NBO Team

NBO is made up of a team of professionals with global partners. We pride ourselves on having a diverse team with strong management and business experience at MNCs and large enterprises.

Our executive trainers, executive coaches and consultants bring a wealth of personal and real business experience to enrich program content and learning.

The NBO team is carefully selected and known for being passionate about stretching each participant to the fullest potential and making a real difference.

Meet the NBO Team

Gary Nelson

Founder

Prior to founding NBO, Gary was the Vice President and General Manager for IBM’s Pacific Rim organization, leading IBM’s operations in 16 countries with more than 10,000 employees.

Following his illustrious career at IBM, Gary established NBO in 1988, which has grown into one of Asia’s most respected leadership development and communication firms.

Gary has worked with leaders at the highest levels of both public and private sectors in Singapore and around the region.

He is a noted public speaker, an expert in technical and economic trends projection. He is an author of a management book, What Bosses Want – A Guide to Building Leadership Competencies.

Gary is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He and his wife Bonnie have lived and worked in Asia for more than 2 decades in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore.

Bonnie Nelson

Founder

Bonnie has worked with Fortune 500 and Public Sector clients guiding them in their leadership development strategies and initiatives.

Prior to NBO, Bonnie was the Western Regional Manager for IBM. She also served as the IBM Pacific Area Manager for Hawaii, Guam and US Government operations across the Asia Pacific region. She was responsible for leading the marketing, installation and support of IBM products and services in the State of Hawaii and all US military and government installations throughout the Pacific Rim.

Bonnie then became a key principal in forming NBO, where she took state of the art management approaches and adapted them for Asia audiences. She co-authored the book What Bosses Want – a Guide to Building Leadership Competencies with her husband, Gary Nelson to provide a powerful reference for clients in their leadership development.

Bonnie has been featured speaker at many symposia and executive forums on leadership. She graduated Magna cum Laude in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Catherine Tay

Senior Vice President

Catherine has been with NBO for more than 20 years and has been instrumental in the business development and strategic growth of the organization.

She puts a strong emphasis on establishing good relations with her clients which has spurred NBO’s growth, championing a series of long-lasting partnerships with clients.

Catherine provides consultancy in leadership development and communication skills for selected multinational corporations and government bodies.

Prior to joining NBO, Catherine was a television journalist with MediaCorp, Singapore’s leading media company for 3 years. She was an integral part of the core team which established Money Mind – a pioneer in its field in Asia.

Catherine graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Business Administration, majoring in Marketing. She holds international certification as a DISC facilitator.

Winston Milner

Consulting Director, Senior Executive Trainer and Coach

He comes with over thirty years of successful corporate career in the aviation industry – with senior management, engineering, sales and marketing experience, prior to joining NBO. He has been based in Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia, where his territorial responsibilities covered the Asia Pacific region, with clients from private enterprises to governments.

Winston is responsible for NBO’s leadership and communication skills training and consulting. He is highly sought-after as a trainer and coach. With his wealth of management experience, he relates and engages very well with different levels – from C-level executives to individual contributors. Participants who have experienced Winston’s training and coaching, have described him as “inspiring”, “insightful” and “impactful”.

Prior to joining NBO in 2016, Winston had many notable achievements throughout his career. As the Regional Director for Business Development at Embraer, he led his team to win Asia’s largest sale of 42 commercial aircrafts to Virgin Blue Airlines in Australia.  At United Technologies (Pratt & Whitney) Maintenance and Overhaul facility as the General Manager of Sales and Marketing, he was in charge of successfully delivering over US$1B in annual revenue.   He was also with Rolls-Royce’s subsidiary involved in advanced equipment and power plant health monitoring analytics for the aviation, marine, energy and civil nuclear industries, as their Regional Vice President.

Beyond his corporate experience, Winston is active in humanitarian, social and educational causes.  He sits on the Board of the Singapore Red Cross (SRC) – as SRC’s Human Resources and Compensation Committee’s former Chairman and current member of its Corporate Governance and Nominations Committee.  He was appointed to the UNESCO Singapore Botanic Gardens World Heritage Site Management Committee. Winston has also served as the International Advisory Board Member of the University Of Birmingham’s Business School.

Winston holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Birmingham.  He is certified on the NBOGroup 360° Leadership Feedback, DISC and ACTA. He is also a member of the Singapore Institute of Directors.

Amy Lau

Executive Coach & Trainer

Amy has over 25 years of regional human resources experience in a senior capacity, having worked in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. She is recognized as a thought leader in human resources management in Asia Pacific.

An experienced executive coach, Amy works on a one-to-one basis to maximize the impact of her coaching interventions, which has brought significant results. She is passionate about leadership development, and has coached and trained functional top talents, country and regional leadership, through to the Chairman and CEO level.

Prior to joining NBO several years ago, Amy served as the Vice President, HR-Asia Pacific for Eaton Corporation. She has also worked for several MNCs such as HR Director (Asia Pacific) for GE Healthcare, Head of HR – Taiwan, Korea & Japan for Standard Chartered Bank, HR Director – SEA for Monsanto, HR Director – Asia Pacific for Nortel and Senior Consultant for Hay Group. Amy was also the Executive Director of APERG (Asia Pacific Employee Relations Group) – a professional network for Human Resource leaders of MNCs to discuss and collaborate on employee and labor relations issues.

Amy holds an MBA from Durham University, UK, a post-graduate diploma in marketing from Northumbria University, UK, and a Bachelor in Communication from Hong Kong Baptist University.

Julie Kenny

Executive Coach & Trainer

Julie is highly experienced in training and coaching at all levels of an organization, including C-Suite level.

She facilitates communication skills, leadership and team development, as well as psychometric related training. She also conducts NBOGroup 360° leadership workshops and one-to-one coaching sessions. She has extensive experience and knowledge on behavioural and aptitude teaching, and analysis to support client human resource needs.

Julie has been a valued member of the NBO team for more than 10 years.  She has been responsible for training NBO’s partners in the region and client consulting.   Julie has also conducted training for a wide range of industries in the private and government linked sectors throughout Asia.

Prior to joining NBO Singapore in 2007, Julie spent 13 years in the architecture and healthcare service industries. During this time, she was responsible for the running of the practice as well as managing, coordinating and developing staff.

Julie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and International Business from Deakin University, Australia.  She is certified on the NBOGroup 360° Leadership Feedback and international certification as a DISC facilitator.

Julie has lived and worked in Singapore for more than 18 years. She has successfully completed the Iron Woman worldwide Triathlon competitions in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Warton Ong

Executive Coach & Trainer

He has more than 30 years of business experience, including more than 20 years in Senior Management, business planning, turnaround management and organizational development. He has over a decade of involvement in business consulting, coaching and people development. Warton has worked in a variety of industries including finance, petrochemical, electronics, and the public sector both in the USA and Asia Pacific.

Warton’s work in organizational development has involved both the strategic and tactical. He is well-versed in succession planning, talent management, competency development, workforce planning, performance management and employee relations. His rich and varied background enables him to identify with the work issues involved in a corporate environment. His experience has provided him with a wealth of practical knowledge which clients find invaluable.

Prior to joining NBO, Warton worked at Gardner Denver Nash as Regional Managing Director and at Superwinch LLC as Business Development Director of Asia. He has also worked for several MNC’s such as T.D. Williamson Inc and Fisher Controls International.

Warton holds a Master of Social Science from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia and a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University, amongst other academic and professional qualifications. He is also an Associate Therapist with the Family Life Society, a registered member with the Singapore Association for Counselling (SAC), and a Life Member of the International Listening Association.

Angela McDonald

Executive Trainer and Coach

Angela is an experienced professional with an accomplished career in diverse sectors, including banking, global business, facilitation and training.  She is an agile leader who can easily adapt to new situations, assess challenges and efficiently deliver results.

She is recognized as a dynamic presenter who confidently engages a room of people with poise and authenticity.  Originally from the U.S. and currently residing in Chicago, U.S., she also spent 16 years living and working in Singapore, China and Australia.

Angela leads programs that are highly engaging and interactive to maximize both the learning and enjoyment for the participants. She consistently receives positive feedback with excellent ratings from participants and program managers.

Angela joined NBO Singapore in 2014, and has been facilitating corporate training programs since then. Angela is skilled at adjusting her delivery to different audiences to best meet their needs. Her global experience brings with it a solid understanding of global teams, diverse cultures in the workplace, and an ability to connect with people from diverse backgrounds.

Angela graduated from Miami University with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Finance. She has extensive experience facilitating programs involving DiSC, MBTI, 16PF, and various 360 feedback models.

Lisa Brinton

Executive Trainer

Lisa comes to NBO with experience in communications, marketing, management and sales from the business, government and education sectors.  Over the span of her thirty five year career, Lisa has been based in New Jersey, London and Singapore.  She currently resides in Connecticut.

Lisa spent over twenty years in a variety of executive sales, marketing and operations roles with telecommunications giant AT&T, including Bell Laboratories and its spin off Lucent Technologies. Throughout her career, she communicated with C-Suite executives, as well as engineering and operational personnel of major telecom operators like New York Telephone, BT, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Korea Telecom and others.  She regularly exceeded her portion of the company’s annual Operations Systems (OS) business, valued at $1B annually, through development of business plans and award winning sales strategies for the US, European and Asia Pacific markets.

After leaving AT&T in 2002,  Lisa became a consultant and corporate trainer with NBO delivering marketing, management and communications training services to Fortune 500 companies and government institutions across the US, Europe and Asia.

Lisa is involved in public policy, advocating for education, finance and  management reforms in Connecticut – enjoying success on a variety of ballot initiatives. Beyond work,  Lisa has been actively involved in her local community, serving on a variety of civic boards. She is a regular contributor regarding management reform matters with the local press in Connecticut.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Policy from American University, Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Utah, and is an alumnus of The Campaign School at Yale.

Ryan Tan

Executive Trainer and Marketing Specialist

Joining NBOGroup in 2012, Ryan is responsible for driving digital marketing strategies for NBO products and services, including the use of new media technology (mobile & tablets), social media and websites.

She also specializes in creative content creation – such as visual and graphical content design – for various communicative purposes.

She has more than 7 years of experience in digital marketing and mobile solutions.

Ryan graduated from Carnegie Mellon University, U.S. with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a minor in Architecture.