Racing Foundation welcomes Grants Manager Stan Wong to the team

6 Dec 2023

Stan Wong is the new Racing Foundation Grants Manager. New to the racing industry, Stan joins the Racing Foundation after fifteen years as a grantmaker at Levi’s corporate foundation in Singapore. To introduce Stan we’ve asked him seven burning questions about both his career trajectory to date and his future ambitions in British horseracing.

Racing Foundation (RF): Stan, can you tell us about yourself? 

Stan (SW): Yes, I am an American born and raised in New York City. I got an opportunity to move abroad when I was in my early 30s to live overseas.I took that chance and spent 20 years in Asia and it was great fun.

What’s interesting about who I am right now is that I am an American newly emigrated to the UK. I’ve been here for almost a year and have just been settling into life here. I’ve been wandering around overseas in Asia for about 20 years so it’s nice to be in the UK settled down, put down some roots and just be closer to both my family here in the UK as well as my family in New York.

RF: Can you tell me a bit about your previous experience? 

SW: Out of university, my first work experience was with an organization that focused on biomedical research around HIV and AIDS and that was when I cut my teeth on the non-profit and NGO sector work. It was a great learning opportunity and a great experience. 

I learned a lot about working with community. I also learned a lot about working with the medical scientific profession. That role the organisation gave me was the opportunity to move abroad. At that time I was in my early thirties and I had never travelled extensively, so the idea of living in a completely new place was very thrilling and very exciting. I was stationed in Bangkok, Thailand for almost three years. This was the start of a 20-year stint in Asia.

After Thailand, I relocated to Singapore and I spent 15 years there working at Levi’s. They have a corporate foundation and I got to experience continuing to work with community and grantee organisations, but also in a corporate philanthropy environment. That was all around CSR considering the corporate dynamics around this type of work and how a company and how anybody, any organisation, can really champion social good.

RF: What made you apply for the job role as a grants manager for the Racing Foundation? 

SW: Right after I emigrated to the UK, I had about a 10-month period off. I took the 10-months to set up the new house and I played house spouse for a while which was relaxing and a lot of fun, but then I was starting to feel like I needed to figure out what my next steps were. I cast a wide net looking at what was available in the UK, the types of roles and opportunities that could play to my strengths and my experience and I had to decide a few things. I had to consider staying in the industry that I was in for 15 years, which was the apparel and fashion industry, focusing on the public sector, NGOs related work, social justice work, social good work or to just define what area I can fit into.

What appealed to me most about the Racing Foundation was the Grant Manager role. It’s a technical role, it’s an administrative role, and the management work that’s involved is something I was very familiar with but I was drawn to the industry itself. I grew up not having a lot of opportunities or intersection with the horse racing industry. This was completely brand new. As a new person living in the UK, horseracing itself seemed like a very quintessential aspect of British culture and that was very appealing to me as well.

Reading more about the Racing Foundation itself I was drawn to the focus of its work: where the horseracing industry is now and also thinking about how to improve its future, thinking about ways to incorporate elements of sustainability and diversity and inclusion into the role and into the industry itself. All of those things were quite exciting to me. From the work I was familiar with from my previous experience, it seemed like it would be a good fit. 

Ultimately, during my interview process, I really engaged with the Chief Executive Tansy Challis. It comes down to people and culture, you meet good people and you figure out you have a good fit with them. The people at the Racing Foundation are lovely people. They care about the work that they do and they’ve got a good vibe. It’s been great fun getting to know them.

RF:How have you found the job so far and everything to do with the Racing Foundation? 

SW: So far, it has been very good.

One thing that I really appreciate is that the Chief Executive has done this role before. She has set me up with the best possibility for success with guidance, mentorship, resources and information. Tansy knows this work intimately and she’s able to inform me and give me pointers in a way that someone who hasn’t done this type of work before couldn’t. That’s been incredibly helpful. 

The people that I’ve met so far in the wider industry have all been very welcoming. I’m learning a lot about all the different types of work that go on and the challenges that the industry is facing. Trying to figure out solutions has been invigorating.

It’s also been really nice to work from home and not have to have a daily commute, aside from that though there is a lot to learn. There’s a lot of reading and studying going on. It’s like starting a new school term but that’s been fun because I’m a bit of a nerd like that. 

RF: How do you feel about joining the racing industry? 

SW: As with any industry, there are things that are great about it and there are things that can be improved. It’s taking the time out to learn what these are and listening to the people who have the experience and have been in this work for a while. It’s about the people who are involved and there’s a concerted effort to try to figure out how to take the racing industry forward into the future and not modernising it simply for that sake, but really thinking about improving it in ways that will ensure that it continues to be a prominent part of British culture. 

RF: What do you think is going to be your biggest challenge? 

SW: I think the biggest challenge for me is the first 90 days stepping into this role. As I mentioned before, there is a lot to learn, and there’s a lot to get familiar with and acquainted with regarding the industry itself.

There are a lot of different factors to consider in terms of being able to do this role on behalf of the Racing Foundation and do it well. I’m just starting to get familiar with and learn all of the ins and outs of the industry abbreviations! There are a lot of abbreviations and acronyms in the industry and getting familiar with them is the first step, especially when a lot of people will only say the acronym and expect you to know what it means.

RF: Is there anything in particular that you’re looking forward to the most?

SW: Like any new person coming into a position, aside from learning about the new role, learning about the new industry and carrying on the great work that’s already been done, I am looking forward to figuring out how I can then influence some of this work and how I can incorporate some of my experience, perspectives and values into the work.

It’s really about how I can contribute meaningfully to the British racing industry and put my stamp on a few things.