Eileen O’Connell

Eileen brings more than 25 years of business development and consulting experience across markets world-wide, including Europe and the US, with 20 of those years in Asia-Pacific, and based in Hong Kong. She was latterly a leader in the Client & Industry team at EY (Asia Pacific) Ltd, focused on the financial services industry, and she worked closely with technology partners to drive digital transformation for clients across the region. A qualified Non-Executive Director, Eileen brings a strong governance perspective to discussions on board composition, effective decision-making and the risks of groupthink.
As a passionate champion of social inclusion and diversity, Eileen is the Chair of the British Chamber’s Women in Business committee driving growth in membership and increasing the focus on advocacy and policy work with government. Eileen is a member of The Women’s Foundation (TWF) Allies Circle and was a mentor on the 2021/22 cohort of the TWF mentoring programme.

For 15 years, Eileen successfully led fundraising for The Christina Noble Children’s Foundation in Hong Kong raising several million dollars from events and corporate sponsorship, and today she sits on the board of the Royal Geographic Society as well as the fundraising board of Inspiring Girls, where the vision is “to empower the next generation of female leaders in Hong Kong”. This hands-on board experience, combined with her governance training, informs her interest in how diverse perspectives shape better boardroom decisions.

Eileen holds the internationally renowned Financial Times Non-Executive Director (NED) diploma and a BSc in Biology from Goldsmith’s, University of London. A permanent resident of Hong Kong, Eileen is originally from the UK, of Irish ancestry, and takes advantage of living in a city by the sea from hiking the many trails or swimming in the seas around Clearwater Bay and Sai Kung. She earned her marine boat driving license at the first attempt in 2007.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

• With my board and NGO involvement, I make it a personal goal to raise sustainability/ESG reporting as a discussion item wherever I sit on a board this year, if it isn’t already on the agenda.
• Hong Kong’s landfills are close to capacity and the government has shelved the municipal waste-charging scheme for now, so personal habits (including mine) matter more than the policy currently in place. The government could be encouraging residents to be properly set up with the colour-coded recycling bins (blue/yellow/brown) rather than relying on general waste.
• On a personal level, I have tried to minimise my flights, or at least offset the ones that I take. Also I am attempting to “buy nothing new” for the next three months, especially clothing — Hong Kong’s fast-fashion culture makes this challenging but meaningful.