HK$1 million incentive on offer as Hong Kong’s rising charity leaders begin training course
Nine-month programme at Chinese University will develop the skills they will need for NGOs to expand and thrive
Twenty-four budding charity leaders gathered at the opening ceremony of a training programme, with the top student in line for a prize of up to HK$1 million to fund their non-governmental organisation.
In its third year, the nine-month leadership programme at Chinese University, with experts from Swiss bank UBS and scholars from the university as mentors, will help the NGO representatives improve their management and social networking skills and boost cooperation, enabling them to make maximum use of limited resources and provide better services.
“Many people have been saying that local NGOs lack funding,” Amy Lo Choi-wan, head of UBS wealth management for Greater China, said at the opening ceremony last Friday. “But, during our cooperation with many charities, we found that the real issue that they are facing is how to get the most out of what they have and how to present themselves to potential donors.”
UBS will contribute half of the top prize, which amounts to HK$800,000 to HK$1 million, while the other half will come from Operation Santa Claus, the annual charity fundraiser organised by the South China Morning Post and RTHK.
Iris Wan, programme director of charity Teach for Hong Kong, which started three years ago, said the NGO had expanded more quickly than the management had prepared for.
