Inside the Prestige Women of Power Summit 2024: Our Speakers

At the end of last year’s Prestige Women of Power Summit and running on a high, we couldn’t have imagined how we could top what we’d just pulled off – our inaugural edition had been such an intimate session of personal sharing, empowering speeches and invigorating workshops that it left attendees shedding tears one moment and bellowing with laughter the next.

But pulling off the second edition of the Prestige Women of Power Summit was beyond what we could have imagined. Our purpose remained the same: to inspire and create a ripple effect among our female-strong community. What we did differently this year was to make it bigger and louder than the last. We hosted a full-day conference involving 23 speakers, 10 talks, two keynote speeches, one breakout session and a grand finale performance. With Landmark as our strategic partner, we built our stage right in the middle of the Landmark Atrium, in full public view, marking the first time Landmark’s seen a full-scale, full-day conference happening in the heart of Central.

And a resounding success it was, with Hong Kong’s most influential women leaders from various walks of life coming together at Landmark Atrium to discuss a range of subjects under four main pillars: Growth, Health, Wealth and Giving Back.

Prestige managing director and publisher Oceana Ou kicked off the proceedings at 10am prompt with a welcome speech that expounded on the aims and aspirations of both the Women of Power community and the Summit. The Summit, she said, represented a natural progression in the community’s journey to connect, empower, support and inspire female leaders and women in general. After thanking the Summit’s partners and sponsors – Landmark, Noble Panacea, Tiffany & Co. and Black Sheep Restaurants, as well as charity partner HerFund – Ou then passed the stage over to HongKong Land’s chief retail officer Alex Lee for his own words of welcome to the delegates. Then, fuelled by coffee, tea and light bites courtesy of Black Sheep, we touched upon everything, beginning with a conversation between banker and Formula 4 driver Vivian Siu and Bastian Wong, founder of Flare Communications, who gave us the courage to get out of our comfort zones, whether it’s to explore new career opportunities or make space for rest.

The fact that we aren’t superwomen – and that women don’t have to do it all – was a common thread discussed by other speakers too – restaurateur and Family Forum owner Lindsay Jang, along with co-founder of Hysterical Amanda Casgar (who flew in from New York to speak at the Summit), gave hope that women can still thrive in mid-life and have the freedom to make choices.

Their sharing was followed by an inspiring and personal story from award-winning journalist Kristie Lu Stout, who drew on her own career experiences to talk about how women can gain confidence and power through their voice.

In our final two morning sessions, Deacons partner Sherlynn Chan offered great insight into planning and protecting family assets while preserving harmony within the family, while Dr Siew Ng opened our eyes to how the gut microbiome is transforming the next frontier of medicine.

We dived straight back in after a networking lunch, again courtesy of Black Sheep Restaurants, with our first afternoon session supported by the Cartier Women’s Initative, as three champions of women empowerment, mental health and care for the elderly come together to talk about purpose-driven entrepreneurship and how the Cartier Women’s Initiative helps to support women entrepreneurs. Moderated by Fiona Nott, CEO of the Women’s Foundation, Maya Lin, deputy managing director of Cartier in Hong Kong, Megan Lam, co-founder of Neurum Health and executive director of KELY Support Group, Queenie Man, the founder and CEO of The Project Futurus, came together to discuss how they’re making an impact and driving change.

From one powerful panel to the next, Amanda Cheung, managing director of the First Initiative Foundation and Victoria Tang-Owen, who’s both the president of The Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association and a creative director, took to the stage to discuss how a new generation is bringing fresh perspectives to philanthropy. Their conversation, punctuated with anecdotes and insightful advice, was moderated by singer, actor and Baumhaus founder Crisel Consunji.

Because our health is so incredibly important to us, we also had a Women’s Health session, led by Professor Dr Ava Kwong, who’s the founder and chairman of the Hong Kong Hereditary Breast Cancer Family Registry, Megan Lam, co-founder of Neurum Health and executive director of the KELY Support Group, and Dr Laureana Law, who’s a general practitioner trained in Aesthetic Medicine and Menopause Care, who broke the silence on several taboo topics that surround women’s health issues.

And in two final sessions for the afternoon, Gigi Chao, who’s both vice-chair of Cheuk Nang (Holdings) and a noted LGBTQ activist, gave a discerning analysis on how women investors can thrive in an uncertain world, while sharing for the first time in public a personal story of risk and loss. Audrey Bois Nicolaï, who’s now head of brand at Noble Panacea, talked about her career journey, which began with working as an assistant, and how being true to herself brought her to a leading role with a global skincare brand.

Following a champagne reception at Stella McCartney and a cocktail reception at the Landmark Atrium, guests re-convened for the day’s highlight, when actor Jennifer Yu and film director Heiward Mak – two young and inspiring voices in Hong Kong cinema – came together to discuss female roles and perspectives, and ways the new generation can help to shape the Hong Kong film industry.

And in a grand finale, singer-songwriter Serrini, an academic and bookstore owner and Prestige‘s September cover personality, shared her journey about tuning in with herself, then wrapped up our fruitful and inspiring Prestige Women of Power Summit at Landmark with a mini performance.