CB student initiates social enterprise project to promote cultural awareness

Ivy Ng Tsz-ying, a year one student from the College of Business, together with four members from local universities, formed a team Wendervel to participate in The Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge (HKSEC) 2015. The team was coached by Dr Alvin Leung Chung-man, Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Systems, and won the Best Presentation Award in the Semi-Final out of 24 teams.

Wendervel has set up a social enterprise with an aim to raise the students’ cultural awareness about the community through cultural travelling. The team would like to promote the message of cultural conservation through organising district cultural tours, and to provide job opportunities to the underprivileged and the elderly. To sustain the business, the team suggested expanding the business to more local districts and recruiting student ambassadors to promote the enterprise.

Ivy shared about her experience, “Starting up a social enterprise is my long-cherished dream. After participating in this competition, I realised that both technical skills and experience are essential to support business ideas .”

“Our team encountered many difficulties to get into the semi-final, but we have accomplished many new goals like creating the company website and video. I’m blessed to have my teammates’ support and Dr Leung’s guidance, who kept giving us advice for improvement. The achievement indeed affirms my dedication to be a social entrepreneur.”

HKSEC is a social venture plans competition, which serves as a platform to educate students and the general public about social enterprises in Hong Kong since 2007. Through the competition, HKSEC encourages students to employ a creative entrepreneurial approach to solve real world social issues.

The students were asked to develop business plans for a social enterprise with financial sustainability, creativity and feasibility. Their business ideas were tested in different stages of the competition, from September 2015 to March 2016. Coacheded by their mentors, they were able to improve their plans, and learned about topics such as social enterpreise, social asset and capital.

For more about the HKSEC, please visit website.

For more information about the College's undergraduate programmes, please click here.