News

Riding on the momentum of the experiential programmes, the SI Talk was held on 27 October for participating students of the SI CEO Competition at the Good Lab in Cheung Sha Wan. The talk invited distinguished guests from the SI and business sectors to give advice to the students on starting up and running of social ventures.
Five speakers, including Ms Ada Wong, JP (Convenor of Make A Difference), Ms Cora Chu (Chief Executive Officer, Dialogue Experience), Mr Erwin Huang (Chief Executive Officer, WebOrganic), Mr Pat-Nie Woo (Director of Strategic Development, KPMG) and Mr Albert Wong (Director of PwC Consulting Hong Kong Ltd), spoke on the development of social entrepreneurship in Hong Kong and the success factors of implementing innovative projects.
During the “Human Library” interactive group discussions that followed, seven “walking dictionaries” shared their experience and answered questions from participants. They were Mr Kelvin Cheung (Founder & CEO of FoodCycle and UnLtdHK), Mr Herbert Wu (Founder of The Second Box), Mr Wayne Chau (Founder & CEO of Agent of Change), Ms Aries Lee (Founder of HOHOLIFE), Mr Dodo Cheng (Founder of HOPEmade sharing kitchen), Ms Gigi Lo (Founder of Translate for Her) and Ms Connie Ng (Senior Service Manager [Charity Services] in St. James’ Settlement).
About 80 students participated in the event and seized the precious opportunity to seek further advice from the guests even after the close of the session to prepare themselves for the Competition. Please visit the photo album at SIE Fund Facebook Fanpage for highlights of the event.

The latest issue of our newsletter is published, bringing you the Fund's news and activities. Stories in this issue include the Commission on Poverty Summit, approval of more funded ventures, latest development of the Nurturing Social Minds programme, progress of the SI CEO Competition, as well as experience sharing with renowned social innovators. Please click here for stories in full or visit the "Newsletter" section for past issues.

A series of experiential programmes was hosted in mid-October as a part of the Social Innovation CEO Competition (SI CEO Competition) co-organised by the SIE Fund and Youth.gov.hk. The programmes provide valuable opportunities for tertiary students aspiring to take part in the Competition to gain firsthand experience about various social issues, to understand the difficulties and challenges faced by social service providers, and to be inspired in developing their innovative and effective business plans.

The experiential programmes revolve around the three sub-themes of the Competition, i.e. care for elderly, food support and social inclusion.  In the programmes, participants wore specially-designed elderly simulation gear to experience the daily life of an elderly, took part in the routine operation of the food support service providers, and interacted with students of ethnic minorities in the dyeing activities. They were cheered up by CEOs of renowned enterprises and famous artists who were guests also participating in the programmes. The CEOs also shared their valuable experience in starting and running businesses.

Please visit the SI CEO Facebook Fan Page for more about the programmes and latest information of the Competition.

The Commission on Poverty (CoP) Summit of this year was held on 15 October. It started with speeches delivered by the Chief Executive and the Chief Secretary for Administration, followed by the reporting of each Task Force (TF) under CoP on its major work respectively.  With the aid of a video, Professor Stephen Cheung, Chairperson of the TF of the SIE Fund, gave an account of the work progress, in which he had highlighted the innovative elements of various initiatives and introduced the directions of our forthcoming work. A brochure and an infographic leaflet on the Fund were also distributed.
Two discussion panels were held in the afternoon session, with experts from different sectors to share their experience and insights of their participation in poverty alleviation and promotion of social innovation in Hong Kong. The one with the theme "Innovations for Empowerment" was chaired by SIE Fund TF member, Mr Chua Hoi-wai. At the end, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam; the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung; the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man; the Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim; and the Acting Secretary for Home Affairs, Ms Florence Hui, had an open discussion with Summit participants on poverty alleviation issues.
Please visit the CoP's website for details about the Summit.