My six-week Leadership in Action project this summer will take place with The Zubin Foundation in Hong Kong, which focuses on improving the lives of low-income ethnic minorities in Hong Kong through both direct and indirect means of providing assistance.
The Zubin Foundation was founded in 2009 by Shalini Mahtani and Ravi Gidumal to honor their son Zubin. Their vision is to improve the lives of Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities by reducing suffering and providing opportunities. They do through two main streams of driving systemic change by collaborating with the government, and through direct outreach to the community. The core values of the organization are integrity, caring, and collaboration.
Approximately 4.1% of Hong Kong’s population are ethnic minorities. The main problem that I have currently identified is the lack of opportunities that are given to low-income ethnic minorities living in Hong Kong. My plan is to extend the currently implemented projects at The Zubin Foundation, such as the existing youth support to a larger group of people, so that more ethnic minorities have equal access to opportunities and potential. This initiative largely looked at integrating the ethnic minority youths into the greater Hong Kong community, and creating new opportunities. My goal was to provide support to the team regarding the fundraiser, in order to cultivate a cohesive and put-together touch. The project focused on Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals: Quality Education. This goal is to ensure an inclusive environment for the youths, and to provide equal opportunities for all individuals.
Some specific outcomes were to ensure a smooth organization of the collaborative event with Barclays for a capacity-building event. To create materials that are necessary in hosting a successful fundraising event to raise funds for the upcoming year of events helping ethnic minority youths, families, children and elderly. To be actively involved in different programs of work, such as Chai Gatherings for women and elderly. To provide career mentoring programs and capacity events for youths who face challenges in employment.
My personal objective is to become a leader who is self-aware, and also highly aware of the surrounding environment, as well as leading with purpose and creating a lasting impact in the community. To achieve this, I have come up with three SMART goals.
- Having a learning mindset to search for new solutions and continuously open to navigating challenges.
- Working with a diverse group of people (ethnic minority youths and families) and collaboratively carrying out the project while serving a purpose.
- Being able to implement a sustainable project that would leave a lasting impact in the ethnic minority community.
My leadership skills will be developed further in this opportunity by having the chance to work with different stakeholders in the process, such as ethnic minority families, the organization colleagues and staff, as well as connecting the families to the services they need. I will be able to provide some input to projects that are being run in the organization. Most importantly, I will be working for a target group that resonates very closely to me and my research from the previous year, hence I will be able to lead with a purpose to make ethnic minorities lives in Hong Kong more at home.