Charlene Chang - Chairperson

Ms. Charlene Chang was appointed Deputy Secretary (Development) of the Ministry of Law on 9 October 2023.  She oversees areas including legal industry development, intellectual property, and community legal services. Prior to this, Ms. Chang was the Group Director of the Ageing Planning Office in the Ministry of Health from February 2019 to October 2023, where she oversaw the national ageing agenda spanning a wide range of areas such as eldercare services, senior housing, seniors health & wellness, and ageing research & development.   

Ms. Chang is a career public officer whose previous postings include the Public Service Division, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, the Ministry of National Development, the Ministry of Manpower, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry. She is a qualified lawyer who graduated from the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore with a Second Upper Honours, and also holds a Master in Public Management from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. 

Professor Joel Lee Tye Beng - Director

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 was 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.