Social Enterprise Summit 2021 Themed “Building Blocks of a Regenerative Future” Exploring Social Innovation with Multiple Stakeholders

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 2 September 2021 – The 14^th
Social Enterprise Summit (“SES2021”)
will
convene from 4 to 7 November with the theme of “Building Blocks of a
Regenerative Future” to discuss how to leverage the strengths of different sectors and
bring social innovation forward during the post-pandemic era. The
four-day
annual International Symposium is a flagship event that features a mix of face-to-face
discussion panels, online meetings, workshops and networking events, with 60+
top international and local speakers to come up with inspiring and innovative
solutions that could tackle existing social challenges.

The
officiating guests light up a neon board with the theme of SES
2021, symbolising people from all sectors join hands to
build
a better future

 

Event of
the Year on Social Innovation Officially Launched Today

The Launch Ceremony
of SES 2021 kicked off with a lighting ceremony, that symbolised stakeholders
from different sectors joining hands to build a brighter future. The ceremony was officiated
by Mr. Jack Chan, Acting Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr. James Law, Founder
of Cybertecture Architects and designer of Tsuen Wan Water Pipe Homes. The event also featured
the thematic dialogue between Mr. James Law and Ms.
Cora Chu, CEO of Dialogue in the Dark (HK) Foundation on how to address the
challenges posed by COVID-19 and solution adapted by different sectors.

 

Mrs.
Rebecca Choy Yung, Chair of Social Enterprise Summit Organizing Committee remarked, “The ‘Sustainable development’ concept alone is not sufficient
to solve such global crisis
as climate change, therefore the
idea of ‘ A Regenerative future’, that shifts the paradigm of pursuing market growth
to ecological prosperity and focuses on the wellbeing of the planet Earth and the
society. We shall continue our commitment to social innovation by focusing on dialogues
about international connectivity and resources integration to explore the
potential among different kinds of social innovation design.”

 

Mr. Jack
Chan, Acting Secretary for Home Affairs
and the Officiating Guest of the Launch Ceremony, stated, “The Bureau is committed
to supporting proactively development of social enterprises and deepen the public’s
understanding on social enterprises through various channels from different
perspectives. We are looking forward to seeing representatives from multiple
sectors exchanging ideas and sharing experiences at the Social Enterprise
Summit, so as to promote social harmony.”

 

At the
thematic dialogue about “Building Blocks of a Regenerative Future”, Mr. James
Law, and Ms. Cora Chu, shared their journeys of running their business under
the challenge of the pandemic as well as the experience of collaborating with the
business community. The speakers also shared how to bring global market
experience and local creativities together when introducing foreign social
enterprise brands to Hong Kong.

 

The
brand new “Fund Dating” session took place after the launch ceremony. Representatives
of 10 social enterprises and 6 investors were invited to collaborate, communicate
and build trust through a series of interactive experiences in a dark and
soundless environment, so as to explore possibility of innovations and tackle
challenges together.

 

“Building
Blocks of a Regenerative Future”– Innovative Solutions
to New
Challenges

Social enterprises have
been facing unprecedented challenges during the past two years. SES 2021 connects speakers
from various sectors, including social entrepreneurs, policy makers, young
generations and business of International Symposium. The
keynote speaker Mr. Charles Eisenstein,
Author of “Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the
Age of Transition” from the USA, will discuss with participants on how
corporations connect with a regenerative future, as well as the significance of
“environment, society and corporate governance”.

 

20 Summit Sessions Featuring
Leading Speakers

The International
Symposium will examine the themes of “Co-creating an Open
Knowledge Hub for Ecosystem Development“, “Building Alliances for
Regional Collective Impact“
and “Bridging Purpose with Actions“ via 3 different tracks. The
sessions will feature leading speakers, including Ms. Leonie Kelly,
Director and Head of Sustainable Investing and ESG Consulting, Ogier Global; Ms.
Amy Wu, Executive Director and Head, Group Strategic Marketing and
Communications, DBS Bank (HK); Mr. CY Chan, Co-Owner & Chief Talent and
Purpose Officer, Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited; Ms. Ada Yip, CEO, Urban
Spring; and Mr. Raymond Mak, Founder of Farmacy. (Please refer to
the appendix for further information)

 

A number of educational and fun-filled as well as
social innovation tour will also be held during SES 2021. The last event
attracted over 7500 visits.

 

Public
Registration

SES 2021 is open for
registration starting from today. Early-bird offer is available during 2
September to 15 October. Register now: https://ses.org.hk/registration

Appendix I: Biography of Special
Guests at Social Enterprise Summit 2021 Launch Ceremony

 

Mr James LAW, JP

Founder, Chairman and CEO,
Cybertecture Architects, HK

Mr James Law, JP, is an architect,
technologist and entrepreneur. Creating the philosophy of Cybertecture, he
believes design and technology can alleviate mankind’s suffering and build a
better world. His projects cover buildings, spaces and technologies, education
and social design.

 

He is the architect of the innovative OPod Concrete Tube Housing Project
designed to alleviate housing affordability problem, The Pad Tower, the world’s
first Apple iPod inspired building in Dubai, and The Hyperloop, a futuristic
high speed transportation system. He also collaborated with renowned Hong Kong
film director Wong Kar Wai on the design of the film “2046”.

 

Ms Cora CHU

Chief
Executive Officer, Dialogue in the Dark (HK) Foundation Limited, HK

Ms
Cora Chu was inspired to pursue her second career in Dialogue in the Dark in
2013 and has taken up the Chief Executive Officer role since 2015 with key
focus on leading the business development in corporate and education sectors as
well as the development of empowerment programs to nurture and showcase the
talents of People of Differences (PoDs).

She
is committed in engaging PoDs to create social impact by empowering more PoDs
to live out their life with respect and dignity and promoting social inclusion,
tolerance, respect and appreciation of individual differences.

Appendix II: Biography of Key
Speakers at the International Symposium Social Enterprise Summit 2021

 

SES invites
60+ top international and local speakers to share inspiring and innovative
solutions that could tackle existing social challenges in the International
Symposium. Key speakers are listed below.

Mr Charles EISENSTEIN

Author, Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition,
USA

Mr Charles Eisenstein is a counter-cultural intellectual: an
essayist, speaker, and the author of several books, including “Sacred
Economics” and “The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible”. He
writes on themes of culture, technology, money, consciousness, and ecology. His
background includes a degree in mathematics and philosophy from Yale
University, and nine years living in Taiwan where he worked as a translator. He
currently lives with his family in Rhode Island, USA.

Mr
YUEN Shu Wah

Founding Chairman, Gratia Foundation Limited, HK

Despite the initial desire to be a professional chemist
since his graduation in 1972 from HKU, Mr YUEN turned out to be an
entrepreneur, philanthropist, founder of Children Homes in China and
Bangladesh, ecologist involved in anti-desertification in Tengger Desert and
founder of Gratia Christian College which focus at educating university
students with servant leader aspiration. 

Mr
Amy WU

Executive Director and Head, Group Strategic Marketing and Communications, DBS
Bank (HK)

Ms Amy Wu is Executive
Director and Head of Group Strategic Marketing and Communications at DBS Bank
(Hong Kong). Before joining DBS, she was Lead of Pay TV Marketing under PCCW
Media Group, managing customer portfolio, optimizing subscription revenue,
building brand preference and driving engagement through all marketing channels
for both the broadband TV and OTT services, namely Now TV and Now E.

She took on various
leadership roles at Nike for 10 years, including HK Territory General Manager and
Nike Women General Manager for Greater China, bringing Nike’s inspiration and
innovation to consumers in the Greater China region. She is passionate about
creating social impact through innovation, activation and storytelling.

Mr
Manfred YUEN

Founder, Groundwork Architects & Associates, HK

Mr
Manfred Yuen founded Groundwork Architects & Associates in 2011, hoping to
improve the living environment of Hong Kong. Groundwork was later joined by CY
Lau and Fiona Bao as the practice expanded into Southern China.In 2018, he co-founded
Groundwork Shenzhen: a research arm of Groundwork that focuses on children play
spaces and school designs.

He
was invited to be one of the speakers in 2019 at TEDx, Shenzhen, where he
advocated humanistic and social responsibilities of architects.