About us
Strategic Communications & Public Relations Advisory
About the founder
Ashleigh Au
Ashleigh Au is a trilingual (English, Mandarin, Spanish) communications strategist with over 20 years of professional experience facilitating projects and initiatives that cross cultures. Passionate about entrepreneurship, advancing women, and building community, Ashleigh is involved in numerous projects and initiatives that reflect these interests.
The daughter of an interracial and cross-cultural union, Ashleigh was born and raised Toronto, one of Canada’s multicultural urban centres. Eager to expand her horizons, Ashleigh she studied in Havana, Cuba, Guadalajara, Mexico, and Beijing, Hangzhou, and Nanjing, China, before launching her professional career in Shanghai.
From 2010-2017, Ashleigh served as Special Assistant to China’s foremost female entrepreneur, the CEO of SOHO China. The largest commercial property developer in Beijing and Shanghai at the time, the Hong Kong-listed company was renowned for its daring collaborations with cutting edge architects that transformed the face of China’s largest cities. At SOHO China, Ashleigh directed international public relations, elevating the Company’s global profile and accumulating extensive experience with media platforms and business forums. From 2014, she served as founding Secretary General of the SOHO China Scholarships, a USD $100 million initiative to provide financial aid to Chinese students at top international universities including Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of Chicago.
In 2017 Ashleigh relocated to Toronto, Canada where she established Ou & Company as a way to apply her communications expertise to projects and initiatives that demand sensitivity to cultural differences. She has since developed a repertoire of communications-focused projects related to Canada-China business, Chinese-Canadian business in Canada, and advancing women through education, entrepreneurship and community engagement.
Ashleigh has served the Beijing Advisory Board to the Canada China Business Council, Executive Director of Educating Girls of Rural China, and as a Global China Advisor to Canadian not-for-profit FORA: Network for Change.
Ashleigh currently serves as Executive Director of Ching Tien Foundation for Women, and Director of Communications for WeWorkingWomen, North America’s largest community platform for overseas Chinese women’s personal and professional growth. She is also the Ontario Representative of the Jiuding Scholarship Foundation, which awards scholarship prizes to outstanding university students of Chinese heritage to encourage the next generation of Chinese-Canadian leaders.
A seasoned public speaker, Ashleigh has acted as Master of Ceremonies and Moderator at a range of business and cultural events. She has also offered professional development workshops on Personal Branding for Executives with a focus on women professionals.
Ashleigh holds a BA from the University of Toronto and a Graduate Diploma from the Hopkins Nanjing Center.