AmCham's 20th Anniversary of Women of Influence Summit & Awards Gala Celebrates the Milestones of Hong Kong Women Empowerment | The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

March 11, 2024

Hong Kong – March 11, 2024 – AmCham Hong Kong celebrated the 20^th anniversary of the establishment of its Women of Influence (WOI) initiative (「最具影響力女性」倡議) on March 8, 2024 with a full-day Summit and Awards Gala, in conjunction with International Women's Day at the Regent Hong Kong. Eight outstanding women leaders and one leading company were recognized for advancing the gender equality agenda in Hong Kong at the Awards Gala.

Over the past two decades, the WOI Awards has been considered as one of the most impactful and prestigious women's award ceremonies in the Asia-Pacific region as it endorses the women, male allies, and organizations who strive to make Hong Kong a more livable place for people from all walks of life. This year, 24 finalists were shortlisted among over 200 nominations received, all of whom underwent a holistic vetting process by judges from a wide range of sectors to ensure different voices were heard.

In celebration of its 20^th anniversary, this year's theme was "Celebrating Hong Kong Women: Past, Present & Future," a Summit - comprised of two thought-provoking panels on "The Past" and "The Present," and a Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT) workshop on “The Future” - was hosted for the first time. These programs shed light on women’s evolution and history in Hong Kong and crafted the ideal blueprint for the future by consolidating diversified insights from the attendees, setting the scene for the Awards Gala at night, which further honored the progress that Hong Kong has made toward empowering women and providing inspiration to future generations of women.

"The Women of Influence initiative has long been a key highlight of AmCham that is widely endorsed in the community. We are delighted to see the finalists’ unwavering devotion to constructing a better city and proud to offer an arena to showcase their achievements,” said Marcia Ellis, Co-chair of the WOI committee & Partner, Global Chair of the Private Equity Group & Member of the Board of Directors at Morrison Foerster.

The Summit and Awards Gala were kicked off by the keynote remarks delivered by Daisy Ho, Chairman of Hong Kong Ballet & Chairman and Executive Director of SJM Holdings Limited, and Gigi Chao, Vice Chairman of Cheuk Nang (Holdings) Ltd. & Co-Founder of Hong Kong Marriage Equality, respectively. A gala panel of three women from different generations discussed the status of women in Hong Kong, followed by a series of TED-style five-minute talks from inspiring women leaders.

“We are honored to have close to 450 women and allies join us for this year's celebration. The insights shared by our speakers, panelists, and award winners were a testament to the passion and efforts that we are collectively putting towards creating a platform for women to connect, grow, and be championed. We believe that bringing attendees together from a variety of sectors and seniority levels is a powerful opportunity to create new conversations and to motivate change,” said Chelsea Perino, Co-chair of the WOI committee and Managing Director, Global Marketing & Communications at The Executive Centre.

“This evening marks a perfect end for the 20^th anniversary celebration, which served as a milestone of AmCham’s WOI initiative. The upbeat atmosphere was palpable among the attendees with whom we share the same vision. We look forward to witnessing more significant developments in gender equality and passing on the legacy of WOI,” said Belinda Esterhammer, Co-chair of the WOI committee & Chief Executive Officer Asia at The DO.

Congratulations to the following winners who excelled in the 9 awarding categories:

Young Change Maker

Lamia Sreya RahmanCo-founder & COO, Vidi Labs Limited (Seekr)

Leading Woman Entrepreneur

Trilby WhiteCEO, Creature Comforts Veterinary Group

Leading Woman Director or Executive

Luanne LimChief Executive Officer, HSBC

Woman Change Maker in STEM

Jing LeiAPAC Head of Strategic Accounts, PALO IT

Champion for Women

Kirti LadExecutive Director, Meraki Executive Search & Consulting Limited

Leading Woman in Arts, Sports, and Leisure

Anna Chung Ying ChanProfessor & Dean of School of Dance, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Woman Champion of Disadvantaged Groups and Minorities

Anita MaChairlady, Executive Committee, Playright Children's Play Association

Best Company Championing Women

Morrison Foerster

Lifetime Achievement Award

Beverly Sunn

Founding Member of the AmCham Women of Influence Committee;Founder & President of Asia Pacific Properties

Close to 450 senior business executives attended this year’s celebration. The success of this event was made possible through the generous support of the sponsors, including Chubb Life Insurance Hong Kong Limited, Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., RGA Reinsurance Group of America, DLA Piper Hong Kong, Akin, Century Distribution Systems (International) Limited, Jardine Matheson, J.P. Morgan, Telstra, and Vobile Group (H.K.) Limited.

Many thanks also to the following organizations for their support: Regent Hong Kong (Official Venue Sponsor), Wallbrook (Global Risk Advisor), The Executive Centre (Content Creation Partner), Atiom (Official Technology Partner), Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (Travel Partner), JESSICA and South China Morning Post (Media Partners), as well as Estée Lauder Companies (Table Gift Sponsor).

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