Francis Ngai Wah-sing is chief executive and founder of Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVHK), a venture capital firm which matches social enterprises, requiring funding, with donors and investors to help solve social problems.
Tell us about your career
I come from a corporate background. In my previous capacity, I was assistant vice-president of strategic development at PCCW's information technology and telecommunications department. Before that, I worked in marketing and advertising jobs.
Why did you start SVHK?
About three years ago, I began to feel that I didn't want to work just for money and for [PCCW chairman] Richard Li [Tzar-kai]. At the same time, I had been volunteering for social services since I was in college. Social work has always been a passion of mine. So you can imagine how intrigued I was when I learned from a few social entrepreneurs how profit-making businesses can be combined with a social mission. Businesses can be a tool to make things sustainable and scale up small activities.
What are social enterprises?
They apply market-based strategies to achieve social goals and can be run by non-governmental organisations or by firms on a non-profit or for-profit basis. The organisation should have a social mission at heart, whether it is to help disadvantaged groups or draw awareness to social problems.