CoCoon Foundation 成員介紹 — Michele

Hi everyone!

My name is Michele and I’m the new Head of Education at CoCoon Foundation. I joined CF in September but it feels like it’s been much longer than that because of all the exciting new projects and learning that’s happened in the past month and a half! CF is a friendly and energetic place to work; our team is motivated and self-driven and they surprise and inspire me with their creative ideas and ability to get things done. Here are a few photo highlights from my past few weeks here:

My first day at CoCoon! We had a Quarterly Show & Tell meeting and team lunch

Conducting a Values Workshop with the team!

An interactive STEP Two workshop — I love the opportunity to visit schools and talk to students in person

But participating in a live e-learning session is also quite a cool experience

This is me facilitating a STEP Two workshop

A little bit more about my background: I am proud to share that I am an entrepreneur myself — in 2013 I founded a craft brewery in Hong Kong called Moonzen Brewery. Starting and operating my own business has been a wild and wonderful adventure, and we have grown 10x since we started as a humble 800 square foot brewery in Kwun Tong.

This is our 4-vessel brewhouse. Moonzen is inspired by Chinese culture so our mash tank is decorated with a Pixiu, a mythical creature that attracts good fortune.

We have 11 big tanks in our brewery, each one can fill 2000L of delicious beer — that’s about 6000 bottles!

My interview with TVB, introducing the craft brewing process and different types of beer

Before my entrepreneurship journey I worked for 8 years in NGO management and higher education. After I graduated from Cambridge University, my first job was as a secondary school teacher in London under the Teach First Leadership Program!

Teach First 2005 Cohort — can you find me?

This is the school in London where I taught Religious Studies to 450 F1-F5 students

I used to teach and conduct research at the University of Hong Kong

It just goes to prove that you don’t need any business background or big investment backup to start your business and go after your dreams — but you do need a lot of vision, bootstrapping and perseverance. These entrepreneurship skills are also what we teach to students at CoCoon Foundation, and I feel very lucky to be able to combine my experience and passion for entrepreneurship and education in my work here.

Alright, that’s it for now. Next time I will remember to capture some interesting videos and attempt a vlog! Until then, stay safe and hope we can have the opportunity to meet face-to-face soon at future events.