This year marks the 10th anniversary of the SIE Fund. I have participated in the work of the SIE Fund Task Force for five years, and it fills me with joy to witness its continuous growth over the past decade.
In July 2018, I took on the responsibility of chairmanship of the Task Force from Professor Stephen Cheung. I am grateful to Professor Cheung for laying a solid foundation for the Fund’s development, such as fostering cross-sectoral collaboration and leveraging intermediaries’ social capital to support social innovators and entrepreneurs to implement social innovative projects that contribute to alleviating poverty and social exclusion. Building upon this foundation, the Fund has achieved several “Hong Kong’s firsts”, such as launching the first food support collaborative platform to enhance efficiency of food support services through connecting service operators, food donors and volunteers. We also pioneered the “Pay-for-Success” (PFS) model in Hong Kong and commissioned a pilot project. Additionally, the Fund established an inclusive gerontechnology platform that brings together stakeholders on the supply and demand sides to enhance synergy and drive the development and adoption of gerontechnology in Hong Kong. As a result, the public’s understanding of “Social Innovation” has transformed from a concept known to few to a value that many strive to pursue by all of us.
To date, the SIE Fund has funded over 500 projects and benefited more than 330 000 persons, including children and youth, the elderly, people of diverse race, persons with disabilities, and low-income families, etc. I would like to express my gratitude to the fellow Task Force members and our partners for their efforts and appreciation to the various sectors for their participation and support.
Looking ahead, under the leadership of the Commission on Poverty, the SIE Fund will strengthen its collaboration with the government in taking forward the strategy of “targeted poverty alleviation”. We will join hands with the community to foster social innovation and create social impact, as well as to cultivate and generate more socially innovative projects with ways to alleviate poverty problems.
Last revision date: 1/11/2023