Suryani Senja Alias is Managing Director of CULT, providing advisory work on art and the development of creative strategies, policy and spaces. She also founded a start-up social enterprise to develop a heritage-inspired brand "Senijari" and is on the Board of Think City, a heritage fund for the rejuvenation of George Town in Penang, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Alias was previously Senior Vice-President of Investments at Khazanah Nasional in Malaysia. Prior, she was a Special Officer to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, advising on public policy matters, and served as Chair of the Tuanku Nur Zahirah Foundation, promoting Malaysian heritage. Alias practiced international law at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and at Vinson & Elkins in London. She later became the Group General Counsel of AirAsia, a regional Asian airline before she joined Khazanah Nasional. Alias graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1995, and completed the Global Leadership and Public Policy Program for Young Global Leaders at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2011.