7-Year Programme Executive Report
Programme Information
The Operation Santa Claus/UBS NGO Leadership Programme (NGOLP) has been jointly organized and run by Operation Santa Claus (OSC), UBS and the Department of Social Work of the Chinese University of Hong Kong since 2015. Wofoo Foundation Limited joined as Strategic Partner in 2021.
At NGOLP, participants from small and medium-sized NGOs, social enterprises, charitable foundations, and the private and public sector gain a holistic understanding of how sustainable contributions can drive social good through multidisciplinary trainings and mentorship. The 9-month Programme creates an optimal environment for the participants to develop professional network and management skills, and to gain new perspectives on evolving community initiatives.
Key Components
Training
The Programme comprises 3 training modules conducted by trainers with diverse backgrounds that include social work scholars from CUHK, UBS professionals of organizational management, SCMP media experts and alumni with rich experience in community work. Since 2020, the training has adopted a hybrid model which allows both face-to-face interaction and flexibility when connecting with overseas business and social leaders.
Click here to learn more about the training structure.
Mentoring
The mentorship scheme aims to consolidate learning with daily leadership practice, allowing participants to discuss matters that concern them with their CUHK and UBS mentors. Starting from 2019, skill-based mentors have helped provide individual consultation on an ad-hoc basis. In 2021, six alumni of the Programme served as alumni mentors to inspire the cohort with their NGO expertise.
Check out our 2021 mentors here.
Proposal-writing and Final Pitching
All participants are required to create social projects on behalf of their agencies and pitch them to the adjudicating committee at the end of the learning journey. The committee awards winning projects among each cohort with a project implementation prize. Three to four other projects are recognized as outstanding projects. Since 2020, the Best Performance Award, co-selected by the adjudicating committee, trainers and peers, recognizes the one who has given the best pitching performance.
More about Project Pitching.
Mentoring
The mentorship scheme aims to consolidate learning with daily leadership practice, allowing participants to discuss matters that concern them with their CUHK and UBS mentors. Starting from 2019, skill-based mentors help provide individual consultation on an ad-hoc basis. In 2021, six alumni of the Programme serve as alumni mentors to inspire the cohort with their NGO expertise.
Check out our 2021 mentors here.
Proposal Writing and Final Pitching
All participants are required to create social projects on behalf of their agencies and pitch them to the adjudicating committee at the end of the learning journey. The committee awards winning projects among each cohort with a project implementation prize. 3-4 other projects are recognized as outstanding projects. Since 2020, the Best Performance Award, co-selected by the adjudicating committee, trainers and the peers, recognizes one with the best pitching performance.
More about Project Pitching.
Programme Impact
Since 2015, the NGOLP has trained 186 participants from 144 organizations, having a direct and indirect influence on about 5.5 million beneficiaries (Calculated based on the frequency of contact as reported by agency annual reports, as of 2020).
Upon completion of the Programme, 9 Champion projects have taken home HK$5.6 million in seed funding in total over the past years.The winning projects are listed here.
To study the effectiveness of the Programme and formulate better strategy, regular evaluations have been conducted through surveys of organizational capabilities, in-depth interviews and focus groups.
In 2018, a four-year impact evaluation (2015-2018) was done. The participants reported that their levels of perceived organizational capability were significantly higher than they had been before. New organizations had been established and additional private funding had been secured for projects. New cross sectoral partnerships were also documented, including 5 collaborative research projects among CUHK and participating NGOs.
In 2020, the Programme adapted to the impact of the Pandemic and moved most of the training sessions online. However, the Annual Evaluation report showed that this new arrangement has had no significant negative impact on the learning experience of the participants.
In 2021, as proven by the Annual Evaluation results, the new initiative regarding alumni mentorship was considered to be a meaningful experience both for the participants who treasured the NGO expertise, and for the alumni who were able to expand their community network.
Alumni Engagement
The NGOLP places a strong emphasis on strengthening the alumni network. Additional alumni training and networking sessions have been organized to provide continuous leadership development opportunities and to foster collaboration in the field. In addition, over 15 alumni have been recruited to serve as mentors and trainers to instil their knowledge and experience into the Programme.
Flagship Events
In addition to the regular training programme, several flagship events have been held during the past years. Click below to learn more:
1. Industry Forum – NGO Leadership: Innovation & Social Impact (4th December, 2018)
2. NGOLP Innovation Award Challenge (June – July, 2021)
3. Website Development and the E-learning Package (To be launched)
The NGOLP website has been developed to document programme-related information, including important events, media and alumni updates. The E-learning package, jointly prepared by CUHK Social Work scholars, the Corporate Communications Team of UBS and NGOLP alumni, will soon be launched to further enrich the website. These video resources will be made freely accessible to enhance the organizational capacity of NGOs and other social agencies in Hong Kong.
Special Acknowledgements
We wish to express our sincerest gratitude to the following partners who have contributed much to the success of the 7-year programme:
The UBS team, including Mrs. Amy Lo, Mr. Rob Stewart, Ms. Kumiko Hori and Ms. Sindy Leung, for investing key resources and steering the Programme to achieve its vision;
Mr. Hugh Chiverton from RTHK and Mr. Lawrence Wong from OSC, for their unfailing support and professional input;
Dr. Joseph Lee of the Wofoo Foundation, for providng his insights and endeavouring to foster programme development;
Mrs. Rachel Cartland, Ms. Michelle Chow, Ms. Cora Chu, Mr. Bernard Suen, Mr. Bryan Curtis and other UBS, CUHK and SCMP trainers and mentors for their genuine enlightenments;
And last but not least, the CUHK team, including Prof. Joyce Ma, Dr. Mooly Wong and Mrs. Monica Yau for their dedicated commitment to delivering the best learning and networking experience for social good.
