Location

TEDxTinHau Women 2026

Being Neighbourly x Jennifer Flowers, TEDxTinHau Women

Author/ Being Neighbourly
17 August 2026

TEDxTinHau Women is thrilled to unveil its milestone tenth edition event, set to take place on Friday, October 2, 2026, at Xiqu Centre in the vibrant West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong.

Launched in 2009, TEDx is a program of locally organized events that bring the community together to share a TED-like experience. Some of the best talks from TEDx events have gone on to be featured on TED.com and garnered millions of views from audiences across the globe.

Under the banner of ‘UNCHARTED’, this year’s theme invites audiences to explore the unknown, discover fresh perspectives, and consider the ideas that surface when we step beyond familiar territory. The theme resonates deeply with this chapter of TEDxTinHau Women as the name takes direct inspiration from Tin Hau, the Chinese Goddess of the Sea, and with Hong Kong itself, a city shaped by its coastal roots, maritime history, and a long tradition of navigating change.

Like the sea, ‘UNCHARTED’ speaks to endless transformation, curiosity, and possibility. It reflects the very premise of TEDx: to chart new intellectual waters through every talk and every speaker. In a city defined by a unique mix of heritage and innovation, TEDxTinHau Women 2026 will bring together unlikely voices that challenge assumptions, expand horizons, and illuminate new ways of seeing the world around us.

“To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we are proud to present our most ambitious program to date,” says Jennifer Flowers, Co-founder of TEDxTinHau Women, adding that this year’s edition will feature 13 remarkable speakers across 11 talks, making it the largest lineup in their history.

The TEDxTinHau Women team is also excited to introduce a new segment to this year’s program called Quests; intimate, expert-led workshops and excursions, “designed to take the audience beyond the main stage. They have been crafted to ignite curiosity and help participants connect in unexpected ways, discovering something about themselves as they embark on their Quest.”

About TEDx Tin Hau Women Founder, Jennifer Flowers

Jennifer Flowers, known commonly as Jen, is a Hong Kong-raised executive. She is the co-founder of TEDxTin Hau Women, the community event that aims to amplify local voices and ideas that is in its tenth year this year.

Her impressive work with TEDxTinHau Women aside, Flowers has spent 25 years in the corporate sector focused on business development, market strategy, marketing, client relationships and new services – digital, data, customer and emerging technology.

She is currently leading AI enablement at Prudential.

Speaker Lineup

To celebrate their 10th anniversary, TEDxTinHau Women presents 13 remarkable speakers. This diverse group represents six countries, speaks eight languages, and spans generations from their 20s to their 60s. Browse the speakers below to find out what’s on offer this year.

Angela Wong & William Lo

Angela Wong is Co-Founder of Strive Foundation, the only programme in Hong Kong combining elite female basketball training with academics and mentorship.

William Lo is Co-Founder of Strive Gold Team, a nonprofit empowering talented girls through basketball, mentorship, and leadership. Alongside his wife Angela, he built a programme focused on holistic growth – blending elite training with life skills. A seasoned coach, he has trained top athletes including Olympic gold medallist Edgar Cheung.

UNCHARTED Talk: Together, husband-and-wife duo Angela Wong and William Lo will explore the physical and mental strength required to compete at the highest level, and how to challenge limits shaped by economic background.

Anisha Islam

A chemical engineering graduate, Kazi Anisha Islam is a PhD Fellow and HKU Presidential Scholar in the Department of Clinical Oncology at the University of Hong Kong. Her research in cancer molecular genomics focuses on advancing precision medicine for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, with findings presented at the Gordon Research Conference and the American and European Associations for Cancer Research.

UNCHARTED Talk: Anisha Islam explores how transforming complex, multi-dimensional cancer data into clear narratives can uncover hidden patterns, predict outcomes, and guide truly personalized treatment to provide hope for patients.

Gina Li

Gina Li is a certified water sommelier whose path – from journalism and banking to tea entrepreneurship – sparked a fascination with how water chemistry shapes taste. Trained at Doemens Academy in Germany, Gina now speaks and consults on water culture, partnering with institutions such as universities and consulates. Her work elevates hydration into a sensory craft.

UNCHARTED Talk: Gina Li invites audiences to rediscover the “ordinary” by exploring how water chemistry shapes taste and transforms the way we drink and live. By learning to taste and pair water, Li reveals how embracing fluidity can help us find confidence in our multifaceted identities.

Helen Geng

Helen Geng is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Division of Science at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. She holds a PhD in geology, which has given her a distinctive “deep-time” perspective. Her expertise spans environmental geochemistry and interdisciplinary sustainability studies. Currently, she teaches general education sustainability courses.

UNCHARTED Talk: Leveraging her expertise in geology, Helen Geng reframes sustainability through several deep-time stories drawn from the Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history.

Jane Houng

Jane Houng is a Hong Kong-based author, speaker, and humanitarian educated at Cambridge University. She has published 16 children’s books, a memoir entitled Beirut is More Beautiful by Bike, and hosted the podcast Mending Lives. In 2017, Jane lost her daughter Rebecca ‘Becky’ Dykes to gender-based violence in Lebanon. She founded Becky’s Button, a UK-registered charity that educates young people on preventing violence and distributes free panic alarms to vulnerable communities worldwide.

UNCHARTED Talk: In this deeply moving and inspiring talk, Jane Houng explores how personal trauma can be transformed into meaningful action.

Jo Lodder

Jo Lodder is a former professional jockey whose career ended after a back injury in his twenties. He built a successful career in luxury real estate across Asia before reaching a turning point—giving up drinking and committing to endurance running. In 2025, he ran 3,140 km from the Great Wall of China to Hong Kong with nine students facing life challenges. Their journey inspired Limits Are Just Borrowed, a philosophy that questions inherited beliefs. Where one exceeds expectations, others often follow.

UNCHARTED Talk: Jo Lodder explores how shared belief expands possibility, helping us challenge labels and redefine the impossible.

Mary Schaus & Joanna Bowers

Mary Schaus is a former practicing lawyer, talent strategist, and founder of Talos Foundation, a Hong Kong–registered charity raising awareness of neurodiversity and invisible disabilities. Inspired by her son, she built Talos after witnessing firsthand the impact of limited awareness in Hong Kong.

Joanna Bowers is an award-winning British film director, screenwriter, and founder of Cheeky Monkey Productions. Her impact filmmaking highlights marginalized communities, with internationally acclaimed documentaries The Helper and reFashioned.

UNCHARTED Talk: In this joint talk, Mary Schaus and Joanna Bowers explore how a desperate Facebook post sparked an improbable collaboration – and what happens when people stop waiting for perfect conditions and simply begin.

Nance Lokos

Nance Lokos is a British designer and abstract artist with over 17 years in art direction. After moving to Hong Kong in 2016, she transitioned into User Experience (UX) design, combining creativity with logic. Living with a visual impairment, she experiences firsthand the barriers poor design creates. She advocates for a digital landscape where accessibility isn’t optional, but essential. Nance’s talk makes accessibility personal. While designers strive for beauty, exclusion often follows – through low contrast, small text, and overlooked usability.

UNCHARTED Talk: Nance Lokos challenges us to rethink design as inclusive by default and shares practical ways to break down barriers and create spaces that are usable, thoughtful, and accessible for all.

Shiela M. Cancino

Shiela M. Cancino is a former global financial services executive who competed in the Chess Olympiad and was awarded the prestigious FIDE Woman Candidate Master chess title. Navigating her career, she discovered profound parallels between the chessboard and life. Deeply dedicated to empowering others, Shiela founded the 4S Scholarship Foundation, Pinoy Impact Community, and Pinoy Chess Community Hong Kong.

UNCHARTED Talk: Shiela Cancino explores the “Pawn to Queen” journey, illustrating how overlooked individuals can step into their potential and transform their future with strategy and self-belief.

Sofie Fella

Sofie Fella is a Chinese-German international rugby player, Harvard alumni, and entrepreneur whose work sits at the intersection of sport, culture, and identity. Internationally capped with Germany and competing around the world, she uses storytelling, community events, and her brand The 大 Collection—inspired by the Chinese character meaning “big”—to challenge narratives around strength, femininity, and body image, particularly for Asian women and girls. She also co-founded Girls Lift Girls, a global community bringing women together through sport.

UNCHARTED Talk: Drawing on her experience as an athlete, Sofie Fella challenges narrow ideas of strength and femininity, exploring why becoming a woman is not about becoming smaller, but about becoming bigger.

Stella Jiang

Stella Jiang is a self-taught programmer who believes technology should serve people. After experiencing postpartum depression and anxiety, she turned to mental health, exploring how technology could support the mind during vulnerable moments. Stella rebuilt through constantly asking herself: “Can I do this?” Each “yes” transformed survival into choice. At 38, she taught herself to code and created AI tools that foster self-validation.

UNCHARTED Talk: Stella Jiang shows how AI’s true power lies not in providing answers, but in how technology can help people rebuild trust in themselves.

Quests

This year’s TEDxTinHau Women introduces a new segment to the program called Quests; intimate, expert-led workshops and excursions designed to take the audience beyond the main stage. Quests have been crafted to ignite curiosity and help participants connect in unexpected ways, discovering something about themselves as they embark on their Quest.

Quests are expert-led workshops and excursions in small groups across Hong Kong. They take place in the morning, before the talks begin, with transport provided to the Xiqu Centre in time for the afternoon event.

There are five quests to choose from:

Cook.Learn.Nourish.Thrive

Explore the science of women’s health through an interactive cooking workshop. Facilitators: Beth Wright (Founder of B Fit The Wright Way) and Aline Davies (Founder of Sincerely Alin.
Location: Dear Harley Bakery, 12C, V Ga Building, 532 Castle Peak Road, Lai Chi Kok.
Time: 8:45am – Arrival – Workshop: 9am – 1130am.

Empathy in the Workplace

Step into a high-stakes corporate “whodunnit” simulation to test your empathy in the workplace. Facilitator: Colby Jones (Co-Founder of Cognitive Humanity)
Location: AIA Office, 1st Floor, Stubbs Road, Wan Chai.
Time: 8:45am – Arrival – Workshop: 9am – 1130am.

The Actor’s Approach to Public Speaking

Learn public speaking and build confidence from an award-winning actor. Facilitator: Nicholas Atkinson (Founder & Director of Punch Productions).
Location: WLAB by Club Wheelock x The DO, Area A, 1/F, Block A-D, 196-198 Tsat Tsz Mui Rd, Quarry Bay.
Time: 8:45am – Arrival – Workshop: 9am – 1130am.

Under Pressure: What Happens When All Eyes Are On You?

Practice regulating your nervous system alongside performance experts when the pressure is on. Facilitators: Ziggy Makant, Imogen Short, Kate Wood, Jemma Daley.
Location: AIA Vitality Hub, Hong Kong Observation Wheel, 33 Man Kwong St, Central.
Time: 8:45am – Arrival – Workshop: 9am – 1130am.

Chungking Unwrapped: A Journey Beyond Bias

Reflect on unconscious bias and assumptions through guided experiences at the Diversity Hub and Centre for Refugees in Chungking Mansion. Facilitator: Diversity Hub.
Location: Diversity Hub, 17F, Block E, Chungking Mansions, 36-44 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.
Time: 8:45am – Arrival – Workshop: 9am – 1130am.

Buy tickets for Quests here.

Event and Ticketing Information

● Date: Friday October 2nd, 2026
● Live Talks Venue: Xiqu Centre, West Kowloon
● Quests Venue: Various locations across Hong Kong.
● Time: Quests in the morning; Talks in the afternoon.
● Transport from the Quests workshops is provided to the Xiqu Centre in time for the afternoon event.

Tickets for TEDxTinHau Women 2026 will be available via Cityline, with early bird sales launching on July 24. Early bird tickets are priced at HK$500 for a half-day pass and HK$800 for a full-day pass. General sales will begin on August 17, with tickets priced at HK$650 for half-day and HK$950 for full-day access. Half-day tickets include admission to the TEDxTinHau Women Talks and the Fair Experience, while full-day tickets include a Quest workshop in the morning, followed by lunch at the venue, admission to the Talks and the Fair Experience.

Buy tickets to TEDxTinHau Women here .

TEDxTinHau Women
88 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.