Theme: Dauntless

This year we bring together eight fearless and determined individuals who are determined to invoke change and inspire our Hong Kong community.

Ada Yip - Chief Empowerment Officer at Urban Spring a purpose-driven start-up with a mission to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic in Hong Kong by building a water refill network.

Alessandro Bisagni is the Founder and Managing Director of BEE – Bisagni Environmental Enterprise, a sustainability engineering consulting and technology company specializing in the creation of green and healthy buildings.

Dr. Usa Bunnag is the first woman dentist to receive the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the American Dental Association in 2017.

HK Urbex - In Hong Kong, a city that regularly puts its past behind itself, a group of urban explorers are on a mission to photograph and immortalize the buildings and sites that have been left behind.

Jhana Graham is a PhD Student in the Department of Education at Sophia University in Tokyo.

Peter W. Ferretto is an Associate Professor and Director of the Masters of Architecture Programme at the School of Architecture at CUHK.

Regina Larko launched #impact Podcast in spring 2017 to bring inspirational, motivational and impactful stories to listeners interested in social impact and sustainability initiatives. #impact Podcast's vision is simple. The show raises awareness for its guests value-driven work by giving them a platform to share their voice. Literally.

Sonalie Figueiras is the founder and editor-in-chief of Green Queen, Hong Kong's largest eco wellness media platform, advocating for social & environmental change using original, inspiring Asia-centric content and the founder and CEO of Ekowarehouse, the global sourcing platform for certified organic products created with a mission to make organic farming accessible & affordable for the whole planet.

Lingnan University
8 Castle Peak Road
Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, 00000
Hong Kong

Ada Yip

Chief Empowerment Office

Ada Yip is the Chief Empowerment Office at Urban Spring, a purpose-driven start-up with a mission to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic in Hong Kong by building a water refill network. Ada is also a director at WYNG43 Social Investment, which invests financial and human capital in innovative social start-ups. Previously, she was the Program Director of the i2i (incubation to investment) programme at SOW Asia, a Hong Kong-based impact investor and accelerator. Before joining the impact investing industry, Ada worked at a number of financial institutions in Toronto, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Ada is on the board of the Hong Kong Institute of Social Impact Analysts, Teach4HK and Education For Good. She is a member of the Advisory Committee at the Enhancing Self-Reliance Through District Partnership Programme under the Home Affairs Department of the Hong Kong Government. Ada earned a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Alessandro Bisagni

Engineering Consultant specialising in the creation of green and healthy buildings

Alessandro Bisagni is the Founder and Managing Director of BEE – Bisagni Environmental Enterprise, a sustainability engineering consulting and technology company specializing in the creation of green and healthy buildings. The company specializes in building simulations, commissioning, green building certification, and cloud-based building data management for ensuring ongoing performance. Alessandro has managed over 200 LEED projects, across 25 countries, with a combined GFA of over 35 million square feet. Alessandro has been recognized by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) as a Top 40 Under 40 professional class of 2016, and Tatler Hong Kong Generation T List class of 2017. He is the co-Founder of the Sustainable Buildings Collaborative (SBC) China and current Chairman of Platinum Hong Kong.

Dr. Usa Bunnag

Humanitarian

Dr. Usa Bunnag is the first woman dentist to receive the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the American Dental Association in 2017. She is a general dentist with two dental practices in the US. In 2003, Dr. Bunnag founded Smiles on Wings to bring dental care and humanitarian aid to villagers in northern and southern Thailand. Her journey with Smiles on Wings included more than 20 missions to remote and rural villages in Thailand and the 2004 Tsunami Relief mission; building a permanent dental clinic for a school that was destroyed by the 2004 Tsunami (serving more than 800 orphans); creating a mobile dental project in northern Thailand; creating scholarship and leadership empowerment program for Karen tribal girls in Maesariang, Thailand. Dr. Bunnag is a native of Thailand and migrated to the US when she was 14. Through her fearless attitude, she conquered them and will continue to conquer whatever she is faced with.

HK Urbex

Visual Creators & Storytellers

"HKURBEX, or Hong Kong Urban Exploration, are one of the most prominent urban exploration groups in the Asia Pacific region. As a collective of adventurous content creators, they have made it their mission to photograph and immortalise abandoned sites across Hong Kong and Asia. Their exploits are soon to be published in the upcoming book, "Spatial Cemetery" out in late 2017 from Blacksmith Books. Find out more about their unique form of heritage preservation at hkurbex.com

Jhana Graham

Education Specialist

Jhana Graham is a PhD Student in the Department of Education at Sophia University in Tokyo. She is a Certified Teacher of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) who has been teaching in public senior high schools in Japan for the past seven years. A respected International Speaker and Trainer, Jhana has been invited by Prefectural Boards of Education and International Conferences to deliver lectures and professional development training to hundreds of teachers across Japan and South Korea. She holds a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership from Roehampton University, and an Undergraduate Degree in Economics from The University of the West Indies, Mona. Her research interests include Language in Education Policies, Error-Correction in EFL Writing, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), Intercultural Communicative Competence, and the Development of Productive Skills among EFL learners.

Peter W. Ferretto

Architect

Peter W. Ferretto is an Associate Professor and Director of the Masters of Architecture Programme at the School of Architecture at CUHK. He graduated from both Liverpool and Cambridge University, and since 1999 has practised as a registered architect (ARB). His research focuses on understanding urban/rural territories through design prototypes. His research subjects include Architectural Urban Typologies of Seoul, Residual Urban Spaces of Hong Kong, Everyday Urban Conditions, Contemporary Background City, Reactivating the Social Spaces of Chinese Ethnic Minority Villages and Prototype Solutions for a Self-build Timber House in Rural China. In tandem with his academic research, over the last 20 years, he gained considerable professional experience working for several International practices, including Herzog & de Meuron Architects (Basel) before establishing 2009 his own firm, PWFERRETTO (Seoul).

Regina Larko

Media Host

Born and raised in Vienna, Regina moved to China in 2009 where she worked with Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Shanghai and Beijing, running civic education programmes. After relocating to Hong Kong in 2014, she supported clients like The Economist Events with programming. Regina launched #impact Podcast in spring 2017 to bring inspirational, motivational and impactful stories to listeners interested in social impact and sustainability initiatives. #impact Podcast's vision is simple. The show raises awareness for its guests value-driven work by giving them a platform to share their voice. Literally. From rooftops to cafés, from co-working spaces to a former army base, the places where Regina records with her guests represent the noise and contrasts of busy and buzzing Hong Kong, a place most of #impact Podcast's guests call home. Regina is part of the Organising Committee of TEDxTinHauWomen and is a Mentor at the NextGenWomen Network in Hong Kong.

Sonalie Figueiras

Environmentalist

Sonalie Figueiras is the founder and editor-in-chief of Green Queen, Hong Kong's largest eco wellness media platform, advocating for social & environmental change using original, inspiring Asia-centric content and the founder and CEO of Ekowarehouse, the global sourcing platform for certified organic products created with a mission to make organic farming accessible & affordable for the whole planet. With over a decade of experience in publishing, SEO, digital marketing, organic trade and health journalism, she is a eco wellness industry veteran with a keen eye for market trends and a regular on the speaking circuit, sharing her expertise on stages across Asia and beyond. Sonalie also recently launched a podcast series about the Zero Waste Movement in Hong Kong to raise awareness about plastic pollution and the circular economy.