If you have attended our first Brace for Impact Webinar or read our newsletter (Part I, Part II) on the inclusivity problem in the social impact space in Hong Kong, you would recall a suggestion made by Sanjukta Mukherjee, internationally experienced economist and a director of FSI: “The government and regulators need to adopt a tougher approach through legislative response. For example, governments could require companies to meet diversity and inclusion targets or full disclosure requirements, in order to be given the licence to operate. And funding support from the government could also be tied to reporting and accountability and meeting of targets.”
A few weeks after the webinar, the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited published a consultation paper, with proposed enhancements to the Corporate Governance Code and Corporate Governance Report. Among the key proposals are some focusing on gender diversity on the board level and across the workforce. Read the consultation paper, and submit this questionnaire by 18 June 2021 if you have any suggestions or questions regarding the proposed enhancements.
If you are interested in improving diversity, inclusivity, and representation in the Hong Kong social impact space, read the findings of a survey we conducted on the issue here, and contribute to the ongoing conversation by filling out the survey here.
FSI Happenings
ReThink 2021
Join us at our Change Makers Stage at ReThink this year!
As an annual business event that encourages participants to rethink sustainable strategies and development, ReThink is scheduled to take place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 5-6 October this year, with the six event themes of Circular Economy, Cities & Mobility, Decarbonization, Food and Nature, People and Purpose, and Redefining Value.
FSI will be ReThink’s content partner for Day One of the Change Makers Stage, themed on “Redefining Impact through Shared Impact”. Our program will cover four sessions of panel discussions on:
- Enabling corporates to redefine CSR through FSI’s Community Connections Program
- The impact-driven, cross-sector partnerships facilitated by GREEN Hospitality to advance sustainable development in the hospitality industry
- Accelerating effective philanthropy in Hong Kong and Asia
- Utilizing data and technology to enact change
Learn more about the two-day ReThink event here, and register with the promo code FSI21 to enjoy the Super Early Bird rate from now until 13 August!
Community Connections
Community Connections is expanding to Singapore, and the first virtual Connection Session will be taking place on 22 June 2021. If your social impact organization or others you know would like to connect with skills-based volunteers from Macquarie, Nomura, and Credit Suisse, get in touch with us on communityconnections@shared-impact.com. If you are from these companies and would like to contribute your skills and expertise to help social impact organizations, sign up for the upcoming Connection Sessions!
Learn more about how you can benefit from Community Connections, whether as a Social Impact Partner or a Corporate Participant, from these great case studies:
- How an Enterprise Risk, Compliance and Governance professional at Macquarie helped PathFinders create a risk management framework. Read the story.
- How a banking lawyer at Clifford Chance brought a new perspective to Box of Hope’s newly formed board of directors. Read the story.
Impact Lab
Another semester has ended for our impact-based higher-education course, Impact Lab, and we are immensely proud of the growth of our student interns, who contributed their time and enthusiasm towards social impact organizations in Hong Kong. Learn about the students’ experience of working at FSI’s Community Business Support, Community Connections, and Communications and Marketing teams in our interviews with the students here!
From Our Portfolio
EmpowerU – Helper Appreciation Day
Show your gratitude to our #HelperHeroes!
Founded by EmpowerU, #HelperHeroes is a collaborative campaign that aims to give thanks to foreign domestic helpers in Asia, who have been working relentlessly hard to support and care for families, often spending their days-off to help local communities, such as organizing beach clean-ups, or recycling soap bars for the people in need. Despite contributing to 3.6% of Hong Kong’s GDP, and indirectly adding US$2.6 billion to its economy not least by enabling local women to enter the workforce, foreign domestic helpers have long been the target of racial discrimination and mistreatment.
Join EmpowerU and the community in celebrating the first Helper Appreciation Day on Sunday, 30 May! Give your domestic helper a gift card to spend on something nice, share your story with your domestic helper on social media, or volunteer at a local organization that serves domestic helpers. Stay tuned to EmpowerU’s social media channels for the fun activities you can do with your domestic helpers – think yoga, free coffee, raffle tickets!
Feel free to utilize and share the toolkits and graphics here to participate in the Helper Appreciation Day, and consider making a donation to EmpowerU.
GREEN Hospitality
GREEN Hospitality was founded less than three years ago as an initiative by Soap Cycling, and has been connecting stakeholders in the hospitality industry, facilitating knowledge exchange, and promoting innovative solutions to advance sustainability in the sector. Going forward, GREEN Hospitality will become a program managed under the nonprofit, Pangaia Solutions Limited. On 26 May, GREEN Hospitality will be holding a Relaunch Event to reveal its new brand identity and future plans, as well as presenting the preliminary findings of its current research on food and packaging waste in the hospitality industry. Stay tuned to GREEN Hospitality’s social media channels for the recording of the event!
If you are passionate about marine ecosystem, do not miss GREEN Hospitality’s upcoming Industry Brief on 31 May, where Professor Kenneth Leung Mei-yee, Chair Professor of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution at City University of Hong Kong, will be discussing his team’s research findings on how the trawling ban has significantly improved marine biodiversity in Hong Kong. Register for the event here.
In case you missed GREEN Hospitality’s latest thought leadership piece on the more ambitious actions needed for Hong Kong to achieve zero landfill by 2030, read it here. If you care about packaging products and their respective carbon footprint, learn more about GREEN Hospitality’s Responsible Procurement Database.
Soap Cycling – 36-hour Soapathon
If you are looking for fun and meaningful activities for the last weekend of the month, join Soap Cycling’s “36-hour Soapathon” to help recycle soap that will be distributed to the people in need in Hong Kong, China, and the Philippines (Soap Cycling is looking into ways to distribute to India). On 29-30 May, Soap Cycling will be running two-hour recycling sessions from morning to night, open to volunteers of all ages. Register for the event, consider making a donation, and bring your family and friends to Soap Cycling’s warehouse in Kwai Chung on the day!
