1st International Multidisciplinary Research Conference

Mr. James Donovan is the Co-founder and CEO of global business services company, ADEC Innovations, focused on Sustainability, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), Resiliency, Adaptation and Impact. He has more than 25 years of dedicated experience and expertise in global business services, sustainability, impact investment and finance. Under his strategic guidance, ADEC Innovations has grown to encompass 4000 employees across 6 continents. Committed to promoting sustainable development and ensuring meaningful impact on a global scale, he consistently demonstrates the harmonious balance between achieving business success and upholding environmental responsibility in both his professional and personal endeavors.

As a sustainable development advocate, James has founded and is the current Chairman of Global CEO Alliance, an association of private sector leaders committed to promoting sustainability and positive impact. He also currently serves as Executive Director of CIFAL Lebanon, one of the 31 centers of UNITAR CIFAL Global Network, focused on training and capacity building of leaders and communities towards sustainable development. He works closely with different United Nations (UN) agencies, including the United Nations South-South Cooperation and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on various programs, initiatives and publications, focusing on ESG, sustainability and climate change. He was awarded the 2014 United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation Visionary Award and is the Coordinating Lead Author of the Data and Knowledge Chapter of UNEP’s 6th edition of the Global Environment Outlook 6 (GEO-6).

Dr. Fides del Castillo is a Lamin Sanneh Research Grant 2022-2024 Awardee of the OMSC, Princeton Theological Seminary, USA. She was a visiting scholar at Fuller Theological Seminary, USA, and KU Leuven, Belgium. She was a recipient of Templeton Scholarship Program (2021) at the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, Duke University, NC, USA, and Emerging Scholar Award from Common Ground Research Network in Washington, DC.

Dr. del Castillo is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association for Mission Studies, where she serves as the Regional Representative in Asia (2022-2026). She is also the President of the Network of Professional Researchers and Educators, a private organization that conducts training and formation for early career educators and researchers. Moreover, she is a consultant of the CBCP- BEC Commission. These are part of her community service and social engagement endeavors.

Dr. del Castillo developed the Laylayan Theology in 2022. It theologizes a Filipino cultural concept that has been appropriated that privileges and brings to the fore the voices of the people from the margins. She is a journal guest editor of the 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines: Impact on Asia and the World and The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Times of Crisis at Religions Journal (91st Percentile Scopus). Her latest edited books are the Flourishing Faith: 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines and Basic Ecclesial Communities Historical Manuscript. Her research interest is Laylayan Theology, World Christianity, Religion, and Spirituality.

She graduated from Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle University, and Fordham University. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at De La Salle University. She also took courses in Asian Theology, Gender and Biblical Feminism at Roehampton University, and Leadership, Communication and Culture at Warwick University, London. She teaches theology, spirituality, religious education, and research courses. She held various administrative positions, such as department Chair of the Theology and Religious Department, Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. Currently, she is the Associate Dean of the School of Innovation and Sustainability at De La Salle University- Laguna.

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Attorney Lily Macabangun-Milla is appointed as Director IV of the Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines, She is designated as the Direcor-in-Charge of  the Commission’s International Affairs Service (IAS) with concurrent responsibility as Officer-in-Charge of the office of the Deputy Executive Director.

She has almost 30 years in public service and holds the rank of Career Executive Service Officer (CESO) IV.

(CESO) I.
As OIC Deputy Executive of CHED, Attorney Milla supports the key initiatives of the Office of the Executive Director by assisting the implementation of the higher education reform agenda and in overseeing operations of the CHED central and regional offices.

As Director of IAS, she promotes the Philippines’ higher education programs and projects on internalization in the global arena. She advances bilateral and multi-lateral agreements with international HEIs, organizations and entities. She likewise spearheads on behalf of the Commission, international cooperation projects, scholarships and mobility programs, innovation projects, and transnational education cooperation and capability building.

She is the Philippine focal on the UNESCO convention on the recognition of qualifications in the Asia Pacific region, ASEAN integration initiatives in the Philippine higher education, trade in higher education services under free trade agreements (FTAs) among others.

Under her charge, CHED’s International Affairs Office expanded its functions that includes being the National Information Center for the Philippines’ higher education or referred to as the National Center on Academic and Information Mobility. Furthermore, the IAS is responsible for the full implementation of the Transnational Higher Education Law or RA. 11448, mandating the strengthening of internationalization and transnational higher education as key drivers of the national economic and social development.

As IAS Director, Atty. Milla is the Secretary-General of the University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) Philippine National Secretariat and represents the Philippines in the UMAP International Governing Board. She has represented the Philippines as higher education focal and expert ASEAN, UNESCO, APEC, international trade and other international organizations in various global references and fora.

She served in all three branches of government (legislative, judiciary, and executive branches) and had varied experience as legal counsel in the fields of labor, corporate, and real estate. She had served for wide-ranging clients from labor unions, NGOs, and private corporations. In 2001, she embarked on her career in education by first serving as University legal counsel for the University of the Philippines System and subsequentl became the chief of the CHED Legal Service, and the Director of the CHED Office for State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs)’s
Concerns.

Atty. Milla is a product of the UP College and a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Science, major in Economics and Political Science, also at the University of the Philippines. She is globally-trained, completing programs in international trades and services, GATS WTO, intellectual property, internationalization of higher education, and adult education.