Joanne Ooi

Ooi is the CEO of fine jewelry ecommerce site, Plukka.com, which launched in December 2011. Plukka sells jewelry under its own brand name, designed by either Ooi or her design team.
Before Plukka, Ooi was the CEO of Clean Air Network (CAN), an environmental NGO based in Hong Kong that focuses on air pollution and public health, from 2009 to 2011. Ooi founded Clean Air Network with Christine Loh, a well-known Asian environmentalist. At CAN, Ooi took the approach of trying to influence government policymaking on air quality issues by working closely with business interests. In addition, Ooi conducted many consumer-style campaigns including a petition sign-up campaign through more than 200 restaurants and gyms, (BBC), the creation of a spoof advertisement for canned oxygen which garnered widespread international attention (NY Times), and Asia’s first environmental art exhibition and auction (NY Times), the Clean Air Auction. Ooi and Loh were nominated to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential in 2011, for their work on the environment. (Time)
Before CAN, Ooi was the Creative Director of Shanghai Tang for seven years and largely credited with the turnaround of the Chinese luxury brand owned by the Richemont Group.
Ooi frequently speaks and comments on a wide variety of topics, including politics, creativity and consumerism, in addition to blogging about her experiences as an internet CEO at motherplukka.tumblr.com. Complementing her interests in business, environmentalism and tech, Ooi founded a leading Asian contemporary art gallery, Ooi Botos, and is presently the goodwill ambassador for the Multitude Foundation, a non-profit Asian art prize.
Ooi moved to Hong Kong from New York City in 1994, after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She was born in Singapore and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio before attending Columbia University, where she received a B.A.