Calvin Chin: China's top social innovators to watch in 2011
Ventures such as Shokay, Xuping Rabbit, Bambu Home, GIGA or others may eventually become the success stories that are immediately associated with Chinese social innovation, much the way that Grameen Bank is a shorthand for development success and innovation in Bangladesh.
In the meantime, some of the most interesting work in this space is being done by the organizations that are themselves supporting other social ventures.
Just as heavy investment in transportation and utilities infrastructure has enabled industry to build on top of a reliable platform, there are also capacity-building organizations laying the foundations for the robustness of the social sector here in China.
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Keeping an eye on these bellwether organizations can give you a structural view on where the sector is, what areas are growing, and may be the way to find new social champions to support, volunteer for, and invest in.
These are a few of the many worth watching.
Foundation for Youth Social Entrepreneurship (FYSE)
Founded: 2008
Based in Beijing and founded by Andrea Krause of Germany, FYSE offers programs to develop and inspire young entrepreneurs to create and grow sustainable social ventures. FYSE has a fellowship program, organizes online and offline events, and distributes local sector information in a vibrant newsletter.
In March of this year, FYSE will be launching the Asia Social Venture Academy, an intense four-day program that will bring together young and established social entrepreneurs from throughout Asia.
With their regional focus, FYSE could be based just about anywhere in Asia.
The fact that they are based in China shows the growing importance of Chinese social entrepreneurship throughout Asia and the rest of the world.
What’s more, they are helping to build bridges between the social areas throughout Asia, without neglecting the emerging Chinese sector.
Like the way that heavy investment in transportation and utilities infrastructure has enabled industry to build on top of a reliable platform, there are capacity building organizations that are laying the foundations for the robustness of the overall sector here in China.
Because they focus on young entrepreneurs, FYSE is infused with the energy, creativity and culture of socially engaged youth who share much in common despite regional, language and economic differences.
Non-Profit Incubator (恩派)
Founded: 2006
The entrepreneurial landscape in China is extremely competitive and most new ventures lack the resources and experiences to successfully navigate their first years of existence.
Plentiful capital and a market biased toward bigger, more-established organizations, mean that most young projects are left to their own devices. This is also true in the philanthropic as well as civil sectors where there is a lack of early-stage philanthropic and impact investment capital.
This is where NPI comes in.
Among other activities, NPI provides start-up NGOs and social enterprises with resources such as free office space, training and capacity-building programs, micro-grants and guidance as well as assistance with registration and fundraising.
It operates under a holistic, multi-stakeholder perspective: it's supported by the government, initiated by civil society organizations, managed by professional teams and monitored by the general public, all benefiting grassroots NGOs.
More than 40 NGOs and social enterprises have already gone through NPI. It has opened the Shanghai Social Innovation Park and has done much work in the burgeoning areas of venture philanthropy and local corporate social responsibility, and has successfully increased grassroots funding from Chinese individuals. NPI’s impact on the growth and increasing maturity of the sector is only likely to grow.
China Social Entrepreneur Foundation, aka YouChange (友成)
Founded: 2007
YouChange is a private foundation funded by entrepreneurs from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Beyond grant making as other foundations might do, YouChange has established its YouChange Center for Social Innovation, which conducts comparative research on skills training for social entrepreneurs, offers university course credit classes on social innovation, and runs the Social Innovation Carnival in Shanghai (in cooperation with NPI).
The Social Innovation Carnival engages the mainstream public and media, raising awareness of new NGOs and social ventures.
With the unique background, relationships and perspectives of entrepreneurs from throughout greater China, YouChange is uniquely positioned to empower the development of market-based solutions to maximize the scale of social impact.
