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Secretary Louise has proudly called Hong Kong home for 20+ years. She's been a member of AFHK since 2008 and immediately found that the parenting support and network to the wider adoption community offered invaluable guidance for her family's adoption journey. She joined the Steering Committee in 2010 organizing events. In 2013, she took over the role of Chair. In 2021, Louise moved to the Secretary position.
Louise is passionate about providing opportunities for supporting, connecting, informing, and educating in the adoption and the wider community. She is focused on advocacy projects and equal rights for adoptees and adoptive families driving programmes such as adoption parental leave, the privacy ordinance and access to personal information, access to roots tracing information, the citizenship rights of children placed in adoption in Hong Kong and the sexual offences law review. Much of this work has been possible with the assistance of students studying Human Rights in Practice at The Hong Kong University Faculty of Law.
Louise and her husband are the proud parents of two young adults: a daughter by birth and a son adopted as a toddler from Cambodia. In her business life Louise works as a property consultant. She is originally from Melbourne, Australia, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban Planning from RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology).
Audio-visual Technician/WebMaster Lucas was born, raised, and lives in Melbourne, Australia. He was an expatriate 2012-2022, working as a trainer, yoga instructor, and primary school educator in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Laos. He is the primary carer of three beautiful children (two biological, and one adopted). Lucas heard about AFHK whilst living in Singapore and participated in monthly workshops when he moved to Hong Kong. He assists the adoption community through facilitating conversations between members and in an Australian Expatriate Facebook group, presenting AFHK's Australian visa webinar, and with his web and technical knowledge. Lucas highly values the invaluable guidance, ongoing education, advocacy work, and support network that AFHK offers its members and the wider adoption constellation. 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 car-free 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. Alex Kumin Solomon Waiting Families Coordinator & Education Advocacy Originally from Boston, Alex moved to Hong Kong with her husband in 2017. She became involved with AFHK through their “waiting families“ program when she and husband started the adoption process in Hong Kong in 2020. Alex is a mother to a beautiful boy. Professionally, Alex has eighteen years of experience in the financial sector focused on the equity market.
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. |  Catherine Durant External Liaison - Community Relations 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.
External Relations & Waiting Families 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. At AFHK, she dedicates her effort to connect AFHK with important external partners to help achieve important advocacy objectives.
Adult Adoptee Coordinator 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.
Assistant Treasurer and Waiting Families Co-coordinator |
Louise Garnaut
Lucas Renzi
Maria Wong
Vivian Ip
Becky HoldawaySteering Committee Support
Outreach, Programme & Admin Assistant
May comes from a hospitality background with specialty in marketing and business management. After a sabbatical from the pandemic-stricken industry, she now looks to apply her skills and experience to serve a different purpose. Being an adoptee, May has had a multi-cultural upbringing and calls Hong Kong and Australia home, together with her husband and two grown sons. She is fluent in Cantonese and proficient in Mandarin. May is excited about the AFHK families and community. |
May Pendraat KrednerNon-Steering Committee Team Members
Single Parents Co-Coordinator Jan has been supporting the Single Parents group at AFHK now for over 12 years. As a single parent with an adopted daughter, she is happy to share many years of experience with our AFHK members. |  Liana Johnson Single Parents Co-Coordinator Liana has been a co-coordinator since 2021. She is a single parent of an adopted daughter. Liana is happy to talk about her experiences with adoption in Hong Kong, raising her daughter, or find someone who can help answer your questions. |
Janice HendersonVolunteering
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. We are currently looking for new people to join our team: Treasurer Marketing Coordinator Outdoor Events Coordinator Fundraising |