Joanne Ooi
Encyclopedia
Joanne Ooi is an environmentalist, art dealer and marketing expert.

Background & Education

Ooi moved to Hong Kong from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 City in 1994, after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 Law School . She was born in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio before attending Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, where she received a B.A.

Career

As of July 2009, Ooi is the CEO of Clean Air Network
Clean Air Network
Clean Air Network is an independent non-governmental organization which aims to educate the public about the health impacts of air pollution and mobilize public support for cleaner air in Hong Kong....

 (CAN), an environmental non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

 based in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 that focuses on air pollution and public health. Its funding is provided by Civic Exchange. She founded Clean Air Network along with Christine Loh
Christine Loh
- External links :* ] ]*...

, another environmentalist in Asia. At Clean Air Network, Ooi has taken the approach of trying to affect Hong Kong Government policy-making on air quality issues by working closely with business interests. For example, she champions subsidies for the transport sector as one of the best ways to achieve clean-up of roadside pollution in Hong Kong. Many NGO's in Hong Kong welcome the addition of this newcomer to exert even more pressure on the lame duck developer-friendly indecisive administration of Donald Tsang.

In addition, she has reached out to the Hong Kong public through consumer channels by conducting a petition sign-up campaign through more than 200 restaurants and gyms in the city.
Related to her views on Hong Kong governance, which she and other environmentalists' see as being dominated by business interests, Ooi has cited Hong Kong’s non-democratic political system as one of the root causes of its deficient environmental policy, saying "the city's dysfunctional political system is holding back environmental reform."
Before becoming CEO of CAN in 2009, Ooi was the Creative Director of Shanghai Tang
Shanghai Tang
Shanghai Tang is an international clothing chain company, founded in 1994 by Hong Kong businessman David Tang Wing Cheung and now controlled by Richemont.David Tang claimed that Shanghai Tang is a Chinese label that set out to rejuvenate Chinese fashion...

 for seven years and largely credited with the turnaround of the Chinese luxury brand. Termed the “Gucci Killer”

and a “radical retailer,"

Ooi helped Shanghai Tang become noticed and popular by closely studying Chinese culture and heritage and incorporating those references into Shanghai Tang’s product collections and advertising. She has said: "I decided very early on that for the brand to really have legs it was very important to present a collection that had real roots in Chinese culture and history... not just some pastiche that I would create every season for commercial reasons."

Ooi was also the first to use Chinese models in international advertising campaigns and is credited with launching the career of the first Chinese supermodel, Du Juan
Du Juan
Du Juan is a Chinese fashion model and former ballerina. She has been touted as the world's first international Chinese supermodel.-Early life:...

.
Ooi is also an art dealer and co-founder of Ooi Botos Gallery, an art gallery based in Hong Kong that represents photography, multi-media art and painting.

External links



http://www.cleartheair.org.hk
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