Board of Directors

Senior Pastor, The Vine Church

Andrew leads the executive management team at The Vine Church, managing the strategic direction of the church and implementation of activities and social services offered to the local community. Andrew began his career in recruitment, working as Head of Human Resources for Morgan Stanley Fixed Income division in Asia. Passionate about social justice issues, Andrew is the co-founder and director of The Justice Conference Asia, and in addition to his work with Mother's Choice holds an advisory governance role for Branches of Hope and International China Concern.

Andrew's family has been shaped and built by Mother's Choice. His parents adopted his younger brother James from Mother's Choice in 1999, and he met his wife while they were both volunteers at our Child Care Home. Years later, they adopted their daughter from Mother's Choice in 2012. Andrew joined the Board of Directors in 2016.

Joseph Wan was a Senior Advisor with Cinven HK. He joined Cinven in 2008 as a Partner with the Portfolio team and the Head of the Hong Kong office. In addition, Joseph is part of the Investor Relations team looking after investors in Asia Pacific.

Prior to Cinven, Joseph was Partner and Managing Director of The Boston Consulting Group in Hong Kong, where he was Head of Office. His primary sector focus was in consumer goods, retail and telecoms in Greater China/Asia. In addition, he has served many clients in banking, industrial goods and healthcare. He started his career as an electrical engineer in Silicon Valley.

Joseph has a BSc in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

On the personal side, Joseph is married to Lily for over 20 years and they have two children.

Independent Non-executive Director, HKEX and the Board of LGT Capital Partners Group Holding Ltd

Anna Cheung is an Independent Non‐Executive Director of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, and Hong Kong Broadband Network as well as Chairman of the ESG Committee. She also serves on the Board of LGT Capital Partners Group Holding Ltd.

Anna has over 20 years of experience in private equity and financial industries. She has also built up extensive business strategic and operational experience through her former role as the Chief Executive of Jardine Pacific Limited from 2015 to 2020, with the responsibility of overseeing the company’s operations across a broad range of sectors in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and South East Asia.

Prior to her appointment at Jardine Pacific Limited, Anna served as a senior advisor to private equity firms, FountainVest Partners and LionRock Capital. Anna joined 3i Group Plc (“3i Group”) in 2001 and became a Partner of the company in 2008. As one of the founding partners of 3i Group’s China business, Anna led consumer and technology related investment projects and served on the board of several investment portfolio companies. Prior to that, she worked at private equity and investment banking firms, including Intel Capital, J.H. Whitney, Bankers Trust Company, and Salomon Brothers in the areas of investments, corporate finance, capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions.

Anna hold a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley and a Master in Business Administration at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Group Head of Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) and a member of Macquarie Group’s Executive Committee

Prior to taking on his current responsibilities in 2021, Ben held several other senior positions across Macquarie, including Global Head of Alternatives MAM, CEO of Macquarie Group in Asia. Ben has served on many of MAM’s investment committees and as a director of its portfolio companies.

Ben was previously Chairman and CEO of Taiwan Broadband Communications and a management consultant with Bain & Company. He is on the Board of Mother’s Choice and is the co-founder of Good Financial. Ben continues to serve on various business committees and councils.

Ben and his wife are involved in several other philanthropic partnerships focused on education and health. He has lived in Beijing, Bangkok, Taipei, Seoul, Hong Kong and New York.

Ben is a Fellow of the 2017 class of the Finance Leaders Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He holds a Bachelor of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University.

Founder and Principal of JEMS Character Academy

Christine Ma-Lau is the Founder and Principal of JEMS Character Academy, a leading educational institution that provides Character Education to children up to the age of twelve. She is also the Founder and Chairperson of Character Education Foundation (CEF), the organization that leads the annual citywide Character Day campaign. Through her work in character education, she has been invited to speak to educators, parents and students at different institutions including The University of Hong Kong, The Education University of Hong Kong, St. Paul’s Co-Educational College and St. Stephen’s College, to name a few.

Christine is an Adjunct Professor at The Education University of Hong Kong and is also an Advisor to the Centre for Religious and Spiritual Education at the institution. Christine holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration on child development and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Philosophy from the London School of Economics. Prior to that, she attended Wycombe Abbey School in England and international schools in Hong Kong.

Her passion for educating children goes beyond her work at JEMS and CEF. She is the Board Member and Co-Chair of the services committee of Mother’s Choice, a Founding Director of GeneroCity and the Head of Education Partnerships and Social-Emotional Learning of AI at Lirvana Labs, the developer of the AI-powered Yeti Confetti app.

Senior Consultant for a Family Office

CY is currently a senior consultant for a family office to support them in rolling out key projects around governance and risk management enhancement.

Prior to joining the family office, CY was appointed Chief Human Resources Officer role in different companies ranging from start-up to listed co, mainly in healthcare and technology sectors. CY’s key focus was on building a strong corporate culture from the company’s vision and leadership, and building the talent capabilities of the company by engaging and developing employees of different generations. He also led the companies he served in ESG strategic planning and implementation.

CY’s career journey features a variety of key roles in talent management, consulting, and corporate social responsibility. He is frequently invited to share his experience and insights in industry-related conferences and seminars in HK and across Asia.

CY engaged himself heavily to contribute back to the community as volunteer and pro-bono consultant for NGOs. CY holds a Master of Strategic Human Resources Management degree and a Master of Applied Psychology. He is also a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program.

Co-founder, Adoptive Families of Hong Kong

Born and raised in Taiwan, Gretchen earned a degree in Social Work from Azusa Pacific University. Gretchen was one of the first social workers at Mother’s Choice. Working closely with the founders, she helped establish core services and served as Managing Director for five years following Co-Founder, Gary Stephens. She has been a Board Director since 2003 and is also a member of the Adoption and Services committees of Mother’s Choice.

She is a founding member of Adoptive Families of Hong Kong, a non-profit, all volunteer run, charitable organization supporting adopting parents, adopted children and others whose lives have been touched by adoption. She also sits on the Boards of Home of Loving Faithfulness and Shepherds College.

Gretchen is married to Jeff and they have five children and two grandchildren.

Former Vice President of HR & Administration for her family business

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Millie holds a Bachelor's of Arts in Human Resources Management and Psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Millie worked in her family toy business as Vice President of Human Resources and Administration. She was responsible for designing human resources strategy and policy, recruiting, training and employee relationship for the company.

Millie has two children with her husband. She had her first volunteering experience with Mother’s Choice during her high school years which left her with a heartfelt impression with it, she was impressed by the impact the organization is making in the young mothers, the children, and the adopting families.

Chairperson, Consortium of Institutes on Family in the Asian Region

Previously the Deputy Director of the Social Welfare Department, Patricia is the Chairperson of the Consortium of Institutes on Family in the Asian Region (CIFA) which has been granted Special Consultative Status by the NGO Branch of the Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations in 2021. She is also Chairman of the Board of Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society and Fellow of the Asian Academy of Family Therapy. She had served as an non-official member of Family Council, HKSAR Government for 6 years, when she also served as the convenor of the Sub-committee on Family Support.

Along with her experience as Associate Director of the HKU Family Institute (2003-2013), Chairperson of the Social Workers Registration Board (1997-2002) and Chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission (2003-2004), Patricia has a wealth of experience and expertise in the family services and policy development. She was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the HKSAR Government in 2000 for her contribution to the social welfare field. She was also honored with the Rotary Centennial Award for Professional Excellence by Rotary International District 3450 in celebration of Rotary's 100 years in 2005, received a Distinguished Alumni Award in the celebration of 60th Anniversary of HKU Social Work Education in 2010, and Outstanding Active-Ageing Female Award by WINGS in 2021.

Patricia joined Mother’s Choice as a Board Director in 2011, and has since been an insightful advisor on professional issues relating to child welfare and in building relationships with government officials and related NGOs.

Patrick has sat as a Deputy High Court Judge in Hong Kong and as an arbitrator and as a mediator. He was named as a leading individual in the field of commercial litigation in Chambers and in the Legal 500 directories prior to his retirement from practice with Hogan Lovells in 2018. Previously, Patrick was Global Head of his firm's Disputes Practice and subsequently, Regional Managing Partner for Asia Pacific and Middle East. He was a Board member of CEDR, the largest conflict management and dispute resolution consultancy in the world, from 2004 to 2017, and is also a past Chairman of the Pacific Rim Advisory Council - a network of 32 major law firms.

He is particularly interested in girls education and is currently Chairman of Wycombe Abbey International, a subsidiary of Wycombe Abbey School in England, a preeminent girls' boarding school, of which he was Chairman for 10 years until March 2020. In this capacity he is involved in the expansion of its franchise internationally and particularly in China and South East Asia. He is also Chairman of the Francis Holland Schools Trust which operates two leading girls day schools in London. In addition, he is a former Board member and Chairman of Barefoot College International a social enterprise based in Rajasthan, India.

Founder & CEO of The HALO Planner Company Limited, Independent Non-Executive Director of Taylor Maritime Investments, IFC Nominated Director of The City Bank, and Director of Generations Christian Education

Rebecca is the Founder & CEO of the HALO Planner Company Limited which creates planning products to help people achieve goals, manage time and tasks.

Rebecca serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director at Taylor Maritime Investments, a London-listed company and as the IFC Nominated Director of The City Bank, a commercial bank in Bangladesh and as a Director of Generations Christian Education. Rebecca previously served as an INED of Grindrod Shipping, a NASDAQ-listed company.

Previously Rebecca was the Chief Financial Officer and Head of Strategy at Diginex, an impact technology business helping organization with ESG, climate and supply chain due diligence and reporting.  Prior to joining Diginex, Rebecca served as the COO of Mother’s Choice for nearly six years, responsible for the front line services, operations, finance, impact measurement and strategy. Before joining Mother’s Choice, she served in several senior roles at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange including Head of Corporate Strategy and Head of Asia Commodities. Rebecca started her career at Merrill Lynch and Skadden, Arps doing a variety of corporate finance transactions in debt, equity and M&A.

Rebecca received her BA in Economics from Trinity College and her MSc in the History of International Relations from London School of Economics. Rebecca also completed the General Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Rebecca has recently completed the Oxford Bank Governance Program from Oxford University, earned a certificate in Risk Governance from the DCRO Institute and was awarded the ESG Designation from Competent Boards.

In 2016, Rebecca was presented the Asian Women’s Leadership Award by China Daily and the Asian News Network.

Managing Director, JP Morgan

Rita is Co-Senior Country Officer (Co-SCO) for China and Head of Consumer & Retail, Asia Pacific Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan. She is a member of the Asia Pacific Management Committee. She is also Co-Chair of the firm’s APAC Women in Banking Council, and a member of its APAC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council. Prior to that, she spent over 15 years at Goldman Sachs heading its real estate investment banking and debt capital markets practices. She also served on the IBD Operating Committee.

Outside of work, she is a published author - her debut work “The Children of Hong Kong’s Wall Street” is award-winning and has shed light for many young professionals in the industry. Her book on hybrid capital was widely read by Asian bank regulators. She has been active in charities including Mother’s Choice and Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Foundation, as well as her family scholarship which supports a network of needy medical students in China based on lifelong mentorship.

Rita holds a Master's in Social Sciences and a Bachelor's of Arts degree with Honors in Economics, East Asian Languages and Civilizations from The University of Chicago. She is native in Mandarin and Cantonese, with proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia and Japanese. She is a mother of two boys.

Chief Executive Officer, Novel Investment Partners Limited
Chief Executive Officer, Bai Xian Asia Institute

Ronna is CEO of Novel Investment Partners Limited, Chairperson of Novetex Textiles Limited, and a Director of Novelpark Investments Limited. Her responsibilities in these various capacities cover investment and portfolio management, property redevelopment, and textile manufacturing.

Prior to joining the Novel Group, she began her career in New York first as a Mergers & Acquisitions financial analyst at Goldman Sachs, and then as an associate in the Licensing Department of the lifestyle and apparel company Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.

Ronna is also CEO of Bai Xian Asia Institute (BXAI). Initially funded by the Chao family’s Bai Xian Education Foundation (BXEF), and with the support of five founding members, BXAI was established in 2014 to oversee the development and implementation of the Asian Future Leaders Scholarship Program (AFLSP). Today, BXAI supports up to 100 scholars each year to study away from their home country or region at one of its six partner universities.

In addition, Ronna serves as CEO of Bai Xian Education Foundation (BXEF); Council Member of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council; External Advisory Board Member of the Campus Asia Program at Waseda University; Council Member of the Board of Council, UWC ISAK Japan; Member of the Advisory Board of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE), University of Oxford; Special Counsellor of Our Hong Kong Foundation; Member of the Board of Directors of Mother’s Choice; Ordinary Member and Director of the Yeh Family Philanthropy Limited; Board Trustee of Asia Society Hong Kong Center; Advisory Board Member of GoImpact; and Advisory Council Member of the Washington Institute for Business, Government and Society. She was also a Court Member of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology from 2010 to 2016. Ronna is a Standing Committee Member of the 12th Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Hong Kong CPPCC.

Ronna has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Brown University, and earned her MBA at Stanford University. She also spent a year as an undergraduate student at Keio University in Tokyo.

CEO of Rosewood Hotel Group
Vice-chairman of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group
Executive Director of New World Development Company Limited

Sonia is the CEO of Rosewood Hotel Group, a leading global lifestyle and hospitality management group encompassing Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, New World Hotels & Resorts, Asaya, and Carlyle & Co. Sonia is also Vice-Chairman of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group (SEHK: 1929) and is responsible for its strategic direction, performance, and corporate transformation. The Group's portfolio includes individual brands such as CHOW TAI FOOK, HEARTS ON FIRE, ENZO, SOINLOVE, and MONOLOGUE. Sonia’s leadership focuses on transforming these legacy brands while preserving their heritage and creating meaningful experiences. Additionally, she serves as executive director of New World Development Company Limited and director of New World China Land, which together with Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group form one of Hong Kong's largest conglomerates. She is a non-executive director of Giordano International Limited and an independent non-executive director of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. 

Sonia is a council member of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and a member of its Committee on Institutional Advancement and Community Relations. She is a member of The Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
 
Sonia is married to Paulo Pong with five children and has been a volunteer of Mother’s Choice since teenage years.

Partner, Bain and Company

Weiwei leads Bain and Company’s Hong Kong office. She specializes in consumer products, retail and luxury goods across Greater China/APAC, and has extensive experiences leading growth acceleration and organization transformations for multinationals as well as local companies.

Over the past 15 years, Weiwei has worked with an extensive array of NGOs from the United States to Hong Kong. She was recognized as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2020.

Weiwei holds a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Master's of Business Administration from Chicago Booth.