Lena Wong, CFA, is the Pre-Career Initiatives Lead at 100 Women in Finance. She is also the founder, Hong Kong Momtrepreneurs and co-founder, Womentors. In her 2021 Spotlight Series interview, she discusses her motivations, the role of mentors in her life, and much more.
Tell us about a proud moment for you in your career?
Establishment of Hong Kong Momtrepreneurs, from a passion project to a nonprofit organization, is certainly one of my proudest moments in my career. To push a new initiative and get people to support along the way, I have gained alot of experience. Having that experience of building HK Momtrepreneurs, I could see there are many flaws in our ecosystem and gender equality. So it is my honour to come together with two cofounders to start Womentors to help companies build better workplaces and retain female talents to perform their best to develop real sustainable businesses.
Mentors play an important role in the developments of many careers. Did you have a mentor? If so, what did you look for in that person?
I have come across many good mentors in my life making me who I am today. I am especially grateful to have some of them as my life time friends who are always there for me. That’s why mentorship is in my heart and that’s how the idea of Womentors originated. Women have this natural power to connect and support each other and in the form of mentorship we can be there for each other in our personal and professional life.
Think back to when you were starting out your career. What advice would you give your younger self?
I should’ve started my CFA study earlier when I was still in my final year. It’s not as easy as you grow older and further into the career to pick up the books again to learn. Nevertheless I’ve made myself a promise ever since 40 that I would learn one new thing every year. Never too old to learn but I’m definitely learning with a different mindset.
This year has brought tremendous upheaval and disruption to all aspects of our lives. How are you and your company continuing to promote diversity and gender equality despite these massive changes?
The past year had a tremendous impact on my life – especially how I could see women leadership played such an important role during crisis time. It’s proven women demonstrated better resilience while they also require more support to handle both career and family. I have taken the opportunity to start a new venture called Womentors to build better workplaces for companies and professional women. We see many companies in need to retain talents while many women need the flexibility to stay engaged in their careers and to manage their families well.
What will be your 2021 mantra to keep you motivated, either professional or personally?
Moving forward in 2021, I am hopeful to further develop my journey in women empowerment with the belief in building better working places for everyone that recognise the changing needs of employees over time.
I am committed to help women remain active in the workforce at every stage of their journey and support women who want to re-engineer their careers to accommodate flexibility and more diverse career choices. After a year of COVID, I also see opportunities to work with employers who are committed to designing and supporting a diverse workplace that accommodates work and life integration.