Bonnie Chiu
At 16, Hong Kong–born Bonnie Chiu first discovered the power of social entrepreneurship. As CEO of her JA student company, she not only led her team to an impressive 200% profit, but subsequently donated 40% of those profits to the youth-serving organization, Make a Wish Foundation.
““I was 16 years old when I joined the JA Company Program in Hong Kong. We made over 200% profit on our investment and we gave about 40% of those earnings to Make A Wish Foundation. We won the JA Hong Kong Corporate Social Responsibility award, which, to me, was the most important award to win. I think even then there was a desire deep inside of me to make some difference in society.””
Four years later, at age 20, Bonnie successfully petitioned to overturn the death-penalty conviction of a domestic-abuse survivor, organized a World Anti-Drugs Day event, and launched a global nonprofit for women and girls called Lensational. And she was just getting started.
By the time she was 25, Bonnie had been named to the Forbes “30 Under 30” Social Entrepreneurship list, risen to managing director of London-based The Social Investment Consultancy, which tracks and magnifies the SROI (social return on investment) of companies, and secured a regular column in Forbes to advocate for women and girls, all while continuing to manage her growing nonprofit. Three years later, in response to the global pandemic throughout 2020, Bonnie launched “Women & COVID-19,” a contest to give voice to the lives of girls and women during lockdowns. Through Lensational, the global movement Bonnie founded eight years earlier, underrepresented women use photography, digital storytelling, and video production to tell their own stories, advocate for the issues they face, and earn a profit by selling their work. This year’s contest resulted in 11 shortlisted projects receiving a cash prize, one-on-one mentorship, and a global platform for their stories. See more at lensational.org.
Bonnie is also the winner of the Humanitarian Grand Challenge, Facebook Social Entrepreneurship Award, and Hivos Social Innovation Award. She was featured as the Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goal 5 in the Lavazza Calendar, has been interviewed by dozens of global publications, and has been invited to speak about social entrepreneurship in more than 20 countries.
““I really think that, without the JA experience, I wouldn’t be running my own social enterprise company today.””