Social Enterprise Summit 2020 theme "new normal · collective power"

Free public registration to e-meet 70+ social innovators

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 16 September 2020 - The 13th Social Enterprise Summit ("SES 2020") will be held from 19 to 21 November with the theme "new normal · collective power". The flagship annual International Symposium to inspire and empower social innovation, will welcome 70+ top international and local speakers over the 3 days filled with 20 sessions.  This is a special time when registration is free for the online exchange, opening up to a wider audience's participation to co-create our new normal.

Annual Flagship Social Innovation Event - Registration starts today.

The Launch ceremony of SES 2020 kicked off with an unusual dialogue between Serial Social Entrepreneur Prof Erwin HUANG and the 12-year-old founder of KidShare Miss Chloe WONG about how, with very different background, experiences and life stages, they both took on roles to create movements of collective power for social impact.  Officiating at the ceremony were Mrs Rebecca CHOY YUNG, Chair of the Social Enterprise Summit Organizing Committee and Mr Jack CHAN, Under Secretary for Home Affairs against the backdrop of a transforming butterfly around this year's theme of "new normal · collective power".

Mrs Rebecca CHOY YUNG, Chair, Organizing Committee of the Social Enterprise Summit, remarked "When the world is going through a turbulent time like 2020, collective power is called for, from all members of our society; to gather forces from the civil society, businesses, policy makers and academia through dialogues and actions to co-create a new normal ahead."

"new normal · collective power" towards New Phase of Innovation

SES 2020 is bringing together over 70 leaders and social innovators from USA, Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Mainland China and Hong Kong over the 3-day event.

Mr Jeremy HEIMANS (US), Co-Author of New Power and Co-Founder and CEO of Purpose, and Mr Henry TIMMS (US), Co-Author of New Power and President and CEO of Lincoln Center, will reveal at the Keynote address what "New Power" means in today's connected world and how everyone can harness this rise of new power to create movements for a better world.  

Mr Francis NGAI (HK), Founder and CEO of Social Ventures Hong Kong will host the Thematic Session "Overcoming Challenges 2.0: Rebuilding City Resilience", a multi-perspective discussion on rebuilding resilience in our city.  Mr David YEUNG (HK), Founder and CEO of Green Monday; Dr LAU Ming-Wai (HK), Founder and Director of MWYO and Chairman of Chinese Estates Holdings Limited and Ms Vicky FUNG (HK), Co-founder of Every Life Is A Song, are amongst the panelists. (For more details, please refer to the annex)

Four Tracks of discussions on Day Two

Connecting businesspeople, social innovators, policy makers, academics and young people, the International Symposium will explore and discuss solutions along four tracks: "Community Empowerment"; "Digital Social Innovation"; "Sustainability and Business" and "Education Innovation"

"Saturday Social Innovation Workshop" and "Asia Youth Entrepreneurship Exchange"

SES 2020 theme "new normal · collective power" draws attention to the changing ways people work, study, commute or socialize.  Collective efforts are required to re-focus on fostering mutually reinforcing solutions; continuous communication towards common agendas and solving the world's most pressing issues through social innovation.

The Saturday workshop will make reference to the highly influential book New Power: How It's Changing the 21st Century and Why You Need to Know About It by Jeremy HEIMANS and Henry TIMMS, introducing the essence of the New Power idea, the challenges, and the massive potential for creating a mobilization movement through New Power thinking.

To be held on the same day is the Asia Youth Entrepreneurship Exchange, an apposition of local and regional social entrepreneurs where participants can learn, share, explore and network with twelve social entrepreneurs from major cities in Asia.

Concluding session of this year's International Symposium: "Yesterday's Heritage; Today's Transformation; Tomorrow's DYNAMIC INNOVATION" is a specially curated narrative involving guest speakers across generations and sectors to share their insights on "The New Normal To Be".

Outreach Activities to Explore Social Innovation in Communities

Besides the International Symposium, SES 2020 continues to engage with different communities through Social Entrepreneurship Labs, Mid-Autumn Social Innovation Experience, School Talks/Workshops and Community Tours, to be held in Central and Western District, Kwai Tsing, Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po, Southern District, Wong Tai Sin, Yau Tsim Mong and Yuen Long District between now and November. An online 30-day-challenge Joys30.ses.org.hk is being held during the month of September to encourage community involvement in driving changes around us.

Public Registration

SES 2020 is open for free registration as from TODAY. Register now at http://bit.ly/SES2020Reg

For more programme details, please view or download the SES 2020 Registration Brochure at https://ses.org.hk/content/ses-2020-registration-brochure

Special thanks to The Garage, Deloitte for sponsoring the launch ceremony venue.

Annex:

Biography of key speakers at Social Enterprise Summit 2020

Jeremy HEIMANS

Co-Author of New Power and Co-Founder and CEO of Purpose, US

Mr Jeremy Heimans is the co-founder and CEO of Purpose, a global organization that builds and supports movements for a more open, just, and habitable world. He is the co-founder of GetUp!, an Australian political organization with more members than all of Australia's political parties combined; and Avaaz, the world's largest online citizen movement. He is a recipient of the Ford Foundation's 75th Anniversary Visionary Award for his work as a movement pioneer, and has been named one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business. Together with Henry Timms, Jeremy is the co-author of the 2018 bestseller "New Power", recognised by the New York Times' David Brooks as "the best window I've seen into this new world", and by The Guardian as "a manual on how to navigate the 21st century". Their thinking on "new power" has been featured as the Big Idea in Harvard Business Review, and Jeremy's TED talk on the topic has been viewed more than 1.4 million times.

Henry TIMMS

Co-Author of New Power and President and CEO of the Lincoln Center, US

Mr Henry Timms is the co-author of the international bestseller New Power, described by David Brooks of the New York Times as "the best window I've seen into this new world" and shortlisted for the FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year.  He is the President and CEO of Lincoln Center, which serves three primary roles: world's leading presenter of superb artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. Previously he was the President and CEO of 92nd Street Y, a cultural and community center that creates programs and movements that foster learning and civic engagement. Under his leadership, the 144-year-old institution was named to Fast Company's "Most Innovative Companies" list. He is also the co-founder of #GivingTuesday, a global philanthropic movement that engages people in close to 100 countries that has generated over a billion US dollars for good causes.

David YEUNG

Founder and CEO of Green Monday, HK

A multi-faceted social venture with the mission to take on the world's most pressing crises of climate change, food insecurity and public health. With the global sustainability movement initiated by Green Monday Foundation, the revolutionary food technology innovation in OmniFoods and OmniPork, the market-transforming plant-based retail, dining and distribution network in Green Common, and the impact investment arm in Green Monday Ventures.

Vicky FUNG

Co-founder of Every Life Is A Song, HK

With over 20 years of pop music experience, as songwriter, lyricist, singer-songwriter, founder of live house and music label, artist manager, producer and curator, Vicky has always endeavoured to promote Hong Kong's music culture. Vicky has worked with prominent artists, including Sammi Cheng, Joey Yung, Juno Mak, Gin Lee, Eason Chan, Kay Tse, Eman Lam, and more, with an impressive list of music awards from top radio stations and professional associations. Vicky was guest curator for West Kowloon's Freespace Happenings and Tai Kwun's live music series at Laundry Steps. She has also been appointed a current member of Committee on Venue Partnership under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Vicky believes that the power and value of music lies beyond the limits of commercial music industry and co-founded a music social enterprise "Every Life Is A Song" in 2018 together with reputable lyricist Dr. Chow Yiu Fai.

Dr LAU Ming-Wai, GBS, JP

Founder and Director of MWYO and Chairman of Chinese Estates Holdings Limited, HK

A registered attorney in the State of New York and a CFA Charterholder. Dr Lau is active in public affairs in Hong Kong. He is the Vice-Chairman of Youth Development Commission, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Ocean Park Corporation, a member of the Exchange Fund Advisory Committee, a member of Chief Executive's Council of Advisers on Innovation and Strategic Development. He is awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star (GBS) for his meritorious public and community service in 2017.

John MAK

Co-founder, MM Community, HK/Myanmar

John Mak is a social entrepreneur based in Hong Kong and Myanmar. He is passionate about public policy and politics, and is particularly interested in questions of how trust in democracy and our public institutions can be revamped. In 2017, he co-founded MM Community, a social venture that seeks to democratise community development processes and civic engagement channels via crowdsourcing technology. In 2018, John was selected as an inaugural Obama Foundation Scholar.

Tina Y. LO

Chairman, O Bank, Taiwan

Ms Tina Y. Lo currently serves as Chairman of O-Bank, the first publicly listed certified B Corp financial institution in Taiwan. As an advocate of "business as a force for good" and socially responsible businesses, she has led O-Bank in sustaining corporate social responsibility, as well as championed support for social enterprises and start-ups. She was selected as Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and awarded the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship. She also serves as a member of the Asian Executive Board of the MIT Sloan School of Management.

David CHRISTIAN

Founder and CEO, Evo & Co, Indonesia

David Christian is founder and CEO of Evo & Co, that have 3 different brands under it: Evoware, Evoworld and Rethink Campaign. Evo & Co vision is to create a world without plastic pollution by providing one stop solution for single used plastic alternatives. Back to Indonesia after his study in Canada, he was surprised with how bad environmental condition in Jakarta was and moved to create something to address this issue. Now with Evo & Co, he aspires to give positive impact, not only for the environment but also the society.

About Social Enterprise Summit

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 from 15 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 eight 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.

2020 Theme: "new normal · collective power" ︱ 19-21. 11. 2020 ︱ Online ︱

The turn of the decade 2020 begins with a pandemic affecting people around the world, raising attention to health and changing the way people work, study, commute or socialise. Everyone in our society will require some shifts to come out of the current situations. Collective efforts are needed to re-focus on fostering mutually reinforcing solutions, continuous communication towards common agendas and making swift decisions based on current data and measurement. This International Symposium will examine the process through 4 thematic tracks: Community Empowerment, Digital Social Innovation, Sustainability and Business as well as Education Innovation.

Official Website: http://ses.org.hk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SocialEnterpriseSummit/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sesummit/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ses_socialinnovation/