Founder, Good City Foundation & Fellow, World Economic Forum
Non-profit Organization Management
As a teenager, Andre Kwok had his heart set on becoming a doctor to help people. He was devastated when he did not get into medical school, but moved on and did a social sciences degree in The University of Hong Kong. During the semester break in the first year, he volunteered with a charity conducting needs assessment in a village in Cambodia. It turned out to be a life-changing decision.
The 29-year-old recalls talking to a local volunteer, a university lecturer who had come from a humble village. “He told me that my school is everywhere. Whenever I feel I’m learning something, that should be my school. It really struck me, and that Cambodia experience changed my mindset about how I could make an impact on society even if I couldn’t become a doctor.”
At university, he tinkered with social development projects of his own — such as upcycling plastics into shoes for Cambodian villagers — but found the acts were ungrounded. He says, “So I learnt to ask more important questions before taking any actions: whether I’m doing the right thing and if I’m addressing the people’s needs. We often fancy ourselves as adding value or saving people’s lives, but we forget to ask if we are serving their real needs and if we truly understand the issues behind.”
Four years after his journey in South-east Asia, Andre founded the Good City Foundation, a non-profit that encourages public–private partnerships through young leadership, pulling together private resources to address development challenges in Asia and Africa.
Andre Kwok founded the Good City Foundation to encourage public–private partnerships with young leadership and tackle development challenges in Asia and Africa.
The foundation curates capacity building programs for city leaders, offers development project advisory, and organises the “Future City Summit”, which assembles young city leaders in emerging Asia, Africa and the world. He says, “Our vision is about striking a principle of balance between economic growth and preserving a city’s culture, liveability and biodiversity, especially small cities with populations of between half a million to one million.”
We often fancy ourselves as adding value or saving people’s lives, but we forget to ask if we are serving their real needs and if we truly understand the issues behind.
In 2019, Andre also embarked on several social and technology ventures, including a fintech startup in the Philippines. Good City Foundation is also collaborating with the World Economic Forum (WEF) on numerous projects; as part of the partnership, Andre has joined the Forum as a Fellow, working on urban transformation and technology governance issues in mainland China and ASEAN.
He says his Master in Public Policy degree at LKYSPP has advanced his capacity in his career. Andre, who was a Li Ka Shing Foundation Scholarship Scholar at the school, says, “I travelled a lot to South-east Asia during my undergrad years, but I learnt that travel is not enough. Exploring locations, enjoying local cuisine is fun but you don’t get to learn too deeply about the practices in local contexts. The two years at LKYSPP empowered me with Singapore's unique experience and Hong Kong’s entrepreneurial spirit to dedicate my commitment to emerging markets.”