Sustaining Its Success in Dialogue with Women Chief Executives and Mentorship Programme 2019-20
On 25 September 2019, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School kicked off another year of meaningful collaboration with an informal group of women chief executives from the financial services industry in Hong Kong. Over 250 CUHK Business School undergraduates, secondary school students and teachers, as well as company executives joined the Dialogue with Women Chief Executives and Mentorship Programme 2019-20 Inauguration Ceremony.
Running into its second year, the programme theme of this year is “sustained success”. It continues to promote equal opportunity and to empower female professionals at the workplace. Prof. Kalok Chan, Dean of CUHK Business School and Wei Lun Professor of Finance first introduced the new initiatives of the dialogue and emphasized the importance of talent diversity in making successful teams. Ms. Ivy Au Yeung, Former CEO Hong Kong, ANZ and the convener of the group of Women Chief Executives said, “Through our advocacy, we hope to help women unleash their full potential and ultimately move up the career ladder by strengthening awareness, education, and enablement.”
During the first dialogue, Prof. Andy Wong, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies) and Associate Professor of Practice in Marketing of CUHK Business School served as the moderator of the panel session. He invited three women chief executives to speak on this year’s theme. They included Ms. Christine Ip, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (Greater China), United Overseas Bank Limited; Mrs. Ann Kung, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited; and Ms. Maaike Steinebach, General Manager, Visa (Hong Kong and Macau).
The panel shared how their upbringing and failures inspired success and gave their own definitions of success. Ann finds success to be able to do what one likes and is passionate about. She hoped students could identify their areas of improvements and stay positive. Christine’s version of success means making everyone see their importance in life and being a blessing to others. She advised students to practise discipline to get what they want. Considering finding a role in life that one enjoys successful, Maaike encouraged students to follow their hearts and make their own path.
Since its inauguration in 2018, over 1,000 secondary school students, teachers and principals, as well as female chief executives and professionals participated in the dialogue series. It will provide students with first-hand insights from senior executives through sharing, mentoring and coaching. The thought-leadership platform is supported by the Women Chief Executives group and 14 leading local and international financial services institutions, namely ANZ, Asia Insurance, Bank of China (Hong Kong), Bank of Montreal, BNY Mellon, Citi, HSBC, ICBC (Asia), Mastercard, Rabobank, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB, and Visa.
This Dialogue with Women Chief Executive series is also part of the new, mandatory credit-bearing course “Business Lecture Series” for the School’s undergraduate students. Through meeting and interacting with leaders from business industries and professions, students can stay abreast of current developments in business sectors and gain valuable industry insights. It will also nurture students with forward-looking mindsets and enhance their abilities to reflect on business issues.
