YouChange Joined Hands with the One Foundation, Danone, and Dumex to Launch Project GO

From: Web ???Viwe::???Time: 2010-7-28

　　YouChange, the One Foundation, Dumex and Danone Communities jointly launched Project GO in Shanghai on July 12. Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner and father of the concept of social business attended the launching ceremony and the high-level forum on early children development and future. YouChange Chairperson Wang Ping, Vice Chairman Liu Jiren, Secretary General Gan Dongyu, and Supervisor Eugene C.Cha attended the ceremony. Officials from the Ministry of Health, Shanghai Municipal Government and Shanghai Women’s Federation as well as experts on child nutrition also participated and had in-depth exchanges and discussion on child nutrition. In particular, Prof. Yunus addressed the audience on the contribution of social business to sustained nutritional improvement.

　　In her remarks, Chairperson Wang Ping said that Project GO was a social innovation experiment driven by new ideas in China, rather than a traditional charitable project. In the new project, YouChange would give into full play its advantages by providing support in funding, platform and channel. The first pilot program of this project would be undertaken by YouChange volunteer station in Jianshi, Hubei Province. Chairperson Wang also stressed that human beings were getting rid of single-minded development mentality and embracing harmonious and balanced development model. The model of social business that shifts the focus from maximizing profits to maximizing social benefits offers a most promising future for humanity. She concluded that Project GO would be the starting line for New Philanthropy in China.

　　Different from traditional philanthropy, Project GO integrates the resources of the government and the general public in the target market to achieve real sustainable development. After the pilot cooperation in Project GO, YouChange, the One Foundation, Dumex and Danone Communities will continue to work together to promote philanthropic social projects with the aim to improve nutrition for children.

Attached: Chairperson Wang’s Speech

Your Honorable Pros. Yunus,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

　　We are participating and witnessing an event with profound social impact. We are pleased and proud of YouChange’s participation in and contribution to Project GO, a great initiative that will benefit our children and our children’s children. But more importantly, it is a social innovation experiment driven by new ideas in China, rather than a traditional charitable project. It has revolutionized existing business models and traditional philanthropic models.

　　I feel particularly inspired and fortunate on this occasion to join Pros. Yunus, the great inventor of this new model. Right after its establishment, China Social Entrepreneur Foundation, or YouChange, is committed to social innovation as its mission. As the founder, I made this firm commitment in no small part thanks to the inspiration and enlightenment of Pros. Yunus. His books Banker to the Poor and Social Business and Future of Capitalism are bibles for every YouChange staff. I was fortunate recently to have Pros. Yunus’ new book Building Social Business with his autograph. After reading this book, we reaffirmed our commitment to social innovation, a brand new business model that shifts the focus from maximizing profits to maximizing social benefits, and offers a most promising future for humanity.

　　With an economist’s vision, Pros. Yunus explored a financial market ignored by traditional banks. And with a politician’s vision, he found a market-oriented approach to support those marginalized social groups. Now we are getting rid of single-minded development mentality and embracing harmonious and balanced development model. In development, we are not just pursuing efficiency like early capitalism in 17^th and 18^th centuries, or equity like philanthropic capitalism in 19^th and 20^th centuries. What we are pursuing are sustainable efficiency—corporate social responsibility widely promoted in the 20th century—and sustainable equity like social businesses at their initial stage.

　　Grameen Danone, the first multinational social business jointly set up by Pros. Yunus and Danone five years ago, is a perfect integration of social ideal and business model. We are impressed by every detail in this project that points to infinite space of imagination for social changes. We have every reason to believe in Danone, our most trustworthy partner and we thank Danone for bringing the successful experience of social business into China. We stand ready to work with Danone such an outstanding corporate to promote social business in China.

　　Established in 2007, YouChange was one of the first private foundations approved by the government in China. Its mission is to identify and support new philanthropic leaders, and establish and promote cross-sector cooperative platform.

　　In the new project, we will give into full play our advantages by providing support in funding, platform and channel. We began to establish the platform system of volunteer stations for poverty reduction as early as 2008. Set up in poverty-stricken areas, volunteer stations are managed and run by full-time and part-time volunteers. They are bases for social innovation and platforms to tap and groom new talents for philanthropy. We have established 11 stations and will build more and make them into a network. The first pilot program of this project will be undertaken by our volunteer station in Jianshi, Hubei Province.

　　We are also very happy to have Jet Li One Foundation to partner with us. With its advantages in public communication and perception, we will draw on each other’s strengths in this demonstration project for public good. Today is just the beginning and we will spread this experiment throughout the country and shift our focus from education and promotion to model exploration. We are confident that with government support, wide-ranging cross-sector cooperation, and social entrepreneurship committed to responsibility, innovation and action, Project GO will be the starting line for New Philanthropy in China.

　　Thank you.