We have a credible board of judges including startup founders, industry leaders, educators and VCs who are on a mission to ignite the fire of the next generation!
DAVID YI
GENERAL PARTNER @ETHOS FUND, CHICAGO BOOTH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Developed $800M+ business opportunities between Asia and America as an executive at some of the most influential EdTech companies in the world, including as CEO for Riiid Labs, Head of Asia for ACT.org, and Managing Director (of Asia) for K12.com.
As a serial entrepreneur, I have 15+ years of experience building winning teams and successful companies. I exited twice, selling my US startups to conglomerates in Asia.
Besides business, I spent over 20 years volunteering my time and resources for the global advancement of human capital development. I served in the Peace Corps and have participated on the boards of the World Mathematical Olympiad (WMO), Stanford SMILE, and Gifted And Talented Silicon Valley Institute (GATSVI).
​HUONG TRAN
VENTURE PARTNER @MONK'S HILL VENTURES
Huong is a Venture Partner at Monk’s Hill Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage tech companies in Southeast Asia. She has worked in multiple countries in Southeast Asia, and spent more than a decade in Silicon Valley before returning to Vietnam recently. Huong is responsible for sourcing, analyzing and executing deals, and working closely with portfolio companies.
Huong brings over 15 years of experience operating in both Silicon Valley and Southeast Asia across different stages, from early and mid-stage emerging startups, to Fortune 500 companies serving hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
Huong has launched numerous consumer products for Unilever across different Southeast Asian emerging markets. She worked on the mobile launch of Yahoo flagship communications products (Mail, Messenger) as the world went mobile. She built her own travel startup, Magpie, out of the Stanford StartX accelerator leading to an acquisition. Most recently, Huong led a new business unit creating Local Discovery products serving merchants and users at MoMo – a fintech unicorn in Vietnam.
Huong holds an MBA from Stanford University as the first student from Vietnam to attend the business school after the war ended in 1975.
KELVIN TANU UTOMO
PRODUCT DIRECTOR @ VISA
Adults are grown up kids. Don’t stop dreaming, learning and daring
Kelvin Tanu Utomo is Visa Head of Product and Solution for Vietnam & Laos, based on Hanoi. He is a seasoned retail banking & payments professional with over 17 years of experience in diverse markets Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore.
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Prior to joining VISA, Kelvin was Head of Portfolio Management for UOB Business Banking and undertake diverse leadership and functional roles in retail banking management with global and regional banks such as Standard Chartered and ANZ.
During his career, he was awarded Indonesia Young Consumer Banker by SWA in 2014.
KEVIN NGUYEN
CEO @JOBHOPIN, VIN UNIVERSITY INDUSTRY CHAIR, FORBES 30 UNDER 30 ASIA
1 of the 4 Vietnamese getting on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia honoree list in 2019, Kevin founded JobHopin/ikiHop.com, an enterprise SaaS startup that offers a talent intelligence and XM (experience management) platform powered by ChatGPT technology. 

As a series-B startup, JobHopin is backed by world best Venture capital firms such as Seoul and Silicon Valley based Sema Translink, Tokyo based Mynavi Corporation, KK Fund, Edulab Capital and other high profile angel investors such as Facebook SEA executive Andy Hwang, PWC Vietnam Managing Partner, executives from iCarebenefits, HSC, Vietnam’s 2nd largest investment bank CEO/Founder. 

Marek Forysiak
FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF SMARTPAY
Before SmartPay, he was the CEO at Movencorp, Inc. and a Deputy CEO at VP Bank Finance dba FE Credit, Vietnam's top consumer finance company. Marek also served as the CEO of Renaissance Credit, a prominent consumer finance company in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. With over 30 years of experience in the global financial services industry, he held senior executive positions at JPMorgan Chase and AIG. Marek has advised and invested in numerous early-stage financial technology companies. He completed an executive management program at Columbia University, served as a Major in the United States Army Reserves, and is fluent in Polish and Russian.
PHOEBE TRAN
CO-FOUNDER @LITTLE WALLET, INSEAD GEMBA
To live - To love - To learn - To leave a legacy
Singaporean born Vietnamese. I was born and grew up in a humble background in the northern village of Vietnam. Over the last 17 years, I've been able to build a successful corporate career outside of Vietnam working for global companies such as Oracle, Facebook and Google. Yet, my love for the country and the desire to do something to help the next generation has inspired me to join force with my INSEAD classmate Rahul to build Little Wallet startup. Our mission is to help the next generation be better prepared for their financial future!
QUAN NGUYEN
CO-FOUNDER / CEO, GIMO, UNIVERSITY
OF HAWAII MBA
Quan is the Co-founder & CEO of Y Combinator incubated GIMO, a Vietnam-focused social impact fintech startup building digital flexible pay and financial wellness solutions designed for underbanked blue-collar workers. Founded in 2019, GIMO has been partnering up with over 100 manufacturing companies to help nearly 500,000 employees to access a portion of earned but unpaid income, before payday. The digital financial wellness solution has helped hundreds of thousands of low and middle-income people to avoid debt traps from loan sharks and ease financial burdens.
GIMO recently bagged $17.1M in Series A funding, with participation from reputable investors such as TNB Aura, Integra Partners, Genting Ventures, Resolution Ventures, ThinkZone Ventures and others. Before co-founding GIMO, Quan Nguyen held VP of Investment roles at IDG Capital and Leadvisors Capital, leading investments totaling $100 million in Vietnam's private equity and debt markets.
RAHUL SHARMA
FOUNDER @LITTLE WALLET, INSEAD GEMBA
Creating the future is the most effective way of predicting it
Innovation and creativity fuels my existence. As founder of Little Wallet, I wish to be remembered as someone who made a meaningful contribution to our future generation. Joined hands by Phoebe, we are together driving the mission to forge a smarter future generation with essential financial literacy skills.
TAMMY PHAN
HEAD OF MARKETING @GOOGLE, STANFORD, INSEAD MBA
As the Country Marketing Manager for Vietnam at Google, I am responsible for connecting the dots across products, users, partners, media, civic sector, and government to enable Vietnamese people and businesses to thrive locally and in the global economy. With over 15 years of experience in strategy consulting, sales, and marketing, I have developed a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges in emerging markets, especially across Southeast Asia.
I am passionate about bringing capacity building, capital, and growth to these countries - not only through my work at Google, but also through my involvement in the tech community. I am an active angel investor in several startups that address social and environmental issues, such as education, health, and sustainability. I hold an MBA from INSEAD and a BA in Human Biology from Stanford University, where I focused on international development.
RICHARD HOANG
BOD OF VINHOMES, AFIEX, AMBER CAPITAL & APLUS FUND
Mr. Hoang D. Quan is a pioneering entrepreneur and educator with extensive experience in Vietnam's financial industry. He founded Vietnam's first Montessori kindergarten chain and manages Vietnam's first Private Credit Fund through A+ Advisors and FPT Capital. With a strong network and expertise, he is well-positioned to capitalize on Vietnam's emerging tiger economy. His diverse background, including growing up in Paris and Brooklyn, NY, brings a unique perspective to his work. Mr. Quan is dedicated to building a wealth management platform that caters to investors at all levels.
