James worked closely with local government and schools to negotiate funding for a scholarship, which would fund a Chinese student whose education had been affected by the earthquake to go to school internationally. 

Inspired by what had been achieved, he launched IDEAS in University College London, as a platform to apply enterprise-based solutions to solving key social issues, and to bring people and students together around this approach to development.

A hugely diverse team of people was attracted to IDEAS, keen to find ways to use social enterprise to enable the dreams of others around the world, and ultimately to improve lives. Together, we set out to do that.

Our mission is to demonstrate the commercial viability of social enterprise models in international development. So our unique incubation process reconciles social impact and profitability.

Our first enterprise expanded on James's work in China, continuing to focus on education. We set out to create further bridges between the UK and under-resourced Chinese schools, by enabling British students to repurpose old books and send them to students across China. To enhance this learning experience we launched a proprietary e-learning platform, to enable both sets of schools to communicate educationally. This enterprise continues to sustainably support schools across China.

Three and a half years on, IDEAS Globally has grown into an international platform for social entrepreneurship in emerging economies, with a globally distributed team, and enterprises rapidly increasing in scale and impact. 

We are proud to have developed a committed, active community of incredible social entrepreneurs that spans over 20 languages and nationalities, and as many disciplines. 

In February 2015, we initiated a unique education programme for local Chinese students, sponsored by the Sichuan government; this has since become a long-term programme.