Mastercard Strengthens Support of Hong Kong Education Sector as Kids’ Gallery Joins Priceless Planet Coalition
October 31, 2022 | HONG KONGMastercard cardholders can help restore trees around the world through Kids’ Gallery – the Coalition’s first partner in the education sector in Hong Kong
Mastercard today announced the addition of Kids’ Gallery, a local provider of creative education, as a partner of the Priceless Planet Coalition in Hong Kong. Kids’ Gallery is the first in the education sector to join a roster of SMEs collaborating with Mastercard on environmental initiatives, working together with local companies and global conglomerates towards a shared vision and goals to preserve the planet for future generations. These goals include the restoration of 100 million trees globally by 2025 and the promotion of sustainability in early childhood education.
Kids’ Gallery’s founder Joanna Hotung was inspired to heed calls for environmental action by the song “Banyan Tree”, written by her daughter – Hong Kong artist Sophia Hotung. This led to the partnership with Mastercard, and a push for the digitalization of Kids’ Gallery’s services, including digital payments, reducing the need for paper and creating a much more convenient and sustainable experience for parents. The partnership is also driven by Kids’ Gallery’s ambition to aid reforestation efforts through donations to the Coalition.
Kids’ Gallery has been providing children with holistic education since 1996 in Hong Kong, now encompassing visual, performance and communication arts. Bolstering the Priceless Planet Coalition’s environmental initiatives, Kids’ Gallery holds art projects where recycled materials and found objects are incorporated freely. Students can discuss how best to use materials to avoid waste, while older learners are encouraged to engage in conversations about global warming and climate change.
Joanna Hotung, Founder, Kids’ Gallery, said, “Having been in the education industry for more than 25 years, we strive to always be forward thinking and embrace changes. Our partnership with Mastercard highlights how Kids’ Gallery feels strongly in the preservation of the planet for our children, and the Priceless Planet Coalition brings together our belief in the power of imagination, and the need to make change and create a better world for all.”
Helena Chen, Managing Director, Hong Kong and Macau, Mastercard, said, “Mastercard welcomes Kids’ Gallery to the Priceless Planet Coalition, putting a spotlight on the Hong Kong education sector’s support for environmental initiatives. Mastercard hopes to help create a greener world, and support shaping the environmental consciousness of tomorrow’s leaders, with a goal to develop Hong Kong as a sustainable society.”
Established in 2022, the Priceless Planet Coalition currently has 18 restoration projects around the world, emerging as a platform that unites companies, communities and consumers in climate action. It now includes more than 110 partners globally, including sustainably minded merchants, fintechs and banks. Each partner helps fund forest restoration through consumer engagement and donation campaigns that encourage people to take climate-friendly actions or make direct contributions through a donation platform.
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The partnership is inspired by a song called “Banyan Tree”, written by Joanna’s daughter. As a symbolic tree of the longevity and resilience of Hong Kong amid a time of difficulty, it also encourages preservation of the planet for future generations. Listen to Kids’ Gallery students singing “Banyan Tree” here: https://youtu.be/sI6U8vsCrbc |
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Helena Chen, Managing Director, Hong Kong and Macau, Mastercard |
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Joanna Hotung, Founder, Kids’ Gallery |
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About Kids’ Gallery
Kids’ Gallery, Hong Kong’s leading creative education provider, has 26 years of experience developing creativity, curiosity, and confidence in children, focusing on critical soft skills learning. It provides early learners, visual, performing, and communication arts courses to children aged from one to 12 years. Established in 1996 by education expert Joanna Hotung, Kids’ Gallery continues to inspire children, create awareness of and arouse interest in the arts, and develop a solid foundation of creativity, enquiry-based learning, and critical thinking, through a wide range of arts enrichment programmes.
About Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.
