HONG KONG, Nov. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "2020/21 Fellowship and Honorary Awards Presentation Ceremony and Social Caring Pledge Awards Presentation Ceremony" organized by the Social Enterprise Research Academy (SERA) has been successfully held yesterday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. This year, Social Enterprise Research Academy (SERA) conferred its fellowship designation to 55 leaders from various industries in recognition of their contributions to society and in their professional fields. The vision of "Fellowship Qualification Assessment Scheme" is to acknowledge leaders as respective industry role models, leading more organizations to realize the importance of corporate social responsibility.
So Wa Wai BBS MH thanked Social Enterprise Research Academy (SERA) for the Senior Fellowship recognition. He is a retired athlete who has competed in the Paralympic Games on five occasions, winning 12 medals and gained the nickname “Wonder Boy”, and he said that as an athlete, he was proud of winning honor for Hong Kong.
The ceremony was attended by elites from all walks of life, virtually and in person. It was a great honor to have invited the following International Guests of Honor:
SERA has also invited the following as the Guests of Honor in Hong Kong:
Mr. Gustavo Berlanga, a member of the UN Global Compact and Honorary President of Social Enterprise Research Academy(SERA), gave a welcome speech via video, which kicked off the ceremony. In his speech, he congratulated all outstanding individuals who were awarded the title of Fellowship and praised their major contributions in fulfilling social corporate responsibilities. He hopes that leaders from all walks of life will continue to promote the six major areas of the "Social Caring Pledge Framework" through the international platform of Social Enterprise Research Academy (SERA) to practice the spirit of social caring.
In his speech, Dr. Bernard Chan said: "There is more and more focus on the ESG assessment. Nowadays, sustainability ought to be a regular factor of consideration for decision makers, policy makers and businessmen alike. By tracking and auditing the environment, social, governance, and the ESG performance, the company can identify specific areas to tackle and to improve the equivalency and the stakeholders relation. My sincere thanks to Social Enterprise Research Academy (SERA) in putting all initiatives and in developing the sustainability initiatives. I look forward to working with you all to pursue different sustainable development goals."
In his speech, Dr. David Chung said: "We are delighted to see that I&T also brings a big impact on traditional industries and more companies and organisations are adopting I&T solutions into their daily operation. As the Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology and my previous role at Cyberport, I have had lots of chances to meet with many social innovators from different industries backgrounds. They all share the same empathy for the underprivileged and apply their expertise to drive change for social good."
Sir Paul Polman, the former CEO of Unilever Group, was awarded the title of Honorary Fellow. Sir Paul Polman pointed out that the pandemic once again reminded companies of the value of cooperation: "Enterprises need to make systematic changes to ensure that they can achieve sustainable development goals, especially to address climate change and social inequality." Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take puts forward the concept of "Net Positive", which is aimed at assisting business leaders to carry out thorough corporate transformation. "I am happy to see the momentum of change in many industries. Now it is time for us to implement 'Net Positive Action'. I hope all the leaders here can walk with us."
The world's first Hong Kong female explorer who has traveled across the three poles and the founder of the Polar Museum Foundation, Dr. Rebecca Lee who received the SERA Honorary Fellowship said, "After twenty-six years of hard work, the 'Hong Kong Jockey Club Climate Change Pavilion' was finally established on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2013 and exhibited the precious data, objects, videos and photos collected in the Antarctic, Arctic, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and Mount Everest snowy areas, which I hope could promote the awareness of climate change and environmental protection information to the public." Dr. Lee also pointed out that the earth's ecological environment is deteriorating. Especially since the outbreak of the global epidemic, humans have used a large number of disposable masks and plastic take-out boxes, which will cause greater pollution to the environment. We call on the public not to forget to protect the environment when fighting the epidemic.
So Wa Wai BBS MH, a retired athlete who has competed in the Paralympic Games on five occasions, winning 12 medals and gained the nickname "Wonder Boy", thanked Social Enterprise Research Academy (SERA) for the Senior Fellowship recognition and said that as an athlete, he was proud of winning honor for Hong Kong. The audience loved the movie "Mama's Wonder Boy" which is adapted from the true story of himself and his mother and that Mr. So said the movie gave him a chance to relive his career as an athlete over the past two decades, featuring all the pains and joys, but they all became fond memories.
He said: "I hope my own experience can encourage and touch Hong Kong people and bring you more positive energy!"
It coincided with this year that the Hong Kong team achieved good results in the Tokyo Olympics, which invigorated the city and set off a sports boom. Mr. So said that he was also very excited. He encouraged Hong Kong athletes to continue to show their sportsmanship and not to give up lightly.
He hoped that the people of Hong Kong would continue to support the Hong Kong athletes and look forward to the Hong Kong team's success.
In addition, the "Social Caring Pledge Award Ceremony" was also held on the same day. Winners are invited to attend the award ceremony both physically and online, and accept the award under the witness of overseas and local officiating guests and board members, and build confidence among the public and industry stakeholders. The "Social Caring Pledge Awards Scheme" entered its 12th edition this year and expanded to Asia, including Singapore, the United Kingdom, India, Cambodia and other countries, to further promote the spirit of social caring.
The partial list of outstanding awardees of Social Caring Pledge Scheme are the following:
In order to recognize the outstanding performance and contribution of leaders and enterprises from all walks of life in Asia to the six categories of the "Social Caring Pledge Framework", a total of 6 "Asian Social Caring Leadership Awards" and 2 Winners of the "Asian Social Caring Female Leadership Award" and 1 "Outstanding Social Caring Young Leadership Award"; and a total of 17 companies from various industries were selected in the organization category and were awarded the " Outstanding Social Caring Organization Award" and 11 were awarded the "Outstanding Social Caring SME Award"; 2 special themed awards were also awarded the ESG Investment Excellence Award and 2 "Social Caring Award for Green Excellence".
About SERA
Social Enterprise Research Academy (SERA) established in 2014. With the mission statement of "Harness the Market to Bring Social Caring", SERA aims to create a cross-sectorial platform with business, academia, social and political sectors to foster communications and to gather sustainability elites from various industries into one unparalleled high-value networking platform that foster social responsibility and sustainable development in Asian communities. Social Enterprise Research Academy(SERA) has united more than 10,000 business leaders and organizations via hosting international summits with world-class speakers and our presence is extending to 13 cities.
SERA is dedicated to the continual social responsibility, development, promotion and application of Social Caring Pledge Framework and the 6 principles, to broaden the international perspective of industry leaders and give back to our society. (www.seraasia.org)
About SERA Fellowship Qualification Assessment Scheme
Through conferring the honorary titles of Social Enterprise Research Academy Fellowship based on a series of stringent assessments, we acknowledge influential leaders who made outstanding environmental, social and economic contributions to the society. Moreover, we encourage the C-level of corporations to promote corporate social responsibility and the spirit of sustainability via enhancing the social awareness of cross-disciplinary professionals, so as to advocate the professionalism and loyalty of Asia and enhance our global competitiveness.
About the Social Caring Pledge Awards (SCP Awards) Scheme
The Social Caring Pledge Awards (SCP Awards) Scheme honors business leaders and organizations who have shown exemplary performance and persistence in developing successful businesses, whilst not neglecting the social responsibilities that come with leadership, promoting social caring spirits in accordance to Social Enterprise Research Academy's Social Caring Pledge, which promotes 6 core principles in UN Global Compact.
The year of 2021 marks the 12th edition of the SCP Awards Scheme and we are extending our influence in Asia to bring social caring awareness to another level.
About the Executive Director of SERA, Ms. Bonnie Liao
Ms. Bonnie Liao currently serves as different community positions including Executive Director of Federation of Hong Kong Guangdong Community Organizations, VP of The Chinese University of Hong Kong MBA Alumni Association and VP of Miss Entrepreneurs Club. Ms. Liao has been invited to be award presenter and guest speaker for various events, such as "South China Media Group: Corporate Social Responsibility Awards 2019", "Innovation Development and Talent Demand in Green Finance Seminar" organized by CityU Research Centre for Sustainable Hong Kong and radio shows. At earlier times, she represented to compete for "Hult Prize". In 2019, she was appointed as SC.Net of Community Investment & Inclusion Fund of Labor and Welfare Bureau.
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