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Meet the Regional Committee & Staff
The WAGGGS Asia Pacific Regional Committee is elected by Member Organisation delegates at our Regional Conference. The Conference elects six members to the Regional Committee for a period of three years. Members may be re-elected for an additional period, thus serving a maximum of six years. At least two of the Committee members must be a young woman under 30 years of age at the time of the election.
These are the current committee members and regional staff.
CHEMPAKA EMALIN PAHAMIN
CHAIR
Solicitor and lawyer by profession, Chempaka has worn many hats in Girl Guiding. She has volunteered with Girl Guides Association Malaysia in different capacity and served in the Working Group of the Friends of Asia Pacific WAGGGS, three years as the Chair and three years as the Vice Chair.
Now as a regional committee chair, she wants to support member organisations achieve their vision, mission and goals where girls and young women will have quality girl guiding/girl scouting experience that is relevant, exciting, accessible and learner led, which will contribute towards the growth of Region.
GIMHANI PRARTHANA LIYANAGE
VICE CHAIR
Prarthana Liyanage, is a qualified counsellor and a psychologist. She works for Sensei Lanka, a Management Consultancy company, as a process facilitation executive and facilitator. She was the Treasurer of the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association (SLGGA) before being appointed to the AP Regional Committee.
Prarthana is an advocate of girls and women empowerment. She works towards developing equal opportunities for women and girls in all spheres of life. As a Regional Committee member, she will work towards mobilising MOs to develop quality programmes for girls and young women of the 21st century. She aims to increase membership in the region, support MOs in advancing Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting and create a better world for all girls.
CHRIS WONG
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Professionally, Chris is a CSR Manager in a renowned multinational beverage bottling company responsible for sponsorship management, community projects, public events as well as the corporate volunteering team. Her master’s degree in social service management and experience in the public affairs team allow her to analyse issues and formulate solutions from the perspectives of both administration and community.
As a Regional Committee member for the Asia Pacific Region, Chris believes operation resumption and reconnection at various levels will be the main work focus in the next triennium. She is also keen on identifying synergy among Member Organisations and lining up resources for them to pursue the vision by 2032.
FIRASHA MOHAMED
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Firasha is a law graduate and the Head of Media at SOSAL a subsidiary in-house media outlet of Maldives Consultancy Group. She has awarded the Youth Leader of the Year at the Professional and Career Women Awards 2022.
Firasha plans to use her skills to support the growth and development of the Asia Pacific region. She identifies working directly with girls and young women and increasing their participation and perspective in areas such as girls’ rights, environmental issues, formal and non-formal education, leadership and advocacy programmes as critical to the development of the region.
MAHNAZ HOSSAIN FARIBA
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Mahnaz has been a member of Girl Guiding for over 21 years since she was a yellow bird and served Bangladesh Girl Guides Association in many capacities. She has also volunteered with WAGGGS global team in the region and in MO Membership Fee Working Group. As a committee member, Mahnaz plans to work towards ensuring that they are more partnerships amongst Member Organisations and to make sure their opinions are heard so that Guiding becomes a rewarding and inclusive experience for every volunteer involved.
Currently, she is a bureaucrat in Bangladesh Administrative Service and work in different ministries. Being a STEM professional in Civil Service, she hopes for science awareness and is working for more scientific evidence-based approach in policy procedure.
MAIYA TWAYANABASU
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Maiya is a journalist by profession- she publishes a monthly educational magazine, produces radio programs, hosts events and works with BBC as a freelance journalist.
Maiya has been a member of Guiding since she was nine. She aspires to work with the amazing volunteers in the region. Moreover, she aims to address the priorities of Member Organisations within the region, develop the skills required to manage the changing and challenging needs of girls and establish intergenerational harmony by ensuring balanced representation of diverse generations in planning, implementation and governance. She envisions the Asia Pacific Region as being more thriving, inclusive, growing and girl-led, and is dedicated to supporting this.
RUPA GAUTAM
ASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL MANAGER
Rupa has been in the Asia Pacific regional team for past some years. As she was previously a Girl Scout, she shares the passion for the movement and believes that all girls can develop to their fullest potential if provided with equal opportunities. She finds her role at WAGGGS quite exciting as she gets to work with various people from and beyond Asia Pacific Region that widens her understanding of the diverse world we live in, learns new things every day and most of all she wakes up every day to try and give girls like herself the same positive, life long and life changing experience she had as a girl scout.
VIANCA DANILA
ASIA PACIFIC EVENTS COORDINATOR
Vianca is the newest member of the AP Regional Team. As the Events Coordinator, she supports the project management delivery of the region's events and workshops. Before committing to this role, she was a member of the U-Report Global Youth Steering Committee. She also served as the Marketing and Communications Intern of Our Chalet for two seasons. For some time, Via volunteered remotely as part of the World Centres Communications Team.
She was formerly involved with various cause-oriented and advocacy-led organizations that focus on children's health and education. Her passion lies in serving the underserved and advocating for children and women.
As a former volunteer herself, she loves working with volunteers at WAGGGS and is thrilled to be back in the Movement.