Karen Seymour is Hong Kong’s first Chief Purpose Officer. She joined human at work in May 2019, helping leaders and their teams activate purpose to create high performance organizations, humans who thrive and a better world. She formerly led the Li & Fung Foundation and community engagement at the Fung Group of companies, spearheading the launch of purpose, leading global campaigns and events, and mobilizing change makers worldwide amongst over 40,000 employees in 350 locations worldwide.

A movement-maker and collaborator, Karen connects people to big ideas that lead to big impact. She has built a career spanning 25 years based in Hong Kong as an agile leader with diverse experience across a number of industries. Her career began in Toronto, Canada at Manulife Financial and continued in financial services in sales, marketing and account management after moving to Hong Kong in 1993. She held leadership positions at Datastream (now Thomson Reuters), Morgan Stanley Capital International, Rimes Technologies and State Street Global Advisors. Tapping into her passions for fitness and the environment, she started up a wellness company to bring fun fitness to children and a digital newspaper company for more sustainable news solutions. She thrives by connecting to the natural world, spending time on the water and in the mountains and is obsessed with paddling, hiking and helping to protect our environment.

Karen has served as a board director of the Li & Fung Foundation and the Canadian International School parent’s board, she is an advocate and former Chapter Leader for Room to Read, she volunteers as a consultant with Asian Charity Services and is a non-profit advisor. Her own purpose journey has been forged through decades of seeing and experiencing social needs, sparking awareness and action, and witnessing the transformative power of purpose when hearts and minds are tapped for good.