ELAN SHOU
Managing Director & Senior Vice President, China

Elan Shou rejoined Ruder Finn in April 2010 as managing director, training and offering, Ruder Finn China.  She was promoted to managing director and senior vice president of Ruder Finn China in Dec the same year. She used to head Ruder Finn Shanghai from 2004 to 2008 for five years.

With extensive experiences in corporate and marketing communications, Ms. Shou specializes in reputation management and brand building, and has provided strategic consultation for clients from a variety of sectors including corporate, finance, premier consumer, healthcare, auto, travel and tourism, and government. Her previous clients include:

• Corporate: Bayer, Carrier, DHL, Warner Bros, Disney, AT&T
• Finance: Citi, HSBC, DBS, SG Private Banking, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPDB)
• Government: EDB, Contact Singapore, GAFI
• Auto: Audi, Michelin, Harley-Davidson, Mercedes Benz
• Premier Consumer: Hermes, Cartier, Montblanc, Patek Philippe, Jil Sander, CANALI, B&O, Sephora, Boucheron, Hennessy
• Healthcare: AstraZeneca, BD, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche
• Travel and Tourism: Emirates, Air Canada, InterContinental Hotels Group

With ten years of experience in communications, Ms. Shou has wide experience in crisis management in China and has managed issues and crisis covering market pull-out, product recalls, consumer complaints, litigation, blackmail, etc. She has also planned and conducted tens of media trainings and crisis simulations for companies in the consumer, automotive, and healthcare industries.

Ms. Shou has an honored M.B.A. degree from University of Chicago and double bachelor degrees from Shanghai Jiaotong University. As a native of Shanghai, Ms. Shou speaks Chinese, English, and Shanghai dialect.

SHARON LIAO
Senior Vice President & General Manager, Guangzhou

Sharon joined Ruder Finn Shanghai on June, 2002 and currently leads Ruder Finn’s Guangzhou operation which is one of the largest international firms in South China.

Sharon’s profound knowledge of and experience in devising micro media strategies have helped countless clients navigate real and potential crisis scenarios that can emerge in a highly competitive marketplace. She hasbeen instrumentally managed a portfolio of blue chip accounts of Ruder Finn China including Hennessy (Prestige and X.O. brands), Michelin, International Copper Association, Glenfiddich Single Malt Whisky and Canadian Tourism Commission, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) among others. Communications for these clients, covering a wide spectrum of Public Relations services, conducted at both the local and national levels with media, trade and celebrity involvement have polished her reputation in the industry.

In addition, she’s also an experienced trainer of media handling and crisis management by managing over 20 training sessions for CEOs and senior management teams of multinational corporations. Her recent clients include Amoy Ajinomoto and Merrill Lynch’s Arm of Investment Banking who invited her to be the trainer and consultant to train the executives or its clients to get momentum to deal with media or present before investors.

Prior joining Ruder Finn, Sharon spent two years with Edelman PR and drove several key accounts in South China, such as Ericsson, UPS, P&G Rejoice, Wrigley Chewing Gum Company mainly in corporate communications fields.

Before that, Sharon worked in the Humanities Division of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology as a Teaching Assistant while she completed her Master of Philosophy degree in Cultural Studies. She’s one of the three under-graduates in Guangdong Province selected to be granted studentships in Hong Kong by the State Ministry of Education & HKSAR. Sharon got her Bachelor’s degree from Zhongshan University in Chinese Language and Literature and minored in Economics with First Honoured. Before that, Sharon was a freelance journalist with the Economic Desk in Yang Cheng Evening News and New Express, where she developed her comprehensive media relations and editorial skills.

MAI TRAN
EVP, Health & Wellness

Mai is the lead of the Ruder Finn Health & Wellness Practice in Asia and is based in China. She spent the previous five years managing Ruder Finn  Paris. Mai is a pharmacist and has more than two decades of experience in communications.

Mai’s specialty is international public relations, with a focus on therapeutic areas including oncology, virology, obesity, endocrinology and cardiovascular.

She began her career as a journalist at one of the most influential French medical daily newspapers. She later joined a cosmetic company, RoC, as European communications manager.

From 1995 to 2000, Mai worked as expatriate in Beijing and Shanghai as Managing Director of the Chinese branch of PR international, where she grew the agency from the ground up, building a staff of consultants and negotiating a joint venture with the Ministry of Health of China.

Mai joined Ruder Finn in 2001 and currently acted as a lead country communicator on behalf of Novartis Oncology’s Glivec and Femara. In the cardiovascular arena, Mai has worked with Sanofi-Aventis and Plavix on the Institute of Atherothrombosis. In addition, she worked on the launch of Novartis hypertension treatment Rasilez. She has also supported communications for a variety of medical devices on behalf of Roche diagnostics and the BMS/AZ franchise. Mai has also worked with ESC on the launch of the European Health Charter.

PAUL Yang
General Manager, Ruder Finn Beijing

Paul has honed his PR and communications skills in Ruder Finn Beijing for close to a decade. His experience covers a wide range of industries including aviation & logistics, automotive, energy, finance, healthcare, travel and tourism, technology and the public sector

From 2008 to 2011, Paul headed Ruder Finn Beijing's Corporate Practice and substantially grew the client portfolio by adding several fast-growing Chinese brands such as Citic Bank and the Founder Group. During that period, he established a consistent track record of delivering beyond client expectations and has developed a wide range of corporate communications expertise, helping clients build and manage their reputation in China's complex business and media environment.

In 2007, in recognition of his talent and growth potential, Paul was chosen by Ruder Finn Asia to participate in the Staff Development Exchange Program in Singapore where he gained first-hand knowledge and experience in managing regional accounts and global media relations.  To help build his managerial skills and develop his understanding of the unique Ruder Finn culture, Paul also spent some time in the New York office in 2010, working on global clients while still guiding his China team.

With his strong understanding of the China market, Paul frequently provides consultancy services and presents China's media landscape to senior executives from both China and abroad. Paul has also been consulted by clients on issues & crisis, developed crisis manuals and response systems for joint ventures, provided crisis management training and conducted crisis drills for more than 200 frontline managers as well as assisting in mergers and acquisition (M&A) communications.

GAO MING
Vice President & General Manager, Ruder Finn Shanghai

Gao Ming has over ten years experience in Communications in China, ranging from Corporate and Marketing Communications to Event Management, from Crisis and Issue Management to Media and Crisis Training, as well as Interactive Marketing and ePR.

Gao Ming provides strategic consultation and manages communications programs for a wide variety of sectors such as premium consumer, manufacturing, finance, healthcare, travel and tourism, and government. His main clients include Bayer, Bang & Olufsen, Calyon, Credit Agricole, Carrier, Canali, Cartier, Citi, DBS, Harley-Davidson, Emirates Airline, Hermes, Montblanc, Warner Bros, Moet Hennessy Diageo, Singapore EDB, SG Private Banking and Wyeth.

With a strong background in technology and his expertise in Interactive Marketing and ePR, Gao Ming provides clients with online communication strategies and programs to reach their target audience. He is Internet savvy and had started blogging in 2004.

As an experienced crisis and issue management specialist, Gao Ming has successfully managed numerous crisis and issue communications projects, ranging from downsizing to market pull-out, product recall to scandal containment, and trademark dispute to litigation support.

Gao Ming first joined Ruder Finn Shanghai in 2005 as Senior Consultant to lead the Premium Consumer team and then as Account Director to head the Corporate Team. In March 2008, he was promoted to General Manager of Ruder Finn Shanghai.

Prior to Ruder Finn, Gao Ming founded and managed West Village Agency, a boutique Public Relations firm based in Shanghai. His major clients included Tissot, Nike, Vichy, Maybelline and Kerastase.

Before moving into Public Relations, Gao Ming was involved in the media industry covering print media, television and the Internet.

Gao Ming graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree.

POH LENG YU
Vice President & General Manager, Ruder Finn Singapore

Poh Leng joined Ruder Finn in September 2010. She has more than 20 years of Public Relations experience, of which the last 7 years were spent in two global PR firms in Singapore - Citigate Dewe Rogerson i.MAGE and Hill & Knowlton.

Previously the Executive Director of the Corporate team in Citigate, she was responsible for client servicing and business development.

Poh Leng has a proven track record of working with clients in various sectors such as leisure, consumer, healthcare and technology. Her key areas of work included strategic PR counsel, crisis communication, media relations, as well as corporate positioning. She has a depth of experience in working with clients to develop and implement successful integrated campaigns.

Client work excellence was recognised when her clients - McDonald's, Wildlife Reserves Singapore and Night Safari - clinched PR awards given by the Institute of Public Relations Singapore in 2006 and in 2010. In 2008, her team won the Honourable Mention for Crisis/Issues Management Campaign of the Year for Wildlife Reserves Singapore at the Asia Pacific PR Awards 2008.

Besides Wildlife Reserves Singapore and McDonald's, some of her past clients were JTC Corporation, Lien Foundation, Tsao Foundation, Covance and LG Mobile. Poh Leng also has a depth of experience in working with clients in the financial services sector (private equity, asset management, insurance, launch of financial products, online trading and M&A work). Her key clients included: 3i, Henderson Global Investors, Prudential Assurance, Macquarie Securities, State Street and CMC Markets.

Poh Leng began her PR career with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore followed by Coopers & Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers) and the Singapore Institute of Architects.

Poh Leng holds a BA in Geography and History from the National University of Singapore. She is fluent in English, and is conversant in Mandarin and several Chinese dialects.

Radha Roy
Country Head, Ruder Finn India

Radha Roy has over sixteen years of experience in public relations, communication and advocacy.  She has worked across sectors like FMCG, IT, lifestyle, hospitality, insurance, pharma, manufacturing, and child rights.  Radha has the rare distinction of having worked on a national policy which influenced making education a fundamental right in India. Her expertise includes strategic counsel, promotional campaigns, corporate social responsibility programs, media and presentation skills training, crisis and issues management and marketing and business planning for clients in the corporate and not-for-profit sector. She has counselled and represented leading corporations like PepsiCo, Max Newyork Life, Danone, Dr Reddy's, Thomson, Timken and ITC in Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. She has also worked for many years on campaigns for child rights.

Radha is a former Partner of Genesis Burston Marsteller, She started her career in public relations in Kolkata and has worked in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. A graduate from Kolkata University, Radha majored in English literature. She speaks English, Hindi, Bengali and German.