Michael Au, Managing Director at District Capital, attended George’s Golden Civilization Conversation in Hong Kong last August and has since facilitated a few of his own Conversations, the most recent of which at an event hosted by Dream Impact in Hong Kong. He shares his experience below in a guest blog:
I was invited by a friend, a renowned Hong Kong-based impact investor, to hear George Kinder talk in Hong Kong. I was not aware of George's work prior to attending but was told to expect a methodology to create and foster meaningful dialogue and positive activism in a community. At the time of George's talk, we were just witnessing the very beginning of the protests triggered by the government's Extradition Bill, the city's citizens felt powerless against a government who seemed to be deaf towards the people's concerns, and in the months that followed, that feeling of powerlessness eventually escalated into fear, revolt, and physical violence.
I have been using the Golden Civilization Conversation methodology in various configurations throughout these months to empower a range of our society's stakeholders to re-engage with their communities in these times which feel increasingly violent and hopeless. Earlier in January, I was asked to lead a session at an inaugural gathering for social entrepreneurs, impact investors, NGO staff, and other purpose-driven community actors hosted by Dream Impact, a Hong Kong impact business incubator. My topic for discussion was on finding common goals across organizations. The Golden Civilization Conversation methodology came immediately to mind as a way to engage a group of strangers to think and reflect deeply in a collaborative fashion. Similar to the outcomes of many conversations I have hosted, priorities in the Vision exercise were equality, respect, opportunity, and trust. As I was only allocated 30 minutes to conduct this session, we had a highly condensed version of the conversation, but I was pleased to hear that when tasked with defining personal action, one-third of the participants decided to host their own gatherings and Conversations as they personally witnessed the power of the exercise.
As our city continues to wrestle with unrest and now compounded by the viral outbreak, I believe that continuing to advocate for the conducting of GCC-powered gatherings will help us cross the bridge between hopelessness to personal action to rebuilding our community ties with a renewed focus on well-being and equality.
You can read more about Dream Impact on their LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dreamimpacthk
View Michael’s post on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michael-au_impactcommunity-dialogues-together-activity-6622291298047098880-EyFx
Michael Au presents the Golden Civilization Methodology at the Dream Impact event in Hong Kong.
Click through for more general photos of the event shared via LinkedIn