Social Entrepreneurship at School: How UWCSEA's SSEP Programme Started Up
By Angel Wu, Founder, Socially Sustainable Entrepreneurship Program (SSEP), Dover Campus Parent, Member of the Board of Governors, UWCSEA
15 June 2026
Angel Wu, is a UWCSEA Dover Parent and member of the Board of Governors. She is also Founder of the Socially Sustainable Entrepreneurship Programme (SSEP), a joint extra curricular initiative by the Ideas Hub at Dover Campus and Innovation@East that guides High School students in designing and launching viable, impact-driven businesses that benefit both people and the planet.
Angel shares the story behind why she started the programme.
I have been deeply involved with UWCSEA for a number of years, both as a parent and through formal leadership roles, including serving as a Board Governor and previously as Chair of the Parents' Association (PA) at UWCSEA Dover. During that time, I have been involved in many aspects of school life, not only by supporting activities and initiatives, but also by helping build stronger connections across the community.
That involvement has given me a real appreciation for what makes UWCSEA special: its strong sense of purpose, its emphasis on service, leadership and global mindedness, and its belief that education should extend well beyond the classroom.
Those same values are at the heart of SSEP, which is why founding and growing the programme felt both meaningful and very aligned with the broader mission of the College.
The spark for SSEP came from the belief that the world our children will enter is going to look very different from the one many of us prepared for. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technologies are already disrupting traditional learning models and transforming the job market. Many junior-level roles that once served as stepping stones into the workforce are starting to disappear or change dramatically. That means we cannot rely only on conventional education to prepare students for the future. We want to give them new tools, broader exposure and a more entrepreneurial mindset, so they are not limited to a narrow path, but instead have wider options to choose from when they enter the real world.
SSEP was designed to help students think independently, solve real problems, build resilience and understand that they can create value, not just compete for existing opportunities. These are important skills to develop, especially in the age of AI and technology.
Practical and Philosophical Challenges
In the early stages, one of the biggest challenges was turning the concept into something practical, credible and scalable. That meant designing the programme structure, engaging students, bringing in the right mentors and judges, and building enough trust for the community to believe in it and invest time in it.
But the more interesting challenge was philosophical: how do you teach students to build ventures that are genuinely socially sustainable, while also being honest that without a viable business model, most good intentions do not last? That tension showed up often. Many of our judges and mentors come from investment and business backgrounds, so their default lens is commercial viability, scale and bottom-line discipline. That does not always sit comfortably alongside a purely impact-first mindset, and there were some very healthy debates around where the balance should be.
To me, that was actually one of the most valuable parts of the programme. Students were not being taught in an idealised vacuum. They were exposed to the real tension between mission and market, and had to think through how to build something that could achieve both.
Team FresCo Takes First Place
FresCo stood out because they paired a strong idea with a very grounded approach to execution. One thing I found especially impressive was how they learned to use existing resources and identify practical solutions. That kind of resourcefulness is real entrepreneurship. It shows maturity, adaptability and an understanding that strong ventures are often built by combining what already exists in smarter ways. They also brought clarity, seriousness and a willingness to learn, which made them compelling winners.
More broadly, I thought this year’s cohort was exceptional. The quality, diversity and ambition of the ideas were very encouraging. What stood out most to me was the courage and poise students showed in tackling real issues and putting their ideas out. Also, how well they responded when that bar was set high. The students showed more maturity, creativity and resilience than many adults would expect, and they were willing to engage seriously with difficult questions rather than settle for easy answers.
Not every team will continue with their project after the programme, of course, but all of them gained something valuable through the process.
One thing I would add is that SSEP is about much more than identifying ‘winners.’ The real success of the programme is in the growth of the students: their confidence, teamwork, communication, resilience and willingness to engage with real problems. Those things are harder to measure, but they matter deeply.
The Exponential Growth of SSEP
[The growth of the programme] is incredibly gratifying. When you start something like this, you hope it will resonate, but you never fully know how it will evolve. Seeing SSEP grow from 100 students and 17 teams in year one to more than 250 students and 60 teams this year has been both humbling and energising.
One of the most encouraging additions this year was the student leadership team. These students were not just helping behind the scenes; they were taking on real responsibility by organising every part of the programme, coordinating with teams, and working with professional mentors and experts to make the events successful. That gave them a true leadership experience, with all the communication, accountability and complexity that comes with it.
I think it has grown because it meets a real need. Students are hungry for experiences that feel relevant, ambitious and connected to the real world. SSEP gives them ownership, but it also gives them guidance and a platform to present their ideas. I also think the programme has grown because of our great and supportive community who have genuinely cared about making it succeed.
Community Drives Programmes like SSEP
SSEP would simply not be possible without the community behind it. This has never been the work of one person or one small team. It has been a collective effort built on generosity, trust and shared belief in what students can do.
There is a saying that it takes a village to raise a child, and I think SSEP is a very real example of that in action. Parents, donors, teachers, staff, alumni, mentors and judges have all contributed in meaningful ways through time, expertise, encouragement and practical help. Each group brings something different, but together they create the kind of environment in which students can stretch themselves, take risks and grow.
To me, that is one of the most powerful things about the programme. SSEP is about more than entrepreneurship. It is also a reminder of what a strong school community can do when it comes together with a shared purpose.
The Future of SSEP
The goal for future iterations of SSEP is to make the programme even stronger, more student-led and more relevant to the world students are actually entering. We will continue deepening mentorship, expanding engagement with external experts, and building a more robust bridge between ideas, execution and real-world problem-solving.
I also hope SSEP continues to signal something important about UWCSEA: that this is a place willing to invest in student ideas, back student leadership, and create opportunities for future young leaders to do meaningful work before they ever leave school. That is a very powerful message, and I hope to continue to build on it.
Ultimately, I hope students walk away with more than inspiration. I hope they leave with practical confidence, resilience and a much broader sense of what they can do in the world. If SSEP does its job well, students should come out of it better equipped not only to participate in the future, but to shape it.
Hear from the student awardees and learn more about what the SSEP Programme entails at the link below.
Learning Real-world Business Skills
in High School at UWCSEA