Leading Organizations
Nina is perhaps best known as a leading Filipina banker who has held key positions at Citigroup within Asia-Pacific and ANZ Asia-Pacific, and in New York, and is currently President and CEO of the Philippine Bank of Communications.
Beyond the walls of her CEO suite, however, she is an art lover and painter, a traveler with much wanderlust, and an accomplished home cook.
To her husband Mario, she is a supportive wife and partner, and together they share a rich spiritual life.
To her five children, she is a best friend, healer of broken bones and broken hearts, and disciplinarian—combining tough love with direct conversations.
To her friends she is known for her generosity of spirit and infectious laughter. To her colleagues, she is a partner and mentor, bringing people of different skills and dispositions together and leading them to succeed.
At the end of the day, she is just like any other woman: she loves dressing up and has an incurable weakness for shoes and handbags.
Mayor Ruth Uy Asmundson, Ph.D.
Ambassador, Davis Sister Cities;
Special Assistant to University of California Davis Vice Provost on University Outreach and International Programs;
Former Mayor of Davis
From Barefoot in the Barrio to American Madame Mayor
Ruth was born and raised in Isabela, Philippines. She graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry in 1964 from Adamson University, Manila, and with a Fulbright scholarship, obtained an M.S. in Chemistry in 1968 from Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Chemistry in 1972 from UC Davis, CA.
While in graduate school, she met the then Mayor of Davis, Vigfus Asmundson when she danced Binasuan. He was charmed by her grace and asked her for a date. On their third date, he asked her to marry him. She said “Yes.”
Her Fulbright scholarship required her to go back to Manila where she became a professor and chair of the graduate school in chemistry at Adamson University.
Vigfus visited Ruth in Manila and again asked her to marry him and for the second time Ruth said yes. They have four daughters and raised two nephews.
She was elected and served for 10 years on the Davis Board of Education and two terms as mayor of Davis. She is Ambassador to Davis Sister Cities and Special Assistant to UC Davis Vice Provost for University Outreach and International Programs.
Mary Jane Alvero Al-Mahdi
Chief Executive Officer
Geoscience Testing Laboratory, UAE
CROSSING BORDERS IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
Mary is a Chemical Engineer and CEO of Geoscience Testing Laboratory (GTL). She has spent 22 years of her life living and working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). She heads a multimillion-dollar and a multi-disciplinary company with over 450 employees, 4 branches, and 20 site laboratories. The prestigious Burj Khalifa, Downtown Dubai, and the Dubai Metro are examples of their impressive projects.
Mary is a quintessential woman leader: an achiever, an influencer, a community volunteer, and a mother. As a visionary, she rose from the ranks through sheer hard work and determination steering GTL to greater success.
Combining education and Filipina charm, she serves as a role model for Filipinas and women in UAE and elsewhere.
In 2008, she was the first Filipina to win the prestigious Emirates Business Women’s Award, the first runner-up in the Professional Category, and along with an elite group has been lauded by the UAE government for their professional excellence, exemplary work, and leadership.
She is married to an Emirati national and they have two children. 
Suzie Moya Benitez
Trustee and Executive Director
Bayanihan Folk Arts Foundation
CREATING INITIATIVES FOR CHANGE
Trustee/Executive Director, Bayanihan Folk Arts Foundation and Associate Vice President Campus Life, Philippine Women’s University (PWU), and Trustee, Philippine Women’s College, Davao, Suzie toured the world as a Bayanihan dancer and Karilagan international model.
She studied Foreign Service (Assumption College), Public Administration and Governance & Development Communications (UP), Strategic Business Economics (University of Asia & the Pacific), Development Management (AIM), and Social Development (PWU).
Yet her love for the performing arts led to a career in arts and culture. She brought Filipino music and dance to the grassroots and the global scene through ‘Teaching and Touching Lives.’
Under her deft direction, Bayanihan has taken courageous steps towards innovation and change, becoming an 8th time world dance grand prize winner.
She lectures on professional image and communications for financial institutions, is chair for Asia in the Federation for International Dance Festivals, and serves as international juror in Europe and Asia.
Suzie and her late husband Noel are blessed with 3 children—Marco, Marielle and Marton.
Carmencita M. David-Padilla, M.D.
Professor of Pediatrics
College of Medicine, University of the Philippines (UP) Manila
Guided Path: My Career in Medicine, Research & Public Service
Carmencita is Professor of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines (UP).
She concurrently holds 3 positions: Executive Director of the Philippine Genome Center, UP System; Director, Newborn Screening Reference Center, National Institutes of Health, UP Manila; and Interim Director, Institute of Health Innovation and Translational Medicine of the Philippine California Advanced Research Institutes.
Among her awards are: UPAA Distinguished Award in Health Education (2014), Most Outstanding Pediatrician (2013), Outstanding Science Administrator Award (2012), Outstanding Health Research Award (2010), and Academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology (2008).
She has more than 100 publications. She crafted the Newborn Screening Act of 2004 and now lobbies for passage of the Rare Diseases Act of the Philippines.
Dr. Padilla has an MA in Health Policy Studies from the UP College of Public Health (2005). She completed her pediatric residency at the Philippine General Hospital and a fellowship in Clinical Genetics at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, Sydney, Australia.
Adela Sering-Fojas
with Miguel Fojas
CEO and Co-Founder
SevenSeven Corporate Group
Pakikisama: Building Relationships, Building an Industry
Delle is the CEO and co-founder of Seven Seven Corporate Group, a comprehensive and integrated IT services company, offering services including onsite consulting and placement, software development, business process outsourcing, production and application support, and call center services.
Her passion and the vision of her firm is to showcase the skills and talents of Filipino IT workers while creating thousands of jobs in Manila. She shares this vision with all of her employees.
The company has evolved into an end-to-end, single source global provider of choice for IT-enabled services.
Its success is attributed to collaborative partnerships, proven multinational and multi-industry track record, capacity expansion and value chain integration.
Under Delle’s leadership, Seven Seven has been consistently honored with DiversityBusiness.com’s Top Business Award. Delle was selected for one of the Top 50 Asian-American Business Awards in 2011.
Delle has initiated a scholarship program for the children of her company, and she and her husband donated a computer laboratory to the University of the Philippines.
Soledad holds a Ph.D. in International Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Gerontology/Psychology. She visited several countries to expand her knowledge of multiculturalism and the business practices of corporations across cultures.
She is the President of Xicepta Sciences, Inc., a manufacturer of wellness supplements and the CEO of Biologic Cosmetics, Inc., a manufacturer of molecular cosmetics.
Her business philosophy includes shaping a corporate culture that is sensitive to and supportive of diversity and motivating exemplary performance and productivity through empathy, understanding, and compassion.
She believes that global mobility and e-commerce necessitates a diversified and flexible leadership strategy. She believes that the cycle of poverty can be broken through empowerment so she focused her company’s corporate social responsibility function on education.
Dr. Manaay is the author of two books for young adults. She is married to Dr. John S. Hayden, M.D., Ph.D., who is also her business partner.
She has a daughter from her previous marriage, Solitaire Patriz Manaay Miguel, and a silky terrier pet, Bebe. 
Susie Quesada
President
Filipina Women's Network;
President
Ramar Foods International
MOMMYLA, POPSY AND ME
Susie is the President of Ramar Foods International, the leading manufacturer of Filipino and Asian frozen food in the U. S.
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Susie attended the University of California at Berkeley and graduated with a B.A. in Multicultural Literature and Education. She completed her Multiple Subject Credential at St. Mary’s College and taught middle school in the public school system in California.
She officially joined her family’s business Ramar Foods International in 2005.
With a background in education, her ability to work with many different personality types proved to be a strong asset when applied to the business world.
She has served on the board of the Filipina Women’s Network since 2012 and the Ramar Scholarship Foundation since 2010. She is also a member and VP for Education of the Toastmaster groups the Pittsburg Speakeasy and the RAMARkables.
She currently resides in Walnut Creek, CA with her husband Dr. Christopher Woolf where they enjoy cycling, traveling, and spending time with their two cats and extended family.
Marife Zamora
Senior Vice President and Chairperson
Convergys Philippines
Leading an Industry: My Journey with 55,000 Heroes
Marife is Chairperson of Convergys Philippines Services, a branch of Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), a global leader in customer management. As the first country manager for Convergys she set up its first contact center in 2003. Since then Convergys Philippines has become the country’s largest private employer.
In 2011, she assumed responsibility for Convergys contact centers in the Philippines, India, United Kingdom, and Malaysia.
Prior positions included serving as managing director for Headstrong Incorporated and IBM Philippines.
She has provided leadership for numerous associations in the Philippines including the Philippine Software Association, Contact Center Association. American Chamber of Commerce, and the Integrity Initiative.
Honors include the Asia CEO Awards 2011 Global Filipino Executive of the Year and the ‘Go Negosyo’ Woman STARpreneuer Award in the 2012 at the Women Entrepreneurship Summit.
Marife attended the University of the Philippines and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.