The AVPN is an exciting new initiative to grow and develop the venture philanthropy movement across the Asia Pacific region. Modelled on our sister network in Europe, we aim to provide services to our members.
We are now building a coalition of individuals and organisations who would like to join us in making the AVPN is a vibrant philanthropy community. We plan to launch the Network in 2010 with the opening of our secretariat office in the region.
Venture philanthropy funds are springing up all across Asia. We know of VP funds in India, Greater China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Australia. If you represent a VP fund or are interested in starting one, please contact us.
Our vision for Asia is a philanthropy landscape that responds to the resource needs of high-potential social purpose organisations in their ambitions for innovation, development and growth. A landscape where businesses (in particular the private equity community), grantmakers, government funders and business schools collaborate to help SPOs create maximum social value.
The mission of the Asia Pacific Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) is to encourage and facilitate the development of venture philanthropy (VP) and social enterprise across the Asia Pacific region.
Our goal is to create a network of organisations practicing and supporting venture philanthropy in the Asia Pacific region, that supports its members through peer learning and promotes venture philanthropy to the wider community, including private equity firms, hedge funds, grantmaking foundations, universities, family offices and government-related institutions. Over time we intend that venture philanthropy to be a well-established and respected segment of the philanthropy industry.
"Venture philanthropy and social entrepreneurship will gradually come to dominate philanthropy in this century" 1
1Joel Fleishman
Social Entrepreneurship: Present and Strategic Perspectives, Taipei, July 2010
This Symposium was held on 2 and 3 July in Taipei, Taiwan. It was organised by the Taiwan Social Enterprise Innovation and Entrepreneurship Society and Fu-Jen Catholic University. AVPN’s Rob John gave the opening keynote presentation on ‘Trends and Development of Social Venture Capital’
Launch of the China Foundation Center, Beijing, 8th July 2010
This milestone event for the private and public foundation community in China marks a new era for the development of independent grantmaking in China. By the end of 2009 the number of registered private foundations established over the previous 5 years totalled 846, nearly matching the 991 public foundations that had taken 30 years to develop. Chinese private foundations are an emerging sector within modern Chinese philanthropy. The China Foundation Center seeks to utilise digital technology to provide data on foundation activity in China and encourage foundations to make better grants, provide grant seekers with better ways to seek funds and empower philanthropists to make smarter decisions.
The launch event in Beijing focused on the need for greater transparency in philanthropy. Foreign guests included representatives from the Ford Foundation, the Hauser Cenere at Harvard University, the US Foundation Center and AVPN.
See www.foundationcenter.org.cn
New sponsor supports AVPN
During April AVPN welcomed Adams Street Partners as a new sponsor. Adams Street Partners is a highly respected private equity fund of funds, with an investment history stretching back to 1972.
www.adamsstreetpartners.com
Seven Week Road Show
Doug Miller and Rob John embarked on a 7 week road show during April-June to promote AVPN and brief potential members ahead of the organisation's launch in 2010. During tour Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai were visited.
