Reimagine Education together!
We are looking for dreamers, doers, backers and supporters to reimagine education together. If you would like to get involved, sign up the Esperanza Community to tell us your interests and how you would like to get involved.
2023 Activities
April 2023
Beyond E-Learning : Role of Technology Post Pandemic, 14 Apr 2023
This hybrid seminar helps attendees learn about the global trends in EdTech applications in K12 education and adult learning, and the needs of educators and L&D professionals in Hong Kong. We also announced a new EdTech Heroes Award to celebrate early adopters of EdTech.
February 2023
CNY Gathering with Esperanza Members, 15 Feb 2023
At this gathering with Esperanza members, John underscored the need for a “reskilling revolution” in Hong Kong. “It has not been easy to impart the urgent need for workforce development to organizational leaders in Hong Kong. We need to mobilise passionate believers to build the momentum from the ground up. “
Esperanza is working closely with JobsDB and other partners on several near term and longer term initiatives to reskill and upskill Hong Kong’s workforce. We welcome your suggestions.
2022 Activities
December 2022
X'Mas Drinks with Members, 14 December 2022
October 2022
Future Proof Yourself: A New World of Learning Powered Technology (14.10.2022)
Digital transformation, Covid-19, the Great Resignation, a 100-Year Life and an increasingly VUCA environment are redefining the WHY, WHO, WHAT and HOW of adult education. This Summit looked into some key strategic shifts in the adult learning markets:
- increasing demand for real world learning and reskilling of the workforce
- the accelerated adoption of technology to make learning more flexible, personalised, effective and accessible
- changing meaning and roles of higher and vocational education
- the rise of on demand, alternative and micro credentials
- increasing cross-sector, inter-institutional and cross-border partnerships
Read the Summit takeaways:
ISTE x Esperanza Asia Education Summit (08.10.2022)
A perennial challenge for educators is how we can motivate student learning. Research has shown that there is a high correlation between student engagement and academic outcomes. To respond to the urgent need, Esperanza is pleased to partner with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) to present a half-day webinar on how the application of technology, especially blended learning, can develop student agency and empower self-directed learning.
Read the Summit synopsis here
July 2022
Happy Hour With Esperanza Members (25.07.2022)
Esperanza was delighted to have a face-to-face networking event with its members. John shared Esperanza’s two key aspirations at the gathering.
Click here for the synopsis of the event.
June 2022
EdTech Showcase (01.06.2022)
Esperanza organized a virtual EdTech Showcase to introduce the solutions of seven service providers that use technology to make language learning, STEM education and life skills development more effective. They were previous participants of the Edventures GBA Fellowship.
Click here for the synopsis of the event.
April 2022
Esperanza Members Event: Happy Hour with Metaverse (20.04.2022)
Esperanza members had a glimpse of metaverse and exchanges with our guest speakers at an exclusive community event on 20 April.
Click here for the synopsis of the event.
March 2022
Catalysing Innovation with EdTech (29 March 2022)
Esperanza conducted a study on whether and how we can develop Hong Kong as a learning innovation and technology hub in the Greater Bay Area. This webinar shared the major recommendations of the study. Audience also learnt about the work of the Jacobs Foundation, EduCapital and Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in sporting the development of EdTech.
Click here for the synopsis of the event.
January 2022
Code for Fun (22 Jan)
With technology becoming an integral part of our life, coding is now an indispensable tool and a world language. To promote the importance of coding education, Esperanza organized “Code for Fun” on 22 Jan 2022 together with its coding school partner R-Kids.
Click here for the synopsis of the event.
ISTE Blended Learning Professional Development Programme: Projects Sharing, 14-15 Jan 2022
After 6 months of the ISTE programme learning, 18 schools shared their blended learning projects experiences on 14 and 15 Jan.
Educators are keen to apply blended learning to motivate learning, enhance student agency, enable more personalized and inclusive learning, and to develop 21st century skills.
Click here for the synopsis of the sharing session.
2021 Activities
November 2021

The Edventures GBA Summit (3 Nov 2021)
The 2021 Edventures GBA Summit (3 Nov) gathered experts to share key trends in EdTech hotbeds and:
- How technology can improve learning outcome and democratise quality education
- The case for public and philanthropic capital to be involved in funding EdTech startups
- How we might foster cross-sector and cross-border partnerships, including the potential role of Hong Kong
Check out the synopsis of the expert panels:
Investor Panel with Bill Ning of Blue Elephant Capital, Vinit Sukhija of Learn Capital, James Tieng of Lumos Capital and Yat Siu of Outblaze
Ecosystem Panel with Olli Vallo of Education Alliance Finland, Mia-Stiina Heikkala of Helsinki Education Hub, Avi Warshavsky of MindCET and Jennifer Cheng of NewChic Capital
Open Forum on Developing Hong Kong as Education Innovation and Technology Hub with Peter Yan of Cyberport and Ada Wong of Ednovators
September 2021
Blended Learning: Experience Sharing Webinar, 24 September, 2021
Esperanza held this experience sharing event which enabled educators to learn from experts and their peers the dos and don’ts of blended learning. Participants have also learnt hands-on how students could collaborate online with peers from around the world to learn and tackle global issues. Click here for the synopsis of the event.
August 2021
Promoting Student Wellbeing - Community Meet-Up With Esperanza Directors
Hong Kong students are arguably one of the most stressful groups in the world. The pandemic has exacerbated the problem and taken a toll on the well-being of students. Before the resumption of schools in September, Mr John C Tsang led a panel discussion with 3 other Esperanza directors and members of the Esperanza community on 30 August to share their experience and thoughts on how to improve students wellbeing. Click here for the synopsis of the event.
Launch of Go Digital: Future Proof Your Organisation (12 Aug 2021)
The pandemic has accelerated the need for organisations to transform themselves digitally. Esperanza is pleased to launch the Go Digital programme with JobsDB on 12 Aug 2021. This pilot programme seeks to match organizations in need of digital transformation with training partners in the Esperanza and SEEK network, and connect them with funding support from the Government’s Reindustrialisation and Technology Training Programme (RTTP). Click here for the synopsis of the launch event.
May 2021
An evening with education innovation champions (24 May)
April 2021
Get Started with Blended Learning, 24 April 2021
“Professional development of teachers should be of utmost priority in any blended learning development strategy”. This was the key message resonating with speakers at the “Get Started with Blended Learning” webinar on 24 April. The 220 educators attending the webinar were eager to learn how schools could learn from the remote learning experience during the pandemic and migrate to blended learning when schools resume face-to-face teaching.
Check out our webinar synopsis highlighting key insights from the session.
January 2021
Webinar on “Do Good and Do Well with Edtech Ventures”, 28.01. 2021
Esperanza organized together with Cyberport a webinar on “Do Good and Do Well with Edtech Ventures”, attracting 300 participants from diverse background. The webinar looked into:
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- The STEM learning solutions of the award winners of the Edventures GBA Fellowship and partnership opportunities
- The importance of integrating science of learning in edtech solutions
- The unique nature of edtech ventures and considerations for startups and investors
- The measurement of impact
- Why and how family offices and foundations should support edtech ventures with a continuum of capital tools
- Partnership opportunities with edtech ventures from the perspectives family office, investor and career professionals
- The work plans of Esperanza and Cyberport to catalyse education innovation in Hong Kong
Click the keywords above to find the panel synopses and recordings.
2019 - 2020 Activities
November 2020
Esperanza Members Meet-Up, 30 November 2020
In the last two years Esperanza has been working with a myriad of partners in and outside of Hong Kong to reimagine how we should teach and learn in the 21st century. It organised the Reimagine Education Challenge last year, and more recently the Edventures Global Business Acceleration Fellowship to identify promising innovators in the ed-tech space.
In addition to supporting education innovators, Esperanza has also initiated discussions on the future of early childhood education, blended learning for K to 12 students, as well as higher and continuing education.
Click here to check out the meet-up synopses.
Edventures GBA Summit (3-4 November 2020)
COVID-19 has triggered in a matter of weeks a revolution in how we teach and learn. Edtech experts from the US, the Mainland and Hong Kong shared at the Edventures GBA Summit on 3-4 Nov:
- what it takes to be a successful edtech startup
- what edtech investors should get prepared for
- the growth opportunities in China
- the role of HK to foster cross-border partnerships
Check out the expert insights from the panel synopses.
- Welcome remarks from John C Tsang, Founder, Esperanza
- Edtech Investment Panel with Matt Greenfield (Rethink Education) and Bill Ning (Blue Elephant Capital)
- Global Edtech Development Panel with Richard Culatta (ISTE), Kamran Elahian (Global Innovation Catalyst) and Elliott Masie (the Learning Consortium)
- China: the Epicentre of Edtech Panel with Julian Fisher (British Chamber of Commerce, Beijing), Dr Simon Leung (NetDragon) and Dr Steven Li (Tencent Research Institute)
- Summit Highlights Video
October 2020
Webinar on WHAT, WHY and HOW of Edtech Investment, 14 October 2020
In a new era of market-based approaches to address social problems, impact investors could play a vitally important role in addressing the global education crisis through supporting sustainable, business-based solutions and by learning how to work collaboratively with a range of other investors, locally and cross-border. It is also high time for foundations to consider setting aside additional resources to support edtech ventures besides traditional charities or non-profit organisations.
Check out our webinar synopsis highlighting key insights from the session.
September 2020
Webinar on Reimagine Higher and Continuing Education, 24 Sep 2020
At the Reimagine Higher and Continuing Education webinar on 24 Sep, Prof Christopher Dede of Harvard Graduate School of Education introduced his 60th Year Curriculum Initiative.
Check out the webinar synopsis and recordings to learn more about the sharing from Chris and other speakers.
August 2020
Edventures GBA Fellowship - Opportunities in the Greater Bay Area
We hosted a webinar on edtech opportunities in the Greater Bay Area – aka the Silicon Valley of Asia. John Tsang, Founder of Esperanza. The pandemic has sparked the world’s largest remote learning experiment and underscored the importance of international partnerships. “We believe that we can learn from and collaborate with one another in developing effective solutions with global significance,” said John C Tsang, Founder of Esperanza.
Check out our webinar synopsis highlighting key insights from the session.
July
“How might we turn Hong Kong into a learning society?”
Esperanza kicked off the “Reimagine Higher and Continuing Education’ discussion with an online co-creation workshop with members of the Esperanza community on 27 July. Check out this synopsis to find out the barriers to lifelong learning identified by the participants and what different stakeholders could do to turn Hong Kong into a learning society.
The inputs of the co-creation workshop will inform the design and discussions of a webinar on Reimagine Higher and Continuing Education to be organised by Esperanza together with a few other local and international education institutes at the end of September 2020. Share your ideas with us too!
May 2020
Embracing the New Normal in Learning
“Successful implementation of blended learning requires effective collaborations among the interconnected group of players outside the classroom, from policy-makers, educators, businesses, technology solution providers, funders to parents.’ said John Tsang at a webinar on 22 May.
Esperanza co-organised with HKEdCity and English School Foundation a webinar on “Embracing the New Normal in Learning”. Local and international educators shared their experiences in leveraging education technology to equip the future-ready generations, and to make learning and teaching more effective, fun and meaningful.
Here is the synopsis of the webinar. Check out the webinar synopsis, videos and slides: https://bit.ly/2Y1vqeI
March 2020
Insights from School Suspension: Review and Way Forward for Online Learning
To empower teachers to implement effective online teaching as well as get prepared for the future of blended learning, Esperanza and HKEdCity jointly organised a webinar on 30 March. Community champions of online learning and educators from local and international schools shared their experiences in designing lesson plans and conducting virtual learning, and introduced the support available to teachers.
Here is the synopsis of the webinar. You can also watch it on:
https://www.hkedcity.net/
January 2020
Early Childhood Education Family Day
Esperanza kicked off our 2020 Reimagine Education programme with discussions on the future of early childhood education in Hong Kong earlier this month. Experts see the need for convergence of the local and international systems, with emphasis on developing children’s learning motivation, their social and emotional skills through supportive and yet not over-protective parenting. The single most important message is perhaps “we can all co-create changes – parents, teachers, children and the society at large.”
Click here to learn more.
December 2019
Reimagine Education Together!
Esperanza is pleased to present the 4 winners of the Reimagine Education Challenge at the Learning & Teaching Expo 2019. John also shared his thoughts on why we need new ways of learning, delivering and acquiring knowledge, as we head into a world of intelligent machines. “We have to rethink the role of teachers, how the curriculum, the assessment and the school should be redesigned; and how public monies should be allocated to enable people to learn continuously throughout their entire life span.” he said.
October 2019

John Tsang presented the awards to the 4 winning teams of the Reimagine Education Challenge. John and Charleston Sin, Executive Director of MIT HK Innovation Node talked about the trends in innovation education. Esperanza also kicked off the “Reimagine Education” community building activities with 4 group discussions at the Roundup.
August 2019
Launch of Go Digital: Future Proof Your Organisation (12 Aug 2021)
The Reimagine Education Challenge, organized by Esperanza,
was concluded on 28 August 2019 with the selection of the top four:
Best Performing Teams: Tecky Academy (startup) and Design for Hong Kong (social enterprise)
First Runner-Ups: MagiCube (startup) and Boundless (NGO)
Watch the video and learn more.
May 2019


At the Cross-Sector Forum on 11 May, Mr John C Tsang unveiled the agenda of the Reimagine Education initiative based on views collected from a survey in the last few months. Quoting the words of Paulo Freie, a Brazilian educator, Mr Tsang said “education should help individuals and society to move towards new possibilities of a fuller and richer life”. Read more for a synopsis of the forum.
April 2019
Questionnaire – Reimagine Education
“Why do we have to go to school if knowledge is just a click away? WHAT skills should our next generations learn to prepare themselves for the future?”
Share your views by completing this short survey by 15 April 2019.
Esperanza is gathering community inputs to these two fundamental questions to guide our work under the “Reimagining Education” initiative.
At our first community meet-up on 31 Jan, participants rated “attaining a good life”, “developing one’s potential” and “imparting
values” as the top three purposes of education. They also indicated that Hong Kong has to step up efforts in developing some of the essential skills.
We are continuing the process of crowdsourcing inputs to the WHY and WHAT of education in the 21stcentury. We look forward to hearing from you.


Teach For Hong Kong
Esperanza supports the Teach For Hong Kong movement. TFHK is a growing movement of young leaders that drive systemic change in education with cross-sector collaboration. Through their one-year Fellowship Program, TFHK recruits and empowers the most promising and passionate young leaders to serve in underprivileged schools as full-time teachers. The Fellowship Program 2019-20 is now open for application. For more information, please visit here.
Esperanza Meet-up - What is the meaning of Education?
We had Esperanza’s first community meet-up on 31 January and it ended successfully. The discussion was fruitful and good. It might not be possible to reach a consensus but it was necessary to have different voices as we strive to come up with new solutions.
For more details, please click HERE.
Stakeholders Engagement Salons
Esperanza has been sharing thoughts and plans with different stakeholder groups and listening to their opinions since Sep 2018.
Teach For Hong Kong Education Symposium 2018
Esperanza was a Community Partner of the Teach For Hong King Education Symposium 2018, which was held on 13 Oct 2018