Our Board & advisors
We have a diverse Board and Advisory team, with many members who have firsthand experience with mental health issues, motivating them to actively contribute to improving mental health in the community.
Board Members


Dr Lucy Lord, MBE
Dr. Lucy Lord, MBE, is a founding Partner of Central Health Medical Practice and an Obstetrician who has been a key player in Hong Kong's healthcare sector for the past 30 years.
She is the Founder and present Executive Chair of Mind HK. In January 2023, Lucy was awarded an MBE in the UK’s New Year Honours List “for services to Health in Hong Kong”.
In 2014, Dr. Lucy Lord, in collaboration with other partners and doctors at Central Health, formalised the practice's pro bono work by establishing a Section 88 registered charity. Known as the Patient Care Foundation (PCF), the charity continues to serve as Central Health’s charitable arm. From the beginning, PCF identified four vulnerable groups of people and pledged to improve their access to appropriate medical care, support, and resources. These groups include children requiring hospital stays who were being separated from their parents; high-risk pregnant mothers-to-be; marginalized groups, such as refugees and migrant domestic workers without access to healthcare; and individuals experiencing mental health issues.
Alongside Dr. Rulin Fuong, Dr. Lucy played a pivotal role in the launch of Mind Hong Kong (Mind HK). Initially developed under the PCF umbrella, with the generous support of Mind UK, Mind HK is dedicated to enhancing the mental well-being of Hong Kong. It achieves this through its frontline services, training programmes, campaigns, and comprehensive bilingual mental health information based on the Mind HK website. Its resources support individuals and their families coping with mental health challenges and assist other charities involved in similar missions.
In 2017, PCF, backed by the HKJCCT, co-organised an international mental health conference, where Mind HK was formally launched. Mind HK became an independent Section 88 registered charity in 2019. Today, Mind HK continues to expand its reach, working on multiple projects to further its impact within the community and work towards its vision to ensure no one in Hong Kong has to face a mental health problem alone.


Jim Woods
Based in Hong Kong for the past 30 years, Jim is passionate about promoting positive health and fitness across broader society in general. He has first hand experience of the challenges that people are facing to maintain a healthy lifestyle, mentally and physically. He has been actively involved in the Mind Hong Kong board for the past 5 years. He has raised sponsorship money for both Mind HK and Mind UK by running several marathons on their behalf, and is a vocal ambassador for promoting the importance of positive mental health. His fun activity is Latin dancing!
Jim graduated from Kings College London in 1990 with a first class honours degree in Chemistry. He is a member of the ICAEW and the HKICPA.


Andrew Wong, JP
Mr Andrew Wong joined the Hong Kong Government as an Administrative Officer in August 1982 and rose to the rank of Administrative Officer Staff Grade A1 in September 2006. He graduated with a Bachelor degree in business management from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1982 and undertook a post-graduate course in public administration at Oxford University in 1983.
Mr Wong has served in various bureaux and departments since joining the Hong Kong Government. He was Director of Administration from August 2000 to March 2004, and Special Representative for Hong Kong Economic and Trade Affairs to the European Communities from March 2004 to July 2005. He was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Chief Executive’s Office from August 2005 to January 2006, Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service from February 2006 to December 2010, Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Tourism from January 2011 to December 2014, and Permanent Secretary for Financial Services from December 2014 to August 2019.


Dee Poon
Dee is the President of Brands and Retailing for Tessellation Group, of which she also serves as a Director.
Dee is a board member of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority and M Plus Museum Limited. She sits on the Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s Hong Kong – Europe Business Council and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Esquel-Y.L. Yang Education Foundation and Asia House, as well as the Board of Mind HK. She is also a member of The Conference Board’s Asia Corporate Leadership Council, the International Advisory Committee of Harvard University’s Asia Center, the Family Advisory Council of the Ownership Project at Oxford Saïd, and the Global Steering Committee of Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health. In 2014, Dee was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and also designated a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s China Fellowship Program.
Actively engaged in the arts, Dee sits on the International Council of the Tate, and the International Council of The Museum of Modern Art (New York). She serves as the Council Member of the China Arts Foundation and Board of Directors for Asia Art Archive. Her 42-second short film “An Exercise in Futility,” shot as part of 42x42, was screened at the Beijing International Film Festival as well as the Cannes Film Festival.
Before joining Tessellation, Dee was the President of Brands and Distribution at Esquel Group. She was also an Editor-at-Large for iLook Magazine and a featured columnist for Modern Weekly, where she wrote about sustainability. Her 2008 pop-up retail venture DYSEMEVAS was one of the first to highlight the emerging Chinese design scene outside of
China.
Dee graduated from Harvard University in 2004 with a BA in philosophy.


Ann Pearce
Ann is founder of the Weez Project which is dedicated to improving the mental health well-being of young people and to youth suicide prevention.
Ann was Chief Operating Officer at ESF Educational Services from 2006-2017 where she led Hong Kong’s largest after school sports and language learning programme and ESF’s network of five kindergartens.
Prior to joining the education sector, Ann spent 19 years with HSBC in the UK and Hong Kong. She held senior managerial positions in personal financial services and insurance.


Olivia Parker
Olivia Parker joined the board of Mind Hong Kong in May 2018. She cares deeply about the mental health conversation and movement here but her 'real job' is as a journalist - she currently works as an editor on the International Edition of The New York Times.
A Brit from various parts of Britain, she moved to Hong Kong from London in January 2017 in search of adventure and travel and to learn about Asia from one of its most exciting cities. In London, she worked as a commissioning editor at the Daily Telegraph's 'Weekend', the paper's flagship Saturday supplement.


Nikki Ng Mien Hua
Ms. Nikki Ng Mien Hua, aged 43, has been serving as a Non-Executive Director of Sino Land Company Limited, Tsim Sha Tsui Properties Limited, and Sino Hotels (Holdings) Limited since August 2023. She joined the Group in 2002 and had previously been the Group General Manager, participating in managing the leasing operations and hotels of the Group. She is a member of the Environmental, Social and Governance Steering Committee of the Company and a director of certain subsidiaries and associates of the Company. Ms. Ng holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and a Master of Arts degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University College of London. She is a member of the 12th, 13th and 14th Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. She is a member of the General Committee and the Chairman of the Retail & Tourism Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. She is a non-official member of The Commission on Poverty, a member of its Community Care Fund Task Force and Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund Task Force, and a member of the Personal Data (Privacy) Advisory Committee. She is also a member of The Hospital Governing Committee, the Finance Sub-Committee and the Hospital Governing Committee Task Group on Enhancing Patient-Centric Services of Queen Elizabeth Hospital. She also serves as a trustee member of Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong and The Society for Panda Conservation.


Dr Hannah Reidy
Dr Hannah Reidy was the founding CEO of Mind HK. She launched the charity at the inaugural Hong Kong Mental Health Conference in 2017, and led the organisation through the start-up phase and into its current form before handing over to Dr Candice Powell in 2022. Prior to her position at Mind HK, Hannah worked extensively with Mind in the UK, including as a Trustee of Wandsworth and Westminster Mind. Hannah is a UK trained Clinical Psychologist holding degrees from Oxford University and University College London, and currently works clinically across the lifespan, with a specialism in adolescents and young adults experiencing early psychosis. She is passionate about improving access to high quality mental healthcare for everyone in Hong Kong, and removing the stigma surrounding mental health. Her longstanding commitment to the charity's cause and her admiration of the Mind HK team means that Hannah is delighted to stay involved as a Board member and to help steer the charity to new and exciting successes.


Yvette Kong
Yvette Man-yi Kong joined Mind Hong Kong right after competing at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and became a founding board member at its inception in 2017. She shared her mental health experiences from her athletic career to advocate for mental wellbeing on platforms such as CNN and TEDx. Additionally, Kong contributes her expertise to the Lululemon Global Advisory Board on Mental Wellbeing and as an advisor to Bhutan's Institute of Happiness.
An educator and entrepreneur at heart, Kong teaches social impact design and innovation at MIT. Her professional journey includes consulting at McKinsey & Company and independent consultancy roles.
Kong's pursuit of knowledge integrates human potential and management science, exploring ways to advance coaching strategies and guiding individuals to untap their greatest potential across domains. She holds a B.A. in Cognitive Science from UC Berkeley, an M.Sc. in Performance Psychology from the University of Edinburgh, an MBA from Tsinghua University, and an M.Sc. in Management Studies from MIT. She is currently a Performance Psychology Ph.D. candidate at the University of Edinburgh.
Advisors


Catherine Loui
Catherine Loui is a Managing Director and Head of Human Resources (Asia) for Morgan Stanley.
Catherine was born in Hong Kong and relocated to Sydney for high school. She studied and worked in Sydney until 1994 when she returned to Hong Kong.
Catherine holds a Master of Laws from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of New South Wales.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley Human Resources, Catherine worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers, Coopers & Lybrand and Ernst & Young in Hong Kong and Sydney. Her roles involved handling consulting matters on corporate tax, stamp duties, goods and services tax and sales tax. Catherine was also the Head of Human Resources for ING Insurance Asia during the financial crisis.
Catherine is passionate about charity work with a keen motivation to give back to the Hong Kong community where she grew up and belongs.
Catherine is married to Andrew and they have 3 children who are studying in Hong Kong and Sydney.


Prof Olya Zayts
Dr. Olga Zayts is a Professor at the School of English, the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests and expertise span across several healthcare contexts in Hong Kong, including prenatal screening and diagnosis, genetic counselling, direct to consumer genetic testing, and most recently mental health. She arrived in Hong Kong 15 years ago after finishing her doctorate training in Europe. At HKU she has founded the Health Communication Research Cluster (HCRC) and she has led several large scale nationally funded interdisciplinary projects, working in close collaboration with several public hospitals and the Clinical Genetic Services of Hong Kong. She has published widely on various issues of communication in multicultural and multilingual healthcare contexts in “Social Science and Medicine”, "Sociology of Health and Illness", “Patient Education and Counselling”, “Journal of Genetic Counselling” and other high-impact international journals. Her most recent monograph "Language and Culture at Work" (with Palgrave McMillan) addresses cultural issues in healthcare and other professional contexts.


Prof Paul Wong
Paul is a clinical psychologist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong. He has been involving in suicide prevention research and mental health promotion and practice since 2003. His recent research projects include youth social withdrawal behavior, using animals as part of educational and psychological interventions, youth positive development of local and non-Chinese young people, and family care giving for people with psychological issues. His main research theme aims to promote social inclusion in our society. He is also Fellows of the Hong Kong Psychological Society and the Hong Kong Professional Counselling Association. He is the Programme Directors of the Master of Social Science (Counselling) and Bachelor of Social Sciences (Counselling).



Prof Samuel YS Wong
Professor Samuel Wong is a clinician with training and experience in both Family Medicine and Public Health. Currently, Professor Wong serves as the Director of the School of Public Health and Primary Care and as the Associate Dean (Education) at the Faculty of Medicine at CUHK. Professor Wong’s research interests primarily focused on the evaluation and development of mental health interventions in primary care and the evaluation of primary care services.
Professor Wong has served the Hong Kong SAR Government in various capacities, including as a member of the Steering Committee of the Primary Care Development. He has also been involved in Education and Accreditation Committees and Council member for the medical and dental council respectively. Currently, he is the Vice-President of the Hong Kong College of Family Physicians and the Hong Kong College of Community Medicine and provides clinical services in Family Medicine for the Hospital Authority as an Honorary Consultant.


Dr Elisabeth Wong
Dr Elisabeth Wong is a Specialist in Psychiatry and the Honorary Clinical Assistant Professor of the Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong. She graduated from King’s College School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of London. She pursued her specialist training in Hong Kong.


John Williamson
John is Chairman of the London Metal Exchange, Chairman of the UK Tote Group and serves on the Board of Pacific Basin Shipping Limited. He is a Chartered Accountant, Chartered Fellow of the Securities Institute and a Senior Fellow of the Hong Kong Securities Institute.
John has worked with the finance and securities industry for over 40 years and has garnered deep expertise across commerce, investment banking, wealth management, IT, risk, governance and regulation in capital markets.
John has previously served on the Boards of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, the Hong Kong Securities Institute and several private companies. He held senior executive roles with Search Investment Group, Morgan Stanley, NatWest Securities and Wood Mackenzie & Co.
With three daughters who are working mothers, he is a strong advocate of the diversity and inclusion agenda.


Manisha Wijesinghe
Manisha currently serves as the Executive Director of HELP for Domestic Workers, a Hong Kong based non-profit seeking to empower migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong through advice, assistance and education in order to help them gain access to justice and receive fair and equal treatment.
Manisha completed her Bachelor of Laws Degree (LL.B.) at the Open University of Colombo and received her Master of Laws Degree in Human Rights (LL.M.) from the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Manisha is an Attorney at Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
Before coming to Hong Kong, Manisha worked for the UNICEF Child Protection & Juvenile Justice Programme, Save the Children Sri Lanka and the UNDP Strengthening Democratic Governance and Accountability Project.
After completing her Master’s Degree, Manisha worked at Christian Action (Migrant Domestic Worker Programme) and at Daly & Associates specializing in the area of migrant worker rights and international labour law. She joined HELP for Domestic Workers as the Director of Case Management and was later appointed as its Executive Director.


Prof Samson Tse
Samson is the Professor in Mental Health and currently serves as the Dean of Student Affairs at The University of Hong Kong. Prior to his relocation to Hong Kong, he has worked in New Zealand for over 20 years. The corpus of Professor Tse’s research and scholarship is on building knowledge for the human services that support people with severe mental illness (in particular Bipolar Disorders) and those affected by addiction problem (in particular, Problem Gambling) and in turn, to improve the wellbeing of service users, families and caregivers.