Chandran Nair is founder and chief executive of GIFT, the Global Institute For Tomorrow, an organisation focused on the relationship of Asian society and values with those of the rest of the world. He is a writer and leading expert on globalisation and development in Asia.

 

Since 2004 Chandran has led GIFT to becoming a leading provider of experiential learning for the private, public and academic sectors. His role as Chairman of the Asia-Pacific region of Environmental Resource Management (ERM) Consultancy, a position he held for over a decade (until 2004) and his reputation as a provocative speaker, has attracted corporations and governments to seek his advice on a variety of leadership and business challenges in Asia. He has addressed many of these issues at forums around the world, and is a popular panelist on economic policy and sustainability platforms such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, APEC Summit and the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society.

 

He has served as an adjunct professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology where he taught MBA students and continues to provide strategic management advice and coaching to business leaders. In addition, he is co-founder and Chair of Avantage Ventures, a boutique social investment advisory firm based in Hong Kong and author of Consumptionomics: Asia’s role in reshaping capitalism and saving the planet (published in January 2011).

 

A keen sportsman, Chandran managed the Hong Kong hockey team for seven years, taking it to the 2002 Asian Games in South Korea. He plays the saxophone and used to head a band in Africa where he worked as a volunteer for three years building rural water supply and sanitation schemes. He has lived and worked in Asia, Europe and Africa.

• Founder of the Global Institute for Tomorrow

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