Board of Directors

Ashok is a Principal with Baker McKenzie, an international law firm, and is Head of the International Capital Markets Practice in Asia Pacific and the Global India Practice for the Firm.  

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Ashok and his wife, Garima, have been based in Singapore for almost 20 years. Ashok grew up in East Lansing, Michigan where he attended Michigan State University for his BA and MBA. He briefly worked as a tax consultant with Arthur Andersen and obtained a CPA before joining University of Notre Dame for law school. He has two kids, both of whom attended Singapore American School (one from K-12) and are now working in Chicago. He is active in the community and has served on the Board of the Singapore American School and the General Committee of The American Club. 

A self-diagnosed foodie and home chef, M also enjoys ‘hobby’ winemaking with his friends. M is passionate about sharing his knowledge of entrepreneurship, CPG manufacturing, and sustainability.Soon after moving to Singapore, M joined TurtleTree Labs, Inc. as a Financial Advisor. TurtleTree Labs is a big-vision, food technology venture boldly addressing a multi-billion dollar global dairy market and infant nutrition industry. M also participates in the burgeoning Singapore startup ecosystem with Big Idea Ventures, a hybrid venture fund that invests in alternative protein companies, and Entrepreneurs First, an international incubator that enables the world’s most ambitious people to build the most important companies.

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Prior to Singapore, Mkulima was an executive in the US dairy industry for more than 20 years at Clover Sonoma, Inc. M remains a third generation owner of Clover and during his tenure, led the company in various roles including CFO, and VP of Operations. M is a member of the Singapore Institute of Directors. He is thrilled to become a member of the American Association of Singapore's Executive Committee

Jennifer is an American who has been living in Singapore since 2011.  She is the owner of White Glove Pte. Ltd., an employment agency in Singapore. She formerly served as the Chair for USAGSO Singapore (Girl Scouts) for three years. Jennifer is an attorney and member of the California Bar Association. Prior to becoming an attorney and living overseas, she worked as a course developer and instructor for financial services and software companies in New York City and Silicon Valley. Jennifer is passionate about helping girls and women become strong and independent. Her top priority is raising two independent daughters to follow their dreams and passions.

Ed came to Singapore in 2011 with a sports marketing data firm called Repucom, working with the largest sports teams, leagues, brands and agencies in the United States. Serving as the company's CFO, Ed raised money from a private equity firm and completed acquisitions of other companies in the space, growing the company to 13 offices in Asia. After the company sold in 2016, Ed started his own consultancy working with smaller sports and entertainment businesses in Singapore and Asia. He then started a US sports bar called SOS in the Singapore CBD which has now expanded into Miss Fitz, Roxy and Bayside Drinks & Eats. Ed also opened a business to import wine from Australia and New Zealand called Bevvies, now expanding to French and California wine along with seltzer and wine/party punch bags in 2023. Ed was instrumental in getting AAS' softball team back up and running.

Chris is a Vice President with Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, where he is responsible for international media, subscription and institutional partnerships and a member of the APAC senior leadership team.  He originally began his media career at the Associated Press in New York City.

Originally from Miami, Florida, Chris grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia and is a graduate of the King's Road campus of the Singapore American School.  Chris went on to receive his BA from The Colorado College and his JD from the Fordham University School of Law in New York.

Chris returned to Singapore in 2014, where his twin boys have attended SAS since kindergarten.  He is a longtime member of the US Navy League in Singapore and member of the board of the Society of Publishers in Asia.

Idil is a regional finance leader at Brown-Forman, makers of Jack Daniels. Before B-F, she also worked for General Mills, Unilever and Schering. 

Early in her career, she wanted to become a world citizen and moved from Turkiye to the US in pursuit of her MBA. In the following 25+ years lived across four different US states (MD, MN, NM, IA), Dubai, Amsterdam, and in the last two years in Singapore.

While in the US, Idil served five years in two non-profit boards holding key leadership positions. 

Idil and her husband are proud parents of twin daughters who just finished medical school, and a son who is attending middle school at Singapore American School.

Daniel Moss is columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. Now based in Singapore, Moss returned to Asia in 2019 after almost two decades in London, Washington and New York. Prior to joining the commentary team, he held a number of leadership roles at Bloomberg spanning economics, politics and markets. He ran economics news during the global financial crisis, has testified to Congress and is a contributor to Bloomberg Television. Dan’s first foray into Asia was as bureau chief in Kuala Lumpur from 1996 to 1998, spanning the last year of the boom and the first year of the crisis that followed. He is a graduate of the Australian National University. 

Tianna Nguyen is the founder of Alensia. She has lived in the USA, Dubai, London, and now based in Singapore.  She has worked at global reputable firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Credit Suisse AG Singapore, Invesco, and J.P. Morgan & Co. Her work included PE/ VC, Corporate Finance, M&A, and capital raising advisory; this has also extended to several fundraising negotiations and projects with technology companies involving ESG and impact investments. Tianna benefits from an outstanding network of entrepreneurs in the most exciting economies, helping bridge connections to a complex ecosystem where she is unearthing unique and innovative private investment, or strategic opportunities for investment firms and businesses globally.

She is part of the Milken Young Leaders Circle, a co-founder of Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs Singapore and is active with Harvard Global Women’s Empowerment. She studied at The Ohio State University for her Biology and Finance degrees. Tianna also received her Master’s Degrees from Harvard University and Hult International Business School.

Michelle has extensive experience in non-profit association event planning and administration. She served on the PTA of the Canadian International School from 2013 to 2018, working as part of the executive team in three positions: President, Treasurer and Secretary. In those roles, Michelle collaborated with a team of parents to plan and fundraise for fun school events for families, such as the Halloween Carnival and the International Food Festival. At Girl Scouts Singapore, Michelle volunteered as a Troop Leader and contributed to our association as Overnight Camp Director and as a twice-serving Treasurer and Secretary as well as the Registrar. Michelle is also a long-time member of the American Women’s Association and she now serves as AWA's Secretary.

Priyesh is a respected and trusted Alliances & Partnerships and Customer Success expert achieving exceptional business outcomes by delivering cutting-edge solutions. With a proven track record across the technology sector, Priyesh's career comprises expertise in strategic partnerships and team building, business development, operations, and account management functions, as well as long-term business strategy and digital transformations. Above all, he specializes in cutting-edge customer success, leveraging complex analytics and emerging technology to drive outstanding results for diverse customers, from SMB and cutting-edge start-ups to large enterprise companies. Priyesh is a proven, customer-centric approach to all endeavors. An excellent communicator, he thrives amid opportunities to collaborate with all stakeholders in order to identify avenues of growth and propel innovation.

Blair Hall has been AAS President since April 2020. He has been an AAS member since 2013 and joined its Executive Committee in 2017.

Blair first came to Singapore as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy. In the course of a diplomatic career that spanned nearly four decades, he also served as a US Foreign Service Officer in Tokyo (three times), Okinawa, London, New Delhi, Copenhagen and in Washington, DC on a variety of political, economic and national security assignments. After retiring from public service in 2016, Blair returned to Singapore as a strategic advisor to several private equity funds and investment banks. He currently is an external consultant to Tesla Inc. Blair received MA (International Relations) and JD (Law) degrees from the George Washington University. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar. 

He and his wife, Valerie Brandt, who also is an enthusiastic AAS member, enjoy the rich and diverse experiences offered by life in Singapore and cherish the friendships made here. Blair enjoys tennis, biking, reading and political discourse, and both love adventure travel. 

Blair and Valerie happily reside in Singapore, but call Idaho home. Their two daughters, one a Singapore American School graduate, are now young professionals living in the United States.