Steering Committee

Open Positions:

Louise Garnaut

Chair & Events Committee

Louise has proudly called Hong Kong home 20+ years. She's been a members of AFHK since 2008 and immediately found the parenting support and network offered invaluable guidance for her family's adoption journey. She joined the steering committee in 2010 running events. In 2013 she took over the role of Chair. Louise and her husband are the proud parents of 2 children; a daughter by birth and a son adopted as a toddler from Cambodia. Louise is passionate about supporting, connecting, informing and educating those who are touched by adoption. Her favourite AFHK events are the picnic on the Peak and the Holiday Party. In her business life Louise works as a real estate consultant. She is originally from Melbourne, Australia and holds a Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning from RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology).

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.

Becky Holdaway

Adult Adopted Persons Support

Becky is a Hong Kong adult adoptee who at 18 months was adopted into a British family. Hong Kong was home until she went to Secondary school and then college in the UK where she qualified and trained as a Nursery Nurse. Since 1997 she has worked in the childcare field in HK and the UK. Recently she has branched out into other work interests and she has her own business in trading/shipping. After joining AFHK in 2008 Becky came onto the committee in 2010. She is interested in bringing together and connecting adoptees from all over the world and more importantly adoptees from HK. She can often be found helping at AFHK functions and is a central point for adult adoptees wanting to know more about adoption in Hong Kong. Becky is grateful for the support, friendship and community that AFHK offers to those touched by adoption.

Lucas Renzi

Audio-visual technician

Lucas was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, is a primary educator by trade, and has been an expatriate since 2012. In Singapore, Lucas heard about AFHK and joined upon moving to Hong Kong in 2016. Lucas assists the community 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). 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 and consults with various committees, communities and start-ups. .

Sanam Thakur

Program & Outreach Assistant

Sanam is a California native but has called Hong Kong home for the last 10 years. She has a Bachelors Degree in International Development from UC Berkeley. Most recently Sanam was working in the corporate world focusing marketing and brand development for Coravin and DFS Group, both based in HK. She met her husband in Hong Kong and they have two daughters by birth. She is also exploring options for adoption.

Vivian Ip

Roots Tracing 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.

Dr. Erica Liu Wollin

Professional Adoption Resources Coordinator

Dr. Erica Liu Wollin is our Professional Adoption Resources Coordinator and co-leads our Monthly Discussions, Parent Support Meetings and Professional Events. She is a Registered Psychologist in Hong Kong and a Board-Licensed Psychologist in the US. Erica has a private practice in Sheung Wan, specialising in trauma therapy. She serves as a trainer, consultant and adoption committee member for Mother's Choice, and has consulted for Alliant International University Hong Kong, Dance with Depression, City University of Hong Kong Student Development Services, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children and Richmond Fellowship. She is married and has a son by birth and a daughter by adoption from China.

Lianne Lim

Foster Care Liaison

Lianne is a Bridge parent with Mother's Choice. Together with her husband and daughter, they have had the privilege to serve as foster family to a baby and two young children. Lianne joined the steering committee in 2019 to serve as the AFHK liaison to the foster community. Lianne is an APCPA-registered counsellor in Hong Kong and currently works at an IB school in Hong Kong providing guidance and counselling to secondary school students and their families. Previously, Lianne worked in the field of finance in New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Beijing. She grew up in Taiwan and completed her graduate and post-graduate studies in the U.S., Australia, and Hong Kong. Lianne has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Psychology from Tufts University, a Master of Commerce in Finance from University of New South Wales, and a Master of Counselling from Monash University.

Staci England, MSW

Professional Resources Assistant Coordinator

After completing her Master of Social Work in the US in 2015, Staci moved to Hong Kong where she met her husband. They plan to build their family through adoption. As an aunt to three internationally adopted children, she chose to focus her graduate studies on trauma, parenting, and attachment including learning basics of Trust Based Relational Intervention. She assists AFHK in preparing monthly discussions and with foster parent support.

Before coming to Hong Kong, Staci worked as a crisis counsellor for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in both individual and group settings. Her graduate field placements included individual therapy with adults and teens, working with children in the school setting, as well as facilitating state rehabilitation programs for sex offenders and perpetrators of domestic violence. Staci has begun EMDR training and is registered with Hong Kong Professional Counsellors Association and with the Social Workers Registration Board. Staci has also been working as a Director of Donor Services at International Care Ministries to support community development and poverty alleviation efforts in ultra-poor communities.

Ann Bridgewater

Professional Adoption Support Committee

Ann grew up in Hong Kong and completed her high school education in the UK before returning to attend university in HK. Ann received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Hong Kong, followed by a degree in Occupational Therapy at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. After practicing Occupational Therapy for over fifteen years specializing in pediatrics, Ann returned to the University of Hong Kong to complete her Post Graduate Certificate in Psychology and she then subsequently obtained a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology.

Ann has worked extensively with children, adolescents and their families in hospital, private clinical and school settings. She has experience working with children and adolescents with a wide range of developmental difficulties and disorders individually and within small groups. Ann works with families to address their children’s challenges in areas such as social and communication problems, attentional, emotional or behavioral difficulties. Ann has spoken on the topic of child development to numerous groups of educators and parents, both in Hong Kong and overseas. She provides psycho-educational assessments for children and adolescents.

Ann is an accredited facilitator for Group Triple P (Positive Parenting Programme) and Group Stepping Stones Triple P (Positive Parenting Programme for children with special needs) courses. She is trained to deliver the Sequential Oral Sensory approach to eating difficulties and is certified in the SensoryIntegration and Praxis Test.

Ann is the mother of two teenage daughters and speaks English, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Non - Steering Committee team members

Waiting Families Committee & Cantonese Outreach Coordinator: Teresa Lai Docherty
Parent Volunteer: Matsuoka Mutsumi
Single parents coordinator: Janice Henderson

We are currently looking for some new people to join our team

Volunteering
If you have been touched by adoption or are interested in adoption, please partner with us by giving your time to volunteer with our steering committee or any of our other programs and initiatives. Chinese speaking volunteers are also needed to help support bilingual programs. For more information about volunteering with AFHK please visit our Volunteer page.

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