Five years ago, Holly Chang sold everything she owned, from her house in Kentucky to the car in her driveway, and moved to Beijing to study Mandarin. Chang holds a dual bachelor degree in Civil Engineering and Psychology from the University of Kentucky, as well as an MBA from Bellarmine University, specializing in the Chinese market. In 2007, she founded the non-profit organization Golden Bridges, a Beijing-based service provider that creates peace-building missions between the US and China. Recently, Golden Bridges supported a grassroots youth NGO in mobilizing a delegation of 40 young people to attend the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, marking the first time in history that China’s youth had major representation at a UN event. As founder and CEO of Golden Bridges, Chang spoke with students from Beijing BISS International School about the importance of social value, the challenge of running your own business and the difficulties of being a social entrepreneur.
Ghye Brown, 11, Australia
Why did you decide to create this organization?
I wanted to do something meaningful and thought that I had the skills to do it. In order to do what I’ve done, you have to forget that you should be scared. A lot of people wait until they retire or until they have a lot of money before they do something like this, but I didn’t want to wait.
Adonai Hailekiros, 10, Ethiopia
Did you work for other organizations before?
I used to work as an engineer for UPS. My job at UPS allowed me to do all kinds of things. For instance, I was in charge of a whole building. Sometimes I would be unclogging the toilets, and other times I would be programming things into a computer.
Jiyoung Han, 10, South Korea
Was it difficult starting your own organization?
When I came to China, I came on my own, I didn’t speak the language and I didn’t have a single contact. So when I first came, I spent over a year helping people for free. Sometimes I would pay for supplies out of my own pocket. I had to do a lot of favors for a lot of people before they came back to me, asking to hire me.
Haena Lee, 11, South Korea
How do you help people?
I support organizations that have [a certain]expertise or understand the communities that they serve. I help build bridges between these types of organizations and companies or foundations that are looking for community projects to support. If they need funding, I help them find funding. There are a lot of groups out there that have a lot of money, and they want to support these communities.
Monica Lai, 10, Australia
How do you choose which charities to support?
It’s not easy. Most charities are not legally registered and when they are not registered, there is no supervision of their finances. If people give them money, I don’t know where it goes. The only thing you can do is build a long-term relationship with them and the people in the community that they support.
Haena Lee, 11, South Korea
How long did it take you to start?
I don’t want to give you a time frame, because if you have an idea then you should just start. It’s not going to be perfect when you start it, but you learn by doing, not by talking. It took me a long time to get to where I am now, but it was because I went ahead and started, even though I didn’t have everything I needed.
Denise Butler, 11, Jamaica
How much research did you do before you started your work?
Unfortunately, not much. I do research every day because it’s a learning process.
Monica Lai, 10, Australia
How do you create a slogan that everyone likes?
My logo is two words put together: two people, or ren, that are connected. It also looks like a golden bridge. As a charity, I’m registered in San Francisco, where the Golden Gate Bridge is. And the slogan, "Diverse culture, shared humanity," helps explain the need for bridges in my work and I thought it was something that everybody could agree with.
Adonai Hailekiros, 10, Ethiopia
Was it worth it to start your organization?
I absolutely think it was worth it. The work I do is very difficult. However, I’m very lucky to have a lot of people that support me. I believe that whatever value we create for the world, whether it’s market value or social value, we get that in return.
Haena Lee, 11, South Korea
Is being a social entrepreneur a difficult job?
It’s definitely not easy. When you go to another organization that someone else started, you don’t have to worry about everything. As an entrepreneur, you’re responsible for everything; you take on all of that risk by yourself. I don’t sleep or rest, and I only took one day off this year.
Soo Bin Lee, 11, South Korea
How did your company become successful?
I think the jury is still out; I’m not sure if we’re considered successful yet. I think that success really depends on how long you’re willing to wait and how hard you’re willing to work for it.
