Cover Natalie Dau crosses the finish line in Singapore after running 1,000km over 12 days
Natalie Dau crosses the finish line in Singapore after running 1,000km over 12 days
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Stay up to date with the latest news from our Tatler Front & Female community, from business launches to inspiring events, meaningful achievements, and more
Each month, we share the latest happenings from the Tatler Front & Female community as well as news of interest to it, from new campaigns to trailblazing initiatives, impactful launches and inspiring achievements, as well as events past and future.
For our June 2024 community news, we have updates from previous Front & Female Awards winners, as well as the latest from our wider community in the name of supporting the advancement of women and girls.
The Women’s Foundation launches Women To Watch platform
The Women’s Foundation and the 30% Club HK have launched a platform to connect qualified senior women with board positions, particularly in HKEX-listed companies as there are just over six months left until the deadline to end all-male boards and up to 425 female directors may still be required.
The Women To Watch platform launches with an initial 250 profiles of women leaders with the experience, skills and qualifications to become board directors, and further profiles will be added in the coming months.
“Diverse boards are effective boards—they support Hong Kong’s broader governance ecosystem and strengthen the city’s position as an international financial hub,” said Fiona Nott, CEO of The Women’s Foundation. “Our Women to Watch Platform connects organisations from NGOs to listed companies with an impressive and diverse slate of female board candidates. Visibility into this pool of talent won’t just help companies meet today’s HKEX diversity requirements, it will enable them to build towards the achievable target of 30 percent women on boards and aim for ultimate gender parity.”
Hong Kong lags behind its neighbours when it comes to board diversity—just 19 percent of board members for Hang Seng Index constituents are women. In Singapore 23.7 percent of directors for the top 100 primary-listed companies are women, while in Malaysia the number for its top 100 publicly-listed companies is 30.9 percent.
For more information on the platform, visit Women To Watch.
Women-led climate tech startups can apply for She Loves Tech x UN Women accelerator programme
She Loves Tech has partnered with UN Women on a Climate Tech Entrepreneurship Accelerator aimed at women-led or women-impact startups in the ASEAN region. The comprehensive nine-month programme is designed to support women entrepreneurs harnessing technology to address climate change, enabling the startups to become high-growth, high-impact enterprises that are investor- and market-ready.
The accelerator is accepting applications until June 21, 2024. For more information, visit UN Women Climate Tech Accelerator.
See also: Why women’s representation in climate leadership is imperative for tackling the climate crisis
Natalie Dau completes 1000km run from Thailand to Singapore
Above Natalie Dau running through Malaysia as part of Project 1000
Natalie Dau running through Malaysia as part of Project 1000
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On June 5, Global Running Day, Natalie Dau successfully completed her Project 1000 charity run, beginning in Thailand and running 1,000km home to Singapore over the course of 12 days. The gruelling run saw her complete the equivalent of two marathons a day, battling a host of challenges, from extreme heat, sleep deprivation and melting shoes, to a hip injury, urinary tract infection and being chased by wild dogs. The runner enjoyed an enthusiastic welcome as she crossed the border into Singapore for the last day of her run, where family and friends and hundreds of runners joined the athlete at various points as she traversed Singapore, crossing the finish line to set a Singapore Record for the “Fastest 1000 km Thailand-Singapore Ultramarathon”. A Guinness World Record for the “Fastest Crossing of Peninsular Malaysia on Foot” is pending certification.
Dau's run was raising funds to support underprivileged women and girls access sport and to bring awareness to the gender gap in exercise, with funds contributing to GRLS, a global charity that is part of Women Win, which works to elevate women and girls around the world through sport and exercise. To make a donation in support of GRLS, visit Dau's GoFundMe page.
Splash Foundation rebrands
The Hong Kong non-profit that teaches adults and children from underserved communities, including disabled children, children with special educational needs and migrant domestic workers, how to swim has rebranded to reflect the next chapter of its journey, not only adding the word “foundation” to its name to emphasise the charitable aspect of its work, and a new icon of two swimmers to its logo to symbolise the community Splash builds through its work, but also adding a Chinese name, 樂泳基金會, which roughly translates to “Happy Swimming Foundation”, to demonstrate a “stronger connection to our roots and our commitment to the Hong Kong community we serve,” while also reinforcing what it believes swimming—and being in the water—is all about: happiness.
PathFinders launches fireside chat series
PathFinders, the Hong Kong charity dedicated to supporting children born to migrant mothers, will host a series of meaningful conversations on the issues faced by the Migrant Domestic Worker community in Hong Kong.
The inaugural fireside chat kicks off on June 13, in the run-up to International Domestic Workers Day on June 16, and will see filmmaker, author and screenwriter Joanna Bowers, diversity, equity and inclusion leader Kate Wood, and paediatric nurse Marcella King come together to share stories of the MDW Aunties in their lives and invite the audience to celebrate the contribution these women not only make to individual families but to society more broadly.
PathFinders’ fireside chat series is supported by WLAB | Club Wheelock x The DO and will take place at WLAB in Quarry Bay at 6pm on June 13. To register for the inaugural event, visit Eventbrite.
About
Rachel Duffell is regional content director for Power & Purpose, including Front & Female, and former regional content director for Tatler Dining. She is a journalist and editor who has been covering people, gender, impact, leadership, culture and lifestyle for more than 15 years.
