Our mission stood from our founder, Russ Neu’s personal experiences when he was a teacher.

During his teaching tenure, Russ encountered a disheartening situation involving one of his students who had been absent from school for several days. Upon visiting her home, Russ discovered that she was experiencing severe pain in her right arm. Coming from a low-income family, she resorted to self-medication due to financial constraints.

Six months later, the student was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Despite a year-long battle, she succumbed to the illness. This incident deeply affected Russ, prompting him to question how such circumstances could exist in a world characterised by ostentatious wealth, as depicted in the popular novel and film “Crazy Rich Asians.”

Russ’s encounter left an indelible impression on him, revealing that the absence of financial resources hindered the resolution of numerous critical issues.

Moving forward in 2012, while pursuing his master’s degree at Tsinghua University, Russ focused his thesis on developing sustainable strategies for the Chi Heng Foundation. The Chi Heng Foundation supports children affected by AIDS in China, specifically those whose parents have succumbed to the disease, those who have HIV-positive parents, or children who themselves are living with HIV. Through his research, Russ came to the realisation that money is not the root of all evil. It is the lack thereof that gives rise to evil.

Social Collider uses economic development through entrepreneurship to address issues of poverty.