Columbia University Alumni Association Hong Kong, Berkeley Club of Hong Kong, NYU Alumni Club in Hong Kong and Columbia Pride invite you to an intellectually stimulating evening at the Soho House. Between two major holidays, please come join our panelists and hear their personal stories about growing up in a Hong Kong modern family whether straight or LGBT.

You will hear about what it is like to be with their families, how they navigate and negotiate relationships, how they make choices with their own values, families and society. It will be an evening full of messages of hope through the practice of inclusion and diversity.

Featuring Gigi Chao, LGBT rights activist, co-founding member of Marriage Equality Hong Kong

Vivian Siu (Columbia ‘17), Banker and FIA formula 4 driver. Gold medalist for Hong Kong China team.

Sudesh Thevasenabathy, Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Manulife Financial & founding member of AXA Hong Kong Diversity & Inclusion Council.

Moderated by Henry Woo, Ph.D. (Columbia ‘03), Economics of Public Diplomacy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Event Details:

2026 Columbia Morningside Salon

Date & Time: Thursday January 8th, 2026

• 6:30 pm Registration and Welcome drinks
• 7:00 pm Panel Discussion “Hong Kong’s Modern Families”
• 7:45 pm Q&A
• 8:00 pm Group Photo
• 8:00-9:00 pm Networking

Venue: Harbourview Room, 29th Fl, Soho House Hong Kong

Dress Code: Business attire or Smart Casual

Ticket Price (incl. one drink): HK$100 for CUAAHK members, HK$150 for non-members.

Capacity: 40 people

RSVP: Please register here or whatsapp 97340015

*Our annual membership is HK$600 and lifetime member is HK$6,000. You can sign up for Membership here.

**Please note that CUAAHK provides no refunds for no show or cancellation. 

Panelist Bio: 

Dr. Gigi Chao founded Faith in Love in 2008 with a vision for service in humility and yearning for simple giving. She has always been a passionate volunteer for various charitable organisations from a young age, and had travelled extensively doing volunteer work in her formative years to Malawi with World Vision, Alaska with Habitat for Humanity, Hunan with Sowers Action, amongst others. She graduated from the University of Manchester, with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture in 1999. Subsequently, she has worked with prominent British Architect and Urban Designer Sir Terry Farrell for a number of years, and also managed investments in marketing and retail services in Hong Kong and China for over ten years. Gigi is currently the Executive Director of Cheuk Nang (Holdings) Ltd. [HKSE 131], and also Honorary Flight Lieutenant of the Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps.

Vivian Siu
國際汽聯四級方程式車手及中國香港隊金牌得主

蕭詠雯（Vivian Siu）畢業於哥倫比亞大學經濟學系，身為女性賽車手的她不斷開創先河，以堅毅精神鼓勵新一代女性車手。她是全國首位國際汽聯四級方程式女車手，更是東南亞四級方程式錦標賽史上首次得分的香港車手，亦是第一位完成澳門格林披治大賽車四級方程式比賽的女車手和LGBT賽車手。她在2023年參與亞太賽車錦標賽男女混合組別，成功奪得港隊史上首面金牌。由英國著名得獎導演Jonathan Finnigan執導的紀錄片《ZERO TO MACAO》記錄了她在這項運動中追夢成真的旅程。

Vivian Siu
FIA Formula 4 Racer and Gold Medalist for Hong Kong China Team

Vivian Siu, graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Economics at Columbia University, is a trailblazing motorsport driver, recognized as the first female FIA Formula 4 driver in China, including Hong Kong and Macau. She made history as the first Hong Kong driver to score points in the FIA Formula 4 South East Asia Championship and became the first female driver to complete the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in Formula 4. She is also the first open LGBT+ driver participating in the Macau Grand Prix. In 2023, Vivian secured the first gold medal for the Hong Kong China team in motorsports at the 2023 FIA Asia Pacific Motorsport Championship in the Auto Gymkhana mixed category. Her meteoric rise in the sport has been captured in ‘ZERO TO MACAO’, a documentary by award-winning independent film director Jonathan Finnigan.

Sudesh Thevasenabathy brings with over 25 years of experience specialising in customer experience, process efficiencies and change management across multiple industries including telecommunications, consumer products, manufacturing, banking, healthcare tech, insurance and D&I in Malaysia and Hong Kong. Sudesh is currently Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Asia at Manulife based in Hong Kong responsible for driving the DEI agenda across the region for employees and customers. At Manulife, Sudesh focusses his efforts on the workforce, workplace, community and the business to ensure inclusion is embedded across the organisation and beyond. He also won the 2019 LGBT+ Hong Kong Ally Award by Community Business and was named 2019 Global Top 50 LGBT+ OUTstanding Role Model (Involve.org) through his work for the LGBT+ community. He is a true believer and advocate of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and with customers, and actively works and speaks in supporting inclusion of all forms be it disability, race, gender, sexuality and multi-generational employees in various forums around the world.

Dr. Henry Woo completed his doctoral degree in Economics of Public Diplomacy at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2015. He’s been involved with various contemporary art projects since 2011 including in South Korea, China, the Philippines and the UAE.  In 2019 he served as art advisor to the Egyptian Ministry of Culture’s 13th Cairo Biennale’ Organizing Committee, and his curated Korean artist Kim HeeCheon won the Biennale Award. He’s currently working on two contemporary art exhibitions in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Henry Woo has been a member of Columbia University School of the Arts Dean’s Advisory Council since 2017. He has worked and resided in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Seoul, London, Tokyo, Beijing, Manila, Cairo, Geneva and Lyon. @henrywooseoul