Yvette Yeh FUNG, Chair of The Yeh Family Philanthropy, has watched Hong Kong’s social entrepreneurship sector develop with her own eyes. The foundation provides resources and support for education, including courses and projects to inspire a new generation of social entrepreneurs and venture philanthropists to grow and shine.
Around nine years ago, Yvette Yeh Fung was tasked by her father to lead the family foundation, The Yeh Family Philanthropy. Fung, who trained as a lawyer, studied the latest developments in the philanthropy space, and noticed a need for growth in the social entrepreneurship and venture philanthropy sector in Hong Kong.
In the past, a social enterprise would typically be a side business started by a non-government organization (NGO) which aimed at generating employment for the beneficiaries or raise funds. For instance, an organization that served the elderly might start a coffee shop that employed seniors. But the coffee shop itself would not have been conceived as a “viable business”.
Mission control
True social innovators focus on their mission and on solving a social problem. Non-profit organizations can focus exclusively on delivering social services, even if it is not the most effective way to solve a social issue. Mission-oriented social enterprises are different, Fung says.
“In many cases, the goal might be to solve a social problem, and when that social problem is solved, they can still make their business up and running,” she says.
“Today, social entrepreneurs may still be inspired by a personal story. But they will think deeper about the local needs and their markets,” Fung explains. Today’s social entrepreneurs also have the ability to assemble professional teams, she adds.
One of the signature initiatives of The Yeh Family Philanthropy is the ‘Nurturing Social Minds’ (NSM) program. The program started in 2013 as a partnership between The Yeh Family Philanthropy and HKUST Business School. Since 2015 it has received support from the government’s Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SIE) Development Fund and extended to other universities.
The unique Social Entrepreneurship and Venture Philanthropy (SEVP) course supported by the NSM program allows students to learn and experience the work of both a social entrepreneur and a funder. Students get the opportunity to work as consultants with established social enterprises, and at the end of the course vote for the social enterprise that will win a HK$250,000 grant from The Yeh Family Philanthropy.
The course is innovative, and helps to not only build the local ecosystem, but prepare the next generation of business leaders for social entrepreneurship roles, says Fung. She has been encouraged by the growth in the social entrepreneurship sector in Hong Kong.
After working closely with numerous social innovators to find partners for the course, Fung and her team at The Yeh Family Philanthropy have established a clear picture of the qualities needed to become a successful social entrepreneur.
Theory of change
Apart from passion and commitment, a successful social entrepreneur needs to have a clear vision. They must be able to see how the social problems they have identified can be solved, and must be able to galvanize their teams to implement the solutions.
“We always ask [founders], ‘What is your theory of change?’” Fung says. “A promising social enterprise founder is like a scientist testing a hypothesis.”
The ability to pivot can be crucial, as social innovators are ultimately experimenting and testing their solutions. If there is evidence that the initial solution does not work, the social entrepreneur needs to try something else.
The ecosystem supporting social innovators in Hong Kong has evolved in recent years. The government and other private funders are now playing increasingly active roles. A key catalyst for growth in the sector is the government’s SIE Fund, which has an allocation of HK$500 million from the Lotteries Fund. It was the first time that the government had funded for-profit enterprises in the social innovation space, Fung says.
Having read about global best practices in social innovation, Fung says there is potential for closer collaboration within the Hong Kong social entrepreneurship ecosystem.
She referred to several initiatives in the US. One was ‘Say Yes to Education’, where the community in Philadelphia came together and pledged to find ways to get every child the opportunity to attend tertiary education. It took years of community dialogue to build trust among stakeholders, but eventually the collaborative approach worked, and the program has now been adopted nationwide.
Similarly, the NSM program has also generated a positive and lasting impact on communities, including the students, the social purpose organizations that work with them, and even the corporate sector. Many alumni of the SEVP course have gone on to careers in the private sector, where they can steer corporate initiatives towards social innovation.
Fung, also a Court Member of HKUST, says supporting social innovation does not necessarily mean becoming a full-time social entrepreneur. “Some of our alumni become social intrapreneurs - corporate employees who work to develop a project as an entrepreneur would, but are supported by the resources of a large company. The course allows them to facilitate change and create a path within their companies for social innovation,” Fung says.
“A promising social enterprise founder is like a scientist testing a hypothesis.”
Yvette Yeh Fung, Chair of The Yeh Family Philanthropy
About The Yeh Family Philanthropy
- Founded by Dr MT Geoffrey Yeh in 2012
- Launched the Social Entrepreneurship and Venture Philanthropy course at HKUST in 2013 (later extended to other local universities)
- To date, 338 students learned about social entrepreneurship and social finance best practices and 51 social enterprises benefited from student-initiated consulting projects