THE FULL TEAM
Philo Alto (李家仁)
Founder & CEO
Philo Alto (李 家 仁) is the founder and CEO of Asia Value Advisors (AVA), a purpose-driven philanthropic capital advisory firm based in Hong Kong. Through bespoke advisory services, convening, and research, AVA seeks to inform and inspire individuals and organizations to create sustainable impacts.
His work included advising the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust on program curation for its inaugural Philanthropy for Better Cities forum in September 2016 with 60 globally-renowned speakers and attracting over 1,300 delegates. Previously, he co-organized an impact investing forum in Hong Kong for East and South East Asia with the Rockefeller Foundation which adopted an ecosystem approach in developing the impact investing market.
Alto has also co-authored two publications: “Mind the Gap: Lessons and Findings from EngageHK” and “Adopting the London Principles: Policy Considerations to Grow Impact Investing in Hong Kong”. His work has been referenced in the media such as Stanford Social Innovation Review, Alliance magazine, and the book, “The Power of Impact Investing”. Philo was recently appointed as a member of the global editorial advisory board for Alliance magazine.
Alto received his MBA and MPA from Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School. He is an investment banker by training (Goldman Sachs and Citibank alumnus) prior to founding AVA. His voluntary engagements include serving as a director and community engagement lead of the Harvard Club of HK, global advisor of Social Ventures HK, and an officer of the HBS Association of HK.
Angie Tang (鄧安琪)
Senior Advisor
As AVA Senior Advisor, Angie provides strategic advice on business development in philanthropic consulting and tactical direction on marketing and communicating the firm's key value propositions.
She is a columnist on U.S. politics and policy toward Asia in The Diplomat, the premier current affairs magazine in the Asia Pacific region. From 2009 to 2014, Angie served as Executive Director of the Committee of 100, a Chinese American leadership organization dedicated to advancing U.S. - China relations. Prior to her executive leadership position in the non-profit sector, Angie was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a regional executive of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Before joining the federal government, Angie was a cabinet official in the administration of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. She started her career in public affairs as a policy coordinator to New York City Council President Andrew Stein.
She was elected Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and served on the Board of Directors of several non-profit organizations. Currently a Trustee of Berkeley College, she is a recipient of several leadership awards including the 2013 Above & Beyond Chairperson Award from New York's City & State magazine and luxury watchmaker Breguet’s recognition for Philanthropy Advancement in 2015. Angie is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, Princeton University, and Columbia Business School.
Stephanie Choi
Volunteer Consultant
Stephanie has spent the past decade working as Institutional Equities Sales at Citigroup, where she advised institutional investors ranging from global pension funds to multi-asset hedge funds. In this capacity, she has built a foundation of market knowledge, investment principles and an investor network in Europe as well as Asia.
With this experience, she has developed passion and belief in expanding the scope of traditional investments, and the importance of finding synergies between financial, strategic and social investment objectives.
Stephanie holds a BA (Hons) in Economics from the University of Cambridge, where she was also awarded a Prince Philip Scholarship.
Eugenia Lo
Volunteer Consultant
After a well-established professional career in financial and investigative due diligence and financial advisory, Eugenia re-focused efforts on strategic and venture philanthropy, social innovation and social entrepreneurship in 2016.
As the former CEO of a Hong Kong NGO focused on venture philanthropy and impact investment, Eugenia advised social enterprise start-ups, addressing environmental, social inclusion and active ageing challenges in Hong Kong. Eugenia remains closely involved in the local social sector through her work with a number of government-funded incubators, HK Social Enterprise Challenge, B-Corp Consulting Group members and private foundations in the active ageing space. She has a keen interest in impact projects involving business strategy and sustainability, programme design and fundraising.
Zara Chan
Volunteer Consultant
Currently majoring in Global Business Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Zara is a passionate student who views businesses as something more than just profit-making.
Zara previously served as an associate at Enactus, a student-led organization committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives. She had ample opportunities to explore more about the social and environmental challenges in Hong Kong through working closely with various social enterprises. Realizing the power of business and investment to create social changes, Zara hopes to devote herself to make money more impactful, responsible and transformative.
Florence Cheng
Volunteer Consultant
Florence was a former management consultant at Deloitte where she had five years’ experience defining and delivering business strategy and operational change initiatives in the UK and HK. Outside of work, she maintains a keen interest in development and has actively volunteered in education and social inclusion causes since her childhood years.
Having started her career in the private sector, Florence aspires to combine her business acumen, skills honed in consulting, and interests in development into a new chapter dedicated to driving impact.
Florence holds a BSc in Government and Economics from the London School of Economics, and is qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant.
Heejin Choi
Volunteer Consultant
Heejin Choi was a former investment banker at Goldman Sachs in Korea and New York where she advised companies across numerous industries on mergers & acquisitions, equity and debt offerings, and other strategic alternatives.
As she further advances her career, she wishes to pursue investments that encourage sustainable growth, and direct capital to companies or organizations that generate positive social impact.
Heejin holds a BA in Business Administration from Seoul National University and has completed her first year of MBA at Harvard Business School.
AVA Advisory Board
Jonathan Chang
Advisory Board
Jonathan is a social entrepreneur and motivational speaker, having founded and co-founded four startups across multiple industries in Silicon Valley and Manhattan. He is the Executive Director of Lien Centre for Social Innovation and an Adjunct Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at Singapore Management University. Jonathan has played a key role in securing Ashoka Changemaker Campus accreditation for SMU, the first campus in Asia to receive this honor.
Jonathan co-founded a social enterprise, working with organic and non-GMO farmers and food manufacturers in California and helping them achieve supply chain sustainability and market growth. Through a fellowship from Columbia's Earth Institute, Jonathan traveled to Rwanda to teach social entrepreneurship and conduct research on how to use entrepreneurship as a tool for social change. His other research includes a case study on entrepreneurship in rural India for Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a book about government and innovation with Esko Aho, former Prime Minister of Finland. Jonathan has also given a TEDx talk at Harvard.
Jonathan earned his degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Jonathan was a recipient of Stanford GSB's Miller Social Change Leadership Award and and Harvard Law School’s Digital Problem Solving Initiative Fellow.
Scott Lawson
Advisory Board
Scott has recently relocated back to the US but continues to be actively involved in the local space space. Prior to his return to the US, Scott was CEO of SOW Asia and in that capacity, he has engaged with Hong Kong’s diverse stakeholders, establishing critical connections from the public, private, academia and non-profit sectors to channel valuable financial and non-financial resources towards the impact investing space. He began his career at the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO and has since developed a strong network from over 30 years of experience with cultural, education and religious non-profit organizations in Hong Kong and China. Scott earned his MA in International Affairs/Economics from George Washington University and an MDiv from Columbia Theological Seminary.
Mikko Perez
Advisory Board
Mikko Perez has a successful track record investing in and operating innovative technology, new media and telecom-related ventures. Prior to leading Ayannah, he was Director of Finance & Business Development at mobile messaging start up, Chikka and helped steer Chikka to profitability. He also spearheaded the company's international expansion prior to its acquisition by PLDT (NYSE: PHI).
Prior to this, he was an investment manager at Next Century Partners where he managed private equity on behalf of Soros Fund Management, LLC and several institutional investors. He was also an investment banker at JP Morgan Chase (Hambrecht & Quist) in San Francisco where he advised technology ventures.
Mikko is proud of his humble beginnings. Growing up, his father was an entrepreneur struggling to build a small business and they didn't have a lot of money. But, Mikko was granted a merit scholarship to study at Xavier School, the elite school for the sons of wealthy Filipino-Chinese families in the Philippines. Mikko went on to graduate with a BSc in Management (with Honors) and a BA in Development Studies (with Honors & Award for Excellence) from the Ateneo de Manila University.
Upon graduation, Mikko turned down several lucrative job offers to work in multinational corporations and spent the first years of his professional career organizing farmers’ and fisherfolk organizations in rural Philippines. He then started an aquaculture and seafood processing venture that eventually employed several hundred people from rural communities. Then, to fulfill his father’s birthday wish, Mikko went to get his MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Mikko now serves on the board of corporations and foundations but he remains connected to the barrios by actively supporting social entrepreneurship and sustainable development initiatives in emerging markets.
Angel Young (楊慧旋)
Advisory Board
Angel was most recently a Director at Asia Value Advisors (AVA) before rejoining Nielsen Company as Managing Director for Hong Kong and Macau in 2016. She is now a non-executive Advisory Board member for AVA.
A native of Hong Kong and an accomplished business leader with a Nielsen career spanning almost 20 years, Ms. Young possessed all-rounded expertise in understanding consumer behaviour across what they watch and buy. With a breadth of industry experiences across Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, she was instrumental to the success of recent major product enhancements and capability building efforts. Ms. Young was the Business Process Improvement (BPI) leader of Nielsen Greater China.
On a personal front, Angel is involved in various community engagements such as the Mentoring Program at The Women Foundation. She also volunteers with NGOs such as Kids4Kids, Community Business, and the Good Lab.
Angel holds a Bachelor of Arts & Science degree from the University of Toronto.
