Professor Joel Lee Tye Beng - Chairman
Joel Lee is a Professor at the Faculty of Law, the National University of Singapore. Joel co-pioneered the teaching of Negotiation and Mediation in the Singapore Universities and has played a significant role in furthering the development of mediation in Singapore, not just in education but in practice. A graduate of Victoria University of Wellington and Harvard Law Schools, Joel is an associate partner with CMPartners (USA) and a principal mediator with and the Training Director of the Singapore Mediation Centre.
Joel was a member of the International Mediation Institute's Independent Standards Commission and Intercultural Taskforce. He was also a key member of the Ministry of Law's Working Group on International Commercial Mediation. Joel is presently the founding Chair of the Board of the Singapore International Mediation Institute.
Joel is the co-editor and co-author of the book "An Asian Perspective on Mediation", the General Editor for the Asian Journal on Mediation and co-author of the "Singapore Mediation Handbook".
Irena Vanenkova - Director
Irena is a CEDR-Accredited mediator (1998) as well as holder of the MATA advanced mediation certificate. Irena holds the English Tutor Diploma of The Linguistic University in Moscow (1983), a Bachelor of Economics at the Moscow Institute of Business Studies (1997), and a Diploma in Public Relations Management at the Moscow State University (2001).
Irena’s prior career included positions as Commercial Projects Manager – Russia of International Distillers & Vintners Limited (1992-97), Deputy Chief Representative – Russia of CDR International (1997-98), and Public Relations Manager of IKEA Russia (1999-2006). Irena is a Russian citizen.
Josephine Hadikusumo - Director
Josephine Wan-Wen Hadikusumo currently serves as Managing Partner in CJ Liew & Co., a boutique law firm focused on providing solutions in the area of compliance and conciliation, as well as corporate, cross-border and conveyancing transactions (the "Five Cs Practice"). Her last role was as Regional Counsel supporting Asia at Texas Instruments. Since her admission as an Advocate and Solicitor in 2000, she has enjoyed the practice of law in all its diversity, beginning her legal career as a corporate lawyer in private practice in Malaysia, later moving into Singapore-based regional in-house roles supporting various businesses across Asia. Josephine has taught law in different capacities (full time or adjunct faculty) for various tertiary institutions including the Singapore Management University (SMU). As an associate mediator and adjunct faculty for the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC), she frequently trains on the subject of mediation both locally and overseas and is also one of the mediation trainers and examiners for the Part B Examinations (Admission Examinations for Advocates & Solicitors) in Singapore.
Nadja Alexander - Director
Prof. Nadja Alexander is a conflict resolution specialist, mediator, and professor of law based in Hong Kong. Nadja is principal of Conflict Coaching International and holds academic appointments in Hong Kong, Australia and the United States.
Nadja is an experienced conflict resolution professional and trainer with a cross-cultural and international practice. She is listed in the International Who’s Who of Commercial Mediation and practices in the English and German languages.
Nadja is both a multi-award winning writer (2007, 2011 New York) and trainer (1994, 1995, 1996 Queensland and 1997 Australia). She has been named one of Australia’s top five law academics by Business Woman Magazine. She has published more than 100 pieces on conflict resolution and her work has appeared in the English, German, Russian, French and Chinese languages. She is editor of the international book series, Global Trends in Dispute Resolution and the Kluwer Mediation Blog. Her major legal work International Comparative Mediation won the New York CPR Award for Outstanding ADR Book in 2011.
Nadja is actively engaged in dispute resolution policy development in a range of countries. Current appointments include the Hong Kong Mediation Steering Committee, the Standards Commission of the International Mediation Institute, Advisory Board member of the Indian International ADR Association (IIAA) and the Financial Disputes Resolution Centre of Hong Kong. She is a former member of the Australian National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Council (NADRAC) and the German National Council to advise on a Mediation Law.
Calvin Phua - Director
Mr Calvin Phua is Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Law.
Prior to this, Calvin was Deputy Secretary (Hub Strategy) at the Ministry of Transport, where he drove efforts to strengthen the competitiveness of Singapore's aviation and maritime hubs.
Calvin previously served in various positions in the Public Service. He championed Singapore sport at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and Sport Singapore. He also served at the Ministry of Education, and was an educator at two secondary schools. Outside the Public Service, he worked in financial services consulting in New York, USA.
Calvin sits on the board of Singapore Pools, Singapore Land Authority, Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and several arbitration and mediation organisations.