Our Honorary Trainers
Ms. Donna Burdge is the CEO of Burgeoning Vines Consulting, bringing decades of professional experience in global human resources to corporations ready to transform. Through her use of predictive analytics, organizations can tap into the unique aspects of each employee to optimize their workforce. As a people consultant, Donna delivers fast end-to-end solutions through leadership coaching, team building, mentoring and organizational strategy.
Donna is a past global director of human resources for Sandvik Mining where she built a culture of engagement, agility and motivation throughout the leadership and workforce in a global setting. Her experience in human resources in both the public and private sectors which includes the University of Florida, Nova Southeastern University, Southern Methodist University and Hyatt Hotels & Resorts Corporation. Her passion for employee development has led to awards such as the Davis Productivity Award, Manager of the Future and was appointed Board Member on the Florida’s Workforce Board.
Donna Burdge holds a BA in Psychology from Florida State University and a Master’s in Human Resources, with honors, from Nova Southeastern University. She lives in Florida with her husband and beloved Labrador. Her son is a rising sophomore at The George Washington University, in Washington D.C.
Her passion is to enrich the lives of individuals, by using a set of practices and philosophies that build better organizations which ultimately creates a more caring, motivated and engaged world.
Dr Sophia Zhao is a Senior Research Faculty at Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). Based in CCL's APAC office in Singapore, Dr Sophia Zhao serves as a researcher, coach, facilitator and trainer. She is a core member of the CCL® Asian Women Initiative and Network (AWIN) team that focuses on empowering women’s and girls’ leadership development. She is passionate to support individuals to find and live with their life purpose.
Sophia has published more than 20 academic journal papers, research reports, white papers and media articles. She is an associate faculty in Singapore University of Social Science, and a guest lecturer at Beijing Normal University.
Sophia is certified in Influence Style IndicatorTM, WorkPlace Big Five ProfileTM, CCL Benchmarks® 360 Assessment Suite and CCL Youth Leadership Toolkit. She is also a certified consultant by Polarity PartnershipsTM and a Co-Active® Coach.
Soundari Mukherjea is the Founding Partner of TSol, a Leadership Consultancy focusing on Business Storytelling, Future Work Skills and Transformation projects. She works with leaders and teams to harness the power of stories in a business context to engage, inspire and influence, thus bringing humanity to the workplace.
With over 20 years in the areas of Finance, Operations, Banking and Entrepreneurship with Unilever, ANZ and now, TSol, Soundari has an insider's view on the challenges that
organisations and teams face and this drives her passion while working on various capability building projects. She is an ExCo member, The Amber Foundation EMPOWER program and a Mentor for Aspire For Her. She has been a Mentor for GWC Gemstone W Circle, Hong Kong Unison and The Zubin Foundation. Soundari has a Bachelor ’ s Degree in Commerce, is a Qualified Cost and Works Accountant and has a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from a Premier Business School in India.
Rim is a French and Tunisian Textile artist based in Shanghai. A graduate from Ecole Duperré in Paris (BA in Fashion Design and BA in Textile Design), London College of Fashion (Diploma in Production Tailoring) and Central Saint Martins College of Art (Post Graduate Certificate in Innovative Pattern Making), Rim worked for several fashion brands in London and Paris, including Alexander McQueen and Richard Nicoll. She created her sustainable fashion accessory brand, Mademoiselle Bagatelles, in 2009. In quest of new adventures, Rim sailed for Shanghai in 2014. Soon she opened her own atelier, Rim Studio, which has now evolved as a lifestyle design studio.
Passionate about textures and colours, Rim bridges the worlds of Fashion and Interiors, by converting handcrafted techniques usually applied to clothing onto artworks. In her textile work, she explores emotions and moments of simple joy inspired by the vibrant eclecticism of Shanghai and her multicultural background. Her work has been published on international publications, such as Design Sponge, Oh Joy and Daily Candy.
Rim teaches her clients how to express themselves creatively and generously through food, style, colours, textures, and the scenography of their daily life. In believing everyone has a special creative gift, Rim is passionate about sharing her experience in the world of design and creativity, and share how we can apply it to everyday life, for more joy and more fun!