Join us at our upcoming International Women’s Day Lunch on March 1, 2024 at The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, sponsored by our Title Sponsor, the Financial Times and Associate Sponsor, Citi. Under the theme Curating Culture, Inspiring Change, we invite you to secure your tables now. With limited table capacity, tables and tickets are expected to sell out quickly so please confirm early to avoid disappointment!
Curating Culture, Inspiring Change
Culture is a core aspect of our identity, anchoring us within our community and influencing how we work, socialise and connect. Hong Kong’s East-West milieu has long captured the global imagination from its iconic architecture and cuisine to cinema and fashion. But culture isn’t static, and the next phase of Hong Kong’s cultural identity is already unfolding, with women leading the way.
From sports and technology to design and the arts, women are reshaping our cultural fabric, showcasing the immense talent of Hong Kong and creating a new, gender inclusive blueprint. Their impact extends far beyond our borders, solidifying Hong Kong as a cultural powerhouse on the world stage.
Sponsorship Opportunities and Tickets
We will bring you an exciting programme with inspiring speakers, fabulous food and wine, and heart-warming stories from programme participants.
Please email development@twfhk.org for tickets and sponsorship information. All proceeds raised will go towards TWF’s research, advocacy, programmes and initiatives for women and girls.
(The registration function has been disabled on this page, please kindly contact Phoebe.Ho@twfhk.org, or development@twfhk.org to book your tickets or tables.)
the Financial Times and Associate Sponsor, Citi.
0 people are attending IWD Lunch 2024
Empower women & girls in Hong Kong. Sponsor our events or donate an auction prize. Every contribution makes a difference. Please email us at events@twfhk.org.
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Samantha Wong is the Co-Founder and Director of the On Air Collective and Little Bao, Founder of On Air Event Space Management and a publisher at the WOM Guide. In these roles, she has succeeded in developing the outreach of Little Bao and the WOM guide, and of the clients of the On Air Collective. Highlights include an increase in readership by 100% after a rebrand practice and the launch of a new website for the WOM Guide and an increase in media outreach by 50% as Vans’ Asia Pacific Community Strategy Partner. Samantha has extensive experience in public relations in the Asia Pacific region. She was previously a PR Executive at various companies including Concept Link International Marketing, Bally and Dmop.
Ali Tse is a Partner in PwC Hong Kong and China’s financial services transfer pricing group. Ali focuses on providing planning, compliance and operational transfer pricing advisory services to financial institutions. She has over 18 years of experience working in Big 4 accounting firms in London and Hong Kong, covering the Greater China and Asia Pacific regions. Ali has provided technical transfer pricing training to tax authorities from across Hong Kong, China and Korea and has advised industry groups in consultations with the Hong Kong SAR government. Ali is a qualified chartered accountant.
While trained as a tax specialist, in her spare time she has taken on informal roles to drive diversity and inclusion initiatives within her own organisations from establishing internal mentoring programmes, driving D&I training platforms, and performing social impact measurement educational work. Ali supports a number of non-profit organisations and has been closely involved in TWF as co-chair and a steering committee member for the Foundation’s Mentoring Programme. She also collaborated with the Foundation and the Women’s Chief Executive group to research, draft and release a survey on the state of gender diversity in the financial services sector in Hong Kong.
Christine Tsang is APAC Head of Operational Risk Control at UBS. In this role, she is responsible for second line of defence monitoring and advising business partners to ensure appropriate controls are in place to mitigate risks, fitting in with her core personal value of “doing the right thing”. This value has guided her career; previously she has worked for National Australia Bank (‘NAB’) and Standard Bank Asia as the Asia Head of Operational Risk; and audit & risk consulting manager with PwC, in Melbourne and Hong Kong. The value of “doing the right thing” has also informed her interest in social, diversity and environmental causes. Christine was founding Chair/Vice Chair of “Connecting Women Hong Kong/Asia” at NAB; Honorary Treasurer of Street Workout Hong Kong; previously Chair of CA ANZ Hong Kong and continues to volunteer as Hong Kong council member and board director. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountant of Australia and New Zealand.
Tim Payne was with Brunswick for 20 years – based in London, then New York, before moving to Hong Kong in 2004 where he leds the firm’s business in Asia. Tim’s work bridges corporate and financial communications, crisis communications and issues management, with expertise in M&A, IPO and reputation communications. Before joining Brunswick, Tim was a political campaign director for the UK’s Liberal Democrat party, running many of their parliamentary campaigns, including securing a by-election win with the largest majority in British parliamentary history.
Tom Morrow is chairman of FICC and Equities in Asia Pacific at Goldman Sachs. He is a member of the Firmwide Client Franchise Committee, the Asia Pacific Management Committee and the Global Banking & Markets Operating Committee. Tom joined Goldman Sachs in 1992 and moved to Hong Kong in 1995. He has held multiple senior leadership roles throughout his career in the firm’s New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo offices. Prior to his current role, Tom was head of Asia Pacific Equities Distribution, head of the sovereign wealth fund business within the Securities Division in Asia Pacific and led the Asia Pacific Ex-Japan Strategic Coverage & Solutions Group. He is a former member of the Partnership Committee. Tom was named managing director in 2002 and partner in 2006. Tom is a board member of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College. He also serves on the Advisory Committee of the Quantitative Finance and MSc in Finance Programmes of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Tom earned an AB from Dartmouth College in 1992.
Angelina is passionate about Technology, Digital Assets and the Blockchain and loves advising start-ups. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Stratford Finance Limited, a consulting company focused on dealing with regulatory and operational issues in the financial services and digital assets space and advises brokerages, fund managers, and technology providers.
Most recently Angelina held Senior Advisor and Group Chief Operating Officer roles at the HashKey Group, a regulated digital assets company that recently received the second Approval in Principle from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to operate a virtual asset trading platform. She has previously held Chief Operating Officer and Directorate positions with international digital asset exchanges, HKEX, Cantor Fitzgerald, the SFC, and other global financial services companies.
Angelina serves on a number of Hong Kong Government-appointed Boards, and charities including the New Business Committee, Financial Services Development Council, Board of Trustees of the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust, the Ebenezer School for the Blind, and the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the United States, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and a graduate of the University of Southern California in Finance and Accounting. Her MBA is from Pepperdine University, LLB from HKU/Manchester Metropolitan University, and LLM from Harvard Law School.
Joanna is Director of Hotung Mills Education Foundation. She is the Founder of the KG Group, which through its different focuses – Kids’ Gallery, Star English, Face Productions, and Mills International Preschool – has seen over 80,000 young people pass through its doors, and alumni are studying at prestigious universities or working in a wide range of fields worldwide. Prior to this she worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Marks and Spencer, Head Office, London.
Joanna has degrees from the Universities of London and Warwick, and is a Licentiate of Trinity College London. She is an Arts Advisor to the University of Warwick, and a Board Member at The Women’s Foundation, Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong, Youth Diabetes Action, Playright Children’s Play Association, and the Hong Kong Arts Festival.
Among many awards, she is winner of South China Morning Post Women of our Time and the American Chamber of Commerce Women of Influence Entrepreneur award.
Brian Henderson was Chief Operating Officer for Baker McKenzie. He led local diversity initiatives across nine offices in Asia, as a member of the Management Committee and supported the firm’s gender diversity action plan in championing the “BakerWomen” committee and establishing a “BakerMen” team. His passion about encouraging men to see gender equity as a priority, opportunity and responsibility extends beyond his activities in the firm. Brian is the Co-Chair of TWF’s Male Allies Initiative, and was recognized as the 2017 AmCham Champion for the Advancement of Women.
Claire Goodchild is the Asia Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Morgan Stanley. She is involved in the design of the firm’s diversity and inclusion strategy, which has resulted in numerous recognitions, including the Gold Standard for LGBT Inclusion in published indices in Hong Kong and Japan as well as being named one of the 100 Best Companies for Women in India. Over the course of more than 15 years at Morgan Stanley, she has held other roles in talent development and has led a team to win a Silver Award for Excellence in Training and Development. Claire is heavily involved with TWF, having been co-chair of the Foundation’s Mentor Programme Steering Committee from 2016 to 2018 and acting as chair of the Human Resources Advisory Council (HRAC) of TWF since 2019.
Gwen Faure was a partner in PwC Hong Kong’s Consulting practice. She specialised in delivering transformation programmes of international banks and financial institutions, ensuring they align with the local regulatory requirements in the Asia Pacific markets. She was the co-lead in PWC Hong Kong’s internal women network. Additionally, she has worked extensively with TWF, both as an advisory council member for the mentoring programme in 2018-2019 and through her involvement in the joint TWF/PwC study of Gender Diversity in the Hong Kong Financial Services Sector last year. Gwen is currently interested in the Workforce of the Future, particularly due to her background as an anthropologist.
Cecilia Chan is a world leader in health and social work. She currently holds numerous professorships and directorships at the University of Hong Kong, including at the Si Yuan Chair Professorship in Health and Social Work. Her academic career has resulted in groundbreaking innovations such as a strength-oriented empowerment approach with traumatised individuals and the creative synergy of Chinese philosophies and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practices into holistic behavioral health intervention. Outside of her research, Cecilia is a prominent social entrepreneur and change maker in society. She served as Founding Director to various projects and programs including the Centre of Behavioural Health and the Jockey Club End-of-life Community Care (JCECC) project. She was also instrumental in the establishment of the Sau Po Centre of Aging, Centre of Buddhist Studies, HKJC Centre on Suicide Research and Prevention as well as other taught post-graduate programmes at the University of Hong Kong.
Ikra joined The Women’s Foundation as Pipeline Initiatives Officer in September 2023. She is primarily responsible for supporting the Mentoring Programme and the Gender Equality and Inclusion Working Group.
Before joining TWF, Ikra worked as a Programme Worker at the Caritas Women’s Development Project. In this role, she provided essential support to migrant domestic workers, assisting them with settlement issues, employment contracts and legal-related matters. Her work was instrumental in empowering underserved women in Hong Kong.
Ikra holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences majoring in Criminology from the City University of Hong Kong.
Winsome joined The Women’s Foundation as a Programme Officer in July 2023. She is responsible for planning and coordinating events under various community initiatives, with a particular focus on the Girls Go Tech programme, which aims to pipeline female talent into the traditionally male-dominated realm of STEM.
Prior to her role at The Women’s Foundation, Winsome worked as a research assistant at the Journalism and Media Studies Centre of the University of Hong Kong and contributed to research on fair trial rights. During her undergraduate studies, she also interned at different NGOs where she was involved in advocating for the rights of marginalised and disadvantaged populations from varied socio-cultural backgrounds, through engaging in communications and campaign work.
Winsome holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Edinburgh.
Clara joined The Women’s Foundation as Pipeline Initiatives Officer in March 2023. She was previously an intern at TWF in 2021. She is primarily responsible for supporting the Male Allies Initiative and the 30% Club Boardroom Series.
Prior to joining TWF, she worked with various student groups and NGOs on issues relating to reproductive rights, minority activism and arts administration.
Clara holds a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in French and History from the University of Edinburgh.
Carla joined as Senior Programme Officer, Community Programmes in August 2023, bringing her extensive expertise to the forefront. In this capacity, she diligently coordinates a diverse range of community initiatives, with a particular focus on the Girls Go Tech programme. This transformative initiative aims to empower women in the STEM field and remove barriers to their success.
Prior to her role, Carla had a remarkable professional journey spanning various sectors, including law, finance, and traditional Chinese medical treatment, in both Hong Kong and Shanghai. Additionally, with over a decade of volunteer experience in the non-profit sector, Carla is a dedicated committee member of a reputable NGO and devotes her free time to serving the underserved and elderly. Her unwavering commitment to uplifting marginalised communities, promoting women empowerment, and providing assistance to those in need has shaped her into a compassionate and devoted professional.
Hillary is responsible for managing TWF’s CRM implementation and contributes to coordinating and executing various flagship events including the annual Gala and International Women’s Day Lunch to support our mission. She also actively assists the Pipeline Initatives team with corporate partnership related inquiries.
Prior to her current role, Hillary was the Programme Officer in the Community team where she was responsible for planning, coordinating and executing events and activities under the Girls Go Tech Programme, as well as developing the English for STEM initiative.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies and a minor in Sociology from the University of Waterloo, Canada.
Désirée is responsible for developing and implementing strategic communication plans and initiatives. She also focuses on research and advocacy, leveraging her extensive knowledge of gender equality to further support TWF’s mission.
Fluent in English, French, Spanish and Chinese, Désirée holds a Bachelor of Arts in French and Spanish from the University of Southampton, a Master of Science in Gender and International Relations, and a Master of Research in Security, Conflict and Human Rights from the University of Bristol. During her 8+ years of academia, she worked alongside various disciplines on critical social issues, developing effective strategies for conflict resolution and social justice, and was recognised as one of the top 100 Future Females by Barclays UK Bank.
Désirée is a Non-Executive Director at The New Normal Charity, where she advises on strategies to promote equity and inclusion within the organisation and across its programmes and services, as well as supporting the charity’s expansion to Hong Kong.
She is also the editor and digital creator for Frontline Feminists, an advocacy platform that amplifies sexual assault survivors’ voices and experiences, fostering a supportive and open community.
Dora joined The Women’s Foundation as Operations Officer in September 2018, supporting finance & accounting and working closely with the Pipeline, Development and Programme teams. Prior to joining TWF, she worked as Controller overseeing Asia Pacific government projects in Philips Electronics Healthcare Division. She also worked in Sydney office of Unisys Company Limited for a regional accounting hub migration project. She has diversified experience in accounting, business support, performance reporting, financial analysis and control process improvement.
Dora holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Accounting from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Master of Science in Financial Analysis (Major in Corporate Finance) from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA).
Jina joined The Women’s Foundation in April 2023 as Assistant Manager, Pipeline Initiatives. She is primarily responsible for Gender Equality & Inclusion Working Group and supporting the Mentoring Programme for Women Leaders and other gender diversity programmes under TWF’s Pipeline Initiatives.
Jina has nearly a decade of experience in the education sector. Prior to her role at TWF, Jina served as the Director of Studies at Education First. Jina’s role focused on developing academic staff’s teaching and management skills and implementing new curricula. She also collaborated with the Sales and Service Team to ensure school’s healthy growth as well as run various marketing and internal staff events.
Jina holds a bachelor’s degree in English Education from Huainan Normal University, with a National Teaching Certificate from the Chinese Education Bureau.
Phoebe joined The Women’s Foundation as Assistant Events and Development Manager in April 2022. She is responsible for conceptualising, planning, executing and evaluating TWF’s fundraising initiatives, with a particular focus on two signature fundraising events: International Women’s Day Lunch and Gala Dinner.
Before joining TWF, she worked in The American Club as an Events Executive, working closely with the American Club Foundation team to host charity events as well as collaborating with many other charity organisations to host various fundraising events in The American Club. These events gave her great satisfaction by helping people in need and inspired her next chapter in working at an NGO.
Phoebe holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Management from De Montfort University.
Kit joined The Women’s Foundation as Graphic Designer in July 2017. Her primary responsibilities include conceiving and developing graphics for TWF’s marketing collateral, documents, website and social media channels, as well as planning and managing the design of marketing and event promotion material.
Before joining TWF, Kit worked as a senior designer and graphic designer at both Esquel Enterprises Limited and Ma belle Jewelry Limited. She was responsible for providing innovative graphic design concepts and executing marketing campaigns such as advertisements, packaging, product catalogues and seasonal promotion materials. She graduated from Hong Kong Polytechnic University with a BA in Applied and Media Art and a Higher Diploma in Graphic and Media Design from the Hong Kong Institute of Education.
Natasha Ryan joined The Women’s Foundation in September 2023 as senior manager in the Pipeline Initiatives team, overseeing several programmes focusing on women’s representation in leadership roles in Hong Kong. Leading The Women Foundation’s gender, equity and inclusion working group among other initiatives, Natasha provides technical expertise on gender, social norms change and advocacy.
Natasha’s 10 years professional experience covering social justice and rights advocacy for women, children and marginalised groups spans international, regional and national levels, including with UNICEF, the European Commission and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Natasha has a deep understanding of the intersection between advancing social causes and the private sector, most recently having led the development of a platform introducing NGOs to blockchain technology. Previously, she advised a London-based business organisation on EU-citizens’ rights during the negotiations of UK’s exit from the EU.
She has also lectured in Public Law at Södertörn University in Stockholm, Sweden.
Inti Tam joined The Women’s Foundation team as Communications and Marketing Manager in August 2018. She is responsible for the TWF’s marketing strategy and messaging, and executes communications that drive the organisation’s goals, including its newsletter, campaigns, initiatives and events. Inti also drives forward the development of content for the website, eDM, social media and other offline marketing channels.
Before joining TWF, she spent seven years working in the media industry at leading newspaper and magazine outlets as a reporter and editor. As an ex-journalist-turned-communications professional, she is passionate about making a meaningful impact in the lives of others and is always eager to contribute more in the non-profit sphere.
Gladys joined TWF as Senior Programme Manager in October 2019 and was promoted to Acting Programme Director in October 2023. Previously, she served at a number of organisations including WWF, World Green Organisation and Ocean Park Conservation Foundation where she was responsible for fundraising and advocacy campaigns to support their conservation projects. Gladys solicited partners to support Earth Hour, the global climate change initiative, and spearheaded the first city-wide No Straw Day in 2017 to encourage the F&B industry and the general public to go straw-less.
Gladys holds a Bachelor of Arts from University of Toronto and a Master of Social Science from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Shan joined The Women’s Foundation as Director, Special Projects – Community Programmes in late October 2023. She is an unwavering advocate for women’s rights and gender justice.
Shan worked on poverty eradication and development programme, particularly focusing on women empowerment, eliminating gender-based violence, gender justice and civil society building in Mainland China with Oxfam Hong Kong for 18 years. She established the gender programme team and was the gender justice focal point for the global gender platform. She facilitated the registration of OHK’s Guangdong Office in 2017 and became the first chief representative. After social movements and Covid-19, Shan decided to redirect her focus back to Hong Kong.
She has extensive experience in strategic planning, programming, policy advocacy and campaigning, grant-making and management. She is also a skilled facilitator and participatory trainer in areas such as gender and development, civil society organisation development, project cycle management, gender impact assessment, as well as safeguarding policies and mechanisms.
Shan enjoys working with various communities and stakeholders from diversified backgrounds. She has experience in promoting commons and social economy in Hong Kong. She is keen on gender education for various groups in different creative methods.
She was a journalist and an editor, working in both conventional and social media.
Shan holds a BA (Hons) in Public and Social Administration and a MSc in International Development.
Amy joined The Women’s Foundation in 2023 as Director, Pipeline Initiatives. She leads a team that is responsible for the programmes, partnerships and initiatives which support the continuous development of the female talent pipeline in Hong Kong.
The Pipeline Initiatives include the Mentoring Programme for Women Leaders, Male Allies Initiatives, 30% Club Hong Kong and Boardroom Series for Women Leaders.
Prior to joining The Women’s Foundation, Amy has gained substantial experience from more than a decade of working in commercial business development and marketing roles in the professional services sector in Hong Kong. She has also worked at a listed international stock exchange for a few years based in Sweden.
Amy has been an active advocate for gender equity and has led or participated in numerous gender equity initiatives where she worked and in the wider communities over the past 7 years.
Lisa joined The Women’s Foundation in 2011 and became Senior Director, Research & Advocacy in January 2024.
Lisa oversees TWF’s independent, collaboratively produced research on critical, under-discussed gender issues. She also leads advocacy efforts that aim to challenge and transform existing attitudes and behaviours that are preventing women and girls from fully participating in society through cross-sector campaigns as well as sector-specific actions. Additionally, she manages their communications strategy and execution to drive TWF’s presence and impact in the wider community.
She is part of Meta’s Global Women’s Safety Expert Advisors, a group of experts that help Meta develop new policies, products and programmes that better support the women who use their apps.
Prior to TWF, Lisa served as a Teaching & Research Fellow for Morningside College at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Lisa holds a BA in Ethnic Studies from the University of Richmond, an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University, and an MSc in Psychology from Sheffield Hallam University.
Maria joined The Women’s Foundation as Finance and Administration Director in August 2021, with sound experience in healthcare and pharmaceutical multinational corporations and local public organisations managing finance, administration, controlling, supply chain, procurement, human resources, internal control, commercial and IT management.
She has started her career in a German-based pharmaceutical company, Schering AG, building and managing finance and administration teams in Hong Kong and China, and was exposed to various challenges like M&A activities and integrations. She was the Chief Administration Officer of Bayer Healthcare Hong Kong and Deputy Executive Director (Commercial & Administration) of Aviation Security Ltd. at HK International Airport.
Maria is passionate about TWF’s mission and vision in promoting the full and equal participation of women and girls in her home city where she grew up and currently resides.
Maria is also a supporter of lifelong learning. She attained three master degrees in professional accounting, business administration and English Studies for the Professions while being a working mom of two boys.
Rita served The Women’s Foundation for 10 years, with the majority of her time as Deputy CEO. She is mainly responsible for programme design and development, advocacy campaigns, and community outreach.
Previously, Rita spent ten years at the Employee Retraining Board, where she managed placement services working closely with the Education Bureau, the Labour and Welfare Bureau, the Commission on Poverty, the Labour Department and the Social Welfare Department.
She is the Founder and CEO of a social enterprise, Above and Beyond Education, that instructs on positive education to support students, their parents and schools. She is also a Programme Committee Member for the Children’s Medical Foundation.
Rita was an organising member of the ‘2013-18 Family-Friendly Employers Award Scheme’, and the Convenor of the Advisory Group for the Investor and Financial Education Council, a subsidiary of the Securities & Futures Commission. She is a blogger for HK01 and Ohmykids and has been awarded “Hong Kong Outstanding Women Volunteer” of Hong Kong YWCA.
Rita holds a Masters in Social Policy from the University of York, UK.
Fiona joined The Women’s Foundation as CEO in September 2017, combining her senior leadership experience with a passion for TWF’s mission to serve marginalised women and girls in Hong Kong. A former lawyer and Hang Seng Index company secretary, Fiona has lived in Hong Kong for over two decades having cultivated a career as a senior legal professional and adviser to a number of leading corporations in Hong Kong and around Asia including PCCW, AIA, AIG, Aviva, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery as well as SMEs, start ups and non-profit organisations.
She is the Co-Founder of Room to Read’s Hong Kong Chapter and helped establish the Regional Programme office in New Delhi, India. She is Deputy Chair and a Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong (AustCham), and was Founder and Chair of its Women in Business Network. In 2015, Fiona won the People’s Choice Award for the Advancement of Women in Business at the AustCham-Westpac Australia China Business Awards.
In 2020, Fiona was selected as the winner of the “Outstanding Achievement” award for the Women in Business Law Awards Asia 2020 for her professional accomplishments as well as advocacy and influence. In 2021, she was recognised at the AmCham Women of Influence Awards 2021 as Non-Profit Leader of the Year for her work to advance gender equality. In 2022, she was a recipient of Tatler’s Front & Female Hong Kong Awards.
Fiona holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney and is a Fellow (FGIA FCG) of the Governance Institute of Australia and the Chartered Governance Institute, a member of the Law Society of New South Wales, Australia and a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and sits on its Hong Kong Committee.