Catch Two Hares!
A Vision Workshop & Unique Social Venture ‘Work Together’ Contest
Special awards ceremony at Seoul Women’s Plaza on April 19
Each of the ten teams participating in the social venture idea Work Together contest that started last June presented their achievements in mid-April. The winner was decided based on the slogan “Catch Two Hares: Work and Donation.”
The contest is a “social venture incubating project”: the idea chosen as the most socially innovative will receive KRW 100 million (USD81000) over 8 months, mentoring from specialists and office space. G-Market and the Work Together Foundation co-hosted the event with sponsorship from the Ministry of Labor. This new type of contest gained attention since it generates job experience and charitable donations.
The evaluation criterion was “socialization of profits”; how much do the suggested activities create social value, as opposed to economic profit. The ten teams developed the following activities:
Team Name | Activities |
Gibu* &TAKE ‘Gibu’ is Korean for ‘donation’. It also sounds similar to the English ‘give’. | Young people who completed a specialized trading course helped SMEs nationwide sell samples and export three environmentally friendly items. Their total earnings were donated to environmental foundations. |
Rainbow Bridge | Promoted and sold cookies made by social enterprises to help support children living and eating clay cookies in the Republic of Haiti. |
Organization for People Holding on to Korean Traditions | Young designers and old women who made good crafts created art crafts using recycled material and donated the earnings for the re-education of juveniles and seniors. |
Hello 79! | Encouraged the disabled to participate in baking training. Products were forwarded on consignment, and the earnings and materials were donated to baking clubs. |
Touch4Good | Processed waste placards and billboards in an eco-friendly way to manufacture bags and accessories. Generated earnings went to neighbors affected by environmental disasters. |
Gomasi_VIA | In response to the bipolarization of the art market, they held exhibitions to lower the entry barrier for new artists. |
Culture Galaxy Express | Organized a camp where college students interested in becoming cultural planners could gain relevant experience. They organized and executed a low-income children’s study donation festival. |
20 Happy Soldiers | Operated 11 indoor and outdoor programs for soldiers to combat psychological and mental troubles in the army. Participants were satisfied with the high quality of the programs. |
Saenggeul Saenggeul* *Korean for ‘smiling’ | Housewives formed story-telling teams, e.g. doing a doll play, and toured institutes helping low-income children and children’s wards in hospitals. The shows proved so popular that they are being continuously invited to perform. |
Swaraj | Planned and executed an eco-learning program for agricultural villages and unemployed young people. On three occasions they helped farm villages receive revitalization and youth receive emotional healing through ecological experiences. |
[Vision Workshop] Gathering Time
A vision workshop and social get together was held for the ten teams from all over the country on April 18, the day before the presentations and awards. In the afternoon, Louis J. KIM, the CEO of the social venture Orgdot, and GO Young, a representative for the Social Consulting Group (SCG), gave lectures on how to create socially beneficial jobs.
Achievement presentations at 11 AM on the 19th
The participants gathered at the venue at 10 AM to prepare their exhibitions and presentations. Until 4 PM, each team gave 20-minute presentations about their outcomes over and over again to judges. They were judged on their presentation skills, how persuasively they pitched social activities and the end result of their 8-month project.
The business types and social value created constituted a wide spectrum: welfare, education, environmental protection, cultural promotion, etc. During the break, Saenggeul Saenggeul gave a well received story-telling performance.
Each presentation was evaluated following very strict guidelines. The judges had fierce debates about the best team since their scores were so close. Finally, they opted to award two additional ‘Innovation’ prizes. These new KRW 1 million (USD810) prizes went to the Organization for People Holding on to Korean Tradition and Gibu & Take. Also, Culture Galaxy Express was awarded a special Vision prize for creating an exceptional collage to express their team’s goals.
Now came the eagerly awaited first prize announcement. The winner would receive an official commendation from the Minister of Labor, a KRW 5 million (USD4050) matching grant, and a 1 million won (USD810) incentive. All the participants held their breath.
“Touch4Good! Congratulations!”
Touch4Good (www.touch4good.com) created “up-cycling”, going beyond simple recycling by making fashionable bags from old placards. This eco-friendly social venture donates its earnings to children suffering from atopic dermatitis. Its goal is to ‘successfully close down its business’ by disposing of all the wasteful placards. It also manufactures alternative placards to make a placard-free world and conducts public awareness campaigns to help consumers reflect on their indifference to the environment. They received the highest marks in the categories of business model organization, meaningful donation, business outlook, and sustainability.
The social venture idea contest closed with Work Together and the team members congratulating and encouraging each other. Although the first prize went to only one team, all the teams were winners for having worked hard to benefit society.
Translated by CHOI Eun-Young
Edited by David Kendall & Marie LEE