Starting a Social Enterprise from Scratch
Vanessa Leung (savanleung@ust.hk)
[This is a talk in Changemaker Gear Up Training Series (GUTS)*]
In recent years, the concept of social enterprise is slowly taking off. Social enterprise applies business practices to bring about transformative social changes. Do you want to turn your ideas into actions? Are you struggling with how to start your own social enterprise?
In this talk, Mr Koh Seng Choon who is the founder of Dignity Kitchen, one of the successful social enterprise pioneers in Singapore, will speak about his social venture journey. He will share how he expands his idea and business scale from Singapore to Hong Kong and from a team of 2 to a team of 168 with 70% of people with disabilities and over 50% employees are over 50 years old. Join us to learn how to start a social enterprise from scratch!
Speakers:
KOH Seng Choon
Founder and Executive Director, Dignity Kitchen, HK/Singapore
Mr Koh Seng Choon is the Executive Director of Dignity Kitchen TM - Singapore's first hawker training school for the disabled and disadvantaged people.
Seng Choon started work in a Singapore Shipyard before deciding to pursue his studies at Sheffield University, UK. In 3 years he completed a dual honours degree in Engineering and Business Administration with first class honours. He also holds an MSc in Computer Integrated Manufacturing from Cranfield Institute of Technology, UK. Working in UK upon graduation, he was involved with the management of a steel foundry; and later in merger and acquisition of businesses in China, Indonesia and the United States as part of the steel foundry's growth strategies. He then worked as an ISO 9000 assessor in UK before returning to Singapore as a senior manager with the then Coopers & Lybrand International.
He set up his own management consultancy firm in 1997 focusing on small and medium enterprises, in the areas of strategic planning and business development of mainland Chinese and Indian companies. He is a consultant to several state-owned Chinese companies in South China and several major Indian family managed businesses. His experience of India and Middle East is invaluable and was appointed as one of IE Singapore’s export coaches to assist local companies to develop their business overseas. In 2005, he was appointed as Executive Director of Restaurant Association of Singapore responsible for restructuring of the food and beverage industry in Singapore and assisted with the setting up a Chinese culinary training school. In October 2010, he started Dignity Kitchen TM - a training school to train the disabled and the disadvantaged to be food stall operators or hawkers, and was awarded the Singapore President Social Enterprise Award 2015. In 2019, he started Dignity Kitchen in Hong Kong.
In his free time, he lectures on the subject of entrepreneurship to MBA students at S P Jain Centre of Management and also assist ex-inmates of Selarang Drug Rehabilitation Centre and the pre-release prisoners Changi Prison Housing Unit A5 and B4 to realise their entrepreneurial ambition.
Remarks:
- Priority will be given to HKUST Connect registrants (Start your changemaking journey with HKUST Connect: https://connect.ust.hk/joinus)
- To avoid interruption and hindering the progress of session, instructors may not admit new participants who are late for more than 15 minutes.
- Participants who are away from the session for 15 minutes or more may not be able to attain the HLTH1010 course hours
* Complete 3 GUTS workshops to get a certificate of participation.
Changemaker 30:
3 Points will be awarded upon complete attendance of the session for Changemaker 30 registrants. Visit here for more information.
HLTH1010 Course Hours:
Upon complete attendance of the workshop, participants may attain a maximum of 1 hours in "Wellness & Personal Enrichment Events" in the "Activities" module.