User:Salthongkong/sandbox

Collin Thompson
Collin Thompson is a Hong Kong based fashion designer, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and Investment Promotions Ambassador for the Government of Hong Kong. He is the founder of CIPHER, a urban lifestyle fashion sneaker brand. Collin was also a two time Canadian figure skating champion, at the Novice (1993) and Junior (1996) level, and a member of the Canadian National figure skating team, and a two-time recipient of the Royal Bank of Canada golden blade Award.

Early life, Figure Skating, and Education
Collin Thompson was born in Toronto, Canada, and was a member of the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, where he started training with Canadian figure skating coach Osborne Colson and Lori Nichol. Collin moved to California in 1993, after winning the 1993 Novice Canadian figure skating championship, under a scholarship by The Foundation for International Figure Skating Advancement, to train at the Ice Castle International Training Center in Lake Arrowhead, under the coaches Frank Carroll, Lori Nichol, Evelyn Kramer, Irina Rodnina, and Peter Oppegaard. During this time he trained with some of the most notable skaters in the world including Michelle Kwan, Chen Lu, Surya Bonaly, and Nicole Bobek.

Under the study of his new coaches Collin Thompson went on to compete internationally, and became the 1996 Junior Canadian figure skating Champion, while studying and graduating from Rim of the World High School in lake Arrowhead California in 1996.

After showings at the 1997 and 1998 Canadian figure Skating Championships, Collin ended his athletic career and returned back to Toronto to pursue his academic studies, earning a BA in Film from York University in 2003, attained by scholarship, as a recipient of the Harry Jerome Award, and a diploma in Management from the Harvard Business School.

Royal Bank of Canada
As a part his Harry Jerome scholarship, Collin Thompson was granted employment at the Royal Bank of Canada under their Management Trainee program where he worked at a variety of positions throughout the organization while attending York University. Collin held positions as a Personal banker, Business banker and as a part of the Media and Entertainment team.

CIPHER
in 2007 Collin became the founder of the urban fashion sneaker brand CIPHER, which launched at Lane Crawford in Holiday 2008. The brand went on to have 80 retail customers around the world including Harvey Nichols in the UK, and a mono-brand retail shop in Taipei, Taiwan. In 2009 CIPHER launched “Big City, Bright Lights” an event that showcased the international music and creative talent in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Government Ambassador
On July 26th, 2011 Collin was nominated by Invest Hong Kong and ratified by the Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce Greg So to become an Investment Promotions Ambassador for the Hong Kong Government to advise on foreign direct investment and global competitiveness.