Board of Directors
Mr. Dipesh Sutariya, Chairperson
Dipesh Sutariya is the Co-Founder and CEO of EnAble India, a non profit organization that works for the economic independence and dignity of persons with disability across India, since 1999. With a mix of corporate and development experience of over 26 years, he brings a professional balance to the disability sector. He is also the President and founding member of the Disability NGOs Alliance and a mentor at IIM Bangalore, NSRCEL Social. He served as the Vice Chairperson from 2019 to 2022 and is now the Chairperson of the Workability Asia chapter. A person invested in “being the change you want to see in the world”, Dipesh is a philanthropist who has been contributing resources in terms of time, money and expertise for the last two decades.
Mr. Oscar Sherlo Reyes, Vice Chairperson
Oscar Sherlo Reyes is a Diversity & Inclusion Architect. He has mentored dozens of corporations in designing safe, positive, and nurturing work environments regardless of workforce differences. Prior to joining De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (Benilde SDEAS), Sherlo was a development worker raising resources and conducting capability building sessions on resource mobilization and NGO management in the ASEAN region. Currently, he sits as the Vice Chair of Workability Asia and as Director of the Center for Partnership and Development of Benilde SDEAS.
Mr. Abdus Sattar Dulal , Board Member
Abdus Sattar Dulal has 38 years of experience in the disability sector safeguarding rights of persons with disabilities and has provided leadership on national and international levels. Dulal’s leadership has influenced the adoption of several international declarations/statements. He has been awarded several titles including ‘Disability Rights Champion’ by the UNESCAP in 2012. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Bangladesh Protibandhi Kallyan Somity (BPKS) and a member of the Board Director of Workability Asia. Aside from being the Chairperson of BPKS Consumer Ltd, he is also an advisor to several organizations including ACTability e.V in Europe.
Ms. Florence Chan, Board Member
Florence began her entrepreneurial journey in 2009. She took over the bakery training bay of the rehabilitation complex under Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and turned it into a bakery social enterprise achieving both business and social missions. She founded iBakery, a bakery and catering business employing people with disabilities, in 2010. Having further revamped the food production social enterprise of Tung Wah Group in 2019, she is currently looking after two major businesses, iBakery and CookEasy, which consist of a total of 11 outlets and a team of 150 employees with different abilities. Apart from creating employment for people with disabilities, Florence also built a strong network of corporate partnership and volunteers supporting the development of social enterprise, and took part in community education by promoting social enterprise and social inclusion to local and overseas visitors. Florence was awarded “Women of Power 2022” by the Prestige Hong Kong.
Mr. Siu Yu Hong Hetzer, Board Member
Siu Yu Hong, Hetzer is currently the Chief Executive Officer & National Director of Special Olympics, Macau. He was certified with the Special Olympics International Coach License in 1999. He has also collaborated with organizations that work with students with intellectual disabilities and special education since 2003. Siu has served the social welfare in Macau for more than 30 years. His commitment has made Special Olympics, Macau a large-scale sports organization. He works towards building resources to coach and support more persons with intellectual disabilities in sports training and other types of programs. He believes that through sports, people with intellectual disabilities are seen for their abilities and not just their disabilities.
Dr. Huang Ping-Der, Board Member
Dr. Ping-Der Huang is the Board Director of Eden Social Welfare Foundation, Taiwan. An academic at heart, he has been serving as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Business Administration at College of Commerce, National Chengchi University, NCCU since 2021 and is also a Director at NPO-EMBA Platform Project, National Chengchi University Development Foundation since 2007. A Senior Consultant of Social Enterprise Revolving Trust (SERT), Dr. Huang focuses on organizational and societal learning in a wide range of settings, inclusive of human resource management, corporate social responsibility, social enterprise advocacy and innovation.
Mr. Hiroshi Ayuha, Board Member
Hiroshi Ayuha is an advisor to SELP (Japan Social Employment Council) and the representative of Workability Japan which has 4 member organizations (SELP, KYOSAREN, NPO Japan SELP Center, ZENCOLO) At the earlier stage, Mr. Seikaku Suzuki and Mr. Katsunori Fujii represented Japan in Workability Asia and made networking among Asian countries stronger. Ayuha now serves as a member of the Workability Asia board and has two key focus areas: work together to unite Asia without leaving behind the underdeveloped areas and place importance on workplaces for persons with disabilities. Ayuha believes that we must support those who have the desire to work, no matter how severe their disability.
Advisors
Dr. Suporntum Mongkolsawadi
Dr Suporntum Mongkolsawadi, a recipient of the Paul Harris Award from Rotary International, has devoted more than 35 years to the field of working for equality and uplifting the quality of life for persons with disabilities. A General Secretary of Redemptorist Foundation for People with Disabilities, Dr Mongkolsawadi is recognized not only for his outstanding advocacy roles and his position in Thai society but also for his working experience as the advisor/committee member on various boards like the Advisory Board on Disabilities to His Excellency the Prime Minister of Thailand, National Board on Disabilities, Sub-committee on Employment Promotion of Social Development & Human Security Ministry. Dr Mongkolsawadi served on the board of directors of Workability Asia since 2013 and presided as the Chairperson from 2019 – 2022. He is now an Advisor to the Board. He has represented the Asia region on the Board of Workability International since 2019.
Ms. Deborah Wan
Ms. Deborah Wan was elected as Vice Chairperson of Workability Asia from 2009 to 2019 and has been serving as Advisor to Workability Asia since 2019. She represented the Hong Kong Joint Council for People with Disabilities in her capacity as the official representative from 2009 to 2022. She also chaired the Workability Asia and Workability International Conference in June 2017. Her innovation & initiatives in social enterprises for the employment of persons with disabilities in Hong Kong won many awards including Outstanding Women Entrepreneurs Award in 2008. She has been the Chief Executive Officer of New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association from 1981 to 2009. After her retirement she devoted her volunteer work in mental health and work & employment, she has held the position of President of World Federation for Mental Health 2011-2013 and now is the Past President.
Mr. Hiroshi Ueno
Hiroshi Ueno pioneered awareness workshops for persons with disabilities from 1989 in Tokyo, Japan to expand work and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. He served as the Secretary General of Workability Asia from 2009 to 2017 enlarging member organizations in the region of Asia and promoting several projects in strengthen the network. He also served as a volunteer for various government programs to conduct leadership training courses inviting around 10 people with different types of disabilities every year from developing countries.
Mr. Katsunori Fujii
Katsunori Fujii is the Executive Director of KYOSAREN, Japan Association of Community Workshops for People with Disabilities. He started his career in the disability field as a teacher at a special school for children with physical disabilities run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Starting his career as a special educator, he went on to participate in the establishment of sheltered workshops for people with severe disabilities and psychiatric disabilities. He also built a network of sheltered workshops in 1977, which later became KYOSAREN, and today there are around 2,000 member organizations nationwide. He was appointed as the Chairperson of the Executive Board of the Japan Disability Forum which was established in 2004 as a network of major disability organizations of Japan. JDF is working as a counterpart of the Government in the promotion of the rights of people with disabilities, and in creating disability related policies. He was honoured as one of ten Asia-Pacific Champions of Disability Rights for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons 2013-2022 by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Secretariat Team
Ms. Nayantara Janardhan, Secretary General
A hotel management graduate, Nayantara has straddled the business and social entrepreneurship sectors through her professional life. She brings over 20 years of experience including 10+ years in the social sector. Nayantara is Chief of Staff at EnAble India, a pioneering organization in the disability sector. She is also the Secretary General of Workability Asia. She headed EnAble India Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (EIS) – the enterprise arm of EnAble India till 2022 and has worked with organizations like Start Up! and Sakha Consulting Wings Private Ltd that gave her critical insights into the developing livelihoods with dignity for the various sections of our communities.
Ms. Fuki Satoh, Member of Secretariat
Fuki Sato is a member of the Secretariat team at Workability Asia and is also the appointed secretary of KYOSAREN. She has vast experience of working as a staff member at a residential facility for persons with intellectual disability. She has also worked extensively with persons with intellectual and physical disabilities.