Creative Team
GERARD ESCALER Founder & Managing Director Gerard's responsibilities include communicating the company's vision, strategic planning, acquiring new clients, forging strategic alliances, and developing talent. A Chief Marketing Officer with a fourteen-year track record across all areas of marketing, Gerard’s experience includes marketing strategy, growth strategy, competitive strategy, brand strategy, strategic communications, creative direction (advertising / design / copywriting), marketing research, events and sponsorships and corporate social responsibility. He currently leads a team of 10 people in developing projects for clients in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Africa and the United States. He has developed corporate strategy and B2B marketing campaigns for start-up ventures, social enterprises, non-profit organizations and large-cap multinational companies with revenues above US$1 billion. Gerard previously held senior marketing positions at Deloitte and KPMG. He also served as Chairman of the Associate Board for the Friends Building Bridges Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides food, shelter, care and counseling for Philippine street children. Gerard is a member of the Evian Group at IMD, an international coalition of corporate, government and opinion leaders, committed to fostering an open and sustainable global market economy. He is a panelist for Fast Company Connection and Inc Inner Circle. He currently serves as a non-executive Board Director for TrendsFormation Capital, a socially responsible investment management firm. He is fluent in Spanish and German. Gerard is an Executive MBA candidate (expected 2010) from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. 
SHARON REN Director, Corporate Social Responsibility Sharon has significant expertise in deal-making and evaluating businesses in Hong Kong, Korea, Turkey, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, India and the United States. In her previous role as Director of Asia Pacific Mergers & Acquisitions for Citigroup Global Markets, Sharon originated and structured numerous, high-profile transactions across various industries. In the public sector, she is equally committed to enabling underprivileged youth. Sharon has worked with Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, a New York-based non-profit organization which provides minority students with training, mentoring and internships in highly competitive fields. She also served as an International Counselor for Volunteers for Peace, working with primary school students in Russia. ASA TURESSON Creative Director & Design Team Lead Asa is a Creative Director with significant art and design expertise under her belt. She has developed an extensive design portfolio and has a solid working knowledge of most design applications including Adobe Creative Suite. She is adept in manipulating images and typography to obtain the best possible solution. Asa leads the development of many of our current design-related projects. She is an integral part of the Catalyst team and has led the design and development of several of the company's current projects. PAUL CURTIS Senior Consultant, Graphic Design Paul is an Art Director and Senior Designer with expertise in conceptual art direction, advertising, branding and graphic design and communications, including printing and production. His responsibilities include directing artists, photographers, news graphics departments, editors and reports in the design and production of display pages. Paul has managed digital asset management programs for several US media companies. His clients have included The New York Times, Scholastic, St. Martin's Press and McGraw-Hill, as well as a number of non-profit organizations. Paul is fluent in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, InDesign, QuarkXpress and Unisys Hermes. JOSE LUIS DABAO Consultant, Change Management Joel's experience involves guiding large organizations through enterprise-wide change. He project managed the inauguration of the global finance service centre of a leading investment bank, liaising with the offices of the global and regional CFOs. He led a Corporate Social Responsibility project, focusing on the environmental sustainability of beachside communities. He handled the project launch, promotional events and tie-ups, as well as managing communications with relevant stakeholders. Joel served on a number of change team projects, including collaborating with the Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney finance teams of a leading global financial institution to identify opportunities for process improvement of revenue reporting. He also assisted on the process analysis project of the Global Head Office reporting system, tracing movement from first input to final output.
MARCEL ESCALER Consultant, Digital Marketing Marcel is a digital marketing specialist with experience developing both online and offline marketing strategies for leading corporations and non-profit organizations. He has developed online advertising and digital marketing campaigns on Google, MSN and Yahoo. He recently helped a dot-com company and their strategic partners to improve supply chain logistics, as well as managing their online product portfolio and CRM database. Marcel's technical expertise includes strategic communications, concept development, issue analysis, copywriting, photography, digital and graphic design, and non-profit marketing (including developing outreach plans and fundraising). He has dedicated much of his time working with the public sector, including the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, Operation Smile International and the Society for the Promotion of Hospice Care.