September 2012 Edition

Welcome to the second AVPNews!The drive to increase philanthropic and social investment in Asia continues with major new events bringing together the growing community of funders and other resource providers.In Singapore there was the first Philanthropy in Asia Summit (invite only – 190 people) and the Impact Forum 2012 (400 people). AVPN was a speaker and marketing partner at both conferences. LGT Venture Philanthropy also celebrated its 5th anniversary with a series of five webinars to reach a regional and global audience.In this edition of AVPNews, learn about what Ruth Jones and Shaks Ghosh, the lead speakers at the AVPN Road Show 2012, think about venture philanthropy. Also read about Shell Foundation’s “enterprise based” approach to providing sustainable and scalable solutions to tackle underdevelopment in India. AVPN’s new membership services manager, Stacey Choe, attended the China Foundation Centre’s annual conference in August and writes about her impressions.Coming up in October is the AVPN Road Show 2012. If you haven’t already booked your place at one of the seminars (followed by a networking reception) in Mumbai, Singapore, Hong Kong or Tokyo then visit our events pages to register. The international speakers from the Private Equity Foundation in London and Social Venture Partners in Seattle will be joined by leading local speakers in the panel debates.Save the date now for 9 and 10 May next year when AVPN will hold its first annual conference in Singapore bringing together the diverse sectors that comprise the venture philanthropy and social investment eco-system in Asia. The theme is “Creating Social Impact: blending philanthropic and investment capital”. We are developing the detailed programme and so send us your thoughts on the key issues to be addressed.Many thanks to our major grant supporters, sponsors, partners and members for providing AVPN with funding and pro bono services on an on-going basis. We plan to expand our activities after exceeding our initial membership targets. Your active engagement will allow us to build a vibrant and high impact venture philanthropy community across Asia.Simon Chadwick, CEO