FOR RELEASE ON 16 MARCH 2019
24 selected Hong Kong ethnic minorities ready to serve government The Zubin Foundation unveils Diversity List 2019: Youth to Watch
Hong Kong, 16 March 2019 — The Zubin Foundation, a think tank and registered charity working with ethnic minorities today launched Diversity List 2019: Youth to Watch in partnership with Spencer Stuart Hong Kong, a leadership and executive search consultancy. The launch took place in celebration of International Day on the Elimination of Race Discrimination. In its fourth year, Diversity List 2019: Youth to Watch is a directory of 24 talented ethnic minority youth who are keen to serve on Hong Kong Government advisory committees. The Diversity List was created to include the views of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, who makes up 3.8% of the population and are amongst the poorest, yet fastest growing community in Hong Kong, with some families having 6 children. In support of the government’s goal of youth involvement in public policy, this year’s Diversity List focuses on youth, aged 18 to 35. The shortlisted candidates come from diverse background, including business management and administration, education and training and charity and Non-government service, etc.. They all demonstrate love for Hong Kong and enthusiasm in serving the community. “In 2015, before the Diversity List was created, only 0.31% of all members on advisory committees were ethnic minorities, now it is 0.76%. In 2015, only 5 committees had ethnic minorities, in 2019, it is 43. Our Diversity Lists have had a significant impact, but we need to work towards ethnic minorities on all committees.” said Shalini Mahtani, Founder and CEO of The Zubin Foundation. Chart 1: % of Advisory Committee Members are Ethnic Minorities
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Chart 2: Number of Advisory Committees have Ethnic Minorities
Mrs. Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of HKSAR, attended the launch of the List today and expressed her commitment to greater diversity on advisory committees. Mrs Lam said: “Through the Diversity List initiative, the Foundation is committed to expanding representation among Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities in our advisory committees; to getting their voices and their ideas heard; and to ensuring that our ethnic minorities play a meaningful role in Hong Kong’s future. This year’s Diversity List targets youth from 18 to 35. That, I’m pleased to note, echoes my Government’s efforts to encourage more ethnic minority youth to participate in policy discussion and debate.”
This year sees representation from the Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese, Filipino, Bangladeshi and Sri-Lankan communities, demonstrating growing appetite among key groups for participation in public discourse. Ms Mahtani said: “When we include ethnic minorities in public policy discussions, we are including the voices of Hong Kong people. Ethnic minorities are non-Chinese, but still Hong Kong people”. “In addition to community service and leadership, this year’s candidates have a great sense of civic responsibility. Any government, NGO or corporate board would benefit from their voices and insights,“ said Alice Au, Partner and Board Director, Spencer Stuart. Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that her government is committed to improving the lives of ethnic minorities and the setting up of the Steering Committee on Ethnic Minorities Affairs chaired by the Chief Secretary, Matthew Cheung was one of many initiatives. The Diversity List 2019: Youth to Watch Campaign is sponsored by Platinum Sponsors: Allen & Overy, The Caravel Foundation, KPMG, The Swire Group Charitable Trust and Town House; Venue Sponsors: The Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited and The Hong Kong Bankers Club, and Silver Sponsor: The India Association Hong Kong. Diversity List 2019 No 1 2
Name Riaz ADNAN Nisa Maheesh Un ALI
Ethnicity Pakistani Pakistani
Gender M M
3 4
Avinash BHARWANEY Gellin BYATT
Indian Filipino
M F
5 6 7
Suskihanna GURUNG Sandeep HATHIRAMANI Tavleen KAUR
Nepalese Indian Indian
F M F
8 9 10
Akbar KHAN Sukrit KHATRI Rhea Shiraz MOGUL
Pakistani Indian Indian
M M F
11
Yasir Ahmed NAVEED
Pakistani
M
12
Joy PAMNANI
Indian
F
13 14
Lamia Sreya RAHMAN Raza RAZI
Bangladeshi Pakistani
F M
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Expertise Psychology Business Management & Administration Finance Charity & Non-government services Education & Training Hospitality & Tourism Charity & Non-government Services Education & Training Finance Arts, Audio/Video Technology & Communication Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Arts, Audio/Video Technology & Communication Education & Training Education & Training
15 16 17
Pakistani Pakistani Sri-Lankan
F F F
Education & Training Education & Training Education & Training
18 19 20 21 22
Samaira REHMAT Rubina RIAZ Himeshika SAMARADIVAKARA Karishma SAMTANI Zarifa SHEIK Nigel Neville SHROFF Balwinder SINGH Taranvir SINGH
Indian Indian Indian Indian Indian
F F M M M
23 24
Sukhdeep SINGH Tracy SRIVASTAVA
Indian Indian
M F
Education & Training Education & Training Finance Finance Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Health Sciences Business Management & Administration
-EndNOTES TO EDITORS Definitions Diversity List: Youth to Watch — Ethnic minority individuals who have the skills to sit on government advisory boards. Under the age of 35. They bring to the table new and exciting ideas for a better Hong Kong. Access to additional materials Full report — https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/da2d17_52966b0fe347464aae20837de4287669.pdf MEDIA CONTACT Sandy Chan Project Director Tel: 6421 2677 sandy@zubinfoundation.org
Winnie Ng Operations Manager Tel: 9194 0286 winnie@zubinfoundation.org
About The Zubin Foundation The Zubin Mahtani Gidumal Foundation (also known as The Zubin Foundation) is a nonpartisan social policy think tank and registered charity committed to shedding light on enduring barriers to fairness and opportunity Hong Kong. The Zubin Foundation’s focuses on ethnic minorities. The Zubin Foundation was established by Shalini Mahtani and Ravi Gidumal in memory of their son. Zubin, who died tragically in 2009. See www.zubinfoundation.org for more information.
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