Asia Pacific Social Innovation Partnership Award Winners Shine Light On Social Prosperity Initiatives
With the gradual increase of global risks, how can we develop innovative practices to ensure a future where sustainability will become mainstream? The Asia Pacific Social Innovation Partnership Award is established to explore dynamic social innovation models in the Asia Pacific and to motivate more change-makers to contribute to social innovation, discovering and celebrating social innovation partnerships that connect diverse stakeholders and make significant social impacts. Partnership cases are required to set the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs) as their core value.
The award sets motivating social innovation partnerships as its purpose, integrating 17 SDGs sorted into three categories, Biosphere Sustainability, Inclusive Business and Social Prosperity. Three winners were chosen from each category and there was one Special Jury Prize chosen by the judging panel.
The Social Prosperity Award focuses on social innovation initiatives relevant to fundamental dignity in human society. The highly related corresponding SDGs are SDG1: No Poverty, SDG2: Zero Hunger, SDG3: Good Health and Well-Being, SDG4: Quality Education, SDG5: Gender Equality, SDG7: Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG16: Peace, justice and strong institutions.
APSIPA Social Prosperity Winners
Jonathan E. Chua
BeamAndGo
Jonathan E. Chua’s dream is to level the playing field for migrant workers by giving them the tools to take care of their families. He wants to see their hard work and sacrifice result in an improved life for them and their families and provide better opportunities for future generations.
Along with Mr. Albert Christian Go, Mr. Chua defines BeamAndGo’s business strategy and oversees the overall business operations and engineering team.
Mr. Chua has over 25 years of software development, business development, entrepreneurship, and startup investing experience. He has developed leading-edge software platforms for some of the biggest companies in financial services, online research, and big data.
Illac Diaz
Liter of Light
Illac Diaz is a social entrepreneur working to empower communities in the Philippines and around the world through several pioneering programs in rammed earth, bamboo, and PET plastic bottle construction. Illac leads the Liter of Light Movement.
Illac founded the MyShelter Foundation in 2006 to promote grassroots sustainable development through capacity-building and employment-generating projects. Introducing groundbreaking social enterprise, appropriate low-cost technologies, and alternative construction in the Philippines, the MyShelter Foundation has pioneered projects such as the Pier One Seafarer’s Dormitory, the Design Against the Elements (DAtE) competition, and the Bottle School Project, improving the lives of Filipinos in rural communities through the creation of classrooms and clinics made of recycled materials like plastic bottles. Illac realised that while he could build innovative, sustainable structures, he had no way to light buildings constructed far from the electrical grid. His solution to this challenge led to the Liter of Light movement.
Kei Kawashima
WonderLab
Kei Kawashima is the CEO & founder of WonderLab. Arithmetic and mathematics have long been a passion for Kei. Since 2007, Kei has been involved in various learning support programmes including helping with childcare institutes across Japan, and abroad along with teaching students from 4 years old to University student level at the Hanamaru Group.
In 2014, Kei founded Hanamaru Lab Co., Ltd (since renamed WonderLab).The app he developed “Think!Think!” has over 1 million users across 150 countries around the world and won multiple awards both in Japan and abroad. Such awards include the “Google Play Awards”. In the past Kei has worked as a part time lecturer at The University of Tokyo. Each year he continues to be involved in the production of the Maths Olympics and since 2017, serves as an advisor to Mie prefecture on the development of mathematical thinking.
Highlights from the Panel
(listen to the podcast for full details)
[Tom Allen] - To kick things off, can you please tell us a little bit more about your projects, the impact they’re creating, and what led to your passion in social innovation?
[Jonathan E. Chua] - Thanks Tom for having me here. I'm really excited to be part of this talk. Here's the deal. When a migrant worker leaves their country for work, a promise is made, that the money they remit back home will uplift their family. Now the remittance is great because the funds can be used there to purchase groceries, medicine, and pay bills. But it can also be abused on gambling, drugs, and alcohol.
BeamAndGo is a payment and digital marketplace that empowers migrant workers, by giving them control over how these remittances are spent by their families back home.
We solved the problem of remittance leakage and spending abuse, and our customers are usually migrant workers from the Philippines. These are people who have left their homes from the Philippines, but now work in countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan. Now here's how it works. A domestic helper in Singapore tells us she wants to send 5,000 pesos, or about 100USD to her husband in Manila, but he can only use it to buy groceries. We generate a code that has a value of 5,000 pesos and a purpose, ‘groceries’, and send it to the husband. Over 8,000 locations, products and services throughout the Philippines accept BeamAndGo.
Supermarkets, pharmacies, convenience stores, gas stations, as well as rice and fresh goods deliverables. We have over 260,000 registered users. Women are the main providers of 91% of the families that we help. We're working with other social impact and financial services companies, like The Grameen Foundation, UNICEF, and JP Morgan. But this is just the beginning. We're launching a stored value facility this year and adding another 13,000 products to our merchant network by the end of next year. This includes tuition loans and continuing education courses.
BeamAndGo App
Here's why it's important. If we get this right, for the first time in their life, a domestic worker in the Philippines will have financial control and savings. Their children will be educated, and the financial stability will help keep families together.
On a nationwide basis, it's going to lower unemployment rates, it's going to create a well-educated workforce and a thriving economy, and that's a benefit to over 110 million people. That's what BeamAndGo is all about.
It sounds like you've had some fantastic traction there, Jonathan, and that you've really understood some of the core painpoints and needs of the people that you are really helping. Well done on that initiative.
Illac, we're going to pass onto you now. I'm keen to hear a little bit more about Liter of Light, the impact that it's creating, and what led to your passion in social innovation?
[Illac Diaz] - Liter of Light really was created in one of the darkest moments of Philippine history, the first category five impact typhoon, and this was called Haiyan. 10,000 lives were lost, and more than 4 million houses were destroyed. When we tried to look for solar lights to replace kerosene, which was causing lots of third-degree burns, a loss of life was also causing safety issues for women coming back and forth from the aid camps with food, or with money. We found out that this would cost more than 60% of our income in about five months. What happened was they had to put it in a box, in a container, on a truck or on a ship. By the time it reached the people that needed it, a lot of the cost was in the logistics. 60-80% of the United Nations funds are spent on logistics.
We found out that there were enough parts that can be sourced locally and can be built by hand to be able to replicate this. We had one of the largest solar cell makers in the country, but nobody was teaching the locals how to make it. Through a special policy, we were able to source this, and suddenly we were starting to make women build the lights.
We found out that they were competent, they could repair them and now they were renting them. They were making a business out of it, and they were now also renting the streetlights to the local government and maintaining it, and mobile chargers were all built by hand.
We were able to expand around the Philippines, and around 32 countries around the world. We then found out our new business model, which has been based on habitat for humanity, corporates loved building the lights. We would charge them for buying the parts, but at the same time, give them the experience of building the lights, but at the same time, charging them as well for installing it in the villages. We found out that this was a viable option, and we now do about a million lights a year, pre-COVID.
Liter of Light
That's incredible impact Illac, well done on all the hard work that you've been doing at the Liter of Light. It sounds again that by identifying that the cost of logistics in the UN projects [were so high], you're really tackling a really clear need here.
Let's move to Kei, you're working with WonderLab. Tell us a little bit more about the impact that you're creating and what led to your passion in driving this project?
[Kei Kawashima] - Thank you for inviting me. We created the mobile app Think Think! This is basically a problem-solving application, that contains more than 100 games with puzzles, and it is targeted at children 4-12 years old. There are mainly three impacts we are creating. The first one is that children can truly enjoy playing and learning. All the games are very intuitive, and children can play without any knowledge, including literacy. That is why Think Think has over 1 million users across 150 countries without any marketing. The second impact is that we prove the effectiveness of thinking by conducting external research.
Together with Keio University, Japanese International Corporation of Technology, and the Cambodia Ministry of Education, the experiment proved that academic performance intelligence and non-cognitive skills were improved dramatically in groups that used Think Think! for three months.
We found that rather than teaching mathematical concepts, directly focusing on critical thinking helped improve their academic performance.
On top of this, great progress was seen in all of our students, regardless of their gender, grades or parent education. This is actually the reason why we were nominated at the Google Play Awards, as a finalist in Best Social Impact.
The third impact is that the Cambodian Government is actually considering introducing it to their national curriculum, because of the positive results. If we succeed in contributing to Cambodian education truly, we are going to have more chances to contribute to other countries all over the world.
In the end, what led me to my passion to create Think Think!, comes from my experience teaching children in children's homes or public schools in many Asian countries; Japan, Cambodia, Philippines, Laos, Mongolia, Vietnam, and East Timor. I was so happy when I saw children ready to learn materials that we made. We improved our product over and over again, so that all children feel excited to learn. That leads to our current version of Think Think!
Thanks, very much Kei. Think Think! sounds like an excellent app and it's creating some really strong impact there in learning for children. Well done on that.
You all have such diverse experience and have worked really extensively across the Asia Pacific region, and winning the APSIPA Award highlights your dedication, your hard work and your skills to innovate. I'm keen to hear your observations of the social innovation movement in your respective countries and further afield, and where do you see key opportunities and next steps? Jonathan, you're based out of Singapore. What are your thoughts?
[Jonathan E. Chua] - Here in Singapore, there's actually a lot of support for social enterprises and social impact companies. There are actually NGOs that are here for start-ups, and then there's also NGOs that are targeted towards different groups. For our groups it is mostly migrant workers, and they do a very good job in providing a safety net, a place for people to go to if they have issues with employers and things like that.
But I think what's been lacking, and it's not just lacking here in Singapore, but it's lacking throughout the world, is that beyond that initial level of a safety net, the tools for migrant workers to really uplift themselves and their families are lacking.
That's why we came up with BeamAndGo, it's because we saw that a lot of migrant workers lack financial literacy, and as a result of that, they were slipping through the cracks. What you saw was a lot of spending abuse and remittance leakage. Those are the things that we're trying to address, and what's happening here in Singapore is we get a lot of help, and our core customers are migrant workers from the Philippines, but in Singapore, they also realise that it's not just for Singaporeans only.
They see migrant workers as a very vital cog in the whole ecosystem here, and so there's a lot of help that we get in terms of funding, in terms of brands, also in terms of mentorship and advisory. I think it's really strong and it's really a good example for a lot of countries to take this on.
I know in other countries like Taiwan, and I also see it in Japan where that's also happening. But I'm really happy and I feel very lucky that we started BeamAndGo here in Singapore because of all the help that we get.
Wonderlab
It sounds like it's a really supportive ecosystem there, Jonathan.
Illac, what about yourself? You’re based in the Philippines, so what are your observations of the social innovation movement there and where do you see key opportunities?
[Illac Diaz] - Social innovation has always been seen as a business that helps a non-profit. There was really nowhere in between, and so non-profits over here basically could not get out of the proverbial ‘basement or garage’. We were just always waiting for somebody to give this kind of charity. It was working on a very charitable system. Filipinos are also very low on donating to charities, especially because we are also underground with support against international NGOs.
Really this was the bit that concerned me. But later on, when we had this social enterprise coming forward, we were now able to charge companies to be able to do these workshops. Then we would work with women in the provinces, that would also make a business out of the solar lights. For less than a dollar a week, you can charge as many times with your solar light, your mobile charger, and then if you could add an extra $100 to these women, cooperatives could have your streets lit.
They were becoming very powerful in exchanges, where kerosene, which was taking 35% of their income was now being moved to other things like education, better food, and they could now expand enterprise.
They were now buying, their husbands could now back haul all the supplies that were now being purchased to these women in solar enterprises. This is now leading to 350 partners, and this was something that also was allowing us to donate. It's very strange that the Philippines were putting $5,000-$10,000 in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Africa. We were now donating to start up this model, and it's led to 32 countries [adopting it]. Social enterprise has been a way that ideas, even from the Pacific islands, can have 1,200 employees around the world.
Some great insights there Illac, thanks for sharing those.
Kei, tell us about Japan, but you also have extensive experience across the Asia Pacific. What are your observations on the social innovation movement, and where are these key opportunities?
[Kei Kawashima] - Perhaps my perspective is very limited to the context of education and my activities. What I am about to mention is not limited to Japan, that not many people and organisations donate or invest to constructing schools for children in other countries, for example, in Cambodia. A lot of social entrepreneurs, pivoted those praises, trying to contribute something to children.
What I heard from these guys, is that they have difficulties in preparing what to teach. Right now, the Japanese government is trying to deliver every public school a PC or tablet one by one. I think many schools have difficulty in providing what software will be available to youth in the future.
That's really interesting to hear that perspective too, and it talks to the point of digital inclusion. Particularly when we step beyond some of the more ‘developed’ countries in the world, to those that may find it hard to get access to digital infrastructure and the internet. You've all had really interesting experiences yourselves.
What is one piece of advice that you would give to other social entrepreneurs or innovators who are starting out in their journey and focused on social prosperity? What about you Jonathan?
[Jonathan E. Chua] - I think what happens is when you start, when you do see a problem in society, or you see a gap, you have a lot of energy and you really want to fix it.
Wonderlab
But the thing is to fix a lot of the problems that affect society requires a lot of people, one person can't do it all. My advice is really if you find that gap or you find that there is a problem to fix, start to reach out. Try to see who else is working on these problems, there are a lot of resources online.
There are also a lot of resources on the UN and also on other NGO sites. My recommendation is just to go there and see what other likeminded people are out there and start sharing ideas, because it's really tough to do it by yourself. Really start to get into the ecosystem, participate, and maybe one day you can become a leader in that ecosystem. But that's pretty much where you should start.
That's great advice Jonathan. Thanks for sharing.
What about yourself Illac? What advice would you give?
[Illac Diaz] - I want to clarify the discussion a while ago, and also refer it to Jonathan's work, which is that Filipinos here donate one of the least when it comes to personal donations, but they're one of the most charitable when it come to their own lives. They usually support their parents, their families, so they give a lot to themselves in their own sectors.
I think they're one of the most charitable as a nation, but I just wanted to also say that for social enterprise, never look away from things that bother you, because if it bothers you, it means that it bother other people as well. That's what we also did, like Jonathan is, looking for things that bothered other people and we started organising them.
One of the benefits though is to have these kinds of businesses, people that have experience in businesses, because this kind of income is very important for the lifeblood of all struggling non-profits. As I said, this can be with a small sized store like a corner store, but we could also grow just like a small and medium enterprises into a large enterprise one day with this kind of income. The income of doing good, is a very powerful new concept over here.
Thank you so much Illac. Those are some great perspective there.
Kei what about yourself? What advice would you give to other social entrepreneurs who are starting out in their journey?
[Kei Kawashima] - I can’t say big things, but I just would like to tell you why I was able to keep trying.
I kept tackling my project, not because I had a high, noble, or a magnificent philosophy, or even because of the big issues. Instead, it was because I just wanted to do it.
Maybe [asking] ourselves whether we want to do it or not might work better than finding great issues to keep trying.
Thanks so much for that.
Let's finish off now with some books and resources. Which of those would you recommend to our listeners, Jonathan?
[Jonathan E. Chua] - I'm a pretty big reader, I'm also into audio books and I always tell people, "just try to read anything, read as much as you can." Like right now I'm reading Everything You Wanted to Know About the Universe by Neil deGrasse Tyson. I read spy novels. I read nonfiction. I read biography. I think reading in general is a good thing to do, and it kind of opens up your world. You get to see different things at a pretty low cost, right? The cost of a book is like $15-$20, and it really opens up a whole world to you. My recommendation is just any book, just read.
Liter of Light
Wonderful. Thank you, Jonathan. What about yourself Illac?
[Illac Diaz] - The basic book that I started with was How to Change The World by David Bornstein, and this basically was the first entrance I had into social enterprise. What was interesting really was that there were people out there that could start from a very small enterprise and grow very big, and this was very different from the charity model. Over here it was always in a way waiting for people to support you, and in a way, it was really making me very miserable, because I don't want to beg, I hate begging and waiting.
It was the most difficult period of my life. When I realised in social enterprise that we could earn by giving a service, but at the same time we could teach the women to maintain it and to be able to build solar lights by hand.
There was this concept that solar can be a technology that can be maintained, expanded, and at the same time it could change the lives of women without you having to be there. That idea, that purist form that was to make yourself obsolete. Another book [I recommend] is called Three Cups of Tea. It was about how to change the world, and Three Cups of Tea was very influential towards my journey.
Thank you, Illac. Kei, what about yourself? What books have been really inspirational?
[Kei Kawashima] - I would like to introduce a book as the guide for those who are interested in education. The books title is Range. This was written by American Science Journalist, David Epstein. Through reading this book, you can organise many academic facts that we believed for a long time, that are effective to children for a short span, are not effective to children for a long period. You can find many academically interesting facts.
That's sounds like a great read there Kei. Thank you so much, and a huge thanks to all of you today. You've provided some really generous insights and time, and a huge congratulations on winning the APSIPA Social Prosperity Award. We'll look forward to tracking your journeys into the future.
This content is sponsored by Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan.
Books and Resources Recommended by panelists
From Jonathan:
Summary of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil Degrasse Tyson
From Illac:
How To Change The World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas by David Bornstein
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
From Kei:
Range: Why Generalists Triumph In A Specilized World by David Epstein
