Full transcription of our conversation with Benita Chick, Founder of Encompass HK.
Find the summary, our favourite quotes and all links mentioned in this episodes in our show notes here.
Regina Larko 0:03
Some things are worth waiting for. I am so thrilled to share that we are reopening the doors to our #impact club. If you enjoy listening to #impact podcast please support our work by signing up for your yearly membership at #impact club. #impact club is a nourishing place for visionaries like you that want to make the world a better place. Take a look inside what special treats we prepared for you and join us www.hashtagimpact.com/club.
I am Regina Larko and you are listening to #impact season five, where we highlight changemakers across the globe, tackling the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs Today’s guest is a woman that inspires me so much. From the first day I met her. She shared her resources and research material on the Sustainable Development Goals in such an open and encouraging way.
Despite the fact that only a tiny percentage of Hong Kong has even heard about the SDGs. She keeps showing up for them, advocating and educating corporate leaders, students and people on the street. She helped me understand and grasp the big concepts behind it. But also the day to day challenges we face implementing these goals.
She shares how to make them more approachable for everyone. This episode was recorded in autumn 2020 and a lot has happened for Benita Chick from Encompass since then. She has worked on curating SDG education materials with MakerBay. She organizes intersectionality and mental health workshops to promote different concepts of inclusion, and so much more. Looking at all the things she has on that you will hear about in this episode from running her own TEDx events to her Eco tours, I’m simply amazed by how she makes it all happen and how she is so humble about it all.
So here it is an episode that was definitely also very worth waiting for. And the neighbor was super excited about us finally making it happen to joining in with some of his construction sounds. So apologies for that. But as the conversation evolves, you will hear that he did put his tools away and we can fully focus on Benita’s unique voice and story. Enjoy.
Benita Chick 2:41
Today I am sitting down with Benita Chick, founder and CEO of Encompass. She is a strong believer in D&I community outreach and using her network to create change. She’s actively advocating for the Sustainable Development Goals with her consultancy services, working with clients like KPMG and Morgan Stanley. Besides her corporate programs, they are also working with the University of Hong Kong to establish the first of its kind SDG virtual map. Thank you Benita, so much for coming on #impact so we can learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals from you.
Thank you for having me today.
Regina Larko 3:31
I want to jump right into the topic that I mentioned there. The SDG virtual maps this sounds so intriguing. Can you tell us a bit more about the SDG virtual maps and what this is all about.
Benita Chick 3:47
So it’s a new project that I’m working with the University of Hong Kong basically will have a map with different checkpoints for example, gender neutral toilet, or composting, recycling water facility and we will have each point we will have some how is it related to the SDGs.
For the students there will be some quiz. It will be linked to some courses and some tips. For example, there will be some tips for the students where they can get the best health service or stuff like that. So we are very excited about this project. And this is a start of this project. We will have several a fraction of the map. Some is 2d some is 3d. So yeah, it’s going to be very interesting.
Regina Larko 4:37
And I think it’s very important because I remember our very first chat we had when we first got connected, when was that, maybe around two years ago, one year ago. I remember one of my former #impact guests from Resolve actually introduced me to you and then that first time we met at your co working space, you shared a lot about the statistics of how few people actually know about the SDGs in Hong Kong, and that makes it even more important that you are out there advocating and introducing the language and the concept of the SDGs to others, like, for example, university students, but can you share a little bit about those statistics and numbers? How, how much do people know about the SDG is in Hong Kong?
Benita Chick 5:35
The number is two years ago, so about two years ago, I think only 15% of people in Hong Kong know about SDGs That’s a survey done by the Sustainable Development distribution network, back in 2018. I think that number is a bit better now, I don’t have an official figure because I don’t think anybody have done a formal research. But just from this two years of working on SDGs and go into different schools or corporates.
My guesstimate is maybe up to 30% now, but I think my impression is most people only understand SDG at a superficial level. Like they understand they know that there are 17 goals, but they might not understand what are the 169 targets or what they imply or how they related. So I think that’s one of my core objective of my work is to have people to have a more in depth understanding of the SDG and how are they related to the daily life?
Regina Larko 6:36
And why are they so important to you? What is your drive, your personal driver? Why are you so passionate about this? And I mean, your whole, I think part of your business, correct me if I’m wrong, is really built on those goals. Like the values and the messages that you’re bringing out there is based on on these on these targets that are laid out within these 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Why do you care?
Benita Chick 7:13
I really think SDG is a very good framework for understanding our world and how everything is related. So for example, I do a workshop on sustainable coffee a lot and I use coffee which a lot of people drink as an example to talk about responsible consumption or gender equality or clean water. Like they understand they know that there are 17 goals, but they might not understand what are the 169 targets or what they imply or how they related. So I think that’s one of my core objective of my work is to have people to have a more in depth understanding of the SDG and how are they related to the daily life?
Regina Larko 7:53
And we were both holding our coffee cups just now in the briefing, right with your coffee and your cup of coffee.
Benita Chick 8:00
Yeah, Yeah, me too.
Regina Larko 8:01
Yeah, me too. Okay, I’m gonna take a sip. I think this is so important. Also, what do you do with your, and we have to bring this up, I mean, you have been on #impact before actually in a beautiful #impact stories special on ocean we did in the last season, in season four, where you shared about your nonprofit work with organizing these amazing tours, that I still, it’s on my list. I already told my husband about it that I want to go on a tour with you. That has really and I know has made a big impact on people that have been with you on that tour because they would not even know about the ecosystem that is found in Hong Kong, so you really open people’s eyes by taking them out to the beach, onto the water, under the water to show them so they can see for themselves about this beautiful world and beautiful life that is everywhere. What was your like the trip that left the biggest impression on yourself when you’re taking people out there? What has touched most?
Benita Chick 9:27
Oh, I think the Hoi Ha tour which I also introduced last year and, we do it several times this year, there are many kids who come and some of them are just one year old or maybe three year old. And the way that they are amazed about the biodiversity in the shore. The way that they were first time touching a sea star. I think it really changes them and how they think about the world. Another one I can think of is I this year I started something called a Tai Po cow night tour where we were looking at Insects, moths and different night animals and even snakes. And some of the kids who went were usually very afraid of insects, but after they were going to the tour and interacting with our guide, and seeing this interesting butterflies or dragonflies there, they, they get a really good appreciation of insects, and they don’t think insects are ugly and disgusting anymore. And they actually appreciate the insects or who they are. So I think it’s that kind of impact that changing people a perception of nature and appreciation of nature. It really drives my work.
Regina Larko 10:41
And of course, when you’re starting that, from that age, right, what you just said, like a one year old, a two year old, a three year old, that’s the next generation. And that’s something that, yeah, I really admire that about your work that you are bringing these topics to, to the next generation and to young people. But let’s look at also your work with corporates and the business world. Looking at the SDGs I think there’s just so much potential there, to use them also, as transformative drivers to to change business models. But looking at corporations, there is still so much to do. And I think a lot of corporates, they don’t really use this opportunity just yet. How are you fixing that?
Benita Chick 11:41
Oh, I think I’m relating to what kind of training they might need to the SDGs. So recently, I actually got a lot of requests for training in cultural competency. So I think that touches on like racism, or some of the unconscious bias issue, which I will say related to the SDG number 10, which is reduce inequalities. I think, yes, I think some corporate, they might have like, global headquarters, they might have some SDG target, but going back to the like Hong Kong or APEC office, sometime, they might not know how best to implement it. So it’s my work to work with those HR or the sustainability managers, and to develop programs that, that make an impact. And we can measure those impacs, how they have, transform it, maybe. I’ll give an example. So recently, I did a training on inclusive communication with one of the corporate and is on on inclusion with different gender, age, ability. So it’s also SDG 5 and SDG 10. And what I found is, after the workshop, actually one of the colleague email everybody in the office, and he said I’m a transgender man, I would like to preferred to be called Francis and please use “he” for as a pronoun going forward. And I really feel that it, it really makes an impact for his life, to come out to all his colleague and to be very brave and come up as who it is. So I really, yeah, I think this workshop is not just doing it for doing sake, but it’s actually making an impact for for the employees life.
Regina Larko 13:30
Now, that’s amazing, really going into that personal impact, that big blueprint, like the SDGs are just to break it down onto this individual level, like you said before, like you want to make it approachable and you don’t want it to just be this shallow surface. Like there are these goals and let’s just learn them all by heart, and let’s put a logo on our website, and then we are done. But actually going into these trainings and and yeah, making these impacts on a very individual level I can I can relate to that, that this is something that gives you a lot of motivation in your own work. And I understand one of the proudest moments and most exciting things that you’ve been working in during these, during this last few years, as you have established yourself with encompass is working on the Green Women Festival, right?
Benita Chick 14:32
Correct.
Regina Larko 14:33
Yeah. Tell, tell me a bit more about that. And what made it so special for you?
Benita Chick 14:38
Oh, so I saw that last 2019 on on March 8, which is theInternational Woman’s Day. So I was thinking that there are a lot of woman events out there but there’s not one that is focused on environmentalism and woman, so I created this program, where we have bilingual talks, and then workshops. For example, on food on green dating, and then or even have a transgendered woman to help with body combat. We also have different different corners like a second hand reading corner, and it really include as many different groups as possible. So we have migrant workers who are helping as volunteers, we have sexual minorities, we have people who are on wheelchairs that are performing. And I was able to do this event in less than a month so it was quite amazing, and I think the impact was really good because a lot of speakers, especially those who are English speaking only, tell me that they really appreciate that there is a chance for them to present their talks bilingually because we have translation available, so that they the talks were able to reach a wider audience. I think the program was very well received. Unfortunately, this year with COVID I wasn’t able to do the event as as our original plan, but I definitely hope I can do it again, maybe in 2021 when things are a bit better. It’s kind of a bit I think everybody in the in, well, not in in Hong Kong, but everybody in the world got affected by COVID and the plans but it’s definitely a project I’m very proud of.
Regina Larko 16:25
Before we continue and hear all about how Benita overcame the challenges that COVID brought, let me give you a peek inside our brand new #impact club.
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Now back to our conversation with Benita.
We cannot leave that out, it’s kind of like the elephant in the room, with all the conversations I’m having right now. There’s not a single organization not impacted by COVID. Things had to be adjusted, we had to learn how to work in a different way, how to collaborate in a different way. But of course if your business and your impact is built a lot on also in person connections and collaborations, like your eco tours that you do for example, of course that can be very frustrating to keep canceling or moving dates to other later dates just to hope that at that point maybe social distance rules and regulations might have changed. How have you been coping and how have you been pivoting and maybe adjusting and reorganizing your programs to make it more accessible in this time of COVID.
Benita Chick 20:00
So as you said, I do a lot of eco tours and with with the social restrictions, I have need to postpone a lot of that but what I did is I changed a lot of the talks and workshops online, even like programs like Climate Change and Wine. Even those involve wine, we tried to do it virtually. And I did, I think maybe like around six or eight talks in the during the third wave. A lot of these talks are completely free to educate the community and I think it does work because it helped me to attract some corporate clients who were impressed with our work. The second thing I’ve done is, when the third wave began in July, I decided to host a official TED Talk, called the TEDx Encompass, where we will be focusing on the countdown movement, which is the climate change movement. And the goal is really to educate the community about climate change. It’s a completely free event and I just, I want to give back to the community for everything that I receive. And I think it’s, it’s good for brand building, it’s good for the community. So I’m lucky that I think, in quarter four, I’m getting more corporate clients because of the previous work that I’ve built up with, with the virtual talks and, and just TedX that people know about what we do and what we stand for. Yeah.
Regina Larko 21:29
And these conversations definitely are so important. The TEDx community is one that I’m very fond of, as well. And this year, in particular, of course, it’s a challenging year for these event organizers as well with a lot of these talks then being broadcasted virtually. When you’re looking at some of the speakers that you that you worked with for TEDx and encompass and the countdown movement, tackling climate change topics. What what are some of the people and stories that stand out to you and that have made you look at, although you already know so much about the Sustainable Development Goals, and you’re already so educated in that space, but was there anything, a new idea or something that totally surprised you that opened your eyes in a way that you could share with our listeners?
Benita Chick 22:34
Oh, I think there are two speakers in particular, I’m very impressed. One is Kamakshi. She is a local students studying at West Island School, only a 15 year old, but she already founded an NGO called the Youth Ocean Alliance, and she’s also like a very active environmentalist, campaigning for the Climate Action Hong Kong. She, she’s going to share her share her story, passion, in pursuing climate justice. So I think having those young voice is really important. The second speaker is Mark McGinley. He is a head of science unit in Lingnan University. He’s going to share climate change and pandemic. I haven’t listened to his talk now, yet, but I’m very intrigued by the synopsis, I think we have a lot to learn from, from how we deal with the pandemic to deal with climate change because I think after the pandemic is over climate change is going to be the biggest threat to humanity. So I’m very looking forward to both of their sharings.
Regina Larko 23:39
And looking at Asia — what are some of the Sustainable Development Goals where you think we, well now you mentioned climate change, but are there some other goals where it needs urgent action, where you see that we are lagging behind here, especially in in Asia, where we should take action?
Benita Chick 24:02
Yeah, this is both in Hong Kong and all over the Asia. If you look at the UN APEC report of how the 17 goals are being met, the worst is SDG 12, responsible consumption and production and that’s why a lot of my programs is focusing on that. And we are way behind the target we want to achieve I think, in in Asia, the culture, we have a lot of very convenient, fast food or the fast fashion and, and and it’s very easy for people to just buy and not think about like recycling or upcycling or reusing. So I think that’s something that whole Asia need need to work on. Definitely. And that’s something that individual can can make a really big difference. We don’t need to rely on the government to tell tell us to develop policies to be a responsible consumer. So that’s really something I am really passionate in in advocating.
Regina Larko 25:03
Is there one top tip that you can give our listeners now? What they can implement, like today to consume more responsibly?
Benita Chick 25:11
I think is really trying to reuse and give a second hand life. Second Life to what you use. So I think the more community groups now, for example, there’s a group called Buy Nothing North Point and Buy Nothing Lama Island, and you can start your own group as well. So if you have, like a CD player, you don’t want to use any more you can actually donate to somebody else in your community. Maybe they will have some use on that or maybe you can share a vacuum cleaner. I think buying is really, really a big problem in Hong Kong. And if we can reduce that, I think we will really reduce the carbon footprint.
Regina Larko 25:53
I think what my research around the SDGs has shown me is that we really have to work together, even within different agencies, different stakeholders to to drive and also measure the progress that is made. But at the same time, and when I’m listening to other podcasts where, then for example, people from within the United Nations also share about their progress or also the setbacks that they have faced. They, everyone, says that there is just a lack of integration and collaboration between different stakeholders; the public sector, the private sector, the NGO sector, the individuals. Is there anything that you can come up with, or it’s something that you have incorporated with Encompass? And I know you work with different stakeholders from the individuals with your eco tours, but also corporate clients, but then universities as well. How, how can we change that, that there is less competition, but actually collaboration to to address these goals and, and really, and really meet those targets that are very aspiring targets? How have have you had some experience from your work where you have like a best practice, how it can actually work?
Benita Chick 27:29
Also, there’s a diagram I usually share in my workshop, and I think it gives a framework of how we understand the 17 SDGs. So it’s called the SDG cake. So we start with the planet, we have the goals for the SDG climate, action, biodiversity. And then we have people, which is like sustainable community or decent work. And then we have prosperity, so we have a sustainable city. And then finally is SDG 16, peace and justice and partnership. So these are the SDG cake, and I like to use that to introduce to my clients or to people in my workshop, so that they can think that SDGs are all interrelated. And as you said, I think SDG 17 is, the partnership of the goal, is the hardest. Sometimes people don’t, maybe they don’t realize they need to work together, or even they know that there is some barrier, I think, is to how to slowly break those barriers down and tell them each of the action actually affect one another. I don’t have a very good answer to your questions but that’s one of the approach I’m trying to educate people so they understand SDG 17. Yeah.
Regina Larko 28:45
And I’ve made that experience as well, that all these goals are so interconnected when I played the SDG game for the first time. Have you played that game before?
Benita Chick 28:54
Oh, actually, unfortunately, no, because every time I sign up this year has some sort of COVID that cause it postponed. But I did pay something that’s related. It’s called Climate Collage and I really recommend it. You can join online for free, just go to climatecollage.org. It’s a game. It’s a card game that illustrate the impacts and the cause of the climate change, how different factors are related, I personally find really fascinating. And I think for anybody who’s interested in the climate change, that’s also a good tool to understand as well. So I think it’s kind of similar to the SDG type game, but focusing on the climate change. Yeah.
Regina Larko 29:39
Oh, great. I will share the link to that in our show notes and we’ll make sure to play it myself. Can I do it just me, as an individual?
Benita Chick 29:47
Yes, yes you can sign up as an individual. The kind of collage is available for both online and offline version, and anybody can can join online for free, and I really recommend it. Even for me, I felt I know a lot about climate change, it blew, it blew me away. I haven’t learned that much in recent years. Yeah.
Regina Larko 30:14
Oh, that’s amazing. Yeah, we’re definitely gonna share that and try that out within our team as well. And Benita, before I let you go today, you have to go, like every one of our guests, through the quickfire round. Are you ready for that?
Benita Chick 30:33
Sure.
Regina Larko 30:34
All right. Making an impact means
Benita Chick 30:40
Trying to influence life.
Regina Larko 30:44
Who inspires you in the way they tackle the Sustainable Development Goals?
Benita Chick 30:51
David Attenborough.
Regina Larko 30:53
And what could everyone do right now to make the world a better place?
Benita Chick 30:58
Try to use less.
Regina Larko 31:03
That’s really, really great advice. Thank you so much for taking the time today. I also want to send everyone to your website to start following your journey and to get in touch with you I know that you’re giving a lot of talks that people can book you to share your expertise. So where can people get in touch? Where can they find you?
Benita Chick 31:27
So they can find me in our in our company website www.encompasshk.com. So in there you’ll find all our workshops and overing and media coverage.
Regina Larko 31:41
Thank you so much for taking the time today.
Benita Chick 31:44
Okay, thank you, Regina.
Regina Larko 31:48
Make sure to follow Benita’s work. I also personally really love her sharing over at LinkedIn that is always so raw and honest. So you can find her over there as well. Benita said ot in this conversation, young voices are so important to be heard. Yes, I could not agree more. A great podcast you should definitely check out is This Hong Kong Life by KELY Support Group that highlights young people’s voices and stories. Just Google This Hong Kong Life and you will find it right there. To wrap up today’s episode I wanted you to hear from one of our listeners from the other side of the world. It just amazes me to hear from where you are tuning in.
Jago 32:39
Hello there this is Jago from the edge of the Amazon basin in South America. I am sitting in my hammock now. It’s super late. It’s about 7:30 and over me is a tin roof. I have no walls. It’s super dark outside. I can see a few fireflies. It’s quite fresh actually right now. I can clearly hear all of the night active insects around me. Maybe you can too. So how did I get here; from working and living as a white collar worker behind a office desk with two huge flat screens in Switzerland to becoming a offgrid permaculture tropical fruit farmer in the Amazon region of Ecuador, to then co creating a social enterprise from scratch with triple impact – social, economic and environmental. This by exporting transformed added value superfoods which are plant based such as fruits, vegetables and seeds, which are harvested from 400 local small scale farming families. Now here reaching out for like minded individuals or organizations seeking to do good which can be measured on a long term.
Regina Larko 34:11
This made me smile so much. You know we here at #impact we just love hearing how you are all driving your impact from wherever you are, your own initiatives, running your own social enterprises, your own nonprofits, starting your own fundraisers. Let’s all get to know each other even better at our next virtual coffee break over at www.hashtagimpact.com/club. I would love to see you there. Talk to you soon. Bye.
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