Never too young to change the world

Our People

I dedicate my time to the Advocates Leadership Team because I think it’s empowering for us as students to get involved in both volunteering and the behind-the-scenes organisational process!

Sonja Chen, Vice-President 2019-20, Kids4Kids Advocates Leadership Team

 



Michele Lai - Founder

Michele Lai is the Founder of Kids4Kids. She has over 10 years of experience in Hong Kong and Australia with multinationals including Toyota, Inchcape and Cable & Wireless HKT in strategic marketing and planning. Michele holds a Bachelor of Business degree from Curtin University, Western Australia. Based on the belief that our children are our future and we need to invest in all of them, Michele feels very fortunate to be able to give back to the community through her work with Kids4Kids and hopes to continue this volunteering career together with her children. She has been awarded as Ashoka Fellow since 2019. Read more: https://www.ashoka.org/en/fellow/michele-lai

Shirley Kuan

Shirley Kuan was previously an Investment Director of HSBC Private Equity with more than seven years of experience in investment and restructuring activities in Asia. Prior to this, she was a senior consultant with Ernst and Young. Shirley is a qualified Chartered Accountant in England and Wales and holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. As a mother of two, Shirley believes that children should understand that there are many less fortunate children in this world and they can help to create a better life for them.

Kyran Sze

Kyran Sze is the Chairman of KYSS Properties. Prior to setting up his own company, Kyran was one of the founders of Aedas, one of the world’s largest architectural groups, with 40 offices and over 2,500 employees worldwide. He was the Managing Director, Executive Director and Senior Director of Aedas Limited, and was the Project Director and Authorized Person responsible for numerous projects. During his tenure, the firm won numerous international and local awards in architectural design, interior design, quality project and building. Kyran contributes to over 80 voluntary, institutional and charity organisations in Hong Kong.

Jack Lee - Board Co-Chair

Jack Lee was born in Hong Kong and moved to Montreal, Canada when he was six. In high school, Jack was involved in a variety of community service events and initiated several fundraising campaigns to benefit those affected by natural disasters. Upon his return to Hong Kong, whilst working in banking, he continues to be actively involved with various small-to-medium-sized charities, such as the Sakka Foundation, which he founded. Jack strongly believes that, given the right tools and guidance, youths have infinite capacity and creativity and can work together to create a positive impact throughout their lifetime.

Libby Vaughan - Board Co-Chair

Libby Vaughan is an Australian citizen who has been living in Asia for sixteen years, originally based in Singapore and now Hong Kong. Libby’s business background is in Sales Management and Marketing. Libby has over sixteen years experience in the IT resourcing and workforce management industry, spanning both the private and public sector. During this period she was Business Development Director of Manpower IT in the UK and Managing Director of CTG, one of the UK’s largest IT resourcing and managed solutions companies. Libby is a Board Director and established the Cambodian Children’s Fund Hong Kong chapter in 2011, she is also a Board Director of the Song Saa Foundation and Kids4Kids HK. In 2017 Libby joined Social Career as Development Director, to manage corporate relationships and to develop Social Career’s strategy beyond Hong Kong.

Anita Leung

Anita has been a legal practitioner for more than 25 years. She handles the full spectrum of both contentious and non-contentious intellectual property and information technology work. Prior to joining David Lo and Partners as a consultant, Anita was a partner with two top international law firms in Hong Kong, Jones Day and Baker & McKenzie. Apart from her legal practice, Anita spends a lot of time on pro bono work and public service, helping SMEs, start-ups, charities and social enterprises to meet their legal needs. As a mother of 3, Anita is also passionate about raising the social awareness in children and encouraging them to give back to the society.

Ariel Shtarkman

Ariel is the Founder of Orca Capital, a boutique investment practice focused on real estate and PropTech. She is also the co-Founder and Managing Director of Atom Assets, a real estate investment platform for family offices. Previously, Ariel was with Citibank Real Estate Structured Finance in Hong Kong, where she structured debt instruments for real estate developers, REITs and private equity funds. Before joining Citibank, she worked in real estate private equity funds sponsored by ING Clarion in New York (covering US) and ING Real Estate Investment Management in Hong Kong (covering Asia).

 

Ariel holds an MBA from Columbia Business School with concentration in Real Estate, and BSc from Tel Aviv University with double major in Computer Science and Business Administration. She serves as Senior Content Advisor for ULI Asia Pacific, is a member of the ULI North Asia Executive Committee, and a founding member of Columbia Business School Alumni Network of Hong Kong. Ariel is fluent in English, Hebrew and Russian, and conversant in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. Her other interests include martial arts, travel, integration of technology and real estate and the future of education.

Matt Coulson - Operations Director

Bringing with him over 20 years of extensive background working with NGOs, Matt will be Kids4Kids' new Operations Director, helping to streamline our programs and operations.

Emily Lai - Assistant Manager

Emily has been interested in sustainability, social innovation, and cultural education since her studies in England. She is a growth-oriented person who enjoys working with young people and being passionate about exploring new ideas with different parties. Working in the non-profit sector for the past 4 years, she believes that everyone is their own leader and a positive impactor in building a sustainable community together. Emily is responsible for the Youth Impact Journey programs, organizing impact events, and engaging with stakeholders. She works closely with the team to connect, communicate, and collaborate with our future leaders and the community.

Carly Lau - Senior Program Officer

Carly is responsible for My Story Creation, and manages interns and office ambassadors. She enjoys developing and implementing new ideas and solving problems with creativity and believes that it is important to encourage young people to step out of their comfort zones, as this helps them be more flexible and adaptable in this fast-changing world. 

Jennifer Lee - Administrator and Program Supervisor

Jennifer started at Kids4Kids as a dedicated volunteer with our various programs. She later joined the HQ office in 2021 as Administrator. Jennifer is dedicated to supporting the Kids4Kids' vision to empower our next generations to create positive impact in the community, and believes that we are all never too young to change the world.

Bringing in relevant skillsets and NGO work experience, Jennifer administers the office operation and program activities to facilitate the growth and wellbeing of the team.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Boston University, and is a devoted parent of a teenage son.

 

The Advocates Leadership Team (ALT) is a group of passionate and dedicated Kids4kids volunteers chosen each year from local and international secondary schools to work together on community projects. The team provides students with the opportunity to develop their organizational, planning and leadership skills, while learning to manage projects from their conception and execution to impact measurement and reflection. The team is responsible for organizing Kids4Kids events including the annual ‘Sharing for a Cause’ collection drive each May, the ‘Powered by Youth’ leadership forum and other events throughout the year. Since 2010, there have been over 100 advocates.

 

To learn more about our Youth Development programs, visit Kids4Kids Youth Website.

Aims

Develop self-awareness of personal talents
Provide leadership opportunities to young people
Raise social awareness among youth
Empower young people to make a positive difference

Learn more about our Youth Programs

Know More

Meet the Advocates Leadership Team

Know More

Requirements

Eligible candidates MUST fulfill the following criteria:

  • Be a full-time student at a Hong Kong secondary school

  • Have a commitment to serving the community

  • Demonstrate good conduct and outstanding academic / extra-curricular performanceand / or be award recipients

  • Have experience in volunteer work or service to the community

  • Be proficient in English, Cantonese and/or Putonghua

  • Sign a written commitment to put all possible effort into participating in ALT and be dedicated to serving the community