Executive Committee 2020/2022

YU, Ho Wing (Lawrence) is a graduate of a Bachelor of Business Administration at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, a Master of Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a Master of Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. He is currently heading an international mental health research project funded by Wellcome Trust, the U.K.’s largest non-governmental research funding. He was invited to be a visiting scholar at the University of Hong Kong in 2017 and a visiting principal investigator at the National Taiwan University in 2018.

Lawrence received the “Global Study Award” by British Council IELTS, standing out from over 100,000 candidates from around the world, for his research contribution to the humanity by fostering inter-cultural understanding and exchange in 2017. As a local and international public affairs enthusiast and researcher, he was awarded the maximum amount of grants from the Vice-Chancellors’ Fund of the University of Oxford and the Great Britain-China Education Trust under the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, U.K. government in 2020. As a cross-cultural psychologist, Lawrence considers himself not only a researcher who studies people and culture but also a people-oriented, culture-specific practitioner.

As the founding President of the HKSESSA, Lawrence aspires to contribute to Hong Kong with the scholars’ community by developing human-centric, evidence-based public policies. Back in 2016, Lawrence co-founded Good City Foundation (formerly known as Future City Summit) to develop public-private partnerships for young institutional leaders mainly in the Asia-Pacific region. The foundation has been included in the Advisory Council of the Private Sector Committee in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Smart Cities Network. Recently, he has been awarded “Schwarzman Scholar (2020/2021)” at the Tsinghua University and entitled “Leader of Tomorrow 2020” in the St. Gallen Symposium. In leisure time, Lawrence is a big fan of Christopher Nolan’s movies. He also enjoys public speaking, social dance, and karate. He loves to smile a lot – ‘Smile is a curve that makes things straight’.

LEUNG, Yuk Tin Yvette holds a Bachelor of Education degree in English Language from The Education University of Hong Kong and a Masters of Art in International Educational Development (International Policy and Planning) from Teachers College, Columbia University. 

Yvette currently works for a non-profit in Hong Kong that envisages a more student-centred learning environment for the next generation through capacity-building and cross-sector collaboration. Professionally, she is actively involved in school improvement consultancy work and incubation programs leveraging teachers’ capacity in school transformation process. As a proud recipient of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarship and the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship, Yvette believes in the power of youth in bringing positive change to the community. The trust in youth has led her to the career in the education and social innovation arena to improve lives of the socially-marginalised. Outside of work, Yvette is also part of the Hong Kong Hub of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. 

As the Vice-President of HKSESSA, Yvette will be leading one of the pillar initiatives – mentorship scheme – to bridge scholars to local students through scholars’ personal sharing and practical advice to encourage the pursuit of higher aspirations and diverse career trajectories. Through various initiatives of the HKSESSA, Yvette aspires to connect fellow scholars across various fields of study and leverage their impacts in the society. With her previous four years of experience as the Principal Communication Officer at The Sir Edward Youde Scholars Association, Yvette is capable of contributing relevant lessons-learnt and insights to the association and leading HKSESSA to achieve its missions. 

In her spare time, Yvette likes walking around different neighbourhoods exploring stories behind the shops and the people. Along with that, Muay Thai, reading and writing are something she also enjoys spending time on. As a movie lover, Yvette is particularly into documentaries and movies with a historical setting of East Germany. In times of adversity, she often watches Steven Spielberg’s The Terminal again for the warmth and Tom Hank’s power to keep her going. 

Asai Karin is a law graduate at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Prior to her studies at LSE, she studied at St. Paul’s Convent School where she received academic scholarships and was a finalist of the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Award and the Hong Kong Island Outstanding Student Award. To further Karin’s interest in exploring the great diversity of problems and possibilities with which the law engages, she was awarded a full scholarship under the Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence Scheme to pursue a law degree at LSE. Karin has recently completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws at the City University of Hong Kong and is a future trainee solicitor at an international law firm in Hong Kong. 

During her time at university, Karin devoted her time to community service. She was an Outgoing Exchange Officer of AIESEC LSE and pitched volunteering programs in the school campus. Serving as the Education Officer of ‘LSE Project of Hope’, a charitable project first launched in 2002 by the LSESU HKPASS, Karin and her team organized and led a service trip to China where she taught English and personal hygiene to over 100 students in the rural area who lacked access to such education.

Karin is honoured to serve as the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the HKSESSA. Before the establishment of the HKSESSA, Karin was one of the regional coordinators of the second cohort of HKSES scholars, in which she liaised with other regional coordinators to organise socials for the scholars’ community. Keen about establishing meaningful connections between scholars, Karin believes that the HKSESSA is a strong platform to connect more scholars from academically diverse backgrounds together for greater causes. With her strong organisation and communication skills as well as her eye for detail, Karin takes care of the administrative and organisational tasks to keep HKSESSA running smoothly.

Outside of Karin’s studies, she has a wide spectrum of hobbies. On some days, you will find her training for a marathon, attending Pilates classes or hiking in Hong Kong. On other days you will find her spending hours at a local bookstore, making pour-over coffee or water-colouring at home. It is safe to say Karin is always open to new experiences! 

Juliet Leung has just completed her 3^rd year at HKU, having spent the first two years of her undergraduate degree at UCL. She is honoured to be part of the founding Executive Committee member of the HKSESSA as treasurer. 

During high school, Juliet had been deeply involved in debating, public speaking, and writing. She had represented HK in international debating and public speaking competitions. Therefore, she decided to further her interest in logic, speech and words by pursuing an education in law. Juliet thoroughly enjoyed her time at UCL and in England, where she spent her time between studying in London, travelling around the country and Europe, and spending time with her family and sheep in Wales. 

Juliet continued to actively participate in debating and mooting in university. She was the tournament convenor for the UCL debating society, and made it to the finals of national debating tournaments as speaker and judge. She was awarded runner up at a moot in London, and was also selected to represent HKU at the Oxford Intellectual Property Moot 2020. 

To make good use of the legal knowledge acquired, Juliet had actively sought opportunities to contribute pro bono. She had been a volunteer at the law school clinics of both UCL and HKU to provide free legal advice to the needy in collaboration with pro bono lawyers. In addition, she had been a legal intern at Migrants Organise in London, an NGO focused on providing legal support for refugees and asylum seekers, as well as Justice Without Borders in HK, who aids foreign domestic workers in civil disputes, such as agency loan scams and wage disputes. Juliet believes in the possibility of change through interaction and the practical application of legal knowledge. Outside of her studies, Juliet is an avid reader, in particular, historical fiction and non-fiction. She also enjoys long walks and hikes. Back in London, you would often find her ambling along the Regent’s Canal or the Thames on early Saturday mornings, before ending the day with a classical music concert.

Agnes Fung is one of the founding Executive Committee members of HKSESSA. Having graduated from the University of Cambridge, achieving 1^st class Honours with Distinction in the Manufacturing Engineering Tripos, Agnes now works as a consultant at Newton Europe in the United Kingdom. Agnes grew up in Hong Kong, attending Diocesan Girls’ School and Harrow International School Hong Kong with Academic Scholarships, achieving all 10A*s at GCSE and 4A* at GCE A Level. Having left school top of her year in 2016, Agnes went on to obtain the title of Hong Kong Scholar through the HKSES to study at Cambridge. Her studies in the Manufacturing Engineering field have enhanced her passion for industrial sustainability and problem-solving through design, making use of both her technical and creative skillsets on industrial team projects.

Outside of her studies, Agnes strived to be well rounded, leading and participating in sports and music activities. She competed for two University sport teams including the Cambridge University Touch Rugby Club and the Cambridge University Dancesport beginners team, which won at the Inter Varsity Dance Competition in 2020. Agnes also served as Musical Director of acapella singing group the Jesus Singers, as well as working her way to become Principal Percussionist of the Cambridge University Musical Society since 2018.

Agnes’ current role at HKSESSA involves managing the website and publicity channels. Her work with HKSESSA can be found in the Association’s logo design, featuring a maroon dragon symbolizing the quest for knowledge. Agnes is a goal-focused voice within the Executive Committee, and understands the importance of hard work and diversity of thought in the early stages of founding the Association. 

Agnes spends her free time developing a multitude of hobbies including photography, poetry writing and composing music. She is also the face of bluemangofrosting, a YouTube channel about her university experience. Since 2016, she has been volunteering her time helping disadvantaged students around the globe with their applications to top universities. Her talents provide an outlet in navigating a complex world – “When it’s dark, look for stars.”

Zabrina Lo is a journalist and editor at an international English magazine in Hong Kong. Graduated from Hong Kong Baptist University as the valedictorian in 2017, she went on to pursue a master’s degree in English Literature at University College London on the HKSES scholarship the following year.

Lo specializes in arts and culture, and is a travel writer. Her enthusiasm for journalism was first fuelled by taking part in the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010 as one of the 17 student representatives selected from all of Hong Kong. Together with her research team, she investigated the climatic conditions of Antarctica and reported the findings upon her return to promote environmental conservation.

Since then, she aspires to discover and document cultural, humanitarian and science stories through her writing. Oxford University’s full-year student exchange programme in Comparative Literature and Creative Writing consolidated her writing skills. Then in 2016, Lo won the nation-wide C.Y. Tung Scholarship to participate in the Semester at Sea Spring Voyage, venturing to the wilderness, heritage sites and villages in America, Asia, Africa and Europe as a writer.

Her articles and poems have been published by Oxford Magazine, The Student Standard, Asian Review of Books, HKELD, Agora, HKDiscovery Magazine, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Zolima CityMag, and Tatler Asia. Lo is a two-time champion at the HKBU English Poetry Writing Competition, and First Prize Winner at the HKBU Short Story Writing Competition. She co-founded the English creative journal Edge, which collects literary and photography works by young Hong Kong writers.

Lo spends her leisure time in latin dancing, painting, community work, and animal welfare campaigns. She was the Vice President and Consultant at the Future Leaders Inititave Programme since 2014. Aside youth development projects, she has been a volunteer at Hong Kong Dog Rescue, and was a part of the marine conservation team in charge of Chinese white dolphin conservation at World Wide Fund for Nature – Hong Kong. With her worldwide connections, leadership experience and media knowledge, Lo serves as SESSA’s Social Networking Principal Officer in bringing talents together, and creating overseas outreach opportunities to foster the nurturing of Hong Kong’s future leaders.

Wai Yee Lam (Natalie) is a first-year History student from University College London (UCL). She is also the Principal Officer (Career Exposure Series) at HKSESSA.

Natalie has a rich working experience in the financial industry. She joined Goldman Sachs International, a first-tier global investment bank, as a spring intern. She gained valuable connections such as investment bankers, traders and lawyers who could be the potential speakers for career events. This summer, she will also be interning with a private equity real estate firm Phoneix Property Investment in Hong Kong which manages US$11.8 billion worth of property across Asia. She also interned at a local Fitech company InvBot as a business analyst and equity researcher this summer when she specialised in global REITs investment. Apart from this, she has experience interning at London School of Business as a Marketing Administration Intern, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office as an intern at Investment Promotion Unit and AXA Insurance Company as an administrator. 

Natalie is also the President of the UCL Asia Career Society, UCL’s largest Asia-focused career society and Campus Director of Project Access UK, an NGO in the UK advocating educational equity by providing free mentorship service. She was invited by UCL’s largest finance society, Investment Society as one of the three panellists to share her CV and internship experience with 120 more students from UCL. Therefore, she is committed to providing career insights for fellow scholars and connects them with experienced professionals in relevant fields. Natalie is a passionate scholar. Under the supervision of legal historian Dr Hetherington, Natalie researched the Private International Law after the Hague Conference as a UCL Laidlaw Scholar.  She obtained five 5** in 5 subjects in HKDSE 2019. She also self-studied 8 subjects in Advanced Placement Exams since 2018 and has been awarded AP Scholar. She’s also the recipient of the Best DSE Award, School Management Committee’s Scholarship & Tsuen Wan Rural Committee Scholarship 2017-19 from Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College. She is a keen boxer and hiker, and of course, reading books.

Joey graduated from the University of Cambridge with Double First Class Honours in Human, Social, and Political Sciences. As a Politics and Sociology undergraduate, she was awarded the Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence, Jesus College Scholarship and Benefactor’s Prize among other academic awards. Prior to her studies abroad, Joey was a student at Sha Tin College, where she obtained all A*s in the GCSEs and 45/45 in the International Baccalaureate. She is presently a graduate trainee at an international investment bank in Hong Kong.

At university, Joey sought out a diverse range of extracurricular commitments. As the Co-Site Director of the Access Hong Kong Summer School Programme 2018, she organised a three-week English summer school for over 90 grassroots students. She was also a student consultant and later the Head of Human Resources and Development at the Cambridge Consulting Network, one of the largest student consultancies in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, her role as the Salons Officer at TEDxCambridgeUniversity allowed her to promote ideational exchange among the wider Cambridge community.

As a Principal Officer of HKSESSA, Joey envisions a strong, diverse and supportive community of future leaders. By leveraging and further expanding the Hong Kong Scholars network, she hopes to foster friendships and meaningful connections among awardees, as well as between scholars and leaders across sectors. Given Joey’s experiences with teamwork and project management at university and beyond, she is well-positioned to advance HKSESSA’s objectives in relation to networking and relationship-building. 

Outside of work, Joey treads the thin boundary between social butterfly and homebody. She can be found at the beach with her friends, painting or spending time with her family and two kittens.

Sharon graduated from the University of Toronto with High Distinction in Forensic Chemistry. During her four years of study, she participated actively in knowledge sharing and research. She worked as a facilitated study group leader, who guided students through their learning difficulties and harnessed their study skills. She also interned at a renowned digital microfluidics laboratory, where she worked on making a digital microfludic devices for differential extraction and DNA extraction for rape kit testing. She was awarded the CSC Silver medal by the Chemical Institute of Canada for her outstanding academic achievement and dedication to research.

After graduation, Sharon joined an international gemological laboratory which serves to uphold integrity in the gem and jewellery industry and to ensure public trust by identifying gemstones and treatment applied. She also actively participated in research projects related to treatment detection and country of origin determination of gemstones. Outside of work, Sharon volunteered to tutor underprivileged students based on the belief that everyone should have fair and equal access to a good quality education regardless of their socioeconomic background. She also volunteered with an environmental NGO over the weekend, working on habitat management and environmental education.

As the Principal Officer of the HKSESSA Policy Research Group, Sharon aspires to unite and gather scholars from different areas of expertise and to provide a platform for knowledge and idea exchange. The policy research conducted by the group will not only bridge the knowledge gap between academics and policy makers but also propose innovative solutions to social problems. “Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles.”