OV Sydney

Jennifer was born in Malaysia, grew up in Finland and Brisbane, and now lives in Sydney. Jennifer is a project manager in infrastructure and real estate development with around nine years across the public service and private consulting, including work on a multi-billion dollar waterfront urban precinct. Jennifer leads OV Sydney, a mix of professionals, creatives, founders and business owners, and likes to make the introduction nobody saw coming.

What do you do, and where did you grow up?

Born in Malaysia, raised in Finland, then Brisbane, now Sydney. I am a project manager in infrastructure and real estate development, with around nine years across the public service and private consulting, including work on a multi-billion dollar waterfront urban precinct that has become a global destination for the city. My academic path took a less direct route than most people in my industry. I hold a Bachelor of Medical Science (major in Neuroscience), a Master of Public Health, and most recently a Master of Property Development and Investment, and I started my career in policy in a central government agency before moving into project delivery in real estate. Three degrees that look unrelated until you notice they are all about how people behave inside systems. Precinct delivery is technical, but the risk almost never sits in the engineering. It sits in people: how decisions get made, who was not consulted, what a place actually needs versus what the brief says it needs. Neuroscience and public health gave me the language for that side. Real estate and government gave me the technical fluency to hold my own with consultants and clients. What I love most is holding both at once, keeping the drawings and the people they are actually for in the same conversation.

Why do you lead OV in your city?

I have been bringing people together my whole life, from handball games during recess to dinner parties and road trips with friends, and moving between disciplines trained me to look for the common thread rather than the category. Most people sort a room by industry. I tend to notice what people are actually working on underneath the job title, which is usually a different thing entirely. That is what I wanted to put to work here. OV Sydney is not only professionals across the standard disciplines. It is creatives, founders and business owners, and a lot of people running a venture on the side while studying or holding down a full-time job. Our members are rarely one thing, which makes the connections far more interesting than a straight industry match. My job is to read the room and make the introduction that neither person saw coming. Growing up across three countries taught me that belonging does not simply happen to you, it gets curated. Now I get to curate it for other people.

One place in your city every Vietnamese visitor should know

Cabramatta, known as Little Saigon, is where you start. Go hungry, go early and work your way down John Street. Canley Heights next door is where locals actually eat. After that, Bankstown and Marrickville will give you two completely different versions of Vietnamese Sydney, one suburban and family-run, one newer and more experimental. Between the three, you get the full picture of how the Vietnamese diaspora settled here.