What a difference 12 months make! At this time last year we had just launched AVPN and recruited our first five members. Thanks to the early engagement of leaders and role models across Asia we now have 120 members from 19 countries and an active and growing group of followers.
To provide focused networking and share learning within and into Asia we have launched AVPN’s first annual conference that will be in Singapore on May 9 and 10, 2013. AVPN members can sign up now for their two free tickets and for additional discounted tickets. The conference has limited places and so register soon. We will open for general registration from January 17.
We had a busy last three months of 2012. The AVPN Road Show “Venture Philanthropy in Practice” in October visited Mumbai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. We hosted an Asian panel for the first time at the EVPA Annual Conference in Dublin in November and started a pilot version of our Investment Showcase. You can read more about these activities in this issue of AVPNews.
We also feature AVPN member Dasra’s in depth sector research on sanitation conditions in India. Other rapidly developing Asian countries face similar problems and this research framework and its review of effective interventions is thought provoking. For Dasra the research is a call to action as they complete a Giving Circle to support, VP style, one of the short-listed organisations that will make a difference.
Many of our members are familiar with Doug Miller, AVPN’s current and EVPA’s previous founder chairman. In this issue we have asked Doug to talk about his personal journey into venture philanthropy and the motivating factors behind his commitment to this cause.
We also highlight Trustlaw Connect, one of our member’s services that efficiently matches pro-bono lawyers with the legal needs of social purpose organisations. AVPN members and the social organisations they support could potentially register for free legal advice via this service.
Lastly, we have a new regular feature about an EVPA member that will help our followers learn more about the VP landscape beyond Asia.
We would like to welcome Mr. Hiroshi Nonomiya and Mr. Francis Ngai as new trustees on the board of AVPN. Hiroshi Nonomiya is an internationally experienced private equity investment professional based in Tokyo and a founder of Social Investment Partners, a new venture philanthropy organisation being launched in Japan. Francis Ngai is the Founder and CEO of Social Ventures Hong Kong and a regional leader promoting social enterprise and social entrepreneurship.
We look forward to 2013 and thank everyone who has supported our growth so far.
Simon
