The Journey of a Giant Philanthropist

The journey of Yao Ming, former NBA star, as a philanthropist and his philanthropic beliefs.

Transcript

1. The Journey of a “Giant” Philanthropist By Helen Yingsheng Li 2013.06.21
2. Who’s Yao?
3. Born September 12, 1980 Played for the Shanghai Sharks as a teenager Played in the China Basketball Association between 1997-2002 Before 2002
4. Selected by the Houston Rockets as the 1st overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game 8 times Named to the All- NBA Team 5 times Reached the NBA Playoffs 4 times Data source: wikipedia 2002-2011
5. Since 2011 President Shanghai Sharks Basketball Club Venture Capitalist Wine Investor Philanthropist Board Member International Special Olympics Shanghai Member CPPCC* Honorary Doctorate Hong Kong University * CPPCC: Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
6. Milestones on Yao’s Philanthropic Journey
7. Active participation in NBA Cares events and the Houston Rockets’ community service sparked the light in Yao of giving back to community and society.
8. While playing at NBA, Yao continued a variety of charity work when he visited China, such as serving roles like a HIV/AIDS ambassador, participating in Basketball without Borders, hosting charitable tournament etc.. Yao was also able to leverage his resources in both China and the US and brought NBA players and Chinese athletes together for the causes. It is through these activities has Yao realized being a celebrity not only means responsibility, but also means a great leveraging power.
9. In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Sichuan in May, 2008, besides donating $2 million, Yao announced the establish of Yao Foundation, and set off on the journey to explore charity work in a more organized and systematic manner.
10. Yao has been greatly inspired by Dikembe Mutombo, who gave Yao lots of advice on doing charity work. Yao still reaches out to Mutombo today to discuss charity. I've  learned  so  much  from  Dikembe   already.  I  feel  honored  to  sit  here   right  next  to  him…I  didn't  really   understand  until  I  had  to  do  it   (  charity  work  )  with  the  earthquake.   That's  when  you  understand,  it's  not   something  you  just  do,  you  have  to   put  your  heart  into  it.       “   ”  
11. Since retiring in 2011, Yao has brought his philanthropic activities to a new level. He is engaged in a range of causes, from wildlife protection to humanitarian support. Most of all, he has invested heavily his resources and energy in the work of his foundation, and has become more and more eloquent in his philanthropic philosophy.
12. Yao’s Philanthropic beliefs
13. On Philanthropy Everybody pursues something better in life. Philanthropy makes us a better person. I enjoy doing philanthropy and it’s going to be my lifetime commitment. Philanthropy is something that comes from the heart. You have to believe in humanity to give. Why am I interested in philanthropy? It offers me inner piece. There is no boundary for love and there is a large group of people in the world who need our care.
14. On Celebrity Being a celebrity means more resourceful, and more capable. Whoever has more capability should take more responsibility ( for the society). The power of a celebrity does not just lie in the amount of money she donates, but the influence as a role model. Doing charity work is good, and it’s even better to encourage and inspire more people to do good together. Celebrities have a great leverage power.
15. On Participation We should create more channels for donors to actively participate in charity work. Donors should be more involved in doing the work, instead of just giving money. It ( active engagement of donors ) will make a real difference. ( To young people ) If you don’t have enough money, give your time. A minute of your time is just as valuable as a minute of anyone else’s time
16. On Sports and Education Basketball is not all about competition. It’s about health and happiness. Sports plays an important role in education. It teaches leadership, team work and perseverance. Sports can benefit a person beyond the sports field, and it inspires people from inside. We don’t just build schools. Building schools is a vehicle to promote education. In the schools we have built, we also teach sports, organize tournaments; we even teach arts and we tell kids what the outside world looks like.
17. About Global Philanthropy Common www.gpcommon.org Global Philanthropy Common is a blog-based web site committed to connecting Chinese philanthropy with global philanthropy. At this stage, we bring to English readers the updates on current happenings in Chinese philanthropy. www.gpcommon.org/ch We also have a sister site in Chinese, introducing new concepts, tools and best practice from western philanthropy to Chinese readers.