On 9 March 2024, Foundation for Shared Impact (FSI)’s Community of Ethnically Diverse Entrepreneurs gathered again to celebrate the conclusion of the 2023-24 Mentorship Program for Ethnically Diverse Entrepreneurs in quintessentially FSI style: fun, interactive, and mutually beneficial.
More than just an occasion to congratulate the 2023-24 cohort of mentee entrepreneurs for gaining essential entrepreneurial skills and knowledge under the guidance of their mentors and coaches, the event was also a one-of-a-kind opportunity for ethnically diverse entrepreneurs and their supporters to network, seek or provide practical support, and explore potential future collaboration.
A Truly Diverse and Inclusive Community
Kicking off the event, we invited the ethnically diverse entrepreneurs to introduce themselves and their businesses in the open-mic session. Ranging from health tech to handcrafted products, marketing and branding, to social impact initiatives like addressing period poverty, ethnic minorities empowerment, and food waste upcycling and reduction, FSI’s Community of Ethnically Diverse Entrepreneurs is home to founders and owners of diverse grassroots businesses in Hong Kong.
Said Cameron van Breda, Co-founder and CEO of Hollo, a platform of clinical-grade software aiming to help measure, track, and treat the mental health and well-being of chronic patients: “We have been connected to FSI for a long time now, and I’m super happy to be here. I’m a mentor of the 2023-24 Mentorship Program and I found it really insightful and helpful for a lot of people, including myself, just trying to help someone else while gaining learning for myself.”
“Listening to the entrepreneurs’ introduction of themselves and their businesses was very inspiring,” said Jhanvi Panjabi, a mentor of the 2023-24 Mentorship Program and CEO and founder of Anvi Candles and Eternity Jewels. “To see how diverse a community in Hong Kong can be is truly encouraging.”
Following the open-mic session, participants were encouraged to check out the engagement corners:
- Knowledge Exchange Corner The wall was divided into two halves: one for “asks” and the other for “offer”. Participants were encouraged to write on post-it notes the types of direct business support they needed (the “asks”) and/or could provide (the “offer”) to other members of the FSI community. The post-it notes not only gave the FSI team an overview of the gap between service needs and offerings, they also enabled participants to initiate conversations with each other to exchange knowledge and discuss potential collaborations.
- FSI Resources and GuideFong Corner For entrepreneurs and individuals from the social impact space who wanted to learn more about the direct business support provided by FSI, this corner not only offered a variety of accessible resources curated by FSI and our partners, it also opened up quick business consultations to those who needed advice on matters related to digital marketing and business registration. Vivian Seo, a serial entrepreneur and FSI’s Executive Director, gave each of her clients one actionable solution to immediately address their business challenges. For businesses that were looking for more digital presence and marketing visibility, they were introduced to GuideFong, Hong Kong’s first-ever online directory for ethnically diverse businesses, and they were given the guidance and direction to list their businesses on the directory to gain visibility to a broader local clientele.
- Games Corner Organized by KOLture, this corner engaged participants in the “Sell Something” game to practise delivering a product pitch in a safe environment, with feedback provided afterwards to improve their public speaking and business pitching skills. Participants were also engaged in a quiz on the landscape of small and medium enterprises in Hong Kong as well as marketing for small businesses.
- Photography Corners The FSI team worked with volunteer photographers to take professional headshots for participants who indicated interests in the complimentary service. Also offered at the photography corners was a demonstration on the set-up, equipment, and skills needed for product photography. Entrepreneurs who needed high-quality product shots for marketing and sales purposes but lacked the resources to do so would receive up to three edited product shots after the event.
Inspiring Program and Fruitful Networking for Hong Kong’s Under-resourced Entrepreneurs
Amidst all the happenings, participants were also able to do what FSI intended for the event: to network with other established or aspiring entrepreneurs as well as individuals who volunteer their skills and time to support the members of FSI’s entrepreneur community.
Said Shilpa Pednekar, a mentee entrepreneur of our 2022-23 Mentorship Program and founder and owner of Shilpa’s Masala Mill: “Joining FSI’s Mentorship Program was an inspiring experience. I met so many entrepreneurs with amazing, positive energies, all believing in their purpose and willing to step out of their comfort zones. Thank you, FSI, for creating this platform!”
Her sentiments were echoed by Kebba Jallow, who joined the 2023-24 Mentorship Program as a mentee with a business idea to upcycle motor parts to reduce carbon emissions. “I was lucky to get a good coach in Magdalene Wong, a good mentor in Naman Tekriwal. I was also lucky to have FSI members constantly nudging me, reminding me about what I need to focus on now and what to do next. From the Mentorship Program, I received help to develop a business plan. I started from zero and now I’m getting to run a people business!”
The beauty of FSI’s Mentorship Program is that it benefits all involved, and this is affirmed by Kebba’s mentor, Naman Tekriwal, who served as a mentor for the second year running. “For me, this mentorship program is a throwback to when I started my company. In Kebba, I see an entrepreneur growing from zero to one, and it’s such an extraordinary journey. Every time I talked to Kebba, he would tell me that he had a meeting that day, or he was working on a business account, and then one day, he told me that he started his company and soon got his first client. All of these are so heartwarming! Entrepreneurs just need a little bit of support and guidance and what we can do and help them create at the end of it is amazing!”
Sharing one’s own experience and knowledge to help others certainly gives one a new sense of purpose, as Pam Birkett, an ICF Hong Kong Charter Chapter coach, would agree. “I just want to say a big thank you to the FSI Mentorship Program. If anybody here that has not yet experienced being a mentor or mentee or a coach, do sign up next year. I think it’s an incredible program and really worked on the people who were supported by the FSI team.”
In concluding the second year of our annual Mentorship Program for Ethnically Diverse Entrepreneurs, we at FSI are proud of the reciprocal community of entrepreneurs we started building just two years ago. More than anything, we are even more proud of the various levels of success achieved by the members of this community – a community that is incredibly diverse in gender, race, culture, and expertise, and united by the shared goal of helping others succeed through broad cross-sector collaboration.
We would like to give a big shout-out to Mahum Shaikh, a mentee entrepreneur of the 2022-23 Mentorship Program and founder of KOLture, Hong Kong’s first diverse and inclusive content creator community. Not only did KOLture partner with FSI to design and execute the Games Corner at the event, Mahum also led a group of content creators to promote GuideFong to a broader audience in Hong Kong.
“I entered FSI’s first Mentorship Program with nothing but hope for my own business and a vague idea of what I wanted to pursue,” said Mahum. “FSI provided me with knowledge, confidence, and a community to fuel my passion project. It allowed me to learn from fellow entrepreneurs at various stages, shaping my own business in the process. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be part of such a unique program.
It seems almost perfect that I got to work with the FSI team to launch Guidefong. It was an opportunity for me to give back to the team that has given me immense support and guidance. Hosting the Networking Event not only gave me the chance to promote this great initiative, but also bring together people that could potentially experience what a pleasure it is to be a member of the ethnically diverse entrepreneur circle. I look forward to doing more work with FSI, to give established business owners a platform to get more exposure, and encourage more people like me to embark on this amazing journey of starting their own business.”
Equally deserving of credit for contributing to the success of the event are the Impact Lab Course students working at FSI’s Community Business Support and Communications and Marketing teams for the Spring 2024 semester – Edasu Guener, Jenny Jieni Li, Kylie Wing Lam Wong, Sarah Gaeun Ha; volunteer photographers – Shaan Tulsiani, Founder and Creative Director of Shanti Studios, Suraj Hemnani, Founder and CEO of Cloud96 Studios, and Mohamed Rizwan, Founder of Twist Visuals; venue sponsor, FellowSPACE; and sponsors of refreshments, Deer All, Oatside, and Cream + Sprinkle.
FSI’s annual Mentorship Program for Ethnically Diverse Entrepreneurs and provision of bespoke direct business support couldn’t have been possible without our dedicated partners such as Africa Center Hong Kong, WEDO GLOBAL, International Coach Federation – Hong Kong Charter Chapter, FundFluent, and the Hong Kong Club Foundation.
If you are interested in supporting our work in empowering under-resourced youths and entrepreneurs through education, training, mentorship, skills-based volunteering, tax-deductible donation and more, get in touch with us at cbs@shared-impact.com!
Photo Credit: Mohamed Rizwan, Sarah Ha, Shaan Tulsiani, Surah Hemnani
