Dear Friends:

Welcome to the China Social Entrepreneur Foundation (YouChange).

The State Council of the People’s Republic of China approved the establishment of the China Social Entrepreneur Foundation (YouChange) on Feb. 16, 2007. Though this date symbolizes the birth of YouChange, the day of the grand ceremony for the official establishment of the Foundation on May 12, 2007 heralded the beginning of YouChange. At that time, friends and supporters from all walks of life celebrated our newly formed organization and its commitment to and future impact on the community. Therefore, on behalf of all my colleagues and fellows at the Foundation, I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to all of you for your wholehearted support, help and encouragement.

It is safe to say that I have spent several decades in preparation for devoting myself to causes of the public good. It is obvious to me now that all of my education and life experiences have led to my founding of this organization. Today, I have achieved my dream by establishing the China Social Entrepreneur Foundation (YouChange). Please allow me to briefly introduce myself before I present the details of the Foundation.

I was born and grew up in the exhilarating early days of the P.R.C. Like the hero in the novel How Steel Is Refined and many other passionate youth of the time, I was full of idealism and felt a responsibility to liberate human beings all over the world.

I strove to become a person who truly serves others. Thus, at the age of seventeen, I became the youngest teacher and Communist Youth League’s secretary. In 1978, the year that China began to reform, I was a student in Renmin University’s International Political Science Department, and developed a comprehensive understanding of Marxism, Eastern and Western philosophy and political science theory.

After graduating from university, I worked for a ministry of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, witnessing the shifting phase of China’s diplomatic relations during early reforms and the start of the open-door policy, when we began to move “beyond ideological differences while seeking mutual understanding and cooperation.” In the early 1990s, I attended University of Maryland in the United States, receiving a master’s degree in Government and Political Affairs. Not long after my return to China, I interned at the European Union’s headquarters and worked part-time for a European company. In the mid-1990s, China began the process of restructuring state-owned enterprises and moved into the first stage of international capitalization. At the time, I began working in the international investment banking industry that was closely related to the restructuring process. My transition from culture and politics to the economic and financial sector was one of the most significant changes in my life. These changes, along with my later experience in an international law firm and investment consulting businesses, provided me with an opportunity to witness the rise and flourishing growth of Chinese entrepreneurs. At the same time, I was also keenly aware of those entrepreneurs’ struggles and confusion during this period.

I began approaching people living in poverty as an individual donor a couple of years ago. While taking pleasure in helping others, I came to realize various problems existing within philanthropic organizations, which at the time were still in the initial stage of development. Many entrepreneurs, as well as individuals engaged in poverty alleviation and other similar projects, faced many issues and pitfalls, such as miscommunication or lack of information channels, unprofessional administrative management and operations. These greatly impacted organizations’ actual time and effort that they were able to devote to their causes, and their good intentions and charity actions became considerably limited in efficiency and influence. Moreover, these problems even often led to results entirely contrary to projects’ missions. Generous donations ended up damaging recipients’ self-esteem or selfless help and support bred recipients’ dependency on donors. Even worse, projects sometimes resulted in dissatisfaction or complaints, not to mention harmful outcomes like the misuse or loss of donated funds due to lack of effective administrative management.

Based on these considerations, there was an urgent demand for building a bridge between entrepreneurs and project recipients, which would help both sides effectively communicate and boost the involvement of entrepreneurs in charity projects. YouChange began in response to this social need. Back in June 2006, I had the idea of creating a public platform to provide service and support to Chinese entrepreneurs who wanted to contribute to community initiatives. This idea resonated within the community, and I received strong support from friends. Thus, YouChange was founded. It is a foundation that entrepreneurs, along with friends sharing the same ideals and aspirations, jointly created and built. We advocate the philosophy that in this time of success, we can make the world a better place.

Looking back at my life so far, I realize how extraordinarily lucky I am. I was educated both domestically and internationally, and I have held a diverse range of jobs, in business and education sectors, government organizations and enterprises. Finally, I am working for the public interest and community initiatives. My current undertaking makes me proudly quote the following statement from Marx:

“Should we choose the career that best benefits humanity; we would not be conquered by any heavy labor because through this sacrifice, we are committed to all people. At that time, what we have is not just a simple selfish and pitiful joy. Instead, our happiness is the property of hundreds and thousands of people. We are not chasing short-lived celebrity status, but a career that will last forever.”

YouChange is the career my colleagues and I have chosen to best benefit the people. The goal of YouChange is to commit itself to a people-oriented, harmonious society. YouChange’s mission and aspirations are derived from this goal.

We believe that only if people being put in the center, can a harmonious society be built. Human beings are an aggregation of both material and spirit. Therefore from a material and spiritual perspective, the mission of YouChange is to provide a comprehensive solution to a series of human- related issues in the field of public and community interests that have arisen in Chinese society’s rapid development. That includes helping those struggling with poverty to realize their dreams and in the process, broaden their horizons, help them learn and improve their capabilities, build self-confidence and stand on their own two feet. YouChange also helps entrepreneurs, community workers and all people of high ideals and kindness from various public interest and community organizations who seek excellence in realizing their dream of improving the world. In addition, Yucheng will conduct academic research and studies regarding poverty-alleviation and charity culture, as well as operational and management modules of the Foundation. This will help enable us pave the way for a healthy development of China’s non-profit sector that will effectively include Chinese characteristics and to mature the China’s charity, public, and community interests, which are still in their infancy.

My dear friends, we are now in the China’s greatest era of change, and we are experiencing the most rapid period of renovation in the history of humanity. The motto of the great mentor, Karl Marx, “only if you first liberate all of humanity, can you liberate yourself,” is no longer only true of the proletariat. As the producer of products, services and wealth in today’s environment of globalization, enterprise no longer perfectly fits the definition established by Adam Smith nor F.W. Taylor’s definition of a standard business entity. Moreover, businesses no longer just regard maximum profits as their ultimate goal. Instead, when an enterprise shoulders social responsibility with nobility and wisdom, it can further develop itself and increase its core competitive strengths, making possible sustainable social development. We are expecting the naissance of China’s versions of Dale Carnegie, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. These three men are not only known worldwide for their tremendous fortunes, but are also regarded as pioneers in social responsibility. Instead of taking their fortunes with them in death, they instead are using them to make positive changes in the world.

Serving the world creates kindness and sharing the same goals fosters friendship. A YouChange Entrepreneur reflects a genuine desire to make such friendships while advancing the public good. Dear friends in the business community, if YouChange’s philosophy and mission touches a chord in your heart, please join the ranks of YouChange Entrepreneurs. By doing so, you can advance both your business and poverty alleviation work to successfully achieve results. For the benefit of society, we look forward to any suggestions from the government, NGOs, professional institutions, and experts, as well as representatives of the disadvantaged who need our help.

What I am trying my best to say is that if you share our ideals and are willing to volunteer regardless of your age, gender, nationality, occupation, title and background, you are a cordial friend of YouChange. I sincerely welcome you to join us, and to take action for our common cause. Our cooperative pursuit will strengthen the spiritual and material aspects of humanity. Our efforts will also enrich modern Chinese culture, harmonize a disordered world, and achieve the ideals advocated and shared by all people in our same camp yesterday, today and tomorrow-----love is universal.

We invite you to visit our website at www.youcheng.org.

02.2008