Difficult Conversations : Navigating the Uncomfortable

About the Event

Difficult conversations can be challenging, but they are essential for building stronger relationships and creating a more just and equitable world. Join us for a panel discussion with experts who will share their insights on how to have these conversations effectively, with grace and empathy.

From calling out inappropriate comments in the moment to addressing non inclusive language and behaviours in the workplace. Difficult conversations are not easy to have, but we'll discuss and explore strategies on how to manage them effectively for the best outcomes.

Members

Complimentary

Member PriceComplimentary

Non Members

Tickets will be subject to a revised GST rate of 9%, effective from 1 January 2024.

Public PriceS$35

Speakers

Andrew Ashman

Head of APAC Loan Syndicate at Barclays Bank PLC

Kirsty Poltock

Managing Director of Connexus Global

Victoria Bethlehem

Chief People Officer at Jitjatjo

Louise Tagliante

Managing Director & Founder of Differentiate Pte Ltd

Andrew has been a member of the Barclays Investment Banking team for over fifteen years, covering the origination and distribution of investment grade, LBO and structured finance loans in the Asian and European loan markets.

In his current role, Andrew heads the APAC Loan Syndicate team at Barclays, based in Singapore, with a focus on the underwriting and distribution of loans from across Asia and Australia.

Andrew is Chair of Asia Pacific Loan Market Association’s (APLMA) Singapore branch and is a member of APLMA’s Green and Sustainable Loan Committee, which was instrumental in
developing the APLMA/LMA/LSTA Green Loan Principles. Andrew also sits on the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Green Finance Industry Taskforce with a mandate to accelerate the development of green finance across ASEAN.

Andrew is Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and represents Barclays as D&I sponsor at Britcham.

Prior to Barclays, Andrew has held positions at Citigroup in London and Frankfurt, AMP in Sydney and Capco in London.

Andrew holds an M.Eng in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College, University of London and a MBA in Finance from London Business School.

For over 25 years Victoria has held executive management roles within the human resources field. She has enjoyed international success within the multi-national corporation and start-up environments. She describes herself as an international citizen, having lived and worked in the USA, South Africa, Switzerland, Greece, Australia and Singapore.

Victoria is the Chief People Officer with Jitjatjo, a high-tech company headquartered in New York, USA which solves human capital resourcing challenges for the hospitality, retail and healthcare sectors. It’s Network SaaS platform empowers clients to transform their labour models and fulfil Jitjatjo’s mission of Human Betterment - the continued creation of opportunity for the world’s next-generation workforce.

Victoria has spent the last 4 years in the start-up environment, working closely with CEO’s and Founders in the establishing of their global HR strategy and operations. This included Global Chief People Officer roles with Archwey, a global sustainability company; Adventus.io, an ed-tech marketplace and AAQUA, a social media platform.

Prior to her start-up experience, Victoria’s career within the MNC environment spanned 20+ years in the recruitment industry where she held executive roles within The Adecco Group and Randstad, the #1 and #2 global leaders in this sector.
Her extensive HR knowledge and experience saw her lead the strategic and operations agenda for the HR portfolio at global, regional and national levels.

Victoria is an avid keynote speaker and has shared her insights at these events :
- Navigating Start-Ups as an HR Professional (podcast) – March 2023
- Rolling Stories : MNC to Start-up (podcast) – January 2023
- International Workforce Mobility Summit, Singapore April 2021
- Employee Experience Summit, Singapore Dec 2020
- International Forum on Talent, China 2019
- French Chamber of Commerce, Singapore 2019
- American Chamber of Commerce, Singapore 2018
- Women’s International Conference, Germany 2017 and Czech Republic 2016

to highlight a few.

She is an accredited business and life coach and has completed a range of executive leadership development programs at the international business schools of INSEAD (France), IMD (Singapore) and IESE(Barcelona).

Driven by her Purpose, “Live YOUR Passion, Live YOUR Life”, Louise encourages young business professionals to live a life of purpose, passion and meaning by making choices that often challenge their beliefs, values and culture, while effectively managing the expectations of others. In addition, she has built a learning and collaborative community for mentors and coaches, enhancing their leadership skills, their ability to generously support others and creating opportunities to ‘pay-it-forward’ for the next generation of leaders.

Her entrepreneurial approach to business is founded on more than 30 years corporate experience in the financial services sector, having worked both globally and regionally in senior leadership roles. Prior to founding Differentiate in 2006, she designed and launched the Visa Business School across all countries in Asia Pacific and headed the ABN AMRO Asia Pacific Training Academy – one of 3 globally. She created Protégé-Business Mentoring in 2011 to support new leaders to find their own voice and ensure they have a ‘seat at the table’.

In addition to having been a leadership coach and consultant with organisations such as INSEAD, CORE Leadership Institute and Harvard Business School, she was the first in Asia Pacific to become an accredited Coaching Supervisor.

Louise is a proud recipient of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith Achievement in Coaching Award – 100 Top Global Coaching Leaders 2018 awarded by World HRD Congress and was shortlisted in Top 5 Influencers by UN Women HeForShe 2019. As a member of the Executive Committee of the Financial Women’s Association (FWA) Singapore from 2011-16, she created its Advancing Women in Finance mentoring program, winner of the AWARE New Initiative Award 2013.
From 2016-2018 she served as 1st Vice President on the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) Board - Singapore’s leading gender equality advocacy group and continues as a long-term member on their Fundraising Committee. She received the inaugural World of Difference 100 Award from The International Alliance of Women (TIAW), which honours women who have made an impact on the economic empowerment of women.

Louise hails from Australia and has lived and worked in Asia since 1993.