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AMCHAM Myanmar is hosting a special panel discussion on the upcoming elections in Myanmar with distinguished speakers Mary Callahan (Director, Ava Advisory Group; Associate Professor, University of Washington), James Meisenheimer (Country Manager, Tractus Asia), Cheery Zahau (Country Program Director, Project 2049 Institute), and Adam Castillo (Steering Committee Member for the Overseas Security Advisory Committee, OSAC). This session will be moderated by the AMCHAM Vice President Jonathan Perry, and a live Q&A will follow at the end.Date and Time: Jul 31, 9:30 am to 10:30 amVenue: Zoom Webinar. A webinar link will be sent to you one day before the event.Cost: Free for AMCHAM Members. This event is open to members only.Booking deadline: Jul 30, 4 pm
About the speakers
Mary CallahanProf. Mary P. Callahan, director of Ava Advisory Group, is also associate professor in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. A specialist on the Myanmar military, governance and political developments in Myanmar, she has advised international organizations and companies on overall political risk scenarios, public procurement and financial management, security sector reform, and the ongoing effects of decades of civil warfare. To promote responsible digital citizenry in the context of rapid uptake of mobile technology, Dr Callahan also founded a program on mobile digital literacy in Myanmar, delivered throughout the country via more than 90 community libraries. Callahan is the author of the award-winning Making Enemies: War and State Building in Burma (2003) and Political Authority in Burma’s Ethnic Minority States: Devolution, Occupation and Coexistence (2007) and numerous articles and policy papers on the unfolding changes in Myanmar.James MeisenheimerJames Meisenheimer is the Country Manager for Tractus Asia a position held since 2017 where he has advised investment decisions for clients representing companies in the construction, pharmaceutical, agriculture and F&B sectors by providing these clients with detailed market research, site location strategies, and regulatory analysis. Prior to joining Tractus Asia, James worked with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems in the run-up to the 2015 elections and 2017 by-elections.Cheery ZahauCheery Zahau is a human activist, feminist and researcher from Chin State, Burma. She formed Women’s League of Chinland”. She is a major author for “Unsafe State” report with the first-hand research on sexual violence against Chin women committed by the government military troops. She co-authored major reports to UN UPR, CRC and CEDAW committees. She is the author of several qualitative research reports on Women’s Access to Justice in Plural Legal System, LGBT rights and the Rule of Law, Youth Movement, Women, Security and Peace, Sexual violence and minor rape and the service provisions. She is also treasurer team for Chin National League for Democracy (CNLD). She holds a graduate degree on International Business with Law from University of Salford, UK. She is currently studying LLM International Commercial Law. She is 2018 Schuman Human Rights Awardee by European Union, N-Peace Awardee in 2017 by UNDP. She is named as “Chin Person of the Year 2011” by the Chin people.Adam CastilloAdam Castillo is the Managing Director and Partner of Atalian Global Services Myanmar, a Yangon based Facility Management service provider. In 2010, Adam joined the United States Marine Corps (USMC) as a commissioned officer. After completing his active duty requirement which included a combat deployment to Afghanistan in 2012, Adam began visiting Myanmar at the end of 2013. He then founded a security company with two other American entrepreneurs under the name of Scipio Services -MAC Security, which became a founding member of AMCHAM. In 2016, Adam successfully negotiated a partnership with a global facility management company, Atalian Global Services. He then rebranded his company Atalian Global Services Myanmar and began offering other service lines outside of security. Since then, Atalian now has over 800 employees country-wide in Myanmar with service manpower in security, cleaning, technical maintenance, landscaping, and pest control. Atalian services a broad range of industries and businesses to include Oil & Gas, Telecommunications, Embassies, Banking, Microfinance, Hospitals, and Commercial Real Estate. Adam Castillo was born in California, USA and still serves as a reserve officer in the US Marine Corps. He attended the University of California Riverside and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Film in 2009; later received graduate degrees from Norwich University with a Master of Arts in International Terrorism and a Master of Business Administration in 2016. He has 5 cats in his lovely house in Yangon: Revin, Tiberius, Simba, Boots, and Bastilla.Jonathan Perry (moderator)Jonathan Perry, Myanmar Country Manager for Chevron from 1 January 2019. Jonathan joined Chevron as a Drill Site Manager in 2007 after receiving a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Louisiana State University. He has since held numerous technical and operational positions of increasing responsibility across drilling and completions, exploration, base business, and planning in Midland, Houston, Aberdeen, San Ramon, and Angola. Most recently, Jonathan led the transition of the Mafumeira Sul major capital project into base operations. He is accompanied by his wife Laine, son Forest and daughter Juliet.
