Workshop Women in Business: „Female Change Makers“—Women and Social Entrepreneurship

Before coming to Shanghai with her husband Ekkehard in 1995, Doris was a sales woman for a soft – and hardware company in Germany. Upon arrival, having always been very interested by medicine, she first studied Chinese for 2 years before starting her education in Traditional Chinese Medicine from 1997 to 2003. After graduation as a Doctor in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Doris founded Body & Soul Consulting Company to offer TCM consultations to foreigners in China. One year later, in July 2004, she opened the first Body & Soul - Medical Clinic. Within seven years, she opened three more clinics in Shanghai with the effort to treat the person as a whole. The four locations now offer TCM consultations – along with TCM treatments such as acupuncture and Tuina-massage -, physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, podiatry, nutrition and psychological consultations. The clinics are also well equipped with laboratories to perform Western diagnoses and pharmacies to hand out Western and Chinese medication right after consultation.

Marina is a social activist focusing on the empowerment of individuals with disabilities through education, skills development and occupation; she is specializing in projects that are focusing on the inclusion of the "other" back into the society.
Marina is co-managing the first industrial workshop in China which provides respectful and dignified employment for intellectually and mentally challenged individuals.
In addition, she initiated and has been leading the Social Inclusion Academy [SIA] - a full 3 months training program for the certification of qualified Job Coaches who will lead the social integration of challenged individuals into china’s work force.
Formerly, Marina coordinated a unique integration program for young adults with intellectual disabilities, later on, founded and managed a Language training center for children with learning disabilities.

Inclusion Factory is based on the philosophy that people with disabilities can and want to be productive members of society. They specialize in working with intellectually challenged individuals in a professional working environment.

Originally from France, Cecile Cavoizy has been living in Shanghai since 2002 and involved in the development and management of several charity programs as sustainable social enterprises since 2009. She is currently the Executive Director of Shanghai Young Bakers, a non-profit that provides French bakery training to marginalised Chinese youth so that they can find stable employment and lead independent lives after graduation.
Shanghai Young Bakers (SYB) provides a fully-sponsored French bakery training to marginalised Chinese youth. Due to the growing demand of bread on the Chinese market, SYB graduates easily find a stable, qualified job after graduation and pull themselves out of the poverty cycle.

Seema has began her career as graduate automobile engineer in early 90's at Mitsubishi JV plant at India for Commercial vehicles. Since then she spent her career with various automobile and engineering companies like Tata Volvo LMW Spire etc. and have engaged with various Chinese tier1/2 machinery companies too in last 15 years.

Currently a Few of management and technical institutes IIM/IIT reach her and she is a constant volunteer panelist on insight of low cost manufacturing practices and culture difference in working style between India and China and share her experience.

She has always a bent towards community service since high school but she decided to enter this seriously when she attended an online course on "World health and society " from Harvard and then she decided to dedicate her services to blind and visually impaired community rehabilitation in china and India. In Shanghai she is a volunteer board member and serving as Program and Projects Director of a charity Organisation Mifanmama which is engaged in children and youth welfare with prime focus on blind orphans.

For the past 15 years, Heather has been blessed to devote most of her time to serving various non-profit local outreach programs. In her hometown, Georgia, USA, Heather spearheaded or led several local outreach programs to aid the migrant worker community as well as the impoverished single mothers and victims of domestic abuse. In so doing, Heather organized and facilitated 20+ for an array of non-profit charity organizations.

Since moving to Shanghai with her family five years ago, Heather has been blessed to serve for the past several years as a volunteer event planner for More Than Aware (MTA).

More Than Aware is a support group made of 100% volunteer international women and men who serve local breast cancer ‘Thrivers’ ( so called as they do more than merely ‘survive’) through an in incredibly successful program which implements Three Pillars of Recovery Success:
• Sisterhood Support
• Wellness from Within
• Proactive Prevention

Heather is very passionate about the MTA mission, and is thrilled to play a role in serving the amazingly inspiring local breast cancer Thriver community.