About Social Enterprise Summit

Social Enterprise Summit (SES) is a series of non-profit events and programmes organised by Hong Kong Social Entrepreneurship Forum, co-organised by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, HKSAR together with over 20 civic groups and NGOs. The International Symposium is an annual event since 2008, attracting an increasing number of delegates each year, from Hong Kong, China, the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Since 2014, an array of community programmes has expanded the engagement beyond the conference in Hong Kong. SES has become a major cross-sector platform among the civil, business, government, and academic sectors in the region to advance social entrepreneurship and social innovations for positive social changes.

Objectives

  • To promote social entrepreneurship and social innovation as agents of positive social change
  • To provide a platform for social entrepreneurs, social innovators, NGOs, businesses, investors, academics and the government to engage with one another for cross-sector innovation
  • To enhance the business capabilities of social enterprises and on the other hand cultivate a purpose-driven mindset among businesses
  • To nurture innovative entrepreneurship among young people
  • To promote impact investing and bridge funding bodies and investors with social entrepreneurs and social innovators
  • To capture the new dynamics of social entrepreneurship and social innovation in the region and around the world and to provide a forum for exchange of ideas and strategies

Our History

In 2008, the Social Enterprise Summit (SES) was founded by the Hong Kong Policy Research Foundation (HKPRF) to advocate social entrepreneurship. Since its establishment, it has attracted widespread attention as a catalyst to the social and developmental challenges of those times.  

In 2014, with Social Enterprise Summit becoming a more independent operation of its own, HKPRF transferred the Summit’s project management role to the Hong Kong Social Entrepreneurship Forum Ltd (HKSEF), a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting and supporting the development of social entrepreneurship. Since then, HKSEF has been the organiser of Social Enterprise Summit.

SES coordinates the efforts of over 20 organisations with strong support from the Hong Kong SAR Government. It invites organisations and representatives from the civil society, the business sector, the government, and the academia to the International Symposium.  The same year marked the beginning of Community Entrepreneurship-based programmes, a line-up of year-round community outreach activities to different districts in Hong Kong.

In 2018, the International Symposium has extended to become a 3-day event. The number of Community Entrepreneurship-based Programmes has been increased to 10 districts in Hong Kong by 2022.

In 2023, SES emerged to become a major cross-sector platform to inspire and empower social innovation.  The annual flagship international symposium has become a highly-acclaimed event attracting some 5,000+ participation from Hong Kong, mainland China, Asia-Pacific region and beyond.  Brimming with over 70+ speakers, delegates from 20+ countries attended the event.  Together with the extensive community outreach in 10 Hong Kong districts. The Social Innovation movement is set to further its impact through facilitating an intercity alliance, co-creating an open knowledge hub, as well as channelling resources to bridge purpose and actions.