Sophia Woo 胡慧儀
Leading Richmond Forward — join us in building a safer, stronger, and more united city. 前進列治文,創造新未來——邀請您一起守護安全、繁榮與團結的家園。
Sophia Woo 胡慧儀
Sophia Woo (胡慧儀) is a graduate of Simon Fraser University and holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Hong Kong. She is a Mental Health Clinician with a regional Health Authority and has over 30 years of public service experience, combining her professional expertise with a lifelong commitment to education, public safety, and community well-being.
From 2011 to 2014, Sophia served as a School Trustee on the Vancouver Board of Education, where she was vice-chair of the Finance and Legal Committee. In this role, she balanced organizational priorities with strong financial management and helped shape policy decisions at the city and district levels. She and then-chair Ken Denike successfully negotiated with the Federal Conservative Government to secure funding for settlement workers in schools — the first time federal dollars were directed to school boards to support new immigrant families.
Sophia also championed school safety. Early in her trustee term, she identified dangerous inconsistencies between school safety codes and first responder emergency codes after a gunman incident near a Vancouver school. She made a motion at the board to bring together police, health authorities, and senior administrators to resolve the issue, helping influence broader reforms across the province.
In addition to her elected service, Sophia has served on boards including Riverview Hospital, community policing centers, and the Rotary Club. She is a recipient of the Outstanding Chinese Women Award (2007) and a Paul Harris Fellow. She has published in professional journals, spoken at local and international conferences, and led workshops and family support groups.
With decades of experience in both clinical practice and public leadership, Sophia is committed to bringing transparency, fiscal responsibility, and common-sense decision-making back to government, while ensuring families and communities remain safe and supported
胡慧儀畢業於西門菲莎大學,並取得香港大學社會工作碩士學位。她現為地區衛生局的精神健康臨床專家,擁有超過三十年的公共服務經驗,結合專業知識與對社區福祉、教育及公共安全的長期承諾。
2011 至 2014 年間,胡慧儀曾任溫哥華教育局校董,並出任財務與法律委員會副主席。在任內,她兼顧公共組織的多重優先事項與嚴謹的財務管理,同時積極參與多個持份者小組,包括溫哥華市的諮詢委員會,代表公眾就財務、法律與人力資源議題作出決策。
2006 至 2007 年間,她與時任教育局主席 Ken Denike 成功與加拿大聯邦保守黨政府談判,爭取到資金支持校區聘請安置工作人員,協助新移民家庭。這是加拿大首次由聯邦政府直接撥款給教育局,為多年來被忽視的家庭健康與安置需求帶來重大突破。
在公共安全方面,她亦展現出卓越的領導力。任內初期,位於溫哥華 Fraserview 的一所學校曾因狙擊手威脅而陷入危機。憑藉其臨床背景,她迅速識別出校方使用的交通燈安全代碼與緊急應變單位代碼之間的誤差,可能造成嚴重後果。她隨即在教育局提出動議,召開緊急會議,邀請高層管理人員、警察、衛生機構與急救單位共同解決問題。此舉後來更影響到卑詩校董協會及卑詩公立學校僱主協會,推動其他學區的安全代碼改革。
在住房創新方面,作為財務與法律委員會副主席,她成立一個小組,研究在學校翻新或新建時結合校產與住宅的可行性。三年任期內,該小組分析了數據、商業模式及社會經濟影響,為校產轉型探索了新方向。
除了教育局的職務外,她還曾在多個社區組織董事會任職,包括 Riverview 醫院、社區警政中心及扶輪社。她於 2007 年獲頒 傑出華人女性獎,和 Paul Harris Fellow殊榮。她曾在專業期刊與醫學教育手冊發表文章,並於本地、全國及國際會議發表演講,主持社區工作坊與家庭支持小組。
憑藉數十年的公共服務經驗,胡慧儀致力於推動政府透明化、財政負責與常識決策,確保社區安全,並為家庭提供所需的支持與保障。