Small Ways to Make A Big Difference

Who says philanthropy and profit can't mix?

In a Chinese province near the Tibetan border, two women -- one from Hong Kong, the other from Taiwan -- are helping thousands of yak herders build a better life for their families through a new social enterprise called Shokay. The company buys downy yak fiber from the herders and makes upscale 'yashmere' blankets and sweaters for sale to wealthy city dwellers.

How do you boost incomes for nomads in western China who might live seven hours from any roadside, much less a marketplace? First step: check their possessions for any sign of untapped value.

That's what graduate students Marie So, a 28-year-old from Hong Kong, and Carol Chyau, a 26-year-old Taiwanese, did last year on a break from studying development work at Harvard University. The goal of their six-week journey was to find a social problem and then fix it in a profitable and sustainable manner.

The duo ended up visiting impoverished rural nomads on the Tibetan plateau. They noticed that in the winter, the nomads kept the yaks huddled near their huts, and in the summer they moved further up into the mountains and set them grazing. Why not, the students wondered, figure out a way to extract more value from these animals?

Today, their for-profit social enterprise Shokay (www.shokay.com) buys yak fiber from more than 3,000 'suppliers' (nomads) in Qinghai province and weaves it into scarves, blankets and throws that are sold at high-end shops in Hong Kong, Taipei and the U.S. Another enterprise, Mei Xiang Yak Cheese, does something similar with yak milk, though on a smaller scale.

Profits from both ventures are plowed into Ventures in Development, their Hong Kong-registered nonprofit organization, from which they draw salaries. The money then goes toward social programs and community research. This year, for instance, nomads too poor to own a yak can rent one and sell its fiber to Shokay; they'll also receive training on how to comb out only the yak's soft down fiber, which is the good stuff. In addition, Shokay has set up a knitting cooperative aimed at giving women, in particular, more income opportunities.

Eventually, Ms. So and Ms. Chyau plan for their umbrella organization, Ventures in Development, to serve mainly as support for other social entrepreneurs in the region, through skills, knowledge or funding.

'There are so many entrepreneurs in the region,' says Ms. So. 'People really need to challenge themselves and rethink philanthropy. It's a matter of combining elements: really understanding a social problem, finding a social need, and thinking of innovative and sustainable ways to do it.'

谁说慈善事业和企业利润是鱼和熊掌的关系，不可兼得？

在与西藏交界的青海省，一位香港姑娘和一位台湾姑娘正通过一个名为Shokay的新兴社会企业帮助数千名牦牛牧人改善生活。该公司从牧人手中购买柔软的牦牛纤维，然后制成上等的“牦牛开司米”毛毯和毛衣，出售给富裕的城里人。

你该如何增加中国西部地区牧民的收入？这些人居住的地方可能距离最近的公路也有七个小时车程，更不要说去集市了。第一步：考察他们的财产中还有哪些未被挖掘的潜在价值。

28岁的香港姑娘苏芷君(Marie So)和26岁的台湾姑娘Carol Chyau正是这样做的。去年当她们还在哈佛大学攻读国际发展的研究生时，两人抽出六周的时间进行了一次旅行。她们的目标是要发现一个社会问题，然后用一种可获利、可持续的方法解决这个问题。

最后两人走访了西藏高原上的贫困牧民。她们注意到牧民们冬天会把牦牛聚集在棚屋附近，而夏天则会迁移到大山深处去，在那里放牧牦牛。两人想，为什么不找个方法来从这些动物身上获得更多的价值呢？

现在，她们创立的盈利性社会企业Shokay（www.shokay.com）从青海省3,000多位牧民那里收购牦牛纤维，然后织成围巾、毛毯和披肩，并在香港、台北和美国的高端商店中出售。她们以类似手法经营的另外一家企业──美香奶酪(Mei Xiang Yak Cheese)则利用了牦牛奶，只是规模要小一些。

这两家企业的利润最后都归到两人在香港注册的非盈利组织──Ventures in Development，她们都从这个组织拿工资。然后这些钱会被用于社会发展项目和社区研究。比如，从今年开始，买不起牦牛的牧民可以租一头，然后把牦牛纤维卖给Shokay；她们还会对牧民进行培训，教他们如何只把牦牛最柔软的纤维梳理出来。不仅如此，Shokay还成立了一个编织合作社，旨在向人们，尤其是妇女提供更多的收入来源。

苏芷君和Carol Chyau计划最终将Ventures in Development发展成为主要在技能、知识和资金方面为该地区其他社会企业提供支持的机构。

苏芷君说，该地区有那么多的企业家，人们确实需要挑战自我，重新思考慈善事业的根本。她认为，这需要将各方面的因素综合起来：深刻理解一个社会问题，发现一种社会需求，并找到一个创新的、可持续的方法去满足这一需求。

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