intelligent Systems at the Learning Engineering Institute, Arizona State University. Her work sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, natural language processing, learning analytics, and educational technology, with a focus on how intelligent systems can support learning, assessment, writing, and human-AI interaction.

Adrian Immanuel Bonifacio is the Chief Impact & Marketing Officer of ARK, an award-winning social venture that partners and co-invests with communities to build sustainable food security.

Subhashini (Shuba) Chandran has spent 25 years advancing inclusive growth, with a focus on small businesses, women-led enterprises in global value chains, sustainable livelihoods, job creation, and multi-stakeholder partnerships.

Agnes Gervacio is the CEO of Connected Women, with over three decades of leadership in IT and a deep commitment to digital inclusion and women’s empowerment.

Takako Izumi is a Professor and Deputy Director of IRIDeS at Tohoku University and the Graduate School of International Cultural Studies at Tohoku University, Japan, and also serves as a Professor at the Graduate School of International Cultural Studies.

Dr. Vivek Jason Jayaraj is a Public Health Physician with the Ministry of Health Malaysia, currently serving as Deputy Director (Analytics & Informatics) in the Digital Health Division.

Kal Joffres is CEO and Co-Founder of Tandemic, where he has spent 20
years leading strategic foresight, innovation and organizational
change work with the UN, governments and the private sector.

Priyank Hirani is Vice President of Programs at data.org, where he leads global initiatives that expand the responsible use of data and AI to address society’s most pressing challenges.

Pratibha Kurnool leads Social Impact across Asia Pacific and Japan at Cognizant, where she drives large-scale AI skilling, community innovation, and public-private partnerships anchored in Cognizant’s Synapse strategy. She also oversees philanthropic giving for AI and digital skilling, ensuring that investments accelerate equitable access to learning, employability, and workforce resilience.

Cheryl Ong is the Senior Manager of Research & Knowledge Management at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

Marisa Paramita is the principal investigator of Bahasa Ibu (baibu.id), a UNICEF FemTech-supported initiative building community-governed AI data infrastructure with rural Indonesian mothers.

Dr. Arnil Paras is Executive Director, Academy & Insights at AVPN, where he leads learning, research, and thought leadership initiatives to strengthen Asia’s social investment ecosystem.

Albert F. Park is Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Director General of its Economic Research and Development Impact Department.

Lance Pierce is the President and CEO of data.org. He is a board member, philanthropic advisor, former corporate consultant, and executive with global leadership experience in nonprofit organizations, startups, corporate responsibility programs, and sustainable investing.

Akanksha Rath is a communications leader, educator, and programme strategist with experience spanning academia, business, and the nonprofit sector.

Prof. Schneider was elected as APRU’s 5th Chief Executive and took up the role from January 2023. He earned his degrees (Lizentiat 1990; Dr. phil. 1996; Habilitation 1999), all in Egyptology, from the University of Basel.

Christina Schönleber, Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships & Innovation at the Association of Pacific Rim Universities has extensive expertise in translating research to impact.

Shivam Shukla is the Lead for Programs and Capacity Building at data.org, where he partners with the Director of Capacity Building to shape and deliver global initiatives aimed at cultivating 1 million purpose-driven data and AI practitioners by 2032.

Darmae M. Tan is an educator and technology solutions practitioner from Cebu, Philippines.