23 September was a big day for us, as we officially kicked off this year’s Mentorship Program for Ethnically Diverse Entrepreneurs!
At the in-person event we organized for this cohort’s 11 mentees, 11 mentors, and 10 ICF Hong Kong Charter Chapter coaches to get to know each other, we engaged the highly diverse group of individuals in discussions on the status of diversity and inclusion in the Hong Kong entrepreneurial ecosystem, their ideas on what constitutes an entrepreneur, the challenges facing ethnically diverse entrepreneurs, and the opportunities available to them.
Design Thinking and Collective Ideation
At the first workshop of this year’s Mentorship Program, we walked the participants through the Design Thinking Framework, and how they can utilize the framework to build impactful businesses and design effective interventions to serve their target audiences.
During the informational session, participants learnt the design thinking processes:
- Empathize with their target audience
- Define the needs and problems
- Ideate possible solutions
- Prototype solutions
- Test the prototype
Participants were then put into small groups to apply the framework to contribute valuable insights to solving the issues that they faced, experienced, and witnessed as ethnically diverse individuals growing up in Hong Kong or as migrants starting their own businesses in the city. Key ideas generated were:
- For an audience of non-Cantonese-speaking third-culture individuals (TCI) experiencing identity crisis and dissociation with the local Hong Kong culture, the group suggested creating a buddy system that pairs TCIs with locals or organizing free or paid experiential events to foster cultural exchange.
- For migrant entrepreneurs experiencing language and cultural barriers, the group brainstormed about leveraging AI for instant translation, and creating an app on local customs and traditions.
- For ethnically diverse youth lacking access to career opportunities, the group pondered about creating a platform or app with job listings, and setting up a buddy system that pairs alumni with fresh graduates to offer internships.
Meet the Mentorship Program 2023 Cohort
The effectiveness of our Mentorship Program begins in our Community Business Support team’s diligent efforts in understanding the needs of the mentees, so as to match them with mentors and coaches with relevant expertise and experience. Additionally, we make sure the selected mentors are equipped with the right mentoring skills and knowledge at our mentors training workshop.
This year, we are delighted to welcome back some mentors and coaches whose generous contributions benefited last year’s program mentees immensely, and whose continuous involvement in this year’s program is the very embodiment of the reciprocal nature of FSI’s Community for Ethnically Diverse Entrepreneurs and shared impact philosophy.
Below are the 11 mentees, each paired with a mentor and a coach. Learn more about their profiles here or connect with them on LinkedIn by clicking the links embedded in their names!
- Mujahida Malik, James Cunningham, Arunanjali Maria
- Kebba Jallow, Naman Tekriwal, Mag Wong
- Nabeela Asif, Jhanvi Panjabi, Shiela Cancino
- Basnet (Kazy) Pankaj, Bosco Ng, Elizabeth Wong
- Nazahat Riaz, Innocent Mutanga, Vivian Chong
- Kopal Manglik, Cameron van Breda, Rianna Chugani
- Laibah Bibi, Anushka Purohit, Anjali Daswani
- Maryam Khan, Asmita Bharadwaj Das, Pam Birkett
- Aman Kaya, Ahmed Anis Ben Slimane, Hamid Naseem
- Dhiresh Buxani, Wilson Tai, Winnie Tam
- Mahum Shaikh, Alicia Beale
What’s Next?
Our mentees and mentors will gather in person again for FSI’s workshops on Goal-setting and Planning (7 October). As participants of FSI’s programs, they are also invited to join our Legal Clinic with Linklaters on 27 October to gain insights and advice to solve their business challenges.
In the meantime, the mentees will kickstart their sessions with their mentors and coaches to receive a minimum of 10 hours of mentorship and four coaching sessions from now until the end of the program in March 2024.
During the program period, mentees can also schedule weekly business consultations with the FSI team, including our Impact Lab student interns Olivia Haiyue Yu, Stefan Micsa, and Zi Yee Teoh to receive customized business support.
We would like to thank The Hong Kong Club Foundation for making the program possible through funding support, and our collaborators and partners, ICF Hong Kong Charter Chapter, FundFluent, and WEDO Global for their instrumental support! A big shout-out to our Impact Lab Course student interns for being such great helpers at the event and the direct business support they will be providing to the mentees in the coming months.
*Interested in supporting our community of ethnically diverse, under-resourced entrepreneurs while achieving your corporate ESG goals or personal social impact journey? Consider collaborating with us to host Impact Jams like the Linklaters Legal Clinic or becoming a mentor to our entrepreneur community. Get in touch with us at cbs@shared-impact.com or make a tax-deductible donation to us!
