VA
Insights

Dear VA family, our partners and friends:

The most challenging time will be over soon. No one will doubt that the Winter of 2022 will be the shortest winter ever, and that Shanghai will never miss another Spring. Once we are through with the last wave of bitter cold, we will be able to embrace warmth and freedom again.

In 2022, Venture Avenue continued to embrace our value of freedom and independence as a think tank. Be persistent in doing the right thing, and with the right people – that freedom earned us a piece of ease even in adversity. Saying only what we truly believe and never be easy to compromise, makes our value irreplaceable.

In China’s public foundation space, Venture Avenue completed the second strategic planning for China Population Welfare Foundation (CPWF). Following China Red Cross Foundation, CPWF became the second national public foundation to continue partnering with VA, and to extend their planning cycle from 5 to 10 years. VA were able to independently propose the concepts of “vulnerable population segments” and “ecological organization”, based on our unique understanding of the 3^rd sector in China and of CPWF. Once those ideas come into force, their impact will be beyond 10 years.

In 2022, VA entered the space of vocational education for migrant youth. As coronavirus pandemic shocked the society and economy, millions of vulnerable youth are leaving large cities, and consequently giving up their dreams of success. Vocational education can certainly help reboot their confidence. VA’s value in the study was not only reflected in defining who should be the real beneficiary of vocational education, but also in cascading down to the specifics of implementing a new operation model. Our foundation partner was therefore able to achieve two breakthroughs: to break through the traditional definition of vulnerable group, and expand their beneficiary to all youth who crave for success however lack of opportunities. Secondly, the programme will have opportunity to transform itself from an “operator” to a “platform” and support like-minded peers. In the next 5 years, total beneficiary of the platform is expected to increase by at least 30 times comparing to the original model.

Venture Avenue’s project of the year goes to a landscaping study on China foundations tackling climate change. Invited by a renowned European family philanthropy, VA interviewed with 20 representative foundations to understand their strategies in tackling climate change in China. In the end, VA creatively clustered China foundations into four strategic roles: platforms, hubs, explorers and aspirants. By forming mission-driven and task-aligned alliances, we hope to see new forces joining in, and the ecosystem being more action-oriented. In full confidence, VA and the hosting foundation expect action on climate change to be a new lever of growth for China foundations. 

In 2022, VA continued embracing the belief that teal organization represents a brighter future. Our biggest breakthrough internally this year was the leadership transition: VA’s driver group successfully met team’s expectations, contributing up to 80% of VA’s business.

In VA, “older colleagues” have turned into our managing partners, business leaders, and professional coaches, while “newer colleagues” are quickly thriving. They are immersed in VA’s unique culture through weekly “red flower nomination”, and absorbing knowledge in the bi-weekly “sharing sessions”. With our young people driving proactively, VA can sail further. 

Finally, I want to say thank you to Mercedes Benz, Bayer and Discovery – with your continuous trust and partnership, we never feel lonely in this journey. 

Dear VA family, partners, and friends, in adversity or good times, continuing to do the right thing and to be with the right people will always put us at ease.

Year 2023 shall be a beautiful year. 

Robin