Charity and Business, these two concepts used to be considered as antonym to each other. If a person want to devote himself to Charity activities it means that he has to give up good income and comfortable life. If a person decided to do business, he will became an “evil” businessman who only care about profit. Does it have to be the case? The answer is “NO”. Nick Lim, the director of Green Initiative (http://greeninitiatives.cn/) and the guest speaker of ICES 41st International Forum, indicated a new business model which combines charity activities with business, which is social enterprise. Social enterprise is the new business model which becomes popular in Western society and start to influence Chinese recently.
According to Nick, social enterprise has many advantages over traditional business. First of all, it concerns about the sustainability and the mutual development of the world. Second, it can attract passionate employees with similar value and wishing to make our earth better in the future. Third, because of its specialty, the company can get government support, partnership and media exposure easier. In general, Nick told students that it is not necessary to sacrifice good income and life when helping others as long as they choose the right path. Nick also shared with students many organizations that support social enterprise through cheap office, free mentoring support or start-up financing, such as Acumen.org, ashoka.org, or Non-profit Incubator in Shanghai.
Nick’s speech opened the mind of the students and indicated a new career path to them. When the seminar finished, Nick was crowded by students looking for the volunteer opportunity in Green initiative and suggestions on their future career.
