Women to Watch 2021: Sofia Yip, Edelman

Sofia Yip

Director
Edelman
Hong Kong

At just 34, Sofia Yip is already an industry-recognised business leader. Joining Edelman Hong Kong in 2012, she was promoted twice within two years and became the firm’s youngest senior manager, in charge of revamping a quality programme that was later replicated across the region.

With challenging times brought on by the pandemic, Yip has not been flustered. Instead she has been deeply involved in meeting rapidly changing needs, and by applying her extensive crisis-based advisory expertise and deep-rooted understanding of the fast-growing technology sector, she helped reassure existing clients as well as unlock business growth for Edelman.

Intrinsic to Yip’s ongoing success is her growth mindset and client centricity. Within three months of rejoining Edelman in 2019, she played a pivotal role in onboarding several top-billing clients, including Tencent and Livi Bank, and has continued to unlock growth potential across other business units and new markets such as India and Belgium.

In an age of growing distrust, Yip has also taken a lead role in strengthening the firm’s advisory and reputation practice in Greater China. She regularly provides client counsel on issues in the region ranging from geopolitical sensitivity, censorship, misinformation, cybersecurity and employee misconduct, and recently developed an adaptive crisis and issue preparedness programme to help mitigate related risk at home and abroad.

Nurturing new talent is also a priority for Yip. With a passion for women’s empowerment, she acts as a mentor of young women team members and has facilitated many Edelman lean-in sessions. In addition, she sits on the board of industry association PRHK as the chair of education & mentorship, where she connects young talents with industry experts to help groom the next generation of PR professionals.