Founding Story

In an age of increasing polarization and intolerance, how can we build more inclusive and accepting societies?”

Resolve’s Founder, Victoria Wisniewski Otero, experienced the power of inclusion early in her life, growing up in a bicultural and bilingual household. Her mother’s leadership in Spanish-speaking community associations and her dedication to creating spaces for connection and representation left a lasting impression on Victoria. At the age of six, her family appeared in a local newspaper article about the growing Hispanic community, described as having “diverse backgrounds with a common thread.” These early experiences showed her how inclusion could empower individuals and transform communities.

This was later reinforced by her professional experiences in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Hong Kong, where she witnessed firsthand the disempowerment caused by social exclusion, particularly for refugees and asylum seekers. She worked alongside these groups, amplifying their voices and helping them co-create successful campaigns for change.

With these experiences in mind, Victoria founded Resolve in 2017 to create a supportive, enabling, and intersectional platform to amplify the voices of marginalized communities in Hong Kong and inspire others to ally with them. She was soon joined by Resolve’s founding board directors—Peter Williams, Willy Kwong, and Shaphan Marwah —and, a year later, by Tze-Wei Ng. After piloting a groundbreaking Fellowship in 2018 and obtaining charitable status, Resolve secured multi-year funding to establish its office and hire its first staff. The team came together to support a new era of inclusivity in Hong Kong.