40 Under 40 2023: Hannah Duley, Design Bridge and Partners

Hannah Duley

Managing director
Design Bridge and Partners
Hong Kong

Hannah Duley joined Design Bridge and Partners in July 2022 and hit the ground running. Since then, she has transformed the HSBC global account, shifting it from two isolated operations to a highly effective team that produces award-winning work. While we are not at liberty to cite specific impressive business numbers here, it’s safe to say Duley’s acumen has not only made her clients stand out but also seamlessly uplifted the agency’s work with innovation and functionality.

The streak of success does not come as a surprise—Duley spent the last decade honing her craft in various roles across geographies, building portfolios and profits at Sovereign Insurance New Zealand, Red Fuse Hong Kong, Y&R London, Ogilvy, and AKQA in New Zealand and also had a short stint in Australia. With a combination of experience across brands and markets, Duley is a sought-after talent who can shape the agency she works in, her clients, and the workplace all at once.

The managing director of Design Bridge and Partners is no stranger to turning life’s challenges into stepping stones for success. A single mother who grew up in a world that wasn’t always kind, Duley sees adversity as a catalyst for growth. Her sharp acumen—in people and product—has resulted in robust, inclusive cultural practices for the workplace and innovative, personalized programmatic solutions for clients.

Beyond the day job, Duley participates in industry events and is never shy about sharing her experiences as a single working mom. Having lost multiple years to an accident that left her cognitive functions around speech and memory impaired, Duley is a loud and proud DEI advocate across race, gender, and disability.

Design Bridge and Partners' chairman, Iain Ellwood, continues to say, “Duley is a joy to work with, someone who is so talented and dynamic, yet humble and willing to continue to listen, learn, and grow herself.” The term human-centric is liberally thrown around in the industry; Duley, through her contributions at work and within the industry, genuinely epitomises it.