HONG PINN WONG

Pinn is Vice President/Innovation Strategist at The Idea Factory.  The Idea Factory is a strategy process consulting firm whose methodologies are built around the principles of innovation and design.  Founded in San Francisco in 1997, with the current Global HQ in Singapore, The Idea Factory has helped numerous companies in the areas of strategy development, creation of new products and services, and the organic growth of a culture for innovation and enterprise.  Clients include Levis Strauss Asia Pacific, Microsoft Asia Pacific, Kellogg’s Asia Pacific, International Centre for Leadership in Finance (Malaysia), , Roche Products Pte Ltd (Australia), Singapore Tourism Board, Singapore Press Holdings, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (Singapore) and The Ministry of Education (Singapore).  Pinn is one of the lead facilitators of The Idea Factory’s proprietary innovation capability development programme.

Pinn started her career in the hospitality industry in the early eighties.  She moved to China in 1988 to help set up hotels in different cities including Shanghai, Xian, Guangzhou, Beijing and Shenzhen.   She was subsequently appointed Director of Manpower Development, at the flagship property of Holiday Inn in Beijing, a mega complex of over 1000 rooms and apartments.  Her role also requires her to oversee the Lido Training School where management trainees were developed for the 13 hotels in the Holiday Inn chain across China.  Later, she set up her own consulting business specializing in recruitment, Human Resource management and development in China based in Shenzhen. 

Moving back to Singapore in the mid nineties, she joined the Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore and spearheaded projects such as inculcating a training culture and the creation of “A World of Care” for all staff.  She also led the development and implementation of the Diploma in Hotel Management for the Marina Bay Hotels with Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Just prior to joining The Idea Factory, Pinn held the position of Regional Director of Human Resource and Training at Millennium and Copthorne International Limited.  Her role required her to advise and strategize on human resource and training related matters for the Asia Pacific Regional Office and nine hotels in the region.

Pinn is well respected in the hospitality industry and have served on the committee for the Tourism 21 Status Review on Tourism Manpower and Image Positioning for Singapore Tourism Board.  She was also the service leadership advisor to the Workforce Development Agency in Singapore.  She has been a judge at the Annual Singapore Tourism Awards since 2000.

Pinn holds a Masters of Arts in Education and Human Development from George Washington University, a Bachelor of Arts in Administration and Commercial Studies from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, and a Diploma in Training and Development Management from Singapore Institute of Management.

She is based in Singapore.