Call for Awareness: The “New Normal” after the Pandemic Bringing Civil, Business, Government, Academic sectors together for a Better Society

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 15 September 2022 - The 15th Social Enterprise Summit (SES 2022) will convene from 24 to 27 November 2022.

Under the theme of “Bounce Forward Together”, the International Symposium will explore different dimensions in rebuilding society in the post-pandemic “new normal” and look into ways of driving cross-sector collaboration in order to recreate a restorable and renewable society. The four-day international symposium will invite more than 70 specialists, academics and business representatives from across the globe to examine existing and new innovative solutions, redirect resources through different dimensions that reach all ages and sectors, explore how the civil, business, government and academic sectors can collaborate in response to emerging social, economic and environmental challenges.

Event of the Year on Social Innovation
Call for Awareness to Address Challenges and Opportunities in “New Normal”
The launch ceremony for SES 2022 took place today. Mrs. Rebecca CHOY YUNG, Chair of Social Enterprise Summit Organising Committee, said “In the past two years, the pandemic has brought about drastic changes in society and people’s livelihood. It is time to learn from experience and make use of the strength of social innovation and social entrepreneurship, to explore a new way of life post-pandemic and forge new consensus to drive innovation and change. As SES hits the 15-year mark this year, we would take this opportunity to discuss and deepen our understanding of the development and evolution of social entrepreneurship and social innovation in Hong Kong and beyond. With the theme of ‘Bounce Forward Together’, this year’s symposium aims to raise public and industry’s awareness in mapping the road to post-pandemic revival, while promoting collaboration between civil, business, government and academic sectors. It also inspires young people to seek innovative solutions that bring positive changes and encourage different parties to join hands in building a future full of possibilities. ”

Ms Anita LEE, Co-founder and CEO, Time To Gold, HK (Right 1), Mr Francis Ngai, Founder and CEO, Social Ventures Hong Kong & Deputy Chair of Social Enterprise Summit Organising Committee (Left 2), Ms Dorothy LAM, Co-founder and Chief Catalyst, Dream Impact (Right 2), and Mr Alex WONG, Co-founder of Dustykid and Convener of Dustyland Metaverse (Left 1), expressed their views on the theme of “Bounce Forward Together”, and shared their thoughts on challenges and opportunity for social enterprises under the post-pandemic “new normal”.

The launch event was officiated by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice MAK, with a lighting ceremony. An introductory video for the upcoming SES was unveiled at the event, symbolising various sectors joining hands to make changes and build a better society.

The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice MAK, stated that the HKSAR Government will continue to support the sustainable development of social enterprises through a multi-pronged approach, including providing funding support for individual projects, supporting the social enterprise sector in capacity building, enhancing publicity efforts to raise public awareness of social enterprise and promoting cross-sectoral collaboration for social enterprise development. She hopes that in the future, more young people with creativity and aspirations will join the social enterprise industry, realise the spirit of "doing business for good" and inject new impetus into the social enterprise industry.

Mr Francis NGAI, Deputy Chair of Social Enterprise Summit Organising Committee, Ms Anita LEE, Co-founder and CEO, Time To Gold, Ms Dorothy LAM, Co-founder and Chief Catalyst, Dream Impact, and Mr Alex WONG, Co-founder of Dustykid and Convener of Dustyland Metaverse, expressed their views on the theme of “Bounce Forward Together”, and shared their thoughts on challenges and opportunity for social enterprises under the post-pandemic “new normal”.

Bounce Forward Together: Cross-sector Collaboration on Innovative Solutions

As instability looms large on a global scale, SES has been advocating cross-sector to come up with innovative solutions to the current problems. Keynote speaker Mr Cliff PRIOR, CEO, Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG), UK, will focus on impact investing and expound the journey of bringing together influential stakeholders from the private and public sectors to shift economies towards positive outcomes, collaboration to tackle issues from sustainable development goals driven by global warming to the Covid pandemic. Another keynote speaker, Ms Peggy LIU, Chairperson of the Joint US-China Cooperation on Clean Energy (JUCCCE), will explore how social changes can accelerate the establishment of a green future with the audience.

Diverse Programme Featuring Influential Speakers from Around the World

The four-day International Symposium will focus on three main tracks, namely “meta-good: Exploring Web3 Components for Impact”, “Intercity Alliance: Reshaping the Future of Work” and “Channelling Resources for Resilience”. Besides, Day 3 will showcase a Youth Summit, which will instil the spirit of social innovation to our young community and at the same time, provide an opportunity for budding social innovators to share their ideas and projects. This get-together acts in synergy with the Youth on Youth Community Carnival to be held on 8 October 2022, poised to nurture and enable young people as agents of change, empowering them to lead the way forward towards a sustainable society.

The international symposium will also feature Policy Dialogue, Asia Youth Entrepreneurship Exchange, Social Enterprise Forum and Social Innovation Visits, etc.. The programme will give attendees an opportunity to experience, discuss and deepen their understanding on the latest trends in social innovation and social entrepreneurship, as well as inspiring examples of cross-sector collaboration.

Open for Registration
SES 2022 is open for registration starting from today. Early-bird offer is available until 31 October. Register now: https://ses.org.hk/registration

Appendix 1: Biography of Special Guests at Social Enterprise Summit 2022 Launch Ceremony

Mr Francis NGAI
Founder and CEO, Social Ventures Hong Kong
Deputy Chair, Organising Committee of Social Enterprise Summit, HK

Mr Francis Ngai is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVhk). He is also Founder of Hatch co-working factory, Playtao Education, BottLess, and SONOVA, and Co-Founder of Green Monday and RunOurCity. Being an impact purpose organisation, SVhk is dedicated to innovating social change through pioneering impact ventures, cultivating movement of goods and orchestrating impact capital.

Prior to establishing SVhk, he was the Head of Strategy in a listed technology conglomerate in Hong Kong. He was conferred as an Honorary Fellow by the Education University of Hong Kong in 2018 and by the City University of Hong Kong in 2013. He was selected as one of the 100 Asia Pioneers by The Purpose Economy in 2014, a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in 2012 and one of Hong Kong’s Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 2011. As a veteran runner, he has finished North Pole Marathon and Gobi Desert 250km Ultra Marathon.

Ms Dorothy LAM
Co-founder and Chief Catalyst, Dream Impact, HK
Member of Organising Committee and Community Chair of Sham Shui Po District, Social Enterprise Summit, HK

With a multi-dimensional background and experience in emerging technology, social innovation and arts in New York City, Hong Kong, Berlin & Abu Dhabi, Ms Dorothy Lam integrates various disciplines of wellness, resilience and innovation of how businesses can integrate community-driven and human-centric solutions to solve today’s pressing social issues. Having successfully built a network of 140+ social startups, NGOs, universities, impact investors and corporates to work on cross-sector collaborations, Dream Impact is the leading impact ecosystem builder in Hong Kong.

Mr WONG Shung Kin, Alex
Co-founder, Dustykid, HK
Convener, Dustyland Metaverse, HK

Mr Alex Wong is the co-founder of Dustykid and convener of Dustyland Metaverse. Founded in 2005, his marketing company Breeze Factory specializes in licensing and intimate advertisement solutions which are loved by his clients far and wide. When he met artist Dustykid in 2013, his long-cherished dream of changing the world via manga was rekindled. With light and dust, he seeks to wander the world, sowing seeds of positivity all over the real and virtual reality.

Hashtag: #SocialEnterpriseSummit

About Social Enterprise Summit (SES)

Social Enterprise Summit (SES) is a cross-sector platform to inspire and empower social innovation and social entrepreneurship.

The flagship International Symposium builds on the experiences of over 70 speakers and attendances from 10 locations to inspire, innovate, connect and collaborate with delegates from the civic society, businesses, government and academic sectors from Hong Kong, China; Asia Pacific region and beyond to advance positive societal changes.

Community engagement activities are held in ten different districts in Hong Kong during the year to expand the participation and reach beyond the conference rooms, applying knowledge, social entrepreneurship and innovative mindsets to various day to day life settings. Official Website: http://www.ses.org.hk

Read more: Social Enterprise Summit 2022:「Bounce Forward Together」