EMPOWER BY THE AMBER FOUNDATION:
A PROGRAM FOR ETHNIC MINORITY UNIVERSITY WOMEN
Building a business network for career opportunities through a series of leadership workshops
EMPOWER is a program for Ethnic Minority women in Hong Kong universities, designed and conducted by experienced professionals, with the aim to build a business network for future career opportunities. The program includes successful women from across the city's business community who are role models and provide guidance and inspiration in small group sessions.
WHY?
Building networks for the future
The Amber Foundation initiated a mentoring program for Ethnic Minority women in 2018 after participating in interviews of Ethnic Minority university students at the non-profit organization, Unison. In the first year, 9 women joined the program, while the second year now sees 22 women take part in the newly formulated workshop model.
Most of our participants were born in Hong Kong and see Hong Kong as home. A majority of them speak fluent Cantonese along with English and their native languages. Despite coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, the women have all proved their academic and extra-curricular strength in a variety of outlets.
Although scholarship funds are necessary, they are not enough to ensure that these young women have a rewarding career path. As such, Empower by The Amber Foundation helps provide these women with the community and skills they require to achieve success.
WHO?
Passionate and dedicated
Our ExCo consists of Elizabeth L. Thomson, Soundari Mukherjea of Tvameva Solutions, Leesa Youl of Credit Suisse, Felicity McRobb of McRobb Consulting and Vinita Sinha of IFC. Christa Nuijs of Curiosity Support takes care of the operational support of The Amber Foundation.
Our team is supported by a large number of dedicated professional women who commit their time to coach, train, mentor, and lead our participants. Full acknowledgement of the women who have helped us so far can be read here.
SUCCESS TO DATE
Over 30 Graduates and Further
The first year of this program began in April of 2018 and finished on May 2, 2019. The format that year was to match each mentee with a mentor, who provided guidance, input, and inspiration. We had 10 young women in the program that year, all of whom benefited from the business network created.
We held a number of events throughout the year including workshops on CV writing and LinkedIn presence, Resilience, and A Growth Mindset. We also had a panel of high-powered women talking about their career journey and challenges. We closed the year with a workshop on the Importance of Networking and Community to Career Success.
In 2019, we rebranded the program as EMPOWER by The Amber Foundation and accepted 22 girls from Nepalese, Indian, Pakistani, Filipino, and Nigerian backgrounds. At each workshop, 11 different group leaders, women from various backgrounds and industries, attended and led small group discussions. Through this new format, we widened the exposure of our participants and enhanced their network and connections.
We continue to plan the expansion and growth of this program to bring more benefit to more Ethnic Minority women in Hong Kong.