In 2019, Jeff Hou received a Global Innovation Fund Research Award to explore how youth are engaging in social action and creative space-making in East Asia. Hou used the funding to host a three-day online workshop with special guests from the U.S. and East Asia to explore and share knowledge on current social movements across East Asia that reflect a desire for alternatives to the current socio-economic and socio-cultural structures, from social startups and new communal spaces to alternative economic pursuits and projects.