Maria Wong

Treasurer

Maria was born in Hong Kong. She finished her undergraduate studies in Australia before pursuing her MBA degree at University of Wales, UK. She is currently the Asia Regional Financial Controller of a leading British law firm and a full member of Institute of Public Accountants and Institute of Financial Accountants in Australia. She is married with one teenage daughter. Maria joined AFHK as Treasurer in early 2015. 

Lucas Renzi

Audio-visual Technician/WebMaster

Lucas was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia and has been an expatriate since 2012. He is a primary educator, teaching at schools in Singapore and Laos. In Singapore, Lucas heard about AFHK and joined upon moving to Hong Kong in 2016. He continues to volunteer with AFHK but lives in Laos. Lucas assists the adoption community through facilitating conversations, and with his web and technical knowledge. The ongoing education and support network from AFHK has offered invaluable guidance for this stay at home dad of three beautiful children (two biological, and one adopted) and he encourages those interested in adoption to come along to an AFHK event and become members for the same reasons. Along with his wife, this family of five loves the outdoors, and are advocates for all things health, judo, cycling, collective consumption, and reducing their carbon footprint. When Lucas can squeeze it in he supports, moderates and consults with various online and offline committees, adoption and education communities, and with small businesses and start-ups.

Vivian Ip

Roots Tracing Coordinator & Waiting Families Co-coordinator

Vivian is a registered social worker in Hong Kong. As a teenager, Vivian volunteered for a non-profit organisation serving pregnant girls facing crisis pregnancies and children in need of temporary and/or permanent care. She later joined this organisation, first as an adoption social worker, then supervisor. Vivian is passionate about adoption advocacy and volunteers her time to help adoptees and their families on their roots tracing journey.

Catherine Durant

External Liaison - Community Relations

Originally from Wales in the U.K., Catherine moved to Hong Kong in 2019. She and her husband are proud parents to their son, who they adopted in 2021. She began her involvement with AFHK through their information and support for “waiting parents” and then she supported AFHK as it’s Administrative Assistant before joining the Steering Committee. She has long had a personal interest in foster care and adoption and has learned much over the years through relationships with adoptees, children in foster care and other adoptive parents. Since moving to Hong Kong she has found the AFHK community invaluable in better preparing her and now continually equipping her to support her son and advocate for those touched by adoption.

Catherine’s professional background in the U.K. was as a legal advisor for NGOs and she currently works in Operations for a HK charity that supports migrant workers. In her “free time” she enjoys being a part of her church community and hiking remote parts of the new territories.