By Lauren Wong*

I had gone to the filming of a CCTV 9 talk show on Sunday expecting to hear Jet Li chat about his martial art prowess. What I got instead was a talk about social entrepreneurship in China. Jet Li focused the great majority of the hour-long filming on his pet project, the One Foundation.  Since the talk show was filmed for an English-speaking audience, the kung fu master was not as eloquent in his philosophy as he could be in his native tongue. Nevertheless, the passion towards his foundation and towards the work of social entrepreneurship was a great sign of what potential China holds.

My work with Ashoka Philippines over the summer, as an intern seemed so different from my semester of studying and speaking Chinese, getting lost in the Beijing sprawl, and trying to familiarize myself with a culture that was so different from mine back in Chicago. I had almost gotten out of touch with the goings-on in the citizen sector until Jet Li’s unexpected talk grounded me back to what I believe is truly important.

Jet’s philosophy on social entrepreneurship was, at times, a little contradictory and unclear, but his underlying theme was reasonable.  He began by explaining that there’s a scale of good people, with Bill Gates on one end of the spectrum and Mother Teresa on the other.  Gates represents business and Mother Teresa represents the heart.  Where did Jet Li stand?  In the middle with a combination of transparent business practices and passion for what he called the “global family”.

The idea behind his One foundation is not a new one. Every human being should care for each other as they care for their families under the reasoning that all of us are, actually, one gigantic family. He proposes that everyone make a habit of helping fellow brothers and sisters, whether that means contributing one yuan per month or donating time.

The non-profit sector doesn’t need more foundations that prey on people’s pity and Christmastime graciousness; it needs more pragmatic people who work feverishly to make change happen.  It needs citizens (hence the citizen sector, not the non-profit sector) that put social change into their lifestyles and understand that Jet’s “global family” is not some hippie call for free love or worldwide peace.

Jet believes that he stands in the middle, with brains in his head and a heart that beats. Why isn’t everyone there standing with him?  I’m hoping that his passion is a sign of what great change there is to come, especially here in China.  China’s power has only increased under the wary eye of other world powers, and if it put that explosive economic potential into social change, the world could see some great developments in the future.

*Lauren worked as intern for Ashoka Philippines for two months and is now back in Chicago.