Cover The winners of this year's Front & Female Awards
The winners of this year's Front & Female Awards
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The Front & Female Awards Hong Kong 2023 on November 30 was a celebration of the pioneers championing the progress of women in Hong Kong
When: November 30, 2023
Where: Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong’s Atrium and Library
Who: Libby Alexander, Jennifer Yu Cheng, Nicole Denholder, Taura Edgar, Catherine Gurtin, Patricia Ho, Judy Kan, Shalini Mahtani and more.
Here’s what you missed:
For the second year in a row, the Front & Female Awards celebrated pioneers championing the progress of women in Hong Kong. The 2023 edition of the awards, emceed by Front & Female regional content director Rachel Duffell, saw a hundred women in attendance; they sat down to an elegant luncheon at the Atrium and Library at the Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong. Guests included the awards’ 20 nominees, who were honoured for their work in championing the progress of women in the city. The event was supported by headline sponsor Standard Chartered Private Bank, which has been steadfast in its initiatives in driving diversity and inclusion in the workplace and in growing its pool of women in leadership positions globally.
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Tamara Lamunière, the founder of Front & Female, opened the ceremony by sharing her excitement about being surrounded by so many inspiring women and supportive men. A welcome speech from Duffell followed, reflecting on the growth of Front & Female since its establishment in 2020. After introducing the 20 nominees, she invited actor Dolly de Leon, who had flown in from the Philippines, to the stage, for a fireside chat with Lamunière. De Leon, who made history as The Philippines’ first actor to be nominated for a Golden Globe and invited to be a member by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the organisation behind the Oscars, recounted how she pursued her career as an actress while being a single mother of four.
“Because cinema did not write characters for people like me, I had to come at peace with always playing the role of the auntie, or other kind of side characters,” she said. “Directors would only refer to me as my role’s name, which was quite dehumanising, and on top of that, I had debts I needed to pay back. I almost gave up acting, until one of my daughters convinced me to pursue my dream.” De Leon’s role in the 2022 comedy and thriller Triangle of Sadness earned her a Golden Globe nomination in the following year, propelling her career to new heights.
Above Dolly de Leon and Tamara Lamunière
Above Dolly de Leon
Dolly de Leon and Tamara Lamunière
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Following the talk, Duffell moderated Blueprint to a Better You: Achieving Success, Sanity and Satisfaction, a panel discussion that featured four of the eight women who will be Front & Female Awards Mentors this year and who also served on the Voting Committee: Joanna Hotung, founder of the KG Group and director of the Hotung Mills Education Foundation; Lindsey McAlister, founder of the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation; Vivien Khoo, founder of Web3Women; and Yvette Kong, former Olympic athlete, founding board member of Mind Hong Kong, global advisory board for mental wellbeing at Lululemon and MIT lecturer. From what intimidates them to the lessons they learned from their careers, the four women opened up about their journeys.
De Leon, Duffell and Joey Siu, chief operating officer at Standard Chartered Private Bank, then presented the awards to the seven winners: Libby Alexander, co-founder and CEO of Splash Foundation, a non-profit organisation that connects people who know how to swim with those who want to learn; Nicole Denholder, founder of Next Chapter Raise and co-founder of Sophia, which both educate women on personal finances and investment readiness; Taura Edgar, founder of Talk Hong Kong, which supports survivors of child sexual abuse; Catherine Gurtin, CEO of Pathfinders, an organisation that educates and empowers migrant women going through motherhood; Patricia Ho, lawyer, lecturer and founder of the Hong Kong Dignity Institute, which supports the most vulnerable populations in Hong Kong; Judy Kan, executive director of the Her Fund, a community fund that supports vulnerable women and girls in Hong Kong through capacity-building, grants and leadership training; and Shalini Mahtani, founder of The Zubin Foundation, which works with underprivileged ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.
With deafening cheers from the audience, the winners took to the stage for photos. The event wrapped up with a networking session, as well as with the announcement that six award categories—including a social impact award, a rising champion award and a well-being award, would be created for the 2024 Front & Female Awards. Nominations are now open.
The 2023 ceremony is a firm reminder that Front & Female continues to highlight women’s impact on Hong Kong’s society and economy, and shows that, together, women are an unstoppable force of positive change.
Kay McArdle, Fiona Nott and Maaike Steinebach
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Photos: Humphrey Ng and Jocelyn Tam
Video: Julia Marchak
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Credits
Photography: Humphrey Ng and Jocelyn Tam
Topics
Salomé Grouard was Digital Editor and Front & Female Content Lead at Tatler Hong Kong. Primarily focused on managing Tatler Hong Kong’s digital platform and content, she also covers gender equality, the music scene and sports through interviews with industry leaders, experts and trendsetters.
Interview highlights include renowned conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, Korean actor Park Seo Jun, singer Jorja Smith, Chinese TV host Yue-Sai Kan, YouTuber Kimono Mom, Japanese rapper Awich, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Mikey Musumeci.
She has also produced stories on revolutionising sexual wellness in Asia, activism within the surfing community, Asian trans musicians reclaiming their narratives through music and looked at the toxicity of gym culture through the lens of the plus-size community. She also covers music festivals, such as Hong Kong’s Clockenflap and Bali’s Suara.
