Message from the WiFA Management - Bonnie So

Welcome WiFA Summer Interns

We are taking another new step forward. This summer, WiFA is excited to launch an internship programme for the very first time. Thanks Bonnie So for leading this initiative.

All of us look for love in life but many of us do not believe we can find love in finance. At least that was what Amy thought when she left finance after a two-decade long career to join an NGO. After 4 years at an NGO, she surprisingly returns to finance. Is love really possible in finance?

Amy Fong is the Chief Operating Officer at FountainVest Partners (Asia). FountainVest Partners was founded in 2007 and is a leading China-focused private equity fund headquartered in Hong Kong. Prior to joining FountainVest in late 2019, Amy worked for 4 years as the CEO of Save the Children Hong Kong, the HK member of a global movement that works in 120 countries focusing on the most marginalized and deprived children. She will provide us with her insights on love in finance later this month.

Join us for an interesting virtual seminar on Aug 3 on the Moments that Matter: Supporting Expectant Parents in the Workplace. WiFA along with Urban Hatch, a woman-led organization which provides maternity/paternity and family health and wellness support, will host this knowledge sharing session for HR, team leaders, and managers.

Speakers:

(Midwife).

This virtual session will provide practical tools and strategies to support expectant and new parents with more empathy. Urban Hatch’s maternity experts have worked with expecting parents for over 20 years, hearing first hand accounts of the difficulties these employees face in the workplace. These tools and strategies have had a positive impact on employee experience, leading to improved talent retention and performance. This knowledge sharing session is sponsored by WiFA's Education Committee and Urban Hatch.

For details and registration, please contact Bonnie Ohri through email: bonnie.ohri@wifasia.org .

Our next Thought Leadership series will be held on August 20, 2020. We will feature Archana Kotecha, Head of the Legal Department at Liberty Asia, who will speak to us about her decade in fighting human slavery. Liberty Asia is comprised of a group of dedicated professionals who feel that a more effective, coordinated response to slavery is essential. Their goal is to provide new solutions to change the way slavery and trafficking is addressed. Please mark your calendars for this sensitive yet timely event. Stay tuned for more details to follow.

Due to government tightening of social distancing measures, WiFA has rescheduled the first circuit training bootcamp session at Tamar Park to Thursday, August 27. Join us for some fun competitiveness by training next to each other in a group of 8. Led by our instructors, Beth Wright and Tricia Yap, assisting by Mairi Mcinnes and Emma Newmanthe 45-minute workout session aims to build strength and fitness through a variety of exercises, including an intensive cardio workout (while adhering to current social distancing rules).

If you have further questions or suggestions, please reach out to Emma Newman and Rebecca Sin.

If fitness is not your thing, or you're looking for a way to join in the fun from the sidelines of the WiFA Bootcamp, the Networking Committee is getting together for an informal networking 'picnic'.

Please feel free to bring a bottle and some snacks (along with plenty of water for those participating in the fitness workout, in addition to the picnic!) to reconnect and spread the energy.

The last few months have challenged us in many ways. So to reignite some positivity, we would be delighted to hear what you have been up to over the past few months and kick start the 'new normal' over lively conversations and a drink or two (while adhering to current social distancing rules).

If you have further questions or suggestions, please reach out to the Event Leads from Networking Committee Emma Newman, Jenny Hsieh and Bernice Choi.

Join us for a new Fitness Challenge in September: Fun Run, Outdoor Yoga and Social Drinks!

Join us to de-stress and relax in this after work hours run or yoga around Central Harbourfront. Led by our team and volunteers from Women in Sports Empowered Hong Kong (WISE HK), you can choose to run in pods for either 3.5km or 6km, or simply a full session of stretch yoga. Coaches for this event include Emma Neuman, and several WISE coaches and trainers.

After running or yoga, we can relax and re-energize at Cafe 8 where drinks and light bites will be available at a nominal cost.

For more information, please refer to this link.

On the evening of Monday 22 June, WIFA hosted an exclusive event at Red Doors Studio, where Martha Collard took members on a journey to bring balance, calm, and focus to one’s mind, body, and spirit.

We were taken on an experience of deep relaxation surrounded by the largest gong collection in Hong Kong. The vibrations from the gongs eliminate tension, stimulate the circulation and glandular systems, and regenerate the parasympathetic nervous system. There was a sense of connectedness and peace.

Many thanks to the members who participated in the event.

If you have further questions and wish to learn more about Gong Bath meditation, please go to http://www.red-doors.com

Many thanks to the WIFA Networking committee for making this all possible.

WiFA hosted its first Mentor and Mentee Cocktail Reception of 2020. It was a welcome opportunity to come together face to face to meet old friends and make new ones. The evening was infused with laughter and camaraderie as MMP Committee co-chairs Sonja Key, Donna Titley, and Tonia Wong Kee welcomed everybody to enjoy some refreshments and mingle. Our WIFA co- chairs, Bonnie So and Benedict Nolens and Executive Director Bonnie Ohri also joined and provided an update on upcoming WiFA initiatives. Many mentors and mentees had the chance to share their experiences and make new connections after the recent relaxation of the social distancing measures. Women from different parts of the finance industry from companies such as AIA, Morgan Stanley, Julius Baer, KPMG and many more, gathered in AIA’s offices overlooking the breathtaking view of Victoria Harbor.

Many thanks to AIA for hosting the venue and providing this wonderful opportunity to connect. Stay tuned for several inspiring mentor mentee success stories which we will soon feature online.

Being the endorser of the event, WiFA has been supporting ASIFMA’s virtual event ‘Diversity after COVID-19’, was held on Tuesday, 30 June.

Soapcycling, the sister organisation of our 2020 WiFA supported charity EmpowerU, is expanding its Hong Kong operations abroad for the first time and they need your support! For the past 9 years Soap Cycling has sent 80% of unused soap from Hong Kong's hospitality sector to the Philippines. That amount represents approximately 3 million bars of soap - reaching 250,000 children for an entire year.

After years of working remotely with local partners, Soapcycling is hiring a country manager, Lovelyn, a resident of Hong Kong for 22 years, to oversee soap donations, distributions, recycling and hygiene education programs for the neediest communities in the Phillippines. Your support will be critical to Lovelyn's efforts to bring products and education programs to rural communities with limited access to hygienic resources. She will serve as a model for entrepreneurship and civic action for migrant workers looking to return home from Hong Kong. To donate, please visit here. For questions about direct sponsorship, please contact Karen Liu.

Fund-Raising Link:

We are doing a final call out for volunteers to participate in our volunteering programmes with our 2020 chosen charities, EmpowerU and HER Fun. Sign up here to help deliver financial literacy information to some wonderful women from grass-roots organisations and marginalised populations in Hong Kong.

Further details are below. Thank you to those who have already signed up – we will be in touch with you shortly for hosting kick-off meetings.