Magazine May/Jun 2019

with her husband, helping raise two beautiful girls, being the school bake sale mom, class mom, keeping our house in operation, attending multiple bible studies throughout the week, chauffeuring to a number of TAC activities and being a daily trainer for our vizsla, Ödi. She's been an amazing companion, and while our time in Singapore is coming to an end, I wouldn't expect anyone but such a Wonder Woman to pack up and continue all she does in Scotland. Submitted by Bruce Witwer I would like to nominate Margo Encarnacion. She is a treasured colleague and friend who first introduced my family to The American Club almost a decade ago. Margo is a mother to 3 boys and beloved wife but she also manages to balance a demanding career as a lawyer at Credit Suisse while giving back to her community as a board member of Gawad Kalinga and UWCSEA. Margo commits her energy to giving back, sustainability and making the world a better place. I think we should celebrate Margo on International Women’s Day for the contributions she has made as a role model for women and society generally. Submitted by Margaret Song-Sil Kim Sonja left war torn Yugoslavia after winning a tennis scholarship to attend University in the U.S. She used to practice over 5 hours per day 7 days a week for many years before being awarded the scholarship. While in University, she played in division one and her team was ranked top 40 nationwide. Upon graduating University with a 4.0 grade point average, she was given the opportunity through another scholarship, to purse her MBA and coach her University's tennis team. She continued doing so until graduation where she also graduated with a perfect grade point average. She was then given a scholarship to pursue her PHD which she did and upon successful completion and graduation with honors yet again, she was hired as a research professor at ESSEC Business School, one of the two top business schools in France. Within the span of several years, she was promoted to the LVMH chaired professor at ESSEC and since that time she has had multiple publications in top tier journals in the field of marketing such as the Journal of Consumer Research, was selected top 40 under 40 professors by poets and quants, and has guided many students to pursue their professional dreams. During this period, she has also begun raising three small children and sits on the board of an ecommerce startup www.stylemyle.com, an online marketplace for contemporary luxury fashion. She currently advises global luxury brands, is a speaker on panels in Singapore and around the world and still manages to play tennis several times a month :) Submitted by Mazen Kurdy

NEWS

I nominate Samantha Van Norman as a TAC Wonder Woman! She is a tireless, dedicated and loving mother of 3. She is never shy from volunteering to help out with the school projects and field trips. She gave birth at home to all three kids including two of them in Singapore! She is truly the engine of this family and her energy and enthusiasm are contagious to all that know her. Her favorite time of the day is snuggle time with her little ones in the morning before heading out to work out or train others to be more fit. We are blessed to have this lady in our lives everyday! Submitted by Brett Van Norman

My nomination goes to Melissa Witwer. We started our local journey over 15 years ago and she probably never thought I'd drag her halfway around the world nearly 13 years later. Her qualifications include having to deal

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