Page 20 - Forbes - Asia (December 2019 - January 2020)

A WORLD

OF WORTHY

CAUSES

Others share his view. “Asian philanthropists, particular-
ly those in China, are still waiting, with great anticipation, Here are seven examples of
to see what Jack Ma will do with his philanthropy. He has an causes funded by the Jack
extraordinary opportunity to be a leader and role model in
the field,” says Laurence Lien, CEO of the Singapore-based Ma Foundation. Only one,
Asia Philanthropy Circle, in emailed comments. women’s soccer in China, is
Ma says he also hopes to do more to support women’s not wholly funded by the
causes. “The secret sauce of Alibaba success is that 34% of foundation. The other six have
the senior leadership of Alibaba are women, and almost 47% received an estimated total of
of employees are women,” Ma said on stage in Singapore.
“I have a lot of powerful women standing behind me, and $212 million, either pledged
I’m always thankful for them.” or already distributed. The
So what will Ma do next as a philanthropist? First, he’ll year when each initiative was
do some research—as he wrote in last year’s open letter: launched is at the bottom of
“While I will not allow myself to sit idle, this time, I will be
able to spend time on choosing interesting and meaningful the column.
causes that I can be passionate about.” He elaborated on this
SOURCE: ALIBABA GROUP
in his interview: “I am not in a hurry, I want to spend a year
traveling around to many countries, talking to the ministers
of education, talking to schools, talking to teachers, and
talking to those who have great ideas.”
In November, Ma went to Ghana to be one of the judges
in the first-ever African Netpreneur awards, sponsored by his C H I N A
foundation. The proceedings were broadcast across the con-
tinent as the Africa’s Business Heroes show, which was meant
to inspire entrepreneurship in Africa. “If we can discover and
help more Jack Mas, more Bill Gates, more Warren Buffetts,
Africa will be different,” says Ma.
The Jack Ma Foundation still has only one office and less
than 30 full-time staff. This may seem small, but recall in
2000, when Alibaba had only 150 employees, Ma declared to
Forbes his intention to make Alibaba one of the world’s top
ten websites. When asked where the Jack Ma Foundation will
be in five years, Ma appears to be already planning ahead:
“It will be a respected organization that is doing things in an
RURAL EDUCATION
efficient way.” F
IN CHINA

A ten-year program to help train
“THE WORLD WON’T CHANGE headmasters and educational leaders IMAGINE CHINA/NEWSCOM (2); COURTESY OF ALIBABA GROUP

in rural China.
BECAUSE YOU DONATE MONEY, $30 MILLION
FUNDING:

BUT IT WILL CHANGE IF YOUR

HEART IS CHANGED.” 2016

18 | FORBES ASIA DECEMBER 2019 / JANUARY 2020