Although ‘social enterprise’ and ‘social entrepreneur’ have now become part of the daily language, there are no commonly acceptable definitions of these terms, in Hong Kong and abroad. And when these terms are translated into Chinese, the confusion is even bigger. There is absolutely no doubt that there are social enterprises and social entrepreneurs in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China, but these terms have vastly different meanings in the respective regions. Instead of debating definitions, one way to gain understanding into this phenomenon is to look at their common denominator, which is tackling social issues in new and innovative ways. What are the social issues we concern about?
A HK-born, London-based Young Social Entrepreneur – The Amazing Story of Kelvin Cheung
Dr KK Tse interviewed with Kelvin Cheung, Founder of FoodWorks in Dec 2009. Kelvin, born in HK, brought up and educated in Canada, did postgraduate studies at London University, founded FoodWorks to address the issue of food poverty in an apparently affluent society.
社會創業者推動社會變革—Ashoka 的冒起
(The article is in Chinese only) Ashoka, one of the leading forces to promote social entrepreneurship and enable change makers to scale their impact, was founded by Bill Drayton in 1981. It has become a critical mass of citizen sector to drive positive social change worldwide.
離開微軟改變世界
(The article is in Chinese only) John Wood left his prospective job at Microsoft to start "Room to Read" - a leading non-profit organisation for improving literacy and gender equality in education in the developing world. Read his story -
Local Social Entrepreneur Won Outstanding Women Entrepreneurs Award
Ms Deborah Wan, a local social entrepreneur, has won the 2008 Outstanding Women Entrepreneurs Award presented by the Hong Kong Women Professionals and Entrepreneurs Association. The award honors and celebrates the achievements of women in Hong Kong who have made significant contribution to their professions, business environment and society. This is the first time that a social entrepreneur is honored by this award.
One Social Entrepreneur’s Dream
KK attended the Skoll World Forum in March 2008 and met with social entrepreneurs from around the world. Here are some of the inspiring changemakers' stories.
Every HKSEF Member a Changemaker’ – What the Skoll World Forum Has Inspired Me
The Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship 2008 has been full of inspiring stories, insights, sharing, personalities and debates. KK shares the insights from the event -
Strategic Volunteering – The Role of the Intrapreneur-Volunteer
As you could imagine, all social enterprises can benefit from leveraging the time and expertise of volunteers. But surprisingly, there are also a large number of social enterprises that are not benefiting from the service of volunteers at all. What is more, there are plenty of highly qualified, motivated would-be volunteers who want to help but do not know how and where to make a contribution. What makes for this unusual and pitiful state of affairs?
銀杏館 – 為長者創造就業機會的典範
(The article is in Chinese only) Gingko House was founded in 2006 and become one of the most successful social enterprises in Hong Kong - even before the concept of social entrepreneurship emerged. Here is their story -
Everyone a Changemaker: Social Entrepreneurship’s Ultimate Goal
KK introduced the concept of CHANGEMAKER and challenge everyone, including himself, to reflect on the following: are you a changemaker? Could you and will you become a changemaker, why or why not?