Co-Presidents for Bayes Women in Business, Sophie Hajjar and Wincy So, are on a mission to tackle underrepresentation of women in the corporate world.
Sophie Hajjar and Wincy So are two of the six Executive Committee Members leading Bayes Women in Business, a group of over 400 Members dedicated to empowering and supporting emerging women leaders while advancing gender equality, inclusion and diversity in the corporate world.
By building meaningful connections between students and women leaders in business, Sophie, Wincy and the committee’s work is creating a space for students to build networks that support learning, growth and future success. Sophie explains:
“The group creates a supportive community where students can share their experiences, seek mentorship and gain insights from successful professionals.
“We curate a range of diverse activities, seminars, workshops and networking events to build an inclusive community, that extends an open invitation to all students interested in combating gender inequality and addressing the underrepresentation of women in the corporate world.”
What inspires you to be a catalyst for gender equality in business?
Having completed her undergraduate degree in Hong Kong and worked for a couple of years in industry, Wincy reflects that she’s inspired to help others develop their personal brand and build connections to support their career by empowering Members to think about:
“What can we do to focus on ourselves, build up our own image and present ourselves to others?”
Wincy’s motivation is driven further by her experience of working in industry:
“Venture Capitalists will ask questions very differently towards male founders and female founders…the disparity is still there.”
For Sophie, the opportunity to lead initiatives to empower women in sectors that still struggle with equal representation has motivated her:
“Wincy and I are both in the field of finance and we feel like it's a very male dominated field. So, it's very important for us to equip all our Members with the tools and knowledge to champion [equality] in both their academic and personal pursuits.”
What have been some of your proudest moment so far?
Having been an Executive Committee Member for less than a year, Sophie shared the positive impact of the hard work done to bring in women leaders in business to meet, share experiences and connect with the group’s members:
“One of my proudest achievements is building up our connections between our students and the professionals that they might not ever imagine they would have connections with, and seeing how happy and how inspiring our events are to our Members.”
What advice would you give to students who want to be part of something ambitious like Bayes Women in Business?
“When you see a chance that you’re interested in, just go for it!” Wincy advises.
Sophie agrees, “Don’t miss any opportunities, try everything.”
Drawing on her own experience of how she felt when she saw the application to join as an Executive Committee Member of Bayes Women in Business, Wincy recalled that she asked herself: “I’m here [in London], what would make my journey more fruitful?”
Pushing herself outside of her comfort zone, Wincy applied and secured herself a place on the Executive Committee.
What role has City St George’s played in your student experience?
Wincy and Sophie agreed that the opportunities to get involved with business been really positive:
“They organise a lot of events to let us get in touch with industry contacts [and] get exposure which we rarely have the opportunity to otherwise” Wincy commented.
Sophie went on: “There’s always opportunities to network and meet and hear from alumni or industry professionals from across various industries that you think might be interested in or not.
“There’s so many times when I’ve left my comfort zone and attended sessions that I didn’t think were my interest and I actually really learned a lot…there are always opportunities to learn.”
Bayes Women in Business is open to all students and offers a diverse range of activities and networking events designed to build a community of students aligned to advancing gender equality, inclusion and diversity in the corporate world. To find out more about the club.