Everything You Need to Know About Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang Wired UK takes an in-depth look at Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang's string of successes, as well as the path he may take and the challenges he faces as the group's future executive chairman.

Meet the Next Generation of Alibaba's Leaders The South China Morning Post looks at the group of Alibaba executives born post-1970 who will take the company to the next level in its quest to do business for at least 102 years. Also, the paper earlier delved into the 36-member partnership that is the foundation of Alibaba's decision-making process.

How Jack Ma Became the Role Model for China's Startup Generation The success of Jack Ma and Alibaba have made startups an acceptable career choice, turning China into one of the biggest technology markets in the world. Read the Bloomberg story.

GATEWAY TO CHINA   |   ECOSYSTEM IN ACTION   |   CHINA INSIGHTS

WHAT IS THE TAOBAO MAKER FESTIVAL? ALIBABA’S CMO EXPLAINS The Taobao Maker Festival, one of the most-watched events Alibaba holds each year, spotlights the ingenuity and originality of young Chinese inventors, designers and product makers. This year, the four-day celebration (Sept. 13-16) is set to break its own record.  Chief Marketing Officer Chris Tung is the head architect of the jamboree, kindling entrepreneurs’ imagination and drawing global interest. Alizila spoke with Tung about the purpose of the festival, its ballooning appeal for Chinese consumers and innovators, the must-sees of this year’s event and why the world should pay close attention to it. READ & WATCH MORE

- world's largest market fund Yu'e Bao Sesame Credit score

HELLO NOT SURE WHICH CASES WE WILL BE ABLE TO CLARIFY WITH JACK MA'S ACADEMIC RESEARCHER DURING OUR 5 DAY DIALOGUE IN BANGLADESH BUT PLEASE ASK MOSTIOFA IF YOU WANT HIM TO TRY TO  CONNECT SOMEONE FROM THIS ALIBABA PROGRAM WITH YOUR PROGRAMS

‘THE LAST MILE’ OFFERS SAN QUENTIN INMATES ROAD TO NEW START

JENNY W. HSU | SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

FOR PETER STERN, WORK IS ALL ABOUT RETURN ON INVESTMENT. AT ALIBABA GROUP’S SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE, HE SPENDS HIS DAYS COMBING THROUGH POTENTIAL ACQUISITIONS TO MAKE SURE THE COMPANY GETS THE BIGGEST BANG FOR ITS BUCK. BUT OUTSIDE THE OFFICE, WHERE HE TEACHES INMATES AT SAN QUENTIN STATE PRISON ABOUT E-COMMERCE, HE’S AIMING FOR A RETURN RATE OF EXACTLY ZERO.

Zero because that’s the rate of recidivism he hopes he continues to see among his students. And the work he does with The Last Mile, a nonprofit organization in San Francisco that teaches computer skills to prisoners at San Quentin State Prison, has helped to deliver that return consistently.

The Last Mile

Chris Redlitz speaks at this year’s Demo Day in which The Last Mile students presented their business plans to a panel of Silicon Valley investors.

Established in 2011, The Last Mile was founded by two Silicon Valley veterans, Chris Redlitz and his wife Beverly Parenti, who are prominent venture capitalists and philanthropists in the Bay Area. They started a business-accelerator lab at San Quentin after Redlitz’s first visit to the facility in 2010, when he was invited to talk about entrepreneurship. The caliber and passion of his audience took him by surprise, he says.

“These were smart and knowledgeable men who were asking really smart questions. There was no question whatsoever that they wanted to turn their lives around,” said Redlitz, who still gets red-eyed and emotional when recalling the visit, which he described as “life changing.”

Parenti said the more they learned about the plight of the U.S. prison population, the more their desire to help. “Somethings got to be done,” she said.

America Behind Bars

With 327 million people, the U.S. accounts for 5% of the world’s population. But the country houses 20% of the world’s prisoners, according to a 2015 report by Institute for Criminal Policy Research.

Keeping people in prison is a costly burden on American taxpayers. The Federal Bureau of Prison under the Department of Justice reports that the annual cost of incarceration per federal inmate is $32,309. For some states, the cost is even higher.

In California, the state government spends approximately $71,000 on each prisoner per year. That’s higher than the annual average cost of living for a single person in San Francisco ($69,072) the most expensive city in which to live in the U.S. It is also 38% higher than the yearly average cost to live as a single person in New York City ($51,323).

Trapped in a Vicious Cycle

Redlitz won’t make excuses for his students. They are living the consequences of the crimes they committed. But he stresses that a crime shouldn’t define a person for the rest of his life, not when many repeat offenders “have no other way to take care of themselves or their families,” he said.

The most recent report by Prison Policy Initiative puts the unemployment rate among former prisoners at about 27%, higher than the U.S. unemployment rate during the Great Depression. According to a Bureau of Justice Statistics report released in May, 68% of released state prisoners were arrested within three years, 79% within six years and 83% within nine years.

“So why not teach them a skill so that they can do something good with it? It takes them off the streets, and they can contribute to the society,” Parenti said.

By reducing the rate of recidivism, the money that would have otherwise been spent on housing prisoners could go toward education and programs that help people stay out of prison, she added.

With Redlitz and Parenti lending their voices to the issue, The Last Mile has attracted a number of other Silicon Valley names as well, such as those from Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft and Facebook, celebrities such as MC Hammer and a handful of local volunteers such as Stern to lend a helping hand. That includes giving donations, serving as guest lecturers and what the nonprofit wants most: giving the program’s graduates a chance to try out their new skills on the outside.

Code for Life

Chris Schuhmacher (standing in the middle) offers his insights to students currently enrolled in the Code 7370 program.

The Last Mile’s signature program is Code 7370, which teaches prisoners about coding languages, such as HTML, Javascript, SCC and Python, as well as data visualization and user-interface, web and logo design. The program is a collaboration among The Last Mile, the California Prison Industry Authority and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

For Chris Schuhmacher, the program was the lifeline he never dreamed possible, especially when he was dealing marijuana and getting high on the streets of Los Angeles more than two decades ago. One day, in a heated altercation, Schuhmacher killed a man. The judge handed him a life sentence.

“Prison was hard, but it was the wake-up call that I needed,” he said.

Inside his windowless cell, day after day, month after month, he was forced to face his demons and figure out a way to undo the damage he’d done, including hurting his mother and sister, who never gave up on him. His decided that he may not be able to change his past, but he could build a new future.

By enrolling in the The Last Mile and putting in thousands of hours of hard work, grinding away on the computer and devouring one coding book after another, Schuhmacher was able to discover a new talent for programming, math and building algorithms, which ultimately led to him to build his own app.

Called “Fitness Monkey,” the app was designed to help people kick addiction through physical exercise. It won him accolades and financial backing from real investors. Moreover, it paved the way for his current job as a software engineer at Fandom, a San Francisco-based content-creation company.

Thanks to early parole, Schuhmacher is one of many dozens of The Last Mile graduates to find a job after serving their time. For him, it was 16 years.

Chrisfino Kenyatta Leal, a graduate of The Last Mile, shared his life-changing journey with TLM students at this year’s Demo Day at the San Quentin State Prison.

Chrisfino Kenyatta Leal was a high school dropout who served 19 years of a life sentence, which came as a result of California’s three-strikes rule. But now he works at shared-workspace provider Rocketspace. He started doing “campus service,” which meant scraping gum off the floor. His hardworking attitude was recognized and eventually he was promoted to business-development manager. His current job: the reentry manager at The Last Mile, which helps ex-convicts adjust to life on the outside after time in prison.

Another success story is Anouthinh Pangthong or Choy, as he likes to be called. The Laotian refugee, who spent 22 years in San Quentin for murder, said learning how to build and design a website has taught him about actions and consequences. Each part of the website-building process will impact what comes next, he said, so it forced him to think a few steps ahead.

“I was so impulsive and reactionary before. So hot headed,” he said. “But now, I learned to dissect my actions and process each of my life’s choices.”

Currently, Choy works as an Outreach Associate for Re:store Justice, an NGO that promotes prison reform, and as a hip-hop choreographer.

Re-Programming the Mind and Heart

Peter Stern speaks to a participant of The Last Mile during one of his volunteer sessions.

The skills that Stern and his fellow lecturers teach are giving the marathoners in the The Last Mile program a pair of high-performance running shoes. Plus, there’s an aspect of cheerleading to the work, too.

“I teach about Alibaba, e-commerce and China. But maybe more important than classwork is demonstrating belief and sincerity to instill confidence,” Stern said.

Parenti said when Stern speaks to the inmates, whether in a group or one-on-one, “he is not just telling what they can do better. He is talking to them about owning who they are and being proud of their accomplishments.”

The Last Mile students are not stereotypical prisoners, Stern said. They may have made terrible mistakes, but they have taken responsibility and now show a “powerful determination to make amends.”

Shared Values

The Last Mile’s belief that everyone deserves a chance to succeed is also a conviction deeply rooted in Alibaba, an internet and e-commerce giant known for being the champion of small businesses in China. The company’s culture emphasizes standing with “the little guys,” Stern said. And Alibaba employees are required to donate time each year to a social cause of their choice.

Similar to The Last Mile, Alibaba’s education arm, Taobao University, also holds regular courses at the Qiao Si Prison in Hangzhou, where the company is headquartered. The classes teach inmates about e-commerce and how to run an online business after they have served their time.

A representative from the prison said that for many ex-convicts in China, even though they were able to gain a job skill during their incarceration, still have a hard time finding employment because of their prior record. That leads many of them to e-commerce as an ideal way to get a fresh start.

“There are many shared values between The Last Mile and Alibaba. [Alibaba Group founder] Jack Ma frequently says that Alibaba stands for the underdogs. The Last Mile students are the ultimate underdogs,” said Stern.

Giving Back and Looking Forward

Rapper MC Hammer congratulates a Code 7370 graduate.

For many of The Last Mile’s graduates, the program has opened doors that were once closed to them because they came from communities that didn’t inspire a future in the tech world.

“Growing up, many of [the inmates] didn’t have any professionals to look up to. There were no doctors or lawyers or computer programmers,” Parenti said. “All the ones with cars and the bling were the guys on the streets dealing drugs. They were the people others aspired to be.”

To break that cycle, many alumni have gone back to their old neighborhoods to be the positive role model that they didn’t have when they were growing up.

“These graduates are in a unique position because they can go back to the neighborhood as successful people and impact others,” said Redlitz.

East Meets West at New York Fashion Week's 'Tmall China Day'

Thanks to Alibaba, three Chinese designer labels made their runway debut at New York Fashion Week: The Shows. Alizila digs deeper with this story on the brands and the event.

update founding members of LUOHAN

he Luohan Academy’s current academic committee members include Nobel Prize laureates and prominent scholars around the world:

• Patrick Bolton, Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business, Columbia Business School
• Markus Brunnermeier, Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Economics, Princeton University
• Bengt Holmstrom, 2016 Nobel Laureate, Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics, MIT
• Lars Peter Hansen, 2013 Nobel Laureate, David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, Statistics, Booth School of Business & The College, University of Chicago
• Preston McAfee, Most Recently Served as Chief Economist and Corp VP at Microsoft
• Christopher Pissarides, 2010 Nobel Laureate, Regius Professor of Economics, LSE
• Yingyi Qian, Distinguished Professor and Dean of School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University
• Alvin Roth, 2012 Nobel Laureate, The Craig and Susan McCaw Professor of Economics, Stanford University
• Thomas Sargent, 2011 Nobel Laureate, W.R. Berkley Professor of Economics and Business, New York University
• Michael Spence, 2001 Nobel Laureate, William R. Berkley Professor in Economics & Business, NYU Stern
• Steve Tadelis, Professor of Economics, Business and Public Policy, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
• Neng Wang, Chong Khoon Lin Professor of Real Estate & Professor of Finance, Columbia Business School
• Shangjin Wei, Professor of Finance and Economics, Professor of International Affairs, and N.T. Wang Professor of Chinese Business and Economy, Columbia University
• Wei Xiong, Trumbull-Adams Professor of Finance, Princeton University
• Chenggang Xu, Quoin Professor in Economic Development, University of Hong Kong, Professor of Economics, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business

dear friiends at BRAC you may want to wechat/whatsapp with ying about this- for example are they interested in sharing the 300 trillion dollar sdg challenge that ,mark introduced concurrently with head of un general assembly and to brac/ with bangladesh a potential lead solution  sdg zone - can this news be circulated to various parts of brac including brac uni and bkash

For me the fact that ying lowrey currently is both in with aliresearch team at alibaba in hangzhou and with relevant people and brilliant  youth learners movements out of tsinghua is unique opportunity to ask her questions as well as to build knowledge exchanges; in fact as her first book was foreworded by the only us nobel economics laureate of sme value chains (phelps at columbia) i have to assume he helped connect this new academy; this come 2 weeks after Guterres asked jack and melinda gates to lead a team updating all tech practice possibilities by march 2019 ahead of beijing biggest yet summit on new development banking and trading partnerships across world's geographical corridors (where the sino-bangladesh-s asia corridor remains where over 3 billion people's sustainability needs to be mapped)

thanks chris

Alibaba Backs New Research Program to Address Digital Challenges | Alizila.com

Alibaba Backs New Research Program to Address Digital Challenges | Alizi... Alibaba formed the Luohan Academy, a research program to address the economic consequences and social disruption...

Patrick Bolton, Barbara and David Zalaznick professor of business, Columbia Business School, Markus Brunnermeier, Edwards S. Sanford professor of economics, Princeton University, Bengt Holmstrom, 2016 Nobel Laureate, among others.

During the first conference held in Hangzhou this week, the committee of the Luohan Academy convened and signed the mission statement. The Louhan Academy aims to get societies well-prepared for the unprecedented structural transformation brought by advanced technologies, such big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotics. It will study the coming digital revolution to benefit societies and individuals both domestically and internationally.

As a member of the academic committee of Luohan Academy, Markus Brunnermeier, Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Economics, Princeton University commented, "I think we live through a big watershed moment, we see big technological changes happening. We have to think about how our society will deal with these changes and find different ways to regulate the economy. We need to think carefully about how to use insights from tech and social sciences in order to achieve better outcome for humanity. We should not say no to new opportunities simply because they come with challenges."

Alibaba Group this week formed the Luohan Academy, a global research program that aims to address the emerging economic consequences and social disruptions of a digital economy.

“Luohan” is a Buddhist term for “perfected beings,” or “those who have achieved nirvana.” In the Chinese language, it is often used to describe “those with extraordinary skills and talent.”

True to its moniker, the academy has attracted a lineup of 15 of the world’s leading thinkers and researchers. They include six Nobel Laureates, as well as renowned economists, social scientists, tech pioneers and professors from prestigious higher learning institutes, such as Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University and China’s Tsinghua University.

At the academy’s launch event, Alibaba Executive Chairman and founder Jack Ma said Alibaba has the “responsibility to use our resources, technology, people and everything we have to help the world embrace the change and solve the challenges.”

“If we don’t pay attention to the technology revolution, it will cause a social revolution, especially that this technology is coming in a such huge wave that is changing every aspect of human lives,” he said to the researchers at a private meeting held at Alibaba’s global headquarters in Hangzhou.

Ma, an English teacher turned entrepreneur, has maintained a lifelong passion for education, innovation, problem solving and working with individuals who share the same passion. In fact, the 18 original partners who created Alibaba with Ma nearly 19 years ago are known as the 18 luohans.

WATCH: Jack Ma speaks with Luohan Academy researchers  

净版马云罗汉堂

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The launch of the Academy follows the establishment of another global research program—the DAMO Academy—in October last year.  While DAMO focuses on the developing the most cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning, robotics, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence to fulfill Alibaba’s commitment to serve two billion customers and create 100 million jobs in 20 years, Luohan’s purpose is to study the implications of such technology advancement and “build an inclusive community for systemic and in-depth research,” the company said.

The academy also seeks to discuss questions such as how societies can harness the power of technology while ensuring a fair distribution of power, what the future of work and leisure are, what the appropriate regulations and politics to foster fair competition without impeding innovation are and how digital technology can contribute to a greener planet.

“We are living through a big watershed moment. We see big technological changes happening. We have to think about how our society will deal with these changes…how to use insights from tech and social science in order to achieve better outcome for humanity,” said Markus Brunnermeier, an economics professor at Princeton University.

The academy, headed by former head of strategy at Alibaba’s fintech arm, Ant Financial, Dr. Chen Long, will hold regular meetings and recruit additional researchers with different backgrounds to expand the academy’s scope.

During a two-day workshop, the academy’s committee discussed the potential negative impacts that digital technology has on the economy, job replacements, platform governance, the future financial infrastructure, as well as hot topics, such as privacy protection and how to keep the use of data in check. The Academy will produce an annual white paper to present its findings.

“New technologies are revolutionizing economic growth. New platforms keep emerging with innovative operating models. This completely overhauls our understanding on corporations,” said Wei Xiong, a professor of finance at Princeton University.

“As many platform companies are cross-industry, which is a challenge for regulations and laws to keep up, this makes it a long-standing issue in the future,” he added.

eFounders links

efounders by belt road  br9 africa  ::: br1.2 asean  :: br1 south of china br6 and 10 americas

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Introduction

When Jack Ma visited Africa in 2017, he saw a continent facing many of the same challenges that Alibaba had managed to overcome in the last 15 years in China. eCommerce operations flanked by payments, logistics, tourism and big data platforms are starting to take shape and create value in unique markets across Africa and the rest of the developing world.

As a Special Advisor to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Jack recognized that by applying ideas from China’s most innovative businesses to their own ventures, participants will have the opportunity to innovate in their home countries. With this opportunity in mind, the eFounders Fellowship was created to find and empower 1000 platform builders who can leverage Alibaba’s experience in China.

Class 4 applications are NOW OPEN! Deadline is 2nd Sept 2018 at 23:59:59. More details below.

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In the News

Jack Ma Drive for Young African Entrepreneurs Picks Pace

July 10, 2018

Alibaba, UNCTAD Team Up Again To Foster African Entrepreneurs

July 1, 2018

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Thirty-seven e-commerce entrepreneurs from Asia have enrolled on UNCTAD and Alibaba Business School's eFounders Initiative at the Alibaba campus in Hangzhou, China.

The 11-day course is part of a commitment by Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of the Alibaba Group and UNCTAD special adviser, to empower 1,000 e-commerce entrepreneurs from developing countries in five years.

The launch of the first programme for Asian entrepreneurs comes after the success of the inaugural class for 24 African participants last November.

Following a rigorous selection process, the final candidates from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam will study e-commerce innovations from China and around the world, and become eFounders Fellows.

The aim is that these young entrepreneurs will become catalysts in their home countries for the digital transformation of their economies.

Related News:

22 Nov 2017 - Launch of Jack Ma's eFounders Initiative

23 Jul 2017 - UNCTAD adviser, Alibaba's Jack Ma, launches African Young Entrepreneurs Fund

Related link:

• UNCTAD Youth Network

Smart partnerships

"We want to reach out to youth and include them in the work we do for inclusive and sustainable economic growth," Arlette Verploegh, Coordinator for the eFounders Initiative at UNCTAD, said.

"The initiative is about bridging the digital divide for young entrepreneurs and unlock their potential. It is part of a set of smart partnerships UNCTAD is creating to reach the Sustainable Development Goals."

All the participants are founders of start-up companies in e-commerce, big data, logistics, financial technology, payment solutions and tourism.

"We are excited to extend this fellowship to entrepreneurs from Asia for the very first time as part of our commitment to empower digital champions and communities around the world," said Brian A. Wong, Vice President of Alibaba Group, who heads the Global Initiatives programme.

"Our goal is to inspire entrepreneurs to serve as pioneers for building a more inclusive development model that is not just good for their business, but also good for society by creating platforms that all can participate in and benefit from."

Under the auspices of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the initiative is aligned with the wider call to ensure that no one is left behind in the digital economy, and to help bridge the digital divide faced by businesses in emerging markets.

Jointly organized by UNCTAD and Alibaba Business School, the eFounders Initiative also supports Alibaba's mission to help small businesses succeed in their home markets and beyond. It was first announced in 2017 by Jack Ma in his capacity as the UNCTAD Special Adviser for Young Entrepreneurs and Small Business when he, together with Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, visited Africa.

E-commerce ecosystems

The participants in the eFounders Initiative will learn first-hand the transformative impact e-commerce and technology has had on society in China and participate in lectures and discussions with local practitioners and executives to identify the lessons that can be applied to their own markets.

Topics covered will include e-commerce, payment, logistics, big data and tourism from Alibaba Group and other successful companies in the e-commerce value chain, with sessions touching on digital finance, smart logistics and rural e-commerce development, among others.

Upon graduation, participants will officially become Fellows of the eFounders Initiative and make formal commitments on how they will apply what they learn from the programme.

As part of the wider eFounders Initiative community of promising young entrepreneurs around the world, UNCTAD and Alibaba Group will also continue to advise on and provide support for the creation of e-commerce ecosystems jointly with other stakeholders.

The first class of eFounders Fellows - 24 entrepreneurs from Africa - completed the programme in November 2017 after a similar two-week intensive workshop in Hangzhou.

To continue the impact of the initiative, UNCTAD and Alibaba have already completed a full round of follow-up meetings with the fellows, each of whom are actively applying what they have learned to their own enterprises, as well as sharing insights with their home communities. Fellows are working toward achieving their commitments and will continue to check in with UNCTAD and Alibaba every three months.