Authors

Alison Soe is a Research Scholar with APF Canada's International Trade & Investment team. She recently completed her master's degree in Economics at the University of B.C., where she focused on international development economics, finance, and agribusiness. Alison's research interests include economic institutions, financial economics, and the impact of international trade sanctions on economic growth. 

Dr. Deborah Elms is Head of Trade Policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore. Prior to joining the Foundation, she was the Executive Director and Founder of the Asian Trade Centre (ATC). She was also President of the Asia Business Trade Association (ABTA) and the Board Director of the Asian Trade Centre Foundation (ATCF).

Dr. Elms serves on the board of the Trade and Investment Negotiation Adviser (TINA) at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (UNESCAP). She was on the International Advisory Council for APCO (2021-2023) and was a member of the International Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Trade Professionals Alliance and Chair of the Working Group on Trade Policy and Law. She was also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Trade and Investment Council for 2018-2020.

Pia Silvia Rozario est spécialiste de projet, Stratégie pour les femmes en entrepreneuriat, Bureau central au Canada, à la FAP Canada. Elle est récemment diplômée d'une maîtrise en politiques publiques de l'University of Calgary.

Chung-min Tsai is a professor of political science at the National Chengchi University and at the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science (National Tsinghua University).

Dr. Jeff Kucharski is an Adjunct Professor at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia, and teaches courses in the School of Business. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI).

Jamie Cin Yee Leung is a Post-Graduate Research Scholar at APF Canada. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, she conducted her master’s degree research on Chinese cyberliterature at the University of B.C. Her research interests include East Asian popular culture, youth movements, and online fandoms of women’s subcultures.

Saima Islam is a Junior Research Scholar with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from Monash University where she double-majored in International Relations and Communications with a minor in Gender Studies. Her research interests include environmental governance, international organizations, and labour issues. Outside of research, she enjoys painting, literature, gardening, and exploring different cuisines.

Limuy Asien is an Atayal Indigenous filmmaker currently pursuing an MFA degree in film/video at the California Institute of the Arts. Prior to this, she completed a master’s thesis on the films of Laha Mebow, the first Indigenous female director in Taiwan. Limuy’s short film, Not Your Tropical Girl, was selected by the U.K.’s Emerging Filmmakers Night Film Festival and won the Best Actress Award at France’s 16th Mobile Film Festival in 2020. Her short film Q&A was screened at Italy’s 2022 La Guarimba International Film Festival – Taiwan Focus. Her latest film is Amerika.

Dr. Kanako Uzawa is an Ainu scholar, artist, and rights advocate in Japan. She is the founder of AinuToday, a global online platform that delivers living Ainu culture and people. She is an Assistant Professor for the Global Station for Indigenous Studies and Cultural Diversity at Hokkaido University. Her most recent work engages with Ainu art exhibitions, as a guest curator in collaboration with the University of Michigan Museum of Art in the United States, as an associated researcher at the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo in Norway, and as an editorial board member of AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples. 

Trau Pakaruku Sawma is a Pinuyumayan cultural and political leader. He was a signatory to the 1999 'A New Partnership Between the Indigenous Peoples and the Government of Taiwan,' signed between representatives of Indigenous leaders and then-presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian, who became president the following year.

In 2012, Trau helped found the Taiwan First Nations Party dedicated to promoting the rights of all Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan.