I founded a company [Bizibuz] that provides parents, and particularly working mothers, with a range of unique tools to drive better decisions and reduce daily frictions in managing supplementary education for kids.

Who inspires you and why? 
Other women that are closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship by building successful businesses, accessing institutional funding, innovating in technology and by their very existence as role models, are changing the opportunity set for other women. 

What advice would you share with the next generation of women and girls? 
We each have the capacity to change the world for the better by thinking deeply about what a life well-lived means to us and by having the courage to make the most of every opportunity to get a little closer to that reality every day. 

Read more: Bizibuz’s Cristy Almeida on founding a business that supports other women and the power of great mentorship

I educate women on personal finances and investment readiness through my companies Sophia and Next Chapter Raise.

What is most rewarding about your work? 
There are two elements that are rewarding. Firstly, the fact that every day I get to meet amazing people and be inspired by their passion and business journey. Through my businesses I have expanded my network and exposure to new ideas more than I ever thought possible. Secondly, it’s that each day gives me the opportunity to pursue or talk about my passion, which is getting more money into the hands of women. I truly believe that improved financial access and control can empower not only women but the wider community. This can only lead to good things.

How do you set work-life boundaries?
This was especially difficult when I moved from the corporate world into entrepreneurship. What I have learned is that work-life balance means different things to me at different times. I also recognise that some days, weeks, months may be more hectic than others. I schedule everything that is important to me—both personally and professionally—and make sure I stick to those commitments.

Read more: Shuyin Tang and Nicole Denholder on closing the gender finance gap and redefining what it means to be a successful entrepreneur

[At TALK Hong Kong] we support survivors of child sexual abuse and help everyone in making evidence-informed responses that best protect as many children as possible from sexual abuse.

What is the greatest challenge you have overcome?
I’m a survivor of incest and figuring out what to do with that pain is a life-long project—the most impactful project of my life.

What impact do you want to make in the next five years? 
I want to improve the way we understand and prevent child sexual abuse in Hong Kong.  Right now we know very little about it and do not have the resources needed to safeguard the 12 percent of kids in Hong Kong that suffer from sexual abuse. Why?  Because we are not talking about it and looking at the facts that would help us plan to protect kids more effectively.

What advice would you share with other women? 
Start. That thing you are passionate about? Start it. Don’t wait until it’s perfect. Don’t wait until you are totally ready. If you think of it as a long term project you can start with simple steps and learn along the way. You could change your neighbourhood. You could change the world.

With my team at RUN Hong Kong, we support vulnerable refugees, particularly women, to build resilience and nurture self-reliance for a more hopeful future.

Who inspires you and why?
The women with whom I work inspire and humble me every day. When you have lost your livelihood and loved ones, and are still able to smile and be resilient, you are very inspirational.

What’s the best piece of advice you have received?
"Onwards and upwards”. Keep going one step at a time, even in the darkness. We, women, are not alone and have each other, and this is our greatest strength.

Why is it important to you to support women in particular in Hong Kong?
Women have an implicit and tacit way of understanding and supporting each other. I want to help maintain these bonds across all levels of society regardless of nationality, education, past trauma or financial status.

At PathFinders [where I am CEO], we intervene during a crisis to comfort and care for children born to migrant mothers. To prevent a crisis we educate and empower migrant women to make well-informed life decisions while living and working in Hong Kong (HK), and provide employers with information and advice to enable a pregnant worker to enjoy her right to maternity leave and to maintain job security. We engage with the general public to increase understanding, acceptance and support for children born to MDWs, and inspire systemic change by ensuring policies and solutions exist to protect pregnant MDWs and their children.

What is the greatest challenge you have overcome?
One of my greatest challenges growing up was witnessing both my parents’ struggles with their mental health. I wasn’t quite old enough at ten to understand why my Dad was signed off work for three months due to stress, but at sixteen there was no doubt about the seriousness of my Mum’s situation. I can still close my eyes and vividly witness the conversation in the car with Dad, who had come to pick me up from my Saturday job, telling me Mum had been sectioned after attempting suicide. 

While it was a harrowing experience walking down the halls of a mental health hospital to see Mum lying frail and despondent in a bed, I soon came to understand what a gift her crisis would become for both of us. For me, it was the fundamental belief that everything happens for a reason. It was just a case of trying to see future possibilities and opportunities for change. For both of us, we gained an inherent appreciation that the world is uncertain and rigid constructs, like believing someone else has the power and ability to make you feel a certain way, are flawed. That you always have the ability to choose how you allow others to make you feel and how you wish to respond.

What does success mean to you?
In our increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, there will usually be more than one path to the same destination—but for me success means bringing others with you on that journey—especially if you find opportunities to lift them along the way.

I am one of the few Asian female commercial airline pilots, and also the creator of the STEM-related series, Life Lessons From The Sky. I am passionate about inspiring the younger generation and encouraging other women to go after their dreams and become the person they want to be regardless of background, gender and age.

Who is your hero and why?
Amelia Earhart, the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She is the woman who inspired me to pursue my aviation career.

She said, “The most effective way to do it is to do it.” The courage she had in her time is rare. She turned her dream into action. She realised her dream and inspired many others to follow her example.  

What advice would you share with others?
"Aviate Navigate Communicate" is a common aviation mantra that emphasises the priorities for pilots in emergency situations. It can also be taken into our daily lives:
– Aviate: Fly your own plane. Love and take care of yourself, both physically and mentally
– Navigate: Be courageous. Have faith in yourself to try, explore, open up options and get to know yourself better every single day
– Communicate: Let your inner self speak up, tell and show the world who you want to be with your passion. 
Start now! We all do not have to be perfect to start.

Read more: When fashion takes flight: pilot Christina Ho's unconventional journey to the cockpit

I am a lawyer on a mission to offer real, holistic and practical solutions to the most vulnerable populations in Hong Kong [by working to progress government policy and law, and helping Hong Kong NGOs and international bodies advocate for Hong Kong's most marginalised including refugees, asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking].

What impact do you want to make in the next five years?
I want to show Hong Kong that our vulnerable and marginalised populations deserve the best professional interdisciplinary services to help them solve the deep rooted problems they face, and that many more government service centres such as those operated by the Social Welfare Department will start serving with this approach.

What advice would you share with others?
Spend time to think through what you want to do with your life. Allow your brain, heart and gut to align to know what you are passionate about, what you are good at, and go for it. 

I am the executive director of HER Fund [a community fund that supports Hong Kong's most vulnerable women and girls through capacity-building, grants and leadership training], a board of director of Prospera International Network of Women’s Funds, a core member of Voice for Social Good [a community for women leading NGOs], and a mother.

What impact do you want to make in the next five years? 
I want to bring in more and better resources for women, girls and trans communities, especially those who are vulnerable or hidden so that they have resources, power and say to make positive changes as they need and want to. By better resources, I mean not just project-based and rigid in the use of funds, but holistic support that is flexible according to needs. This is why I need to bring in more funders and donors to believe and support in a different way. 

What does success mean to you?
Success means being proud of what I am doing or believing, even if it’s not mainstream. 

I am the founder and CEO of Uplifters, a charity offering free online education and peer coaching to migrant domestic workers to help lift them out of poverty. 

Who inspires you and why?
I am inspired by the strength and resilience of the women we support at Uplifters. Our students are migrant domestic workers who have often endured a lot of hardships in their lives while they live abroad, far from their children and families. Yet, they take the time to educate themselves at the end of their long working days. They selflessly give back to the community and become peer leaders to support fellow domestic workers in our programmes. I often tell myself that if they find the energy to do it, then I have to put all my heart into building the tools and the systems to make it possible.

What advice would you share with other women? 
“Don’t wait until you have figured it all out to get started. You will learn one step at a time.” Many women lack the confidence to start their own projects because they only see what they don’t know yet. As I was building Uplifters, I realised that I was little by little learning the skills I needed along the way.  

I’m a female F&B entrepreneur pushing for positive social change. I founded Time to Gold, an award-winning social enterprise where we hire grassroots women who are in need of a job, produce traditional pastries and preserve traditional Hong Kong culture while supporting women empowerment. 

What impact do you want to make in the next five years? 
As forecasted by the World Health Organization, 40 percent of the Hong Kong population will be 65 or above soon. As society ages, we face new social problems including a labour shortfall and intergenerational misunderstandings and conflicts. I wish to think ahead and carry out preventive measures in the next five years, which include continuing my work of supporting elderly women who want to join the labor force—I currently employ more than 30 elderly women and hope to double that number in five years providing them with a stable income to self-sustain financially; pushing forward family friendly measures, including continuing to providing flexible working hours and short shift positions; and advocate for other corporates to do so as a committee member of the Golden Age Foundation and The Social Enterprise Summit to create greater impact; and promoting intergenerational harmony by using my social enterprise to pass on traditional culture and encourage different generations to learn to speak each other's language in order to build a more inclusive and harmonious community.

Why is it important to you to support women in particular in Hong Kong? 
Hong Kong, like many other places, has faced challenges related to gender equality, including gender stereotyping, limited opportunities, and societal expectations. By actively supporting women and girls, we can challenge these barriers and create a more level playing field for all. When women and girls are given equal access to education, employment and leadership positions, they can contribute their unique perspectives, skills and talents to various sectors, fostering innovation and driving positive change. By advocating for and uplifting women and girls, we contribute to building a more inclusive and equitable society.

Furthermore, women constitute a significant portion of the population and possess immense untapped potential. For instance, the elderly women I employ in my social enterprise are all great chefs, however, were always undermined and assigned to low-skilled repetitive cleaning job roles. We can unlock their talent and contribution, leading to increased productivity, economic growth and social progress.

Read more: Zip Cheung and Anita Lee on why improving elder visibility in Hong Kong is important

I run the investment team at StashAway, where we manage more than US$1bn in asset allocation portfolios for clients globally. 

Who inspires you and why?
My grandma—she was a very strong woman and encouraged me to think about what I really wanted, not how I’d like others to see me. She used to tell me all her stories that showed she was well ahead of her time. I used to wear my hair in a ponytail because girls were expected to keep their hair long but I actually didn’t like the feeling of having straight hair on the back of my neck. One day she asked me, ‘why don’t you just cut it short?’—and that was my a-ha moment.

What impact do you want to make in the next five years? 
This is an ambitious goal—but I’d like to help and enable everyone to ‘do the right thing’ when it comes to investing and managing their money. 

I am the chief empowerment officer of Hatch, an impact venture of Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVhk) which pilots prototypes and builds platforms to provide chances and choices for women, especially mothers, to become changemakers for themselves, their families and the community.

What advice would you share with the next generation of women and girls?
Be kind and authentic to yourself and others; be the change you want to see in the world. As a mother of two young daughters, these are the two principles that I uphold in my parenting journey. 

Why is it important to you to support women in Hong Kong?
Hong Kong celebrates a lot of ‘successes’ but the mainstream definition of success has always been extremely conventional and narrow. For instance, we are one of the poorest cities in terms of happiness. We definitely need to widen the spectrum of success and create pathways to enable different aspirations to shine. After all, happiness is the ultimate currency in life. Hatching more changemakers and dreamers is possibly the best investment we could have for our city.

I am the director of the Hong Kong Federation of Women’s Centres (HKFWC), and am responsible for leading the organisation to maintain its strategic objectives in promoting the rights and interests of disadvantaged women in Hong Kong.

What impact do you want to make in the next five years? 
To model-build social work interventions with a gender perspective. For example, to showcase to the mainstream social work sector that addressing women’s mental health and wellness with a gender perspective will help alleviate women’s mental distress because of gender stereotypes that mean women are expected to perform certain roles, e.g. taking up the unremitting responsibility in caring for family members, changing to part-time jobs with lower income and retirement protection in case of childcare, becoming economically dependent after marriage and having few resources to react to crisis in different life stages. 

Why is it important to you to support women and girls in Hong Kong?
Achieving justice in gender has been something dear to me since I first had knowledge about it. The discrimination against women, though structural, has become subtle in Hong Kong. It needs to be pointed out and changed so that women and girls will live in an environment that no longer limits their potential simply because of their gender. 

I lead the global operations of Forma Lighting, an architectural lighting manufacturer, through which I support and serve Women in Lighting, a project that profiles and celebrates the work of women in the field of lighting to promote inclusivity and inspire the next generation of women in the industry.

Who inspires you and why?
Locally, I am inspired by Marisa Yu’s contribution through the Design Trust, an initiative promoting inclusivity in design which also nurtures young talent.

Ubiquitous with equality and women’s rights is the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Her intellect was inspiring and I marvel at her dissents. Her biography gave me perspective on adversity, grit and perseverance. 

What advice would you share with others? 
Just keep moving forward. Do not let the highs or lows bring you to a halt, because they don't last—so just move on and look ahead towards the next goal. This advice is actually encrypted in Forma Lighting's tagline—the future of light is moving.

I am a mother, I run The Zubin Foundation, which works with the poorest ethnic minorities in HK, and I am a member of the Commission for Children. 

What’s the best piece of advice you have received? 
Two great pieces of advice I received: one from my Mum: “You can’t change anyone; they can only change themselves”. And the other from my mentor Christine Loh: “Lots of people have ideas, but what will you do with them?”

What does success mean to you?
Improving someone’s life.

Read more: 4 female leaders on racial discrimination, diversity and the drivers of their success

I work with communities in Hong Kong to spark courage and curiosity in conversations about body image and mental health.

What impact do you want to make in the next five years? 
My vision for impact in the next five years is to contribute to a Hong Kong where open dialogues about mental health are increasingly normalised within everyday settings. I envision sitting in a coffee shop, overhearing someone ask the person opposite them, “How are you doing today?” and hearing an honest answer to that question. I would like to help build a Hong Kong where people progressively feel more comfortable with bringing up their mental health needs within familial, friendship and workplace settings.

Why is it important to you to inspire women and girls in particular in Hong Kong? 
I feel passionately about inspiring women and girls in Hong Kong because growing up as a young woman here, I have personally experienced the pressures of pervasive societal messaging that highlights our insecurities and undermines our abilities. My hope is that, through my mental health advocacy work, I can spread the message with women from all walks of life that they deserve to break free from limiting beliefs that their body size and shape should determine their worth and capabilities in any way. I also hope that as a young woman in the early stages of a career in the mental health field, I can lead by example, showing other young Hong Kong women interested in this field that it is worthwhile and possible to speak up about topics that are commonly labelled ‘too taboo’ to talk about.

Read more: Body Banter’s Stephanie Ng on overcoming an eating disorder and the unhealthy side of eating healthy

I lead a registered charity [Enrich] in Hong Kong which empowers migrant domestic workers through financial and empowerment education.

What are your philosophies about work and life? 
It’s important for me to do work that is aligned with my values, but the same applies with life; spending my time in a way that is consistent with the people and things I care about. Keeping this front and centre helps me to prioritise and create balance, knowing that there’s an opportunity cost when we all have limited time. Ultimately it’s about knowing what is important to you and defining success at work and in life on your own terms. 

Why is it important to you to support women and girls in Hong Kong? 
For me, it’s all about education for women and girls. It’s so true that when you educate a woman you educate a village; there is always a ripple effect when you support women and girls. This is especially important when working with women with fewer opportunities and more limited access, so I’m a big proponent of making sure that when we talk about women and gender equality, we make sure we’re talking about all women.

Read more: Christine Yu and Lucinda Pike on the importance of financial literacy for women empowerment

I founded Women of Hong Kong, a community led by women that is committed to empowering women through the promotion of self-growth, conscious connections and personal development.

What impact do you want to make in the next five years? 
Over the next five years, my objective is to extend the Women of Hong Kong community beyond its current borders and reach other parts of Asia. My aim is to empower women to achieve their goals, which will have a positive impact on society and future generations. I am convinced that our community's mission is universal and can resonate with women from all walks of life. By establishing a network of individuals who share our values and objectives, we can create a movement for positive change that empowers and supports women throughout Asia. As part of this expansion, I plan to create physical spaces and venues that women can call their own, providing them with a place of solitude, and opportunities for connections, workshops and masterclasses. Through these initiatives, I am confident that we will create a ripple effect of positive change that will enable women to reach their full potential and make a lasting impact on their communities and the world.

What advice would you share with the next generation of women? 
My advice to the next generation of women would be to prioritise personal growth if they desire a fulfilling life where they can achieve their goals. This involves dedicating time to work on oneself, both the negative and positive aspects, as the way we perceive the world shapes the quality of life we experience. It all begins with our mindset. Secondly, I would encourage them to develop excellent communication skills, as effective communication is essential in building relationships, advancing in their careers, and creating positive change in their communities.

Read more: How Women of Hong Kong is building a community of likeminded ladies

I empower women to own their financial futures and start investing—whether that’s as the co-founder of Sophia, my startup, or the co-founder of Hong Kong NGO, Girls Just Wanna Have Fund$.

What advice would you share with the next generation of women and girls?
“Nothing is rocket science except for rocket science.” I say this to myself and to others all the time. It’s deeply empowering and comforting to know that even when you don’t have all the answers, everything is navigable and figure-out-able. Every single thing. And when you can’t figure it out, you’ll put a plan together to figure it out. It’s truly a mindset. As a founder, your path is full of uncertainty. I want to remind the next generation of women and girls who aspire to be founders that they’ve got this. Building a business is hard, but it’s not rocket science. You can and will overcome any challenge in front of you.

Why is it important to you to support women in particular in Hong Kong?  
We’ve made tremendous strides for gender equality in Hong Kong over the last decade. We’re putting an end to single-gender boards for publicly-listed companies on Stock Exchange of Hong Kong by 2024 and we’re seeing more and more women leaders in society. The number of women CEOs in Hong Kong is increasing—it’s really inspiring. But there’s more work to be done for women in Hong Kong, especially in the area of financial equity. We need to see more women controlling money, making financial decisions, building wealth, and taking a seat at the decision-making table. It's important to me to be able to help usher in a more financially equitable world for women in Hong Kong and beyond.

Read more: Sophia Wants Women to Learn About Money and Prioritise Their Financial Wellness

NOW READ

The Front & Female Awards Hong Kong 2022: Meet the winners

7 women who have helped to advance women through history to today

The Front & Female Awards Malaysia 2023: Meet the winners