OUR STORY : How we started
Four years ago, I became deeply aware of the harsh realities of gender inequality while teaching entrepreneurship to women who had been trafficked and sexually exploited, for a Hong Kong-based anti-trafficking NGO. The resilience and strength of these women profoundly inspired me, igniting a question that continues to drive my journey today: How can we create lasting change? Though my life in Hong Kong was comfortable and my public relations business was taking off, something felt incomplete. I realized that change couldn’t come from reacting to crises alone — something deeper had to take place.
In the past two years, I’ve traveled the world, learning from incredible organizations and individuals making an impact. In Vietnam, I saw WildAct protecting wildlife and empowering women in conservation; in Thailand, I learnt how Chai Lai Orchid’s social business model funds trafficking prevention through education and employment; in San Francisco, I observed how The Women’s Building offers a safe space for women-led initiatives. Along the way, I found my global tribe of change-makers: entrepreneurs, educators, conservationists, storytellers, and innovators — all passionate about driving purposeful change.
This journey led to the founding of Girls Be Change, with a clear vision: to enable and empower women and girls to be explorers and agents of transformation.
Community is the heart of social change
On International Women’s Day, March 2024, we started our first Women Changemakers Community gathering, co-organized with Dorothy Lam, founder of Dream Impact, Hong Kong’s largest network of impact ventures. The series has since brought together over 130 women change-makers and 16 purpose-driven organisations in Hong Kong, Kenya and Tanzania. These gatherings foster intentional conversations, inspire action, and build a community where everyone is an equal participant in driving collective impact. For Girls Be Change, community-building remains the foundation of our work, creating a supportive network of women, and men allies, dedicated to social change.
Exploring is key to change-making
While I explored the world, I also discovered new ways of living, leading, and building communities. Change begins within, and this is what I want you to experience in our upcoming Impact Expeditions for Women Explorers in 2025. These expeditions are not about sightseeing; they are impactful experience of stepping out of comfort zones, connecting with global and local change-makers, and embracing new perspectives, with like-minded women travelers who want to travel intentionally with purpose. Whether exploring the Peruvian Amazon or the hill tribes of Northern Thailand, our explorers will discover the power of exploration to inspire change.
Intentions and action shape our impact
Girls Be Change is a social business—a business that prioritizes solving social problems, operating self-sufficiently, and reinvesting its profits into our mission. Partnering with Daughters Rising Thailand, our net profits will support their Girls’ Scholarship Programme, enabling ethnic minority young women from Myanmar and those living in refugee camps along the Thailand-Myanmar border to pursue a university education. This ripple effect — where empowering one woman empowers many — is at the heart of our mission.
This is just the beginning of our story. We will continue building communities of change-makers, leading impact expeditions, and working towards a world where every individual, regardless of gender, can thrive.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Together, let’s be the change we want to see in the world!
Warmly,
Carmen Chan
Founder, Girls Be Change
