aidha’s faculty

aidha boasts a world-class faculty that assumes full responsibility for the design and delivery of aidha’s courses.  Meet our faculty:

Dr. Marie-Laure Caille. Marie-Laure is managing director at Pickering Pacific, an M&A advisory firm serving the Asia-Pacific region. Previously she was a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group, and an economist for the Jakarta office of the UNDP. She has significant experience leading business management courses, most recently at SIM University. Dr. Caille is also a CFA charterholder.

Pascale Dillon. Pascale graduated from EDHEC Graduate Business School and obtained her MBA from Aston University. She obtained her CPA in 1995, and has years of professional experience as business manager and finance executive. She has delivered numerous training seminars and volunteered with non-profits in both Europe and Asia.

Dr. Adel Dimian. Adel is Practice Associate Professor of Management at Singapore Management University. Previously, he spent almost 19 years with 3M in various capacities, including regional business development in Asia, and as vice president and general manager for its healthcare IP compliance software business in New York. He has been awarded nine patents for novel chemistry solutions.

Dr. Gregor Halff. A university professor today, Gregor first stepped into the world of communication as a stage actor. He obtained a doctorate in mass communications, was communications manager at Siemens, founded a public relations consulting firm and became managing partner at Publicis. He now teaches corporate communication at Singapore Management University.

Veronica Gamez.  A native of Mexico, Veronica is dedicated to promoting women’s economic empowerment through education. She left the corporate world in 2008 to become aidha’s executive director. Previously, she worked with Credit Suisse (CS) and The Boston Consulting Group in Singapore, London & Mexico. She earned her BA with Honours (Finance) from Cass Business School and her MBA at the University of Chicago.

James Irvine. James has over 25 years’ experience in international banking, marketing and soft skills training. He was previously an international manager with Standard Chartered Bank. In the early 1990s, James launched his own training consultancy and has trained participants from prominent organisations in Singapore, including Singapore Airlines, DBS, and Citibank.

Dr. Sarah Mavrinac. Sarah is a committed advocate of financial education, who left her faculty position at INSEAD, one of the world’s top business schools, to serve as aidha’s founding president. She has extensive experience in education and research environments both in the US and Asia and has championed the design of many of aidha’s core courses and programmes.  She holds degrees from Brown University and the London School of Economics.  Her doctorate was earned at the Harvard Business School.

Anne-Valérie Ohlsson. Until recently, Anne-Valérie worked in executive education a tIMD,  the International Institute for Management, with expertise entrepreneurship, corporate strategy and leadership. She has authored several books, journal reviews and numerous case studies. She holds an MBA from the University of Geneva, and has lived in Europe, South Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Dr. Steven Orpurt. Steven teaches financial statements analysis at Pepperdine University in the US. He has taught previously at the Singapore Management University, Northwestern’s Kellogg School, and Boston University, and won numerous teaching awards. Before earning his doctorate at the University of Chicago, Steve developed online finance and accounting courses for Unext.com. He was also a portfolio manager with Franklin Resources.

Maria Kassova. Maria is currently Regional Director for Asia-Pacific at Chello Zone, and has worked for Discovery Networks in London and Singapore.  She aims to transition to life coaching and corporate training, and is already a Trainer and Mister Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and a certified business coach with an MBA.

Laura Ramirez. Laura has a BA in Social Psychology, an MA in International Relations, and currently works as a Yoga Instructor and Therapist. She started volunteering when aidha did not even had a school house, by teaching  Self Esteem Courses at a function room.  Laura remembers her first day at aidha back in 2006 as one of the most inspirational moments in her life. “It has been an honor and a privilege to support aidha’s mission to empower migrant women.  In fact, I have learned more from our students than what I’ve taught them – she says –  I am very grateful”.