ESEA Role Models: Anna Chan

In celebration of ESEA (East and South East Asian) Heritage Month 2021, Consume’s Founder, Hannah spent some time talking to creatives and founders from the ESEA community, asking them to share an insight into their background, their family, education, and how they came to be in the creative industries.

Here, Hannah spoke with Anna Chan, a 2nd generation British Born Chinese woman originally from the North West of England, who is the Founder and Director of Asian Leadership Collective, a social enterprise with a mission to amplify ESEA leadership within the workplace.

“I remember when I realised that there was no-one who looked like me in leadership positions… I remember waiting, and waiting… going through my career looking around, wanting to manifest someone of East and/or Southeast Asian heritage to be the representation and role model I wanted, that I needed. I then started to realise, that they weren’t coming… Speaking to others, I finally had the courage to be the answer to my own question. My mission is to lead by example, to empower others in the East and Southeast Asian community on their journey of leadership in their places of work in the UK. Asian Leadership Collective was born.”

Video Highlights

• Anna has 10+ years in advertising and marketing, corporate work background, operations and processes services, and leadership positions held in diversity and inclusion initiatives.
• She believes that the best way to learn is by doing all the hard work; the graft, and doing a bit of everything – getting your hands dirty.