I build and operate senior living and eldercare platforms in Asia. For close to two decades, I have worked across strategy, investment and operations, turning ideas into businesses, partnerships and places that have to perform in the real world.
My work today brings together care, hospitality, technology and long-term capital. Anthropology sharpens how I read culture and human behaviour within those systems. Photography keeps me attentive to what is easily missed.
What I do now
Since November 2021, I have been CEO of Sindora Living and CEO of Senior Living Asia at Keppel, based in Singapore. We develop and operate senior living communities in Asia, bringing together hospitality, healthcare, design and technology.
The question behind the work is simple to state and difficult to answer: how do you build a care business that is humane, culturally credible and economically durable at the same time? That requires attention to the resident’s daily experience as well as staffing, training, data, partnerships, regulation and capital.
The path here
From 2013 to 2021, I was CEO of ORPEA China. I helped establish and grow the group’s eldercare operations in mainland China, working across direct investments, management contracts and partnerships, including a joint venture with China Pacific Insurance. The work took me from opening individual communities to thinking about networks, workforce development and the institutional foundations of care.
Before entering senior care, I worked in strategy and operations at Nestlé and Lafarge in China. At Nestlé, I supported post-merger integration and advised the China leadership team. At Lafarge, I worked across strategy, marketing, business development, acquisitions and cost competitiveness. Those years taught me how large organizations actually change: usually more slowly, and more socially, than the plan suggests.
Why anthropology belongs in the room
I completed a Master of Liberal Arts in Anthropology and Archaeology at Harvard Extension School in November 2025 and attended Commencement in June 2026. It was my third master’s degree, after management studies at HEC Paris and public affairs at Sciences Po.
I did not study anthropology to leave business. I studied it because operating across cultures makes the limits of purely managerial explanations impossible to ignore. People do not experience ageing, dependency, family obligation or “home” in the same way everywhere. Ethnographic attention helps reveal what a model overlooks before the spreadsheet does.
I work in English, French and Mandarin Chinese. Language has been less a credential than a way of staying close to the settings in which decisions take effect.
Education
My formal education spans management, public affairs, healthcare, psychology, languages and anthropology.
- Master of Liberal Arts in Anthropology and Archaeology, Harvard Extension School, 2025
- Degree in Management of Healthcare and Social Facilities, Université Côte d’Azur, 2019
- Degree in Gerontology, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (now Sorbonne Université), 2016
- MSc in Management, HEC Paris, 2008
- Master of Public Affairs, Sciences Po Paris, 2005
- Chinese studies at INALCO and Mandarin Chinese and international relations at National Chengchi University
- Certificate in Health Care Economics, Harvard Business School Online, 2021
- Certificate in Psychology of Addiction and Recovery, Stanford Center for Health Education, 2021
- Certificate in Introduction to Longevity Medicine for Physicians, Deep Longevity, 2021
Personal recognition
- Global Ageing Influencer, 9th Eldercare Innovation Awards, 2021
- International Friendship Ambassador for Nanjing, 2023
- Conseiller du Commerce extérieur de la France (French Foreign Trade Advisor) since July 2019
- China Young Manager of the Year, 2015
Outside work
Photography is my other way of paying attention. I photograph wildlife, communities and rituals across Asia, and I maintain a collection of traditional headgear that has grown into an informal study of identity, craft and material culture. This work appears in Through the Lens.
Personal milestones
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Learning for its own sake: completing my Harvard degree
🎓 "We refuse to let the current version of our lives be the final version."
That sentence from the Harvard Extension School Commencement speech has stayed with me.
A month ago, I attended my Harvard University graduation ceremony for a Master's in Anthropology & Archaeology, my third master's degree. I started it during the COVID lockdown… "for fun." Somehow, that also ended with a place on the Dean's List for Academic Achievement.
🗿The truth is, I never completely got over wanting to be Indiana Jones. Most people eventually outgrow that dream. Mine simply evolved into ethnographic fieldwork in the foothills of the Himalayas, dozens of academic papers, and considerably fewer ancient temples and cracks of the whip than I'd been promised.
And yes, despite the all-nighters, the flights spent reading and writing, and the privilege of living alongside isolated tribes in the mountains of China, it genuinely was fun!
I've always believed that learning doesn't need to be justified. Not every pursuit has to make you richer, faster, or more successful. In this case, learning for the sake of learning was reason enough. Curiosity is one of the few investments that always changes the person making it.
Ironically, this degree "for fun" ended up making me better at my job too. Anthropology didn't teach me how to operate senior living communities, but it deepened my understanding of the people we serve. Different discipline, same questions: how people adapt when their world changes, what traditions they preserve, which ones they reinvent, and how communities continue to thrive across generations. I never expected those synergies, but I'm grateful they found me.
Perhaps that's the real value of learning. You rarely end up exactly where you expected, but if you stay curious enough, you almost always end up somewhere worth being.
Thank you to Chanelle Ohayon-Crosby, Oriana, Jonas, my friends and colleagues for patiently putting up with countless "just one more paper" and "sorry, I can't, I have a deadline." I know I probably tested your patience at times. I hope I've made you proud!
Thank you to my professors, especially Prof. Joe Henrich and Dr. Richard Martin, who constantly challenged me intellectually.
Here's to refusing to let the current version of ourselves be the final one… and to chasing a few more childhood dreams along the way. 🎩
Credit for the commencement quote: Theo Rowley.
First published on LinkedIn, June 30, 2026. View the original post.
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A childhood dream became a Harvard degree
🎓 Yesterday, I received my third Master’s degree, in Archaeology & Anthropology from Harvard University, completing a five-year journey that began as a small lockdown experiment during COVID.
As a kid, I really wanted to be Indiana Jones. The hat, the adventures, the lost temples… Most people grow out of that phase. I just decided to live it through.
If you know me, you know I have a thing for hats. And over these years, I’ve been wearing quite a few at once: a senior living intrapreneur by day and an anthropology student by night, with family and friends cheering me on, even when they thought I was a little crazy.
I didn’t do this for my career. It was simply about learning for the sake of learning, and quietly fulfilling a childhood dream somewhere between business meetings and development plans.
But what started as fun actually deepened my understanding of people, culture, and even aging. Now it helps me shape more meaningful, culturally sensitive, and future-ready senior care experiences in a rapidly changing Asia.
Dreams really do take us places. And sometimes, the best reason to learn is simply because it makes you happy.
One dream down, a few more hats to go… 🎩
You can also see how I explore anthropology through photography on Instagram.
First published on LinkedIn, November 13, 2025. View the original post.
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Appointed an International Friendship Ambassador for Nanjing
🙏 I am honored to announce that the City of Nanjing has appointed me "International Friendship Ambassador". It is a recognition of my involvement in developing the city's Senior Living and Eldercare sectors, which contributed to establishing Nanjing as a benchmark in China and Asia. When I mention "my" involvement, I must humbly acknowledge that it wasn't solely my effort. More than anything, it reflects the dedication and innovative thinking of the Chinese and International teams I've worked with over the past ten years. 🇫🇷🇪🇺🇸🇬🤝🇨🇳
Nanjing, the capital of the Jiangsu province in China, boasts a rich history – marked by triumphs and tragedies. The proud capital of both Imperial and Republican China over centuries, Nanjing bore witness to World War II's horrors. Today, Nanjing is a vibrant metropolis of nearly 10 million people, renowned for its cultural and educational excellence, and offers endless economic opportunities.
Pondering over this "award": 🏡 What if Senior Living meant more than just infrastructure and care? What if it spoke the language of culture, respect, and tradition?
Our journey in Nanjing answers these questions. We dared to dream and innovate, always buoyed by Nanjing's dynamic spirit and economic potential. Our projects were not just about buildings and facilities but resonated with inclusivity, dignity, and well-being. From conceptualizing to realization, it was a thrilling ride dotted with challenges, mistakes, and breakthroughs.
Capitalizing on this 10-year learning curve, Sindora, Keppel's senior living platform, will launch its new "empowering assisted living" concept in a few weeks. I believe that, once again, we are co-creating something disruptive with the people of Nanjing. We will make fun, empowerment, connections, discovery, and healthy longevity the "new normal" of Senior Living.
Nanjing's people, with their warmth, openness, and appetite for co-innovation, deserve every bit of gratitude. Am I truly an ambassador? I leave that to perspectives. But I'm a grateful friend and collaborator, cherishing this vibrant city and its wonderful people. Here's to many more shared tales and successes! 🥂
First published on LinkedIn, October 30, 2023. View the original post.
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Studying addiction and recovery during quarantine
People ask me what I kept myself busy with, during all these weeks of quarantine over the past few months. Answer: I went back to school! 👨🎓
Mental wellbeing is a key concern for our generation, and addiction treatment is a growing challenge everywhere in the world. I am very happy to have successfully completed Stanford’s online programme in Psychology of Addiction and Recovery 🧠. A truly humbling course, that made me realize how addictions can happen to anyone 🙏.
First published on LinkedIn, August 10, 2021. View the original post.
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Health-care economics changes how leaders see care
Health Care Economics is an online course that explores how fundamental economic forces shape health care, and the ways that changing policies can influence the decisions made by patients, providers, and other industry leaders.
First published on LinkedIn, July 30, 2021. View the original post.
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Learning the language of longevity medicine
I have just completed Deep Longevity’s Introduction to Longevity Medicine for Physicians. I am not a physician – and that is precisely why I wanted to take it.
Longevity is increasingly discussed as a market: new technologies, diagnostics, clinics and investment opportunities. As someone developing and promoting senior care, I need to understand more than the commercial promise.
I wanted to approach the subject through the questions asked by scientists, physicians and the people whose lives are ultimately affected: what can we measure, what can we prevent, what can research realistically change, and where does uncertainty remain?
Researchers, clinicians, care teams, operators, investors and older adults do not always use the same language. Better decisions become possible when we understand what each perspective contributes – and where its limits lie.
A special thank you to Prof. Evelyne Bischof for pointing me towards this course, which she co-authored, and for helping make this emerging field more accessible.
For me, longevity only matters if it improves the years lived, not simply the years counted.
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Care quality is created where systems meet human experience
Today I received, with distinction, my University Diploma in the Direction and Management of Health and Social Care Institutions from Université Côte d’Azur, for the 2018-2019 academic year.
Care institutions are often described through operating metrics: capacity, staffing ratios, occupancy, capital expenditure and compliance. As an operator, I work with all of them. But none explains what a facility feels like on an ordinary Tuesday.
I wanted to understand what happens between a decision made in a boardroom and the daily experience of the person receiving care. That requires looking closely at how residents or patients, families, physicians, nurses, care assistants, therapists, hospitality teams, administrators and regulators interact.
An institution is a living system. Every actor brings a different expertise, responsibility and constraint. Management is not merely directing that system; it is creating the conditions in which those perspectives can work together without losing sight of the person at the centre.
I am particularly grateful to Thierry Costanzo, who was my mentor throughout this journey. He taught me to connect the detail of operations with the human purpose of care, and to never treat one as separate from the other.
Going beyond the business of care means understanding where policy, clinical practice, operations and human relationships meet. That is where quality is created – or lost.
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Serving France through experience gained abroad: appointed as a Foreign Trade Advisor
In July 2019, I was appointed a Conseiller du Commerce extérieur de la France (French Foreign Trade Advisor), putting my international experience at the service of France’s economic development abroad. The appointment was formalised by a decree dated August 27, 2019, signed by the Prime Minister of France, Édouard Philippe.
First published on LinkedIn, September 1, 2019. View the original post. · Learn more about Les Conseillers du Commerce extérieur de la France.
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Gerontology gave me better questions about care
Today I received my University Diploma in Gerontology from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), after completing the final examinations in November 2016.
Running an eldercare business means spending a great deal of time on buildings, budgets, teams and growth. They all matter, but they are not the whole reality of ageing.
I wanted to go beyond the business side of the work and look more closely at what shapes an older person’s everyday life: health, autonomy, identity, family relationships and the experience of needing support.
That also means trying to understand the same situation through the eyes of everyone involved – residents, relatives, doctors, nurses, care assistants and the people managing the community. Each sees a different part of the truth, and good care depends on bringing those perspectives together.
I am especially grateful to Prof. Joël Belmin, Dr. Linda Benattar and Prof. Alain Franco for their support and encouragement. I learned a great deal from each of them, not only about gerontology, but about the responsibility that comes with turning knowledge into everyday care.
This diploma does not give me simple answers. It gives me a better set of questions, which may be more useful.
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My name is on the trophy; the work has many names
Last week in Beijing, I had the honour of receiving the 2015 “Young Manager of the Year” award at the Excellence in Management Awards, presented during the first national Sino-French Business Forum organised by the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China (CCIFC).
I am proud, of course. But I am also slightly uncomfortable with the idea of an individual management award. Nothing meaningful in management is ever achieved alone.
At ORPEA China, we are working to build a new model of senior care in a country where needs and expectations are changing very quickly. It takes clinical expertise, local knowledge, patience and a team willing to solve problems that do not come with a ready-made playbook.
Thank you to EIM and CCIFC for this recognition, and above all to my colleagues, partners and everyone helping us turn an ambition into something real.
My name is engraved on the trophy. The work behind it has many names.
First published on LinkedIn, December 3, 2015. View the original post. · The award results were reported at the time by Le Vent de la Chine.