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The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School announced the official launch of Dialogue with Women CEOs and Mentorship Programme 2018-19 at a ceremony held on 28 September. The initiative was introduced in partnership with a group of women chief executives from the financial services industry in Hong Kong.

The inaugural Dialogue with Women CEOs 2018-19 was hosted at Citi Tower featuring three panelists including Ms. Angel Ng, CEO, Citi Hong Kong & Macau; Ms. Diana Cesar, Chief Executive, Hong Kong, HSBC; Ms. Mary Huen, CEO, Standard Chartered Hong Kong. The panel was moderated by Prof. Andy Wong, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies) and Associate Professor of Practice in Marketing of CUHK Business School, and discussed competition and negotiation, exercise and habits, gender and role differences. Over 100 principals, teachers-in-charge and students attended this inaugural Dialogue, hearing from executives who recounted their trials and tribulations during their years as students.

The Dialogue with Women CEOs series, consisting of five dialogue events, aims to empower the next generation through exchange of views on business and social issues. It will be hosted between September 2018 and May 2019, featuring each time a panel of female CEOs who will speak about a variety of topics focusing on diversity and inclusion. More than 130 secondary schools have been invited to participate in the dialogue series.

“Fostering women’s development and leadership has been a mission close to my heart,” Prof. Fanny Cheung, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of CUHK commented at the launch of the programme. “It is exciting to see senior female business leaders coming together for the youth of this city. I look forward to seeing how our collaboration can empower career development, engage in thought leadership, and drive positive changes in our community.”

“It’s a privilege to be able to partner with such an esteemed group of female business leaders in the Dialogue series and Mentorship Programme, and be able to volunteer our students as young ambassadors and facilitators,” said Prof. Kalok Chan, Dean of CUHK Business School and Wei Lun Professor of Finance. “We believe it will benefit our Business School students to learn how to coordinate and facilitate between senior executives and secondary school students, and gain more exposure by hearing about the real-life successes and challenges senior executives face in their day to day work.”

Ivy Au Yeung, CEO Hong Kong, ANZ and the convener of the group of female business leaders said, “The group of female business leaders is committed to paving the way for the next generation of women leaders. Through the Dialogue with Women CEOs and Mentorship Programme, we can start engaging young people and improving their access to financial education, providing them with a well-supported environment for future career growth in the financial industry. We hope young students can get inspired by the real-life experience from senior female leaders in Hong Kong.”

The Mentorship Programme pairs executives from participating firms with secondary school students in groups of four to six with CUHK Business School students acting as coordinators. It complements the conversations and exchange of ideas that take place in each Dialogue. The programme targets to serve as many as 500 students from the invited schools.

Over 80 mentor volunteers of participating firms will leverage the Programme to drive awareness of diversity and inclusion, as well as to inspire secondary school students to think about goals for study and career choices.

In 2016, a group of female leaders in financial services came together to volunteer their time to promote greater gender balance, and develop the female talent pipeline for the financial services industry in Hong Kong. The group strives to increase female participation across all levels in financial services through awareness, education, and enablement.

Today, the group is supported by a range of leading local and international financial services institutions: ANZ, Asia Insurance, Bank of China, Bank of Montreal, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Mastercard, Morgan Stanley, Rabobank, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB, and Visa.

This press release is also available at http://bit.ly/2P8wuqo.

About CUHK Business School

CUHK Business School comprises two schools – Accountancy and Hotel and Tourism Management – and four departments – Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics, Finance, Management and Marketing. Established in Hong Kong in 1963, it is the first business school to offer BBA, MBA and Executive MBA programmes in the region. Today, the School offers 8 undergraduate programmes and 20 graduate programmes including MBA, EMBA, Master, MSc, MPhil and Ph.D.

In the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2018, CUHK MBA is ranked 43^rd. In FT‘s 2017 EMBA ranking, CUHK EMBA is ranked 32^nd in the world. CUHK Business School has the largest number of business alumni (35,000+) among universities/business schools in Hong Kong – many of whom are key business leaders. The School currently has about 4,400 undergraduate and postgraduate students and Professor Kalok Chan is the Dean of CUHK Business School.

More information is available at www.bschool.cuhk.edu.hk or by connecting with CUHK Business School on Facebook: www.facebook.com/cuhkbschool and LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/school/3923680/.