Model Foundation Programme 2016

About the Event

The Victor and William Fung Foundation sponsored five mainland Fung Scholars to join the Model Foundation Programme organised by Philanthropy in Motion (PIM) from July – August 2016 in Beijing. Model Foundation is an international summer program on venture philanthropy and social innovation. Through online and offline training, participants develop their leadership capacity through mastering skills in design thinking, organisation evaluation, public speaking and negotiation. The first part of the Programme is an Online Training and Due Diligence. The participants took a 6-week online course with curriculum materials specially developed by PIM, sourced from Yale, Stanford, and The University of Hong Kong. They are matched with local social enterprises to gain a deep understanding of their work through site visits and interviews. The second part of the Programme is a 1-week Philanthropy Conference held at Yale Center Beijing, which featured guest speakers, interactive workshops, and career exploration. The participants presented their findings and collectively managed a fund of US20,000 to support a portfolio of innovation social enterprises. After the Programme, the participants continued to receive mentorship in addition to social impact career development opportunities through PIM.

Reflections of the participants:

JIANG Weiwei (FS2011-12, Tsinghua University)

“Through the online training, I learnt about the basic ideas of philanthropy and its difference with charity as well as the features of philanthropy. I also had chance to discuss with other participants and form our ideas about practicing philanthropy during the workshop and I was inspired by the stories of the nonprofit experts, cross-sector entrepreneurs, and mission-driven professionals. I hope I can start my own startup in the near future.”

WENG Qianyi (FS2015-16, Xiamen University)

“Model Foundation Programme reshaped my view towards philanthropy and had an impact on my career choice. Before this Programme, I had little knowledge about philanthropy and non-profit organisations. As an ordinary people in China, I had distrusted in this field and doubted their necessity. When I applied for the programme, I hoped to broaden my horizons and acquire new skills and knowledge.

I would say the one-month online course was rather beneficial. We were taught the history, current situation of NGOs in China and the RAISE framework to evaluate NGOs. We also had a chance to interview and interact with the founders of many outstanding entrepreneurs during the 7-day workshop. Despite gaining abundant knowledge about philanthropy and design thinking, the young excellent grant committee members really inspired me with many innovative ideas! Through the online training and 7-day enlightening workshop, I have deeper insight into what philanthropy really is and I would consider pursuing a career in this field.”