It’s a match – senior managers at Hong Kong banks ‘speed date’ to find volunteering opportunities
Skills-based secondments an opportunity to lend a helping hand – and learn on the job
Speed dating is not something you would expect three senior Hong Kong-based managers at large international investment banks to fit into their work schedule. But to find a suitable charity or non-governmental organisation for them to volunteer their time and skills with, it was worth the effort, they said.
“On the speed dating night, we each spent around 10 minutes with three to four NGOs, to exchange information on our interests and areas of expertise as well as what they are looking for,” William Cornelius, head of regional finance at investment bank CLSA, told the South China Morning Post.
“Some [dates] went really well and some did not go so well … it was up to us and the NGOs to follow up on our [mutual] interest. That was how I met [the NGO] Redress,” he said.
“It was a fascinating experience. I can apply what I learned at CLSA, [such as] dealing with things not in my comfort zone.”
Cornelius is a participant of the Hong Kong Community Connections programme for senior managers, a partnership between investment banks CLSA, Credit Suisse, Macquarie and Nomura, as well as asset manager State Street and accounting and consulting company PwC, set up in 2015.
About 191 participants from these companies have been paired with about 90 NGOs in the past three years, about 100 of these participants this year alone.
