People

YAM Tunku Ali is Tunku Besar Seri Menanti of Negeri Sembilan. In addition to his official duties, he divides his time between educational institutions, non-profit entities, and corporate boards. He is passionate about education, and is Chairman of International Medical University (IMU), Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU) and XCL Education Group Malaysia (which operates 7 primary and secondary school campuses). He is also Chairman of the Board of Governors of Marlborough College Malaysia, and an International Council Member of Marlborough College, United Kingdom. Additionally, he is Pro-Chancellor of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Royal Fellow of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia.

Tunku Ali is President of WWF Malaysia, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Yayasan Munarah, Chairman of Cancer Research Malaysia, a Trustee of Amanah Warisan Negara and Cambridge (Malaysia) Foundation.

As a Senior Advisor to TPG Capital, he also sits on the boards of several TPG portfolio companies, including Pathology Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd and Asia OneHealthcare Sdn. Bhd. (formerly known as Columbia Asia Healthcare Sdn. Bhd.) The portfolio also encompasses Peel Healthcare Sdn. Bhd. of Northern Heart Hospital Penang, Cardiac Vascular Sentral (Kuala Lumpur) Sdn. Bhd and Integrated Oncology Center (Kuala Lumpur). He is Non-Executive Chairman of two listed companies, Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad and Taliworks Corporation Berhad. Additionally, he is an Independent Director of Mr. D.I.Y. Group (M) Berhad, a listed home improvement retailer. Separately, he is a partner of Vynn Capital, a Southeast Asian venture capital firm.

He holds a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and a BA (Hons) in History and Social & Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge. Previously, Tunku Ali was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and an investments professional at Khazanah Nasional Berhad. He is an Honorary Bencher of the Inner Temple, United Kingdom, and a Brigadier General and Commander of a Regiment in the Territorial Army of Malaysia. Tunku Ali has been recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and an Asia 21 Young Leader by the Asia Society.

Li-Kai is a former Senior Partner of McKinsey & Company and the former Managing Partner and President of the McKinsey Malaysia office. He is also the former Global Head of the Education Practice of McKinsey. His work focused on education system reform, institutional transformation and public-private partnerships in education. McKinsey’s education practice conducts research on school systems worldwide and publishes global education reports, including “How the World’s Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better” and “Spark and Sustain: How All of the World’s Education Systems Can Improve Learning at Scale”.

Li-Kai holds a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, a Masters in Science in Risk Management from the University of Reading, UK, and his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Central England, UK. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia (ICDM).

Dato’ Tharuma Rajah is the Founder and CEO of Garage Analytics. He was formerly the Global Managing Director of Hay Group.

He has extensive experience in driving education transformation in Singapore and Australia. Dato’ Tharuma helps organisations develop and implement talent and leadership transformation interventions. He specialises in human resource management, strategy formulation, compensation, training and development, and industrial relations. He has served as Executive Coach to many CEOs in Asia Pacific, and has advised clients across a wide spectrum of industries ranging from finance, telecommunications, oil and gas, manufacturing, fast moving consumer goods, and the public sector.

Dato’ Tharuma holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London and has been called to the Bar of England and Wales. He is a member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, United Kingdom. Dato’ Tharuma is also co-author of the book “The Indian CEO: A Portrait of Excellence”.

Shahnaz Al-Sadat Abdul Mohsein is an independent promoter of education, talent development and social enterprise reforms for Malaysia. She was the Former Co-Founder of Arise Asia, Former Executive Trustee of Yayasan AMIR, Former Board Member of MINDA and Former Executive Director of Strategic Human Capital Management & CFO, Khazanah Nasional.

Shahnaz is currently the Chairperson of LeapEd Services and the Member of Board of Governors of Kolej Yayasan UEM.

She holds an LLB (Hons) degree from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland. She is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Internal Auditor.

Datuk Yvonne Chia is a Fellow Chartered Banker and is a Senior Independent Director of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad and Silverlake Axis Ltd. She is also an Independent Non-Executive Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia, Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd, and Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad and is a Trustee for the Merdeka Trust Foundation.

A keen promoter of education, talent, and personal development, Datuk Yvonne sees education and personal development as tools for women empowerment to enable financial literacy and financial independence. She is particularly admired for her agility to move with the changing times, her grounded style of walking the talk, showing the way in the language of the audience of seniors, the young, and millennials, and the local communities she served. She sees her personal career success has set a path for women and girls to realise their full potential and economic worth through advocating opportunities that explore their potential choices be it in finance and other sectors.

Datuk Yvonne was credited by Forbes Asia as one of the top 50 Businesswomen in the Mix in 2013. In August 2014, she was also appointed Honorary Professor by the University of Nottingham.

YBhg. Datuk Dr. Habibah was the former Director General of Education, having served the Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia for more than 34 years before her retirement in April 2021. She is currently a Professor at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and is a member of the National Recovery Council.

YBhg. Datuk Dr. Habibah began her career as a secondary school teacher in Selangor and Kedah. Her positions include the Head of the Delivery Management Office for the Education National Key Economic Area, Executive Director of the Education Performance and Delivery Unit (PADU), Director of the Educational Planning and Research Division, and Deputy Director General of Education (Policy and Curriculum).

YBhg. Datuk Dr. Habibah graduated with a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Biology from the University of Salford in 1984. She later earned the degree of Master in Education in 1993 at the University of Bristol, and Master of Art in Sociology in 1999, followed by a Doctorate in Education in 2001 from Stanford University.