Leading private and social enterprises for over 25 years in multilateral, culturally diverse environments, Virginia is passionate about bringing to life innovations that impact our society.

Virginia has a demonstrated track record of securing strategic partnerships between corporations, governments, and non-profits to deliver on social impact projects. She started her career in telecommunications, building satellites, and the distribution of free-to-air television across 60 countries in Asia.

Seeing the uptake firsthand, Virginia focused on education, believing that investing in people is the key driver for impactful change. Bringing together diversity and crossing cultural divides is a pathway to create Shared Value in our world, aligning purpose with profit.

After serving on the board of several educational institutions, Virginia is now a member of the Board of Directors of the Adecco Group Foundation in Switzerland a social innovation lab, incubating and accelerating new solutions in the world of work.

Olivia is responsible for formulating and implementing strategies in delivering on the 3 social and environmental objectives in building an inclusive, innovative and sustainable organisation and communities that MTR serves. Before joining MTR, Olivia was the Group Head of Diversity & Inclusion for the Swire group and has held various management positions in Cathay Pacific Airways and Swire Properties.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

I hope that everyone can realise their abilities to support environmental and social changes within their sphere of influence to ensure Hong Kong is recognised as an open and inclusive international city.

Leading private and social enterprises for over 25 years in multilateral, culturally diverse environments, Virginia is passionate about bringing to life innovations that impact our society.

Virginia has a demonstrated track record of securing strategic partnerships between corporations, governments, and non-profits to deliver on social impact projects. She started her career in telecommunications, building satellites, and the distribution of free-to-air television across 60 countries in Asia.

Seeing the uptake firsthand, Virginia focused on education, believing that investing in people is the key driver for impactful change. Bringing together diversity and crossing cultural divides is a pathway to create Shared Value in our world, aligning purpose with profit.

After serving on the board of several educational institutions, Virginia is now a member of the Board of Directors of the Adecco Group Foundation in Switzerland a social innovation lab, incubating and accelerating new solutions in the world of work.

Samuel KWONG is the General Manager – ESG of Chinachem Group with over 25 years of experience in sustainability with multinational conglomerates covering businesses including sports & entertainment, food & beverages, aviation, hospitality, real estate, retail, shipping & infrastructure developments. He is a director of HKIQEP, past Chairman of CIWEM HK & former director of HKGBC & HKBEC. Sam is an engineer by training with bachelor and master degrees from The University of Hong Kong and a master degree of environmental engineering from ENTPE, France, MBA degree from the Chinese University Hong Kong and a degree of laws from the University of London.

Ms. Veronica Sze is the Director of Corporate Affairs for Nestlé Hong Kong, overseeing the company’s public affairs, corporate communications, media relations and Creating Shared Values (CSV) strategies for all business units. She is also the Sustainability Lead for the company with responsibilities including working closely with local teams to achieve various sustainability goals, developing and implementing community-wide recycling campaign, driving comprehensive stakeholder engagement and internal communications. She joins the group in 2010.
Prior to this, she has worked at a global communications consultancy, pharmaceutical industry association, media outlet and university, which granted her extensive experiences in driving policy change, stakeholders’ outreach and CSV.
Ms. Sze received a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Philosophy and two LLB degrees.
She is currently Committee Member of Hong Kong Supplier Association and Hong Kong Health Food Association.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Looking forward to seeing more corporates committing to reduce their impact to the environment while sustaining their business development growth, and together bringing a net zero future in Hong Kong.

Olivia is responsible for formulating and implementing strategies in delivering on the 3 social and environmental objectives in building an inclusive, innovative and sustainable organisation and communities that MTR serves. Before joining MTR, Olivia was the Group Head of Diversity & Inclusion for the Swire group and has held various management positions in Cathay Pacific Airways and Swire Properties.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

I hope that everyone can realise their abilities to support environmental and social changes within their sphere of influence to ensure Hong Kong is recognised as an open and inclusive international city.

Leading private and social enterprises for over 25 years in multilateral, culturally diverse environments, Virginia is passionate about bringing to life innovations that impact our society.

Virginia has a demonstrated track record of securing strategic partnerships between corporations, governments, and non-profits to deliver on social impact projects. She started her career in telecommunications, building satellites, and the distribution of free-to-air television across 60 countries in Asia.

Seeing the uptake firsthand, Virginia focused on education, believing that investing in people is the key driver for impactful change. Bringing together diversity and crossing cultural divides is a pathway to create Shared Value in our world, aligning purpose with profit.

After serving on the board of several educational institutions, Virginia is now a member of the Board of Directors of the Adecco Group Foundation in Switzerland a social innovation lab, incubating and accelerating new solutions in the world of work.

Tina is the Group Head of Philanthropy and leads the Swire Group Charitable Trust (Swire Trust), which is part of the Swire group established in 1816. The Trust supports initiatives in Hong Kong on Education, Marine Conservation and the Arts.

Tina led the TrustTomorrow initiative, which celebrated Swire’s 150th anniversary in Hong Kong through the Group injecting an additional $150 million to the Trust. This initiative has supported over 60 inspirational projects that aim to bring lasting benefits and positive change to the community through. Under her leadership, TrustTomorrow has expanded the Trust’s scope of grant-making to connect the portfolio with operating companies in Swire, as well as mobilising Swire staff in volunteering for the TrustTomorrow NGO partners, delivering over 50 events engaging over 1,000 staff per year. Tina has 15 years of experience in grant-making and charitable foundation management.

Fiona Cumming is the Executive Director at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Hong Kong (SPCA) and joined in February 2022. In her role, she is responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction of the organisation.

Before the SPCA, Fiona spent 20 years at Goldman Sachs Asia L.L.C and she progressed through a number of different roles. With her extensive experience in bringing clarity to complex situations, Fiona is now leading the SPCA to modernise and refocus the 100+ year old organisation to meet future challenges, enabling it to meet its mission for the next decade and beyond. Her goal is to build a sustainable, forward looking SPCA which possesses the agility to evolve and adapt to a rapidly changing world.

Fiona and her family are the proud owners of their beloved mixed-breed dog, Luna and cats, Truffle and Toffee. All of which were adopted as rescue animals.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Since I joined SPCA I have been promoting the importance of incorporating sustainable ways of working such as focus of waste minimization through a quest for a ‘paperless’ SPCA, increasing recycling and reuse across our operations by upcycling of newspapers, towels etc. Our new centre in Tsing Yi will have solar panels and will be awarded a silver award by the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC).

Dr. Lamrad is the Head of Sustainability at Jardine Matheson. Nadira is a corporate responsibility and sustainability practitioner with rich experience advising large multinationals on sustainability and social responsibility strategies, corporate responsibility and sustainability communications through targeted disclosures and reporting, developing relevant governance structures, planning and facilitating stakeholder engagements, improving ESG performance, and identifying performance gaps and action plans to address them.

Surali (Su) is responsible for defining and driving the execution of the HSBC Wealth and Personal Banking strategy in Hong Kong, enabling key strategic initiatives including owning the Sustainability and Inclusion agenda across the business. With over 16 years of experience with HSBC, Su has held a number of senior market, region and global roles in Retail Banking, Private Banking & Wealth, Commercial Banking, Operations & Risk Management.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Enabling our customers and staff to discover their own ESG priorities and support HSBC to be a banking partner that enables our customers and staff members to achieve their sustainability and inclusion ambitions.

Young-Sook is a value-driven, resilient and collaborative business leader delivering in a complex and matrixed organisation.

16 years in EY across multiple geographies, she is currently the Asia-Pacific Financial Services Talent Leader with 10,000 professionals and a key member of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Team. She is solution-oriented, highly inclusive, empathetic team leader, culturally intelligent, a trusted advisor, an inspiring public speaker and a qualified coach.

A strong believer of the three principles of sustainability (people, planet and profit), she has integrated sustainable practices by being a strong advocate of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Well-being and Social Equity, while strategically aligning to organizational objectives. Her focus is on driving behavioural change via learning programs, influencing mindsets and preparing employees to address sustainability in all aspects of the business world.

She is also a Board Member for Love21 in Hong Kong.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

My personal goal is to foster a more inclusive and equitable work culture where everyone feels a sense of belonging and can be themselves at work.
I am keen to see a world where there is less poverty, hunger and drastic weather patterns, so this year, I will participate in more volunteering programs that have a positive impact on the community and environment and I will encourage my team to do the same.

Leading private and social enterprises for over 25 years in multilateral, culturally diverse environments, Virginia is passionate about bringing to life innovations that impact our society.

Virginia has a demonstrated track record of securing strategic partnerships between corporations, governments, and non-profits to deliver on social impact projects. She started her career in telecommunications, building satellites, and the distribution of free-to-air television across 60 countries in Asia.

Seeing the uptake firsthand, Virginia focused on education, believing that investing in people is the key driver for impactful change. Bringing together diversity and crossing cultural divides is a pathway to create Shared Value in our world, aligning purpose with profit.

After serving on the board of several educational institutions, Virginia is now a member of the Board of Directors of the Adecco Group Foundation in Switzerland a social innovation lab, incubating and accelerating new solutions in the world of work.

Johnny joined the ICTI Ethical Toy Program as the General Manager of Asia Operations in February 2017. Promoted to the Chief Operating Officer in 2022, he is responsible for overseeing the operations of the organization globally.

Before joining the Ethical Toy Program, Johnny worked at Decolav, a US-based design house of high-quality furniture and bathroom products, where he was the Managing Director of Asia Operations. Prior to this, he was the Senior Sourcing Manager at Lowe’s Global Sourcing Hong Kong Ltd. Johnny started his career working for Johnson Electric for five years managing the production for Home Appliances products. He brings a wealth of leadership and operational management experience to the Ethical Toy Program team, gained from his 22 years working in the international manufacturing industry .

He received a Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Victoria in Canada and a Master of Science in Engineering Management at the City University of Hong Kong.

Being a Gen-Y and a father of two children, Garrick is aspired to bring happiness and fulfilment to the future generations. He believes it is fundamental for every individual and every business to do good and create shared values for the community.

His experience covers social innovation, sustainability, change management and intrapreneurship, hospitality and real estate asset management, and youth development.

He currently works with a private conglomerate to integrate sustainability across various aspects of operations, target to demonstrate and advocate for the Creating Shared Value (CSV) model to all businesses.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

To encourage more businesses to incorporate social impact measurement to enhance transparency.

Accountability is paramount when it comes to doing good and creating shared values to all.

Vincent joined Hartley McMaster as CEO & Director (APAC) to steer and shape the application of Operational Research (Applied Mathematics) for the firm’s APAC clients. A significant part of his passion in this role is in helping executives embrace the creative use of mathematical models to find optimal solutions to highly complex problems involving multiple moving parts from across their value chains.

Vincent’s involvement with ESG is tied closely to his work with clients to optimize their investment planning and resource allocation strategies, particularly for regulated utilities and other asset-intensive industries. This includes the optimization of USD$20 Billion in infrastructure investment plans across the UK gas network and the quantitatively-derived regulatory justification for a pilot conversion of existing gas pipelines for hydrogen use.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

I hope to see Hong Kong companies go beyond ESG reporting and start to incorporate ESG measurements into their investment planning approaches.

Katherine brings over 20 years of professional experience, with a multi-sector career spanning private banking, offshore wealth management, UK Government and international nonprofit. Katherine is passionate about real estate, sustainable development and poverty alleviation. She has been involved with the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong since 2019 and is a member of the General Committee, Real Estate Committee and is Chair of the Social Sustainability Committee.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

I would like to see the private sector and the Government of the HKSAR working together to advance the city’s progress towards sustainability and achieving the UN SDGs

Kathryn Weaver is an employment law partner at Seyfarth Shaw, an AmLaw 100 full-service international law firm. She heads up the Asia Pacific employment practice and has over 15 years’ experience in advising on employment law matters for multinational employers. She is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion and regularly advises clients on their DEI strategies, as well as delivering client training, drafting articles and speaking at conferences on the topic.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

For Hong Kong to adopt the mantra of “refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle” and for the Government to legislate for, and dedicate more resources to, improving sustainable practices.

Édouard Blanchard is a Founding Partner of Humans Matter, a cognitive design company with a mission to develop individual and collective ability to act.

He has spent 25 years in the transformation and business consulting industry, leading and empowering multinational corporations and organizations in their transformation journey, from business strategy to mindset and cultural shift, from capacity and soft skills development to organization redesign.

A true sustainable change agent, Edouard believes that a successful transformation is first and foremost a matter of accompanying the people leading and living through it.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

We are witnessing a fresh restart of Hong Kong, attention and effort being focused on changing behaviors for more sustainable ones.

At Humans Matter, we are committed to support and equip transition leaders with the relevant meta-skills and mindsets they need to pursue their sustainability missions.

Ajay Manissery Konchery is the Group Head of Diversity and Inclusion at the Swire Group. He is a native of Kerala, India. He served in multiple HR Director roles based in Southeast Asia, India, the US and Hong Kong and spent 21 years in Colgate Palmolive before joining Swire. Ajay holds master’s degrees in Psychology and HR Management and is a published, award winning poet.

Fanny Lau has more than 20 years’ experience in human resources sector, including external consulting and in-house HR partitioning. She was the consultant and provided advisory services to hundreds of corporates in different areas, not only in day-to-day HR operation management, but also organization development, recruitment, performance management, learning & development, etc. She also had corporate and strategy planning experiences and led M&A projects. Not only in Hong Kong, she also worked in the mainland China, Singapore, Vietnam as well as leading projects in Southeast Asia.

She joined the Human Resources Department at New World Development in 2020 and currently she is taking care of HR Transformation, HR Business Partner, Culture, Talent Acquisition, Compensation & Benefits and Learning & Development Teams. Throughout different projects initiated from the group level, she works closely with different business units in New World Group.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

I personally hope to see more practical initiatives can be successfully implemented in Hong Kong, including less plastics, more recycling activities, etc. Corporates can take more aggressive approach and influence the society as a whole. In addition, we can also be more proactive to take care of employees’ wellness mentally and physically.

Tim has twelve years of APAC recruitment experience and over this time has managed diverse teams specialising in Sales & Marketing, Retail, Professional services, FMCG, B2B, Travel / Tourism, Ecommerce, Fin-tech, Construction, Property, Engineering and Manufacturing recruitment. Tim now leads the Hays Sustainably practice, recruiting mid to senior level roles within the Sustainability and ESG space across Asia.

His success has come from executive search assignments where he has successfully placed some of the region’s most influential sustainability leaders. As organisations map out ambitious sustainability targets, Tim and his team are well geared up to identify great talent to assist companies accelerate towards these goals, through strategic talent acquisition.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Hong Kong to prioritize sustainability by closing the green skills gap and fostering a workforce that is equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to implement sustainable practices across all industries. As without gtreat talent, none of our environmental and social ambitions will be realised.

Dawn is the Head of Collaboration and Sustainability Lead at Black Dog Consultants. She is also known as the ‘Green Dog’ by others for designing sustainability-themed learning solutions that focus on shifting behaviours and developing mindsets to explore new approaches to sustainability across all levels of organisations. She is a Vice Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce’s Social Sustainability Committee.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Increasing others’ awareness of sustainability opportunities (as well as challenges) to ignite behavioural change to discover new solutions and approaches.

Anita Lo is the General Manager of IETP, a specialist responsible sourcing program. She is responsible for overseeing the Asia operations, monitoring the development & implementation of a robust Supplier Certification, advancing a wide range of capability-building programs to drive supply chain sustainability, and leading scalable worker wellbeing initiatives.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

1. Engage more businesses to foster collaboration in the supply chain on worker well-being and decent work to mitigate labour risks & create better lives for workers

2. Showcase Family-Friendly Factories as scalable and adaptable for suppliers from all sizes & sectors

3. Promote worker voice through IETP’s scalable Worker Helpline service

4. Empower businesses of all sizes to report on their environmental impact

Maggie Ma is General Manager – Corporate Communications, Hang Lung Properties, where she drives its corporate and sustainability communications strategies as well as community investment programs in Hong Kong and mainland China. She also oversees the Company’s corporate branding, government relations and issue management.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

To promote diversity and inclusion in the community through youth empowerment and volunteering programs.

Karen Ng is Deel’s Regional Head of Expansion and Market Lead for Singapore, Hong Kong, ASEAN, and India. She is currently driving expansion, and oversees Deel’s business development across Asia, Greater China and India.
Karen is a people manager and business leader with over 15 years of business development experience across technology and hospitality sectors. Prior to joining Deel, she was Regional Head of Commercial at HReasily.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

ESG talent is in short supply and high demand globally. We aim to facilitate seamless hiring for businesses to find the right talent anywhere in the world in order to advance ESG agendas globally.

Raised in India & moved to HK in 2013 to manage sales for APAC, Pooja considers herself a flexspace expert after her 14 years’ experience in flex industry. Pooja completed her Masters in HKUST in 2016. Single when she first arrived in HK & now a mother of two beautiful girls, Pooja is the Sales Director and Enterprise Champion in her current profile at IWG. Pooja has worked in two of the best flex operators IWG & Wework.

Driving demand & selling flex as a solution has been keeping her up to feet everyday in the Enterprise Role in IWG.

She loves speaking to corporates about the Hybrid solution they have implemented in their business & how Covid & Flex has changed the dynamics of the way employees work.

In 2009 her largest deal was 12 desks for revenue of £144K & in 2022 it was 143 desks worth £3M. This shows the knowledge she has gained from her experience in the past 14 years with the rise of flex industry.

Reading about AI & crypto is what Pooja is doing to keep up with the Gen Z.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Besides trying to go paperless, using sustainable transport and be mindful of saving energy at work and at home wherever possible Poojas main sustainability goal is educating atleast 15 large corporates to realise the impact they will have on the environment by opting a hybrid workplace solution so that they don’t need to occupy a large traditional space of where only 50% or even less% of their workforce come to office every other day.

Michael is the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Manager at Mayer Brown. With a background in learning and development and cross-disciplinary knowledge in psychology and public health, Michael is currently leading the firm’s diversity, equity & inclusion effort in Asia. Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Michael worked at Community Business, an Asia-based non-profit that advances responsible and inclusive business practices in the region.

Brenda teaches in the Gender Studies program of The University of Hong Kong. She has a BS, MA & PhD in Psychology. She has always been among the most visible queer activist in Hong Kong and the Philippines and has appeared on TV and radio. She has been among the more prominent voices of the community speaking all over the world. Her research work and publications are mostly on exploring the trans identities using interdisciplinary approaches. She was on the Executive board of ILGA Asia (2019 to 2022) and ILGA world (2015 to 2019) and  currently the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines. She’s a mentor to Migrant Workers groups in Hong Kong. She delivered a statement in 2018 at the United Nations on Transgender Advocacy week and won the Hong Kong LGBTQ plus Public Champion and among the Finalists for AmCham  Women of Influence  2023.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Hoping Hong Kong would be a more inclusive, diverse and equitable society for all.
Hoping for greater representations for migrants and LGBTQI people.
Hoping for increased opportunities for minorities .

Utkarsh Mittal is the Global DEI and Wellbeing Transformation Leader at Schneider Electric. His role is to bring cohesion and standardization to DEI & WB processes and practices, explore opportunities to further digital transformation, and manage external partnerships with organizations on the topic.

In his previous roles, Utkarsh led the cultural and digital transformation of the global recognition program at Schneider Electric.

Utkarsh has a double Master’s in Business Management and Change Management from EDHEC Business School, France and Maastricht University, Netherlands. He holds a Bachelors in Electronics and Communication Engineering.

Surali (Su) is responsible for defining and driving the execution of the HSBC Wealth and Personal Banking strategy in Hong Kong, enabling key strategic initiatives including owning the Sustainability and Inclusion agenda across the business. With over 16 years of experience with HSBC, Su has held a number of senior market, region and global roles in Retail Banking, Private Banking & Wealth, Commercial Banking, Operations & Risk Management.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Enabling our customers and staff to discover their own ESG priorities and support HSBC to be a banking partner that enables our customers and staff members to achieve their sustainability and inclusion ambitions.

Mary has more than 30 years’ experience advising multinational and APAC-based organisations while based in Hong Kong, Seoul, Sydney and London. Her experience and expertise include corporate reputation management, employee engagement, change management, issues and crisis communications, strategic content development, and ESG and DE&I communications.

Previously she worked for leading communications consultancies Burson-Marsteller and Ogilvy Public Relations. She was also International Vice President of Marketing Communications for New York Life Insurance and Director of The Wall Street Journal’s Asia Pacific Content Studio.

Mary was one of the founders of PRHK and currently sits on the Environmental Committee. She is co-author of the book ‘Public Relations in Asia Pacific.’ The second edition will be published by Emerald in early 2024.

She holds a post-graduate certificate in Sustainable Business Strategy from Harvard Business School.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

I would like to see Hong Kong 1) strive towards its 2050 carbon neutrality goal through renewable energy, enhancing energy efficiency, and encouraging sustainable transportation; 2) work harder on developing waste reduction and recycling initiatives; and 3) recognise the importance of preserving its natural environment and biodiversity.

Known for providing expert insights, strategic counsel and creative solutions, Kiri is a trusted advisor in brand building, reputation management and crisis communications in the Asia Pacific region with over 20 years of experience leading organisations to success. A strong advocate for the value of PR-led integrated communications marketing, she is on the board of PRHK, The Marketing Society and PRCA APAC, and is a member of the PRCA Global Ethics Council.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Help businesses develop ESG strategies and programmes that are honest, active and globally beneficial.

In the capacity of Managing Director of BSH Hong Kong, Chloe Kwok is leading the business of the home appliances manufacturer with renowned brands including Bosch and Siemens.

Over 15+ years of experience in Commercial Sales and Marketing in world-class multinational corporations. Extensive experience in business transformation, strategic planning, brand marketing as well as category & channel development with a proven track record in delivering outstanding business results.

Always thrive in environments that value clear direction, energy, optimism, and positive spirit. Capable of generating compelling strategies that translate into actionable items and results. High level of agility and commitment well-recognised by working partners and stakeholders.

Inspire and lead the people through a strategic vision and purpose. Coach team members to strive towards a common goal. Embrace servant leadership, and get passionate in people development.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Hong Kong continues to strive for carbon neutrality and protect the climate and environment with collective effort and through collective actions

Lynne is General Manager, Group Corporate Affairs for The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited (HSH), a publicly listed company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and owner-operator of The Peninsula Hotels, The Peak Tram, The Peak Tower, The Repulse Bay and other luxury properties around the world. Lynne has global responsibility for crisis communication and issues management, corporate communication, financial communications, media relations and public affairs for the HSH group.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

In a personal capacity, I am currently Vice Chair of the Special Needs Network Hong Kong (SNNHK). I would like to see more inclusion, understanding and opportunities for children with special educational needs in our community.

Victoria Wisniewski Otero is the Founder & CEO of Resolve Foundation, a Hong Kong s88 nonprofit established in 2017 to inspire, empower and connect emerging community leaders for inclusive social change.

Victoria is also one of the co-founders of Voice for Social Good, a volunteer-led group of a dozen nonprofit leaders committed to promoting cross-sector collaboration, open exchange and learning, in order to build an inclusive, stronger and resilient nonprofit sector to serve the Hong Kong community. Voice for Social Good came together as a result of COVID-19.

Previously, she worked at Justice Centre Hong Kong, the Center for Economic and Social Rights in Madrid and UN HABITAT in Kuwait. Victoria has sat on advisory groups for CIVICUS Solidarity Fund and Pil-Net’s Law for Change student competition. For her community work, she was selected in 2018 for the prestigious Generation T List and in 2020 received AmCham’s Women of Influence Award.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

My lifelong goal is that everyone can feel empowered to take everyday action to make their community more inclusive, and for Hong Kong to be a place where everyone feels they belong. For the coming year, I hope to forge more avenues to attract talent to the social purpose sector and give these dedicated individuals pathways for development and growth in service of the community. This means ensuring that the nonprofit sector has adequate funding and resources to work sustainably and holistically.

Benny Siu, Head of Safety, Sustainability and Quality Assurance of Hactl, works with different stakeholders in the aviation supply chain on safety, sustainability, quality and risk management. Benny is also a Chartered Environmentalist and Chartered Safety Practitioner.

Hactl is one of the world’s leading air cargo terminal operators, providing services to over 100 airlines and 1000 freighter forwarders. Launched in 1976 to consolidate and streamline all air cargo handling in Hong Kong, Hactl has played a major role in the establishment of Hong Kong as the definitive air cargo logistics hub for Southern China and Asia.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Driving a more sustainable air cargo industry.

Carol is the Managing Director of Golin Hong Kong. She has 12 years’ experience building brand reputation and connecting brands with consumers. She was named Women to Watch 2021 by Campaign Asia-Pacific and has obtained Harvard Business School certification on Sustainable Business Strategy.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

I wish more brands will look into their brand purpose not only on comms level but how they can create real, meaningful change for the industry and society.

JLL is a leading real estate & investment management firm with 42,000+ employees in 16 countries across the APAC region helping clients buy, build, occupy and invest in a variety of assets including industrial, commercial, retail, luxury residential and hotel real estate. Justin heads up marketing for JLL across Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. In this role, he covers the wider remit of the JLL brand communication as well as demand generation. Prior to joining JLL, Justin worked in a global FMCG firm in Shanghai after spending the majority of his career with a number of global advertising agencies.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

At JLL, we continue to lead the conversation around sustainability in the built environment and advise clients in the execution of impactful sustainability programs. We practice what we preach and adhere to ever stricter standards internally with numerous initiatives across our 3 JLL HK offices from waste sorting to beach clean ups. Personally, I am trying to sort most of my household rubbish and avoid purchasing any groceries that are wrapped in needless amounts of plastic packaging.

Piyush Srivastava has over 20 years of experience in the consumer goods field in Asia and held numerous leadership roles in Pepsi and Pernod Ricard. He is deeply passionate about sustainability and spearheaded the partnership between Pernod Ricard and Eco Spirits with the aim to significantly reduce carbon footprint and accelerate the circular movement within the wine and spirits industry in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Piyush is of the firm belief that a deeper engagement between employees and ESG purpose is the key driver for ESG performance as well as higher levels of employee satisfaction and productivity.

Pat is a Partner and the Head of ESG practice in Hong Kong at KPMG China. He also leads the Sustainable Finance practice in Hong Kong and is very active in developing the ESG landscape for Hong Kong and international financial centres in the region.
Pat has been active for over 16 years in the field of sustainable development. Since 2018, Pat has chaired two working groups on the development of ESG strategy for Hong Kong for the Financial Services Development Council. The working groups have issued two policy papers during his term and the recommendations made aiming to catalyse the development of the sustainable finance market in Hong Kong have been well received.

Martin covers climate change, sustainability and ESG as a business reporter at SCMP. He joined the Post in 2018 as a graduate trainee, after completing his degree in Journalism and Global Studies at the University of Hong Kong. He holds the Certified Environmental, Social and Governance Analyst (CESGA) designation issued by the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Greater interest in climate change and sustainability among businesses, investors and the broader community

2021 Women of Power, 2019 GEN T Honoree, V Label Global Hero, 2 x TEDx Speaker: Serial social entrepreneur & trends forecaster Sonalie Figueiras is a sustainability expert, food futurist and eco-powerhouse who has been inspiring global audiences for over a decade with practical steps on how to fight climate change. Known as the Green Queen of Asia, she is the founder and Editor in Chief of the award-winning Green Queen – the region’s first impact media platform that educates millions of readers on the connection between health, sustainability and the environment and showcases future solutions. She is also the co-founder and CEO of organic sourcing platform Ekowarehouse and climate tech SaaS Source Green, which helps consumer brands quit plastic packaging thanks to proprietary plastic reduction software In addition, Sonalie is a global keynote speaker and an advisor to multiple mission-driven startups and NGOs, and a venture partner to several VC funds.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

• Working on how to make the food and climate connection more mainstream
• Helping companies quit plastic in their packaging supply chain

Luca is a Managing Director, Sustainability & Experience Design Lead at Accenture Song with over 17 years consulting experience in NA & APAC. He helps companies transform into sustainable and efficient organizations, bringing brand purpose to life through innovation, and designing meaningful experiences that drives conscious consumption behaviors. Luca is also Accenture’s Greater China Cross Cultural Diversity Lead and holds a Global ESG Competent Boards designation (GCB.D).

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

I would like to see companies in Hong Kong start seeing carbon emission as a business cost and recognize the need to transform into a sustainable business to remain market relevant.

Ivan is General Manager of LEGO Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. Ivan leads the growth and development of People, Brand and Business growth in these 3 very exciting markets. Together with his team, the 3 markets achieved over +20% growth in 2022 and 2021 with Hong Kong as 1 of top 3 markets with highest active LEGO consumers globally.

Ivan is a passionate advocate of sustainable organization, development and productivity, he led initiatives to provide holistic wellness benefits especially mental wellness, bringing out the best of employees between working from office and home, energizer activities in office to increase sustainable motivation and productivity.

Prior to his current role, Ivan was Regional Head of Marketing of Asia-Pacific at The LEGO Group, leading marketing strategy across 15 markets and also Asia-Pacific’s representation into global product, packaging and marketing development.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Organizations to have big vision but small and actionable steps towards environmental & people sustainability.

​​Florence Cheng is the Head of Impact Strategy at Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVhk) and Co-Founder of COSMOS, its corporate impact consultancy arm. She is an experienced social leader dedicated to driving business and community partnerships, including the Community Resilience Fund (award-winning bridging loan facility for social enterprises) and Business with Purpose (an impact movement to advance businesses as a force for good).

Ivy started her career in hotel, petrochemical company and public media organization as an in-house trainer focusing on management and customer service training. She is a highly experienced human resources and total quality management professional with 30 years of experience in the field. She has worked across various industries included Jewellery, Fintech and hotels; and has a proven track record of spearheading the development and deployment of company vision, creating a communicative culture, and caring workplace in alignment with people and culture strategies.

She is also committed to promoting good management practices and has been appointed by the Hong Kong Government to be a Cross-Industry Training Advisory Committee Member in the Human Resources Management Sector of the Qualifications Framework. She is also a member of the Board of Examiners for the Quality Award and Training & Development Awards for the Hong Kong Management Association.
My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

I hope to see a strong emphasis on educating and training individuals and organizations about ESG principles, coupled with practical implementation approaches. By prioritizing sustainability education and providing hands-on training, Hong Kong can empower its residents and businesses to embrace ESG practices in a meaningful and impactful way.By promoting awareness, Hong Kong can foster a culture of sustainability and responsible business with purpose.

Sangeeth operates under the International Tax and Transactions practice, with a focus on transfer pricing. She is based in Hong Kong, and has international experience from being on long term assignments such as in Taiwan and India. She has over 17 years of experience covering tax policy, planning, implementation and controversy for a broad spectrum of clients across industry sectors. In her role she manages diverse teams within EY and also in her client base.

Speaker at DEI events focused on cultural diversity at both external and EY internal events. Most recently spoke at the Zubin Foundation’s Conference on “Status of Racial Minorities in Hong Kong 2023: Journey to Racial Equality” in May 2023.

Founded the set-up of EY HK’s Cultural Diversity Network, and now plays a key lead role as Co-Chair of this network. This network is aimed at building a culture, both within EY and externally, that prioritizes inclusiveness.

Vivian Gee is CEO of Fair Employment Foundation, which works to drive better migrant labor outcomes across Asia. Previously, she helped Fortune 500 companies with their CSR, ESG, and sustainability strategies. Vivian has also consulted for funders and has developed donor education programs at Stanford’s Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society. In the private sector, Vivian oversaw Temasek’s corporate philanthropic trust, with an endowment then totaling US $1.5B. With respect to the public sector, at the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, Vivian played a key role in launching the first international network of central bank policymakers focused on financial services for the poor. As a Global Leadership Fellow at the World Economic Forum, Vivian helped build an international community of social enterprises and fostered collaboration with businesses, governments, and civil society. Vivian holds an MBA from INSEAD and bachelor and master degrees from Stanford University.

Ms. Sara Ho is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Jebsen Group, with over 20 years of professional experience in human resources.

Since joining Jebsen Group in 2007, Ms. Ho has been instrumental in leading the HR transformation journey, introducing agile operating models, driving HR digitalisation, and introducing “Jebsen’s Employee Lifecycle” to enhance the employee experience. In addition to her HR role, Ms. Ho oversees the development and growth of the Group’s Sustainability framework.

As a member of the Group’s Management Board Committee, Ms. Ho has demonstrated strategic thinking and leadership, driving Jebsen Group’s sustainable business, organizational, and people growth across Greater China.

Pearl Liu is a seasoned professional with a wealth of life experience. After dedicating nine years to being a full-time mom and successfully nurturing a happy and harmonious household, she maintained her desire to return to the workforce. She joined Porsche, a division of the Jebsen Group, as a part-time Customer Service Executive, focusing on delivering exceptional service experiences to her clients. Her experience is a testament to her unwavering commitment to professional development, even amidst the pressure of caring for her family. She is passionate about her work and believes that work and family can coexist and mutually contribute to personal growth and happiness.

Fion Leung is the Co-founder of Time Auction, a charity that promotes volunteerism.
Time Auction was started as a side project in 2014 and registered as a charity in 2017. Since then, Fion has dedicated herself full-time to leveraging technology to drive scalable impact.

At Time Auction, volunteering goes beyond traditional norms. Volunteers are encouraged with empowering experiences, from cooking with Michelin-starred chefs to creative workshops. In 2020, Fion launched a platform that efficiently connects skilled volunteers with nonprofits that can benefit from their talents.

To date, the Time Auction community has contributed over 190,000 volunteer hours.
Fion’s work was recognized on the Tatler Hong Kong’s Generation T List 2019, as a GLG Social Impact Fellow in 2021, and as an Asia 21 2022 Class of Young Leaders. Previously, Fion worked as a Product Evangelist at Notey, and a Graduate Analyst at Barclays. She graduated from HKUST with a degree in Business Administration.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

My sustainability goals for Hong Kong are for more people to adopt daily habits for sustainable living, and for more companies and organizations to integrate sustainability and impact into their culture.

Fred Cheng is General Manager of AIRLAND, leading the brand revitalization through a series of campaigns, with highlighted in curating the flagship in Airland Galleria. Located in the heart of Causeway Bay, Airland Galleria is the focal point of the brand, as well as a multi-functional space supporting local individuals and organizations who look for physical exposure for their dreams.

Founded in 1966, AIRLAND has been the pioneer to introduce spring mattresses in Hong Kong. Over the years, AIRLAND has been focusing on the production of high-quality mattresses and other bedding products. With the belief of “Quality First”, AIRLAND has been moving forward all the way and has been affirmed by governments and several authoritative organizations. As early as 1982, AIRLAND was the first company in the industry to awarded the Q-MARK Certificate, and this continues for more than 40 years as the beloved sleeping companion for countless families in Hong Kong.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Bringing more sustainable practices to my company and people around myself, at a minimal level that could easily be accepted.

Dr. Andes Leung, Co-founder and CEO of “RunOurCity”, a social enterprise aims to transform life through the promotion of street-running. The signature projects include “Youth.ROC”, “Youth.ONE”, Running for SEN Students and BEE Family Coach which have trained over 13,000 youngsters. He has organized 40 large scale running events with over 140,000 runners in various districts including road-running races, “HONG KONG STREETATHON” – the second largest race in Hong Kong, will have it’s first FULL marathon distance category in the city center around Victoria Harbour. He is an Ultra-marathoner and finisher of over 100 races including Round Taiwan 1,045km, Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) 170 km, and 4 Desert Race Series in Antarctica, Gobi, Sahara and Atacama. He published 2 books named “12 marathons in 7 continents” and “12 marathons to happiness” to share his running experience around the world. He is a columnist in am730 and Recruit Magazine.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Hong Kong becomes a healthy, inclusive and positive (HIP) city.

Alasdair is the Co-founder of Socially Responsible Limited, a Social Enterprise building charity engagement software for individuals and corporations. Alasdair began building Socially Responsible in 2022 to address the challenges faced by charities, individuals, and companies in navigating Hong Kong’s philanthropic landscape.

Socially Responsible is launching a no-fee smartphone application for donation facilitation featuring locally focused, high-impact charities in Hong Kong.

Alasdair has spent the past 5 years working in the Lithium-ion battery industry with a particular focus on the electric vehicle and energy storage markets. He established Socially Responsible Limited as a side project to drive a different kind of impact, one with a distinct focus on supporting vulnerable communities in overcoming increasing pressures driven by Climate Change and growing global inequality. Alasdair holds an MA from the University of Aberdeen and an MSc from the University of Hong Kong.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

In 2023 and 2024, Hong Kong must focus on harnessing the city’s technological innovation capacities to tackle the territory’s most pressing socio-economic challenges, from ecosystem degradation to the everyday challenges faced by our most vulnerable groups. Hong Kong must move to implement solutions prioritising social and environmental progress for all stakeholders, not just profits for shareholders.

Gene Soo is the Head of Ecosystem of Global Innovation Department at MTR. Having led the creation of Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem by cofounding StartupsHK, Gene is now tasked with building new businesses and enhancing the core MTR business with technology, partnerships, and new business models. Prior to his role at MTR, Gene led the launch of Citymapper, a transport app, into Hong Kong in 2015 as General Manager. Prior to Citymapper, Gene has been involved in building fashion, lifestyle and mobile gaming startups.

Gene has been pushing for more focus on user experience, sustainability and open data practice in Hong Kong and believes strongly in improving daily lives through better design and technology.

Gene received his BS and MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University as well as MBA from Columbia University.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

For 2022, I would hope to see the city to push for better use of design, technology and innovation such that green and sustainable habits would become second nature to people in Hong Kong.

​​Florence Cheng is the Head of Impact Strategy at Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVhk) and Co-Founder of COSMOS, its corporate impact consultancy arm. She is an experienced social leader dedicated to driving business and community partnerships, including the Community Resilience Fund (award-winning bridging loan facility for social enterprises) and Business with Purpose (an impact movement to advance businesses as a force for good).

Adam is the Vice President of Global Development and Communications for EMpower, a foundation that partners with local organisations to enable marginalised young people to transform their lives and communities. He brings over 20 years of experience working in international development, including on education, livelihoods, and health. Adam is passionate about shifting power, resources, and decision-making towards locally led organisations and young communities.

He is a reformed MBA, who left behind a previous specialisation in change management and work with consultancies such as McKinsey & Co.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

I hope to raise the profile of local organisations in Asia who are providing solutions for marginalised young people.

Samuel KWONG is the General Manager – ESG of Chinachem Group with over 25 years of experience in sustainability with multinational conglomerates covering businesses including sports & entertainment, food & beverages, aviation, hospitality, real estate, retail, shipping & infrastructure developments. He is a director of HKIQEP, past Chairman of CIWEM HK & former director of HKGBC & HKBEC. Sam is an engineer by training with bachelor and master degrees from The University of Hong Kong and a master degree of environmental engineering from ENTPE, France, MBA degree from the Chinese University Hong Kong and a degree of laws from the University of London.

Karen is a chartered town planner and project manager specialising in urban integration and city management strategies. Before joining JCDISI she was the technical manager for the Elizabeth Line project in the UK and the Walk DVRC project HK.

Karen’s keen interest in human-centric design sees her leading a number of participatory co-design projects focusing on design for well-being and creating shared value through cross-sector collaborations, including Transitional Social Housing, reinventing open space through the Intergenerational Play Space design concept, health and wellbeing of children living in Subdivided Unit, community planning for an age-friendly community and transformation of the Residential Child Care Services with NGOs. She has a Masters in Urban Regeneration, Masters in Public Administration and PgD in Innovation and Design Thinking.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

The discussion on ESG to move beyond benchmarking and towards business as mutual and being a good neighbour.

Vera Wu is Deputy Director – Mainland Business Operation, Hang Lung Properties, where she is responsible for formulating and executing development strategies and overseeing project operations. She possesses over 20 years of experience in corporate communications, marketing, property leasing and management.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

To incorporate sustainability in placemaking initiatives for creating compelling spaces for all of our stakeholders in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Mr. Francis Ngai is the Founder of Social Ventures Hong Kong. As an Impact Designer for cities of the future, he has founded and incubated hundreds of social innovation projects since 2007, with an innovation portfolio that spans Hong Kong’s first venture philanthropy fund, notable social start-ups (Green Monday, Light Be social housing, Hatch co-working factory, COMM,ON community clubhouse, Playtao Education), and next generation impact talent programmes (Creative Beings youth apprenticeship, House of Social Innovators impact holidays and the Social Leaders Programme).

In order to empower the ecosystem of NewUrban movements like “Purpose Business & Start-up”, “Exponential Philanthropy”, “Impact Storytelling” and more, Francis founded SONOVA and COSMOS together with co-partners within SVhk. They provide professional services on impact and communications advisory, capacity building and collaboration support to corporates, foundations, SPOs and the public sector.

Architect, entrepreneur, and urban thinker passionate about architecture and urban environments that have a lasting impact on society, Eric Ho is the Co-founder and Director of Architecture Commons, a design agency for urban innovation.

Eric studied architecture at University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where he was the recipient of the Faculty Design Award. In addition to his passion in architecture, Eric started a civic start-up MILES: a real estate platform for neighbourhood and community good through activating underused storefront spaces, and Good Goods: a next generation shared economy platform for retail in New York.

Eric is currently a faculty member at Parsons School of Design and teaches design thinking and design strategy. He is also a lecturer at Chinese University of Hong Kong School of Architecture. In 2019, he started “Neighbourhood Innovation Lab” to tackle how we might design human-centred cities, one neighbourhood at a time.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

To create and cultivate projects that can promote and cultivate sustainability visions for users and stakeholders of urban spaces. Let’s chat~!

Ms Ho is appointed the Secretary for Housing on 1 July 2022. Ms Ho joined the Government as Architect in 1992 and was promoted to Chief Architect in 2009, and to Government Architect in 2012. She was appointed the Director of Architectural Services in 2020. Apart from serving in the Architectural Services Department, Ms Ho had been posted to work as the Deputy Head of Energizing Kowloon East Office under the Development Bureau. During the out-break of COVID-19 in 2020 to 2022, she has actively participated in the construction of quarantine facilities, temporary hospitals and community isolation facilities at Penny’s Bay, Kai Tak and many other locations by adoption of Modular Integrated Construction method.

Ms Ho graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of The University of Hong Kong. She also attended the Advanced Management Program of INSEAD in France. She is a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects and a Registered Architect.