Peking University, September 20, 2017: On September 15, the annual public welfare ceremony of Impatient Optimists, hosted by the Center for Social Media Research (CSMR), School of New Media, PKU, was held at PKU Hall. This celebration also marked the 6th cooperation between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Peking University.
On the opening speech, Wang Xiuli, director of CSMR stressed the important role played by social media in philanthropic organizations and their work. “We hope our academic research findings would be helpful for Impatient Optimists in their philanthropic practice.” Wang said.
Ms. Agi Veres, country director of UNDP China, said that so far we had made good progress but there was still a long way to go. She advocated that all the innovators, civil societies and international organizations should work together to facilitate the achievement of sustainable development goals and share good news across the world.
Ms. Agi Veres
Li Yinuo, chief representative of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Beijing Office, said we had made great achievements in improving health and alleviating poverty on the global scale in the past 20 years, and that China was one of the biggest contributors. She hoped more and more young people would join with Impatient Optimists.
Guests discussing
During the group discussion, Li Yinuo, Agi Veres, and other participants shared with each other their views on the practice of sustainable development, discussed how to promote the public good in a creative way, talked about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on media and charity work, and shared with the audience their original experiences and dreams about public good.
In addition, Wang Jia, a Chinese actor, was granted the “Star Advocate of 2017 Impatient Optimists” in the event. Kong Xiangdong, a pianist, played the opening song for the celebration.
Kong Xiangdong playing the opening song
Background Information
The Center for Social Media Research (CSMR) is a research institution housed under Peking University School of New Media and is the first academic and public policy center solely devoted to social media research in China. CSMR is committed to providing independent, accurate and objective research and impact assessments. The Center provides academic consulting and develops real world action plans for social media’s policy and development path.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, also known as the Gates Foundation, is a private foundation founded by Bill and Melinda Gates. It was launched in 2000. The primary aims of the foundation are, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and in America, to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology. The foundation, based in Seattle, Washington, is controlled by its three trustees: Bill and Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett. Other principal officers include Co-Chair William H. Gates, Sr. and Chief Executive Officer Susan Desmond-Hellmann.
Written by: Li Xiaotong
Edited by: Hu Rong
