The Common Core Advisory Board
The Common Core Advisory Board contributes its extensive expertise to strengthen the programme’s development; foster deeper connections between the Common Core, Hong Kong, and the global community and industries; and help articulate graduate attributes that will prepare students for success beyond the University. The Board also offers voluntary support for a range of our initiatives and events. The Common Core is deeply grateful for their guidance and partnership.
Ricky Tsui
Director of Research & Development (East Asia), ARUP
Dr Ricky Tsui has been leading ARUP’s R&D since 2008, to drive various research, creativity, and innovation activities in the East Asian region. He is the Arup University Leader, Knowledge Management Leader & Shenzhen Digital Acceleration Hub Leader and leads the pursuit of Design and Technical Excellence in the company. His work covers the entire knowledge value-chain from anticipating knowledge needs through to various foresight and innovation initiatives, developing new knowledge through managing different R&D projects, in collaboration with external partners and facilitating the dissemination of developed and captured knowledge through various Communities of Practice, to knowledge empowerment through organizing informal and formal learning activities under Arup University. Ricky also practises and teaches design thinking in many innovative projects and training courses. He has been the Region Ventures Champion for many years and helps promote intrapreneurship from harvesting new ideas to developing commercial products/services.
Ricky is the appointed member of the East Asia Digital Executive, driving digital transformation in the region. He launched many cultural change initiatives and helps drive automation in many design processes and the development of new digital products/services.
Lynn Yau
Founding CEO, Absolutely Fabulous Theatre Connections
Lynn Yau heads The Absolutely Fabulous Theatre Connection (AFTEC), a Learning Theatre under the LCSD’s Venue Partnership Scheme. In addition to strategic planning and fund-raising, she is particularly passionate about arts learning and has curated numerous learning projects over the years from primary to postgraduate level and for the public. The Bravo! Hong Kong Youth Theatre Awards 2013-14 was a recipient of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council’s Arts Education Award. Sm-ART Youth, a multi-disciplinary inter-generational programme is a Star Project at UNESCO’S Arts in Education Observatory (Hong Kong). Over the past two decades, Lynn has acted in various advisory capacities in the arts community, and as an occasional guest artist with local theatre and music companies. She was on the Council of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2011-13 and a Hong Kong Scholar to the UK Clore Leadership Programme 2010-2011 supported by the Home Affairs Department.
A keen researcher and speaker on the arts and education, she presented papers at various conferences and written articles and book chapters. Biennially, she teaches the Arts Engagement & Education module at the Hong Kong Institute of Education’s Executive Master of Arts in Arts Management and Cultural Entrepreneurship.
Anna Iles
Anna Iles is an independent futurist, certified life coach and author of two books with Springer: The Innovation-Friendly Organization (2017) and The Brand Strategist’s Guide to Desire (2014). She is passionate about the importance of supporting young people to develop foresight skills, and empowering them to be mindful of their role in shaping the future. Anna has run futures programs for educational and youth institutions including Singapore Management University, Hong Kong Baptist University, Stamford American School, Chinese International School, the World YMCA and Young Friends of the Earth Europe.
She has pioneered futures thinking at leading sustainability consultancies, including BSR’s Sustainable Futures Lab, where she supported the integration of trend monitoring and horizon scanning into its advisory services, and Forum for the Future, first as editor of its sustainable solutions magazine Green Futures and then as founding curator of the Futures Centre, a participatory platform for exploring change.
She leads her own foresight and innovation agency, Flux Compass, working with business and global bodies, such as Swire Group, Kering, UNICEF, and UNDP. Academic publications include a paper in the Journal of Futures Studies (2020) on the potential of futures methodology to build dialogue in conflict situations, and a paper in SOTICS on the role of heritage in shaping shared futures. Anna holds a 1st class BA in English and French from Oxford University and a MA in Gender Studies from SOAS, London University.
Vincent Siu
Founder and CEO of Press Start Academy
Vince Siu is the Founder and CEO of Press Start Academy, a Hong Kong-based education start-up that builds fun, immersive, facilitated K-12 learning experiences founded on the 21st-century skills, and trains teachers on how to do the same for their students. In the field of education, he has been recognized as a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum, a Gen.T Leader of Tomorrow by Tatler Asia, and an Asia-Pacific Leader by the Obama Foundation. Vince is frequently invited to present at conferences, organisations, and universities around the world, and is deeply passionate and committed to social impact and change initiatives, and teacher empowerment, youth leadership and climate action.
Prior to his entrepreneurship journey, Vince worked in digital strategy consulting and project management for Hang Seng Bank, IBM, and Ernst and Young. He graduated with his bachelor’s in Management Information Systems from Boston College.
John Huen
Founding CEO, KodingKingdom
John Huen is the founding CEO of Koding Kingdom, a K12 coding and gaming education company and works in partnership with Tencent on Roblox education. He is an honourary advisor at the HKU Foundation, and an advisory committee member for IT Innovation Lab, OGCIO, and the HKSAR Government. John previously served in senior executive roles at GigaMedia China and CDC Games. He has more than 20 years of operating and management experience in the digital content and telecommunications industries in China. John is the Hong Kong representative of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, promoting the development of Web 3.0.
John holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Hong Kong. In 1992, he was awarded the Swire/Foreign and Commonwealth Scholarship for his Master of Philosophy degree in Management Studies at the University of Oxford.
Zaf Chow
Chief Commercial Officer, Artifact Labs
Zaf Chow is the CCO of Artifacts Labs, a Web3 company that works to preserve records of collections and assets on the blockchain. As the former Director of Digital Strategy and Partnerships at Animoca Brands, she played a pivotal role in promoting the mass adoption of NFTs and metaverses. She was a director for Alipay Hong Kong and founded a mobile food ordering fintech start-up, QUICKER, and has extensive experience working in fast retail. Zaf was the Awardee of Innovation and Change-making Entrepreneurship by InvestHK in 2017.
Zaf graduated from the University of Hong Kong majoring in Accounting and Finance and minoring in German. She was awarded the HKU Sports Scholarship and Lufthansa Scholarship during her study.
Garrick Lau
Head of Business Innovation and Shared Value, Nan Fung Group
Garrick Lau is a Gen-Y and a father of two children and aspires to bring happiness and fulfilment to future generations. Garrick’s experience covers social innovation, intrapreneurship, hospitality and real estate asset management, youth development, talent acquisition and employer branding. Garrick previously managed assets valued over HK$2bn, alongside charitable foundations supporting youth development and incubation programs supporting social innovators, all aiming to demonstrate and advocate the Creating Shared Value (CSV) model to the business world.
Prior to his role at Nan Fung Group, Garrick was Co-Founder and CEO for G For Good and an Assistant General Manager for Shared Value, under New World Development. He was the ex-CEO of a charitable organization that ran the largest teenage entrepreneurship education program in Hong Kong. Garrick graduated with his bachelor and Master degrees from the University of Hong Kong and received senior executive training from Stanford University.
Past Advisory Board Members
Natalie Chan, CEO & Founder, OWN Academy 自由學園
Jennifer Ming Wai Wong, Psychotherapist & Hypnotherapist, Founder & Director, Codekey Cookies Ltd. 點字曲奇, Co-Founder, Capering Holistic Medical Alliance 義醫同行
Rosa Kusbiantoro, Director of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)
Stacy Baird, Executive Director, Intellectual Property Program, US-China Clean Energy Forum
Otto Ng, Design Director and Co-founder of LLAB: Art, Architecture, Events