‘Who Wants to be a Social Entrepreneur?’, jointly organised by the Hong Kong Social Entrepreneurship Forum (HKSEF) and HKU SPACE, is a six-month long course that could change your life.

If you are contemplating a career in a social enterprise or as a social entrepreneur, or you are simply interested to learn more about social entrepreneurship, you should consider signing up. The course will equip you with the knowledge of what it takes to become a social entrepreneur, how to launch a social enterprise and prepare a compelling business plan for a social enterprise among others. What’s more, selected business plans will be presented to a group of potential investors.

Proposed date of commencement: 14 August 2010

Enrollment deadline: 7 August 2010

Duration: 30 hours of interactive sessions over a period of six months. Most sessions will be held in the evenings, with one to two half-day weekend sessions

Course Facilitators: Dr. KK Tse, Chair of HKSEF and advisor to several social enterprises in Hong Kong and Ms Yvonne Yeung, Vice-Chair of HKSEF and General Manager of social enterprise MentalCare Connect Co. Ltd.

Course Fee: HK5,000

Tel: (852) 2867 8473

Interested participants may contact Dr. Paul Leong (Program Director) at Ms Lydia Kan (Program Executive) at Lydia.kan@hkuspace.hku.hk or visit HKUSPACE and HKSEF for more information.

The Speaker
Chandra Shekhar Ghosh is a Senior Ashoka Fellow who is the Founder Chairman of Bandhan Financial Services.
He has over 25 years of relevant industry experience, and his grasp over the subject of microfinance and development is exemplary and has won him various accolades and recognition in the fraternity. Mr. Ghosh is also on the Governing Board of SA-DHAN – the
primary association of Microfinance Institutions of India.

The Organisation
Bandhan is a leading example of creating a market at the bottom of the pyramid. It is one of the leading MFIs in India, and was ranked 2nd in the world by Forbes magazine. Bandhan is operating in 15 states in India through a network of over 1,000 branches with a workforce of over 6,000 employees servicing over 2.4 million poor people.
Bandhan has received recognition by the Pro Poor Innovation Challenge Award by CGAP, Skoch Challenger award for financial inclusion and the Micro Finance India Award 2009 under the category of ‘Institution of the Year’.
Join us to find out :
• The reasons for Bandhan’s achievements in a short span of 8years!
• Is commercialisation is key to growth for an MFI? And how to manage social impact or double bottom line at the same time?
• Bandhan has a social entity as well as a commercial entity. What are the challenges and advantages?
• What are the key measures to ensure growth is manageable?
Get involved in the discussion and hear the success story from the Founder – Chairman of Bandhan.

Date: 5th May 2010

Time: 6:30 to 8:30pm

Snacks & tea will be served

Venue: Seminar Rooms (level 11)
Raffles Corporate Suite Pte Ltd
108 Robinson Road
Singapore 068900

Fees: $5 per person

For the next Social Conversations session, the Lien Centre for Social Innovation has invited Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, founder Chairman of Bandhan, one of India’s leading micro-finance institution. He is also Senior Ashoka Fellow and on the Governing Board of SA-DHAN, the primary association of Microfinance Institutions of India, as well as READ India.

Date: Thursday, 6th May 2010
Time: 4.30-6.00pm
Location: Seminar Room 1.1, Level 1, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, 50 Stamford Road,
Singapore Management University.

Businesses, organisations and individuals interested in idea generation and discussion may register here.

School for Wellbeing’s annual summer course in 2010 consists of a four-week participatory learning experience, including a study visit to Bhutan, the country of Gross National Happiness (GNI), and excursions to “new paradigm” projects of social development in Thailand. The course will be held from 27 July to 26 August 2010. For more information, visit the School for Wellbeing website here.

d.shop: design + social innovation workshop puts you through the Design Thinking problem solving framework as a means to create innovative solutions to social problems.

The workshop on 13th March focuses on Animal Welfare and will conclude with a pitch to a NGO, which will provide feedback as well as an opportunity for institutional support to bring your idea to life.

Sign up here.