About
Global Friendship (GF) is one of the largest foreign communities in southern China, with over 20,000 followers across our social media platforms. Representing more than 100 nationalities, GF truly is a global network (based in China). Locals and expatriate members recognize GF as an integral part of their community, for the support provided in either personal or business development.
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GF aims at building connections to help the community grow. This is done through our four pillars: social and cultural events, educational workshops (personal and professional development), community development opportunities, and our integrative services (support with housing, legal, visa, and much more).
​Let's build meaningful connections together!
​Our mission
Our mission is to build meaningful connections together to help the community grow. We offer meaningful events and services to our members. Including, social and cultural events, educational and wellness workshops, charitable projects, and integrated life services provided by trusted business partners.
Our Core Values
Diversity – We are diverse in the people we serve and hire, and the events we organize and offer.
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Transparency – We act and conduct ourselves with honesty, within our team, to our members and partners.
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Passion – We create, we connect and we do so whole heartily, recognizing passion motivates us to contin21ue to aspire to our goals.
Core Qualities
Create - Creating meaningful events and workshops that inspire others to get involved and share their own skills and talents.
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Care - Thinking of others and our com-munities, allows for greater opportunity to bring about change when others feel they are respected.
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Unite - Connecting people and busine-sses together in a variety of events that allows for genuine openness to better get to know one another.
Our Story
Everyone knows TED, their slogan, ‘ideas worth spreading’, is exactly how GF begun. Summer 2014, in Guangzhou, China, Rochelle Mathurin and Fabiola Benitez finished watching the 2011 TED prize winner JR, share his talk entitled ‘Can art change the world?’. This TED not only left them in awe, it sparked their interest to take action, and celebrate something beautiful in their current city of Guangzhou, China.
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Celebrating diversity within Guangzhou is what they wanted to showcase from this vibrant city. Meeting and sharing their message, giving talks and screening the TED was how they got both locals and foreigners to take their portraits (as encouraged by the TED talk). Upon completion of the art project, there were 250 black and white portraits taken. To read full details from the inside out project website click here:
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As GF began grassroots, it has since evolved to become a platform to connect people, get support and enjoy cultural and social events. It was not until 2016, when Patrick Feng (local to Guangzhou) joined the team and was pivotal in transforming GF into what it is today!
The three have since worked towards the same shared vision of connecting people and building strong ties in the community for all to benefit.
To watch the TED talk that inspired Global Friendship click here:
Core Qualities
Create – Producing meaningful events and workshops that inspire others to get involved and share their own skills and talents.
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Care – Thinking of others and our communities, allows for greater opportunity to bring about change when others feel they are respected.
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Unite – Connecting people and businesses together in a variety of events that allows for genuine openness to better get to know one another.
Fabiola Benitez, Co-Founder
Why do I believe so much in GF? Because above all, I consider myself a Global Citizen. I believe in the idea that we are all humans seeking purpose and meaning in our lives. I believe that GF helps people get connected through meaningful events and services, and through a community, they can find others whom can inspire and motivate them to start living a more fulfilled life.
Patrick Feng, Co-Founder
GF is not a company that we need to pull it up to the hill. Instead, it is GF which pushes us to move fast and improve every day. Behind GF, there are thousands of members and followers’ demands. So we are a cross-cultural community which is needed.
Rochelle Mathurin, Co-Founder
Why I believe in Global Friendship is that it is an organization that started from the grassroots. From the beginning there was always a natural desire to think about the collective and bridge people together. Through Global Friendship we are able to share our interests and values and bring meaningful services, events and people through this community.