THU, 11 APR | 9AM – 2PM
National Gallery Singapore, Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium
(City Hall Wing, Basement 1)
1 St Andrew’s Rd, Singapore 178957
The Majurity Conversations brings social impact leaders together to explore critical issues that need to be confronted and consider possible next steps for organisations to thrive.
The Majurity Conversations 2024 will offer insights on confronting the question of sustainability and seed crucial conversations
to take us all forward.
The Majurity Conversations brings social impact leaders together to explore critical issues that need to be confronted and consider possible next steps for organisations to thrive.
PANEL 1
PANEL 1
Sustainability in Community Building
Sustainability in
Community Building
How can we enable communities to tackle challenges on the ground, and thrive by harnessing assets and strengths within? What must we invest in to create a vibrant ecosystem for social impact changemakers?
As challenges in our society become more intense
and complex, how can social impact organisations continue to do much-needed deep and meaningful
work by leveraging partnerships?
How can we enable communities to tackle challenges on the ground, and thrive by harnessing assets and strengths within?
What must we invest in to create
a vibrant ecosystem for social
impact changemakers?
As challenges in our society become more intense and complex, how can social impact organisations continue to do much-needed deep and meaningful work by leveraging partnerships?
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
ADRIANA RASIP
Adriana is the co-founder of Empowered Families Initiative (EFI), a developmental initiative that invests in the aspirations of lower-income families through grants, savings matching and peer support collectives, leveraging on the strengths and assets of lower-income families to improve their quality of life. In EFI, Adriana believes in the building of relationships and peer support among families as a powerful force for transformation.
Besides EFI, she is also an asset-based community development practitioner that has worked alongside lower-income residents in catalyzing various grounds-up initiatives in Redhill and Ang Mo Kio as well as spearheaded the building of community care hubs together with residents in promoting a sustainable ecosystem of care in
Ang Mo Kio.
DAWN YIP
Dawn is Coordinating Director, Singapore Government Partnerships Office, at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. The office spearheads deeper government-people engagement and partnership in Singapore.
Dawn has supported numerous public engagements as designer, facilitator, and systems and people developer. These include the Forward Singapore exercise, the Conversation on Women’s Development, the Emerging Stronger Conversations,
Our Singapore Conversation, and post-National Day Rally and Budget dialogues.
Dawn has consulted and taught in the fields of foresight, public engagement and organisation development. She has also been visiting faculty with the Singapore Management University’s Master of Tri-Sector Collaboration. She was previously with the Singapore Government’s Administrative Service, holding positions in the Ministry of National Development, Ministry of Health, Prime Minister’s Office, Civil Service College, and Ministry of Trade & Industry. Dawn is a Harvard University alumnus and a Singapore President’s Scholar.
YVONNE SIOW
Yvonne is a strong collaborator with a strategic focus on building community, philanthropy and social impact. An advocate for brands and businesses to be a force for good. Leveraging on years of diverse experiences in corporates, non-profit, advisory and board roles, Yvonne is driven by what we can collectively reimagine and repurpose for the greater good of people and planet. Currently the co-founder of PlayPan – Play For Good, a social movement that originated from Peace Centre and Head of OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation (Asean).
PANEL 2
PANEL 2
Sustainability of Social Impact Organisations
Sustainability of Social Impact Organisations
What does it mean to be a sustainable organisation?
To what degree can social impact organisations be sustainable? What steps can leaders take to build a sustainable organisation?
What does it mean to be a sustainable organisation? To what degree can social impact organisations be sustainable?
What steps can leaders take to build a sustainable organisation?
How can donors and funders meaningfully support organisations to help them become sustainable? Is there a need to rethink the funding approach to charities?
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
ANGELA TAN
Angela Tan is the Executive Director of ART:DIS (Arts & Disability Singapore), a non-profit established in 1993 to provide learning and livelihood opportunities for persons with disabilities in and through the arts. She is the mother of 3 young children who constantly redefine for her what sustainability means on a personal well-being level. On a professional front, she hopes to build sustainability into the various initiatives the non-profit undertakes today, including the organisation’s approach towards partnerships and diversifying funding streams. Formerly with the National Arts Council for over a decade, she had been involved in managing multi-stakeholder initiatives. Her key appointments include leading the Singapore Art Week, the Civic District Precinct Planning and the Public Art Trust. She was also involved in initiating key funding and capacity building programmes for arts in the social sector as part of the Arts and Culture Strategic Review, including sector toolkits for social and healthcare practitioners with NCSS and AIC.
FRANCESCO CARUSO
Francesco is the Protector of the Firetree Trust and the Head of the Firetree Group (www.firetree.org). As such he both manages the trust’s assets and oversees its philanthropic giving.
Among other board and memberships positions in Thailand and the Philippines, Francesco is a member of the Asia Philanthropy Network and a co-founder and director of the Asia Community Foundation and a director of both SCCFSC and =Dreams Singapore.
Francesco spends a significant part of his time on the road, working with the management of local organizations supported by Firetree. Prior to moving to Singapore in 2021, Francesco lived in Hong Kong for 14 years and Cambodia for 5.
Previous to his work with non-profit institutions, Francesco worked in finance and business development in North America and Europe. He holds a LLM degree (International Law) and a Master Degree in Management.
JASMINE CHEW
Jasmine Chew is the Regional Head of Asia for the Macquarie Group Foundation (MGF). MGF drives social impact work for Macquarie Group. We support our people, businesses, and communities to build a better future, and engagement with our people is at the heart of everything we do. We aim to leverage both financial and non-financial resources to achieve the greatest social impact possible. Prior to Macquarie, she was the Product Director of Capital Mobilisation at AVPN. She led capital mobilisation initiatives, supporting funders to deploy financial, intellectual and human capital into enterprises and not for-profit organisations strategically. As former head of Good Business at the Singapore International Foundation (SIF), Jasmine oversaw the strategic growth of SIF’s flagship global social enterprise incubator, the Young Social Entrepreneurs Programme. She has experience in engaging multinational stakeholders and establishing tri-sector partnerships. Previously, Jasmine worked with City Developments Limited’s Chief Sustainability Officer to launch the Singapore Sustainability Academy and managed operations and global logistics for Maersk Line.
TAN SU-YIN
Su-Yin is Senior Director of Grants in Tote Board, a statutory board of the Ministry of Finance and Singapore’s largest grantmaker. Placing innovation and impact as key priorities in its grantmaking work, Su-Yin’s team collaborates closely with partners to support a wide range of community-based projects that focus on four strategic outcomes: encouraging healthy lives and well-being, empowering communities, fostering a cohesive and resilient society and making Singapore a sustainable and liveable home.
Su-Yin brings her wide experience across the public, people and private sectors to the impact giving landscape in Singapore to do good, better. Prior to her current appointment, Su-Yin was Chief Operating Officer at the Attorney-General’s Chambers and Chief Executive of the Law Society of Singapore. She also spent more than 10 years in the private sector in external audit and advisory work.
Su-Yin is a Chartered Accountant (Singapore) and a Senior Professional accredited by the Institute of Human Resource Professionals.
Breakout Session 1
Sustainability in Community Building
What role do leaders play in community building? How can individuals and organisations embody what it means to be enabling and community centric?
Join us in conversation with Melissa Kwee as we go on a journey
of self-reflection and discovery towards nurturing thriving and
sustainable communities.
ABOUT MELISSA KWEE
Melissa is a Harvard-trained anthropologist practicing cross-cultural and cross-sector bridge-building to raise leaders and design partnerships for the common good.
Under her leadership, the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (Singapore) birthed the national vision: Singapore: City of Good, a whole of society initiative to ignite our national imagination with stories showcasing hidden heroes, create a national digital giving platform (Giving.sg), mobilise corporate Singapore through Company of Good, and architect collaborative approaches to tackle complex societal challenges.
She has co-founded, chaired and advised many ‘zaggy’ nonprofit and community initiatives to offer fresh perspective
on youth and women’s leadership development, promote radical inclusion
as a means towards empowerment,
and developed ‘network of
networks’ strategies.
She has received many national and international awards for her service but is most at home in Queenstown where she is seeking to learn and practice being a
good neighbour.
Breakout Session 2
Sustainability of Social Impact Organisations
What makes a nonprofit big bettable? Bridgespan shares lessons from their research on how to social change leaders can create more investment opportunities that can transform the world.
ABOUT XUELING LEE
Xueling Lee is a Principal in The Bridgespan Group’s Southeast Asia office, based in Singapore. Based in Singapore, she is one of the founding members of the Southeast Asia office, which was launched in 2022. She is co-author of the recent publications, “The Philanthropic Potential of Asia’s Rising Wealth” (Bridgespan.org, 2023) and “How Asian Philanthropists Work with Governments” (Bridgespan.org, 2023).
Xue has worked with nonprofits and funders (including corporate foundations and private foundations), on a wide range of issues including strategy, growth, impact measurement, learning and evaluation, and organizational effectiveness. Xue’s work has spanned multiple domains, focusing on education and economic empowerment.
Xue started her career as a high school economics teacher in Singapore. She also served as the Special Assistant to the President at the Lincoln Center of the Performing Arts under the HBS Leadership Fellows program.
Xue holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an Ed.M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a BSc in Government and Economics (First Class Honors) from the London School of Economics. In her spare time, Xue is a struggling painter, and a big fan of the performing and visual arts.
Breakout Session 3
IF STORY IS KING, WHAT IS THE QUEEN?
Getting your message right
Communicate your story and impact in a way that resonates with your audience. How can your organisation capture the values and uniqueness of your work in your messages?
How can you speak to the heart and minds of the different audiences and stakeholders that matter to you? Be part of this exclusive session with multi-award winning local filmmaker, Josiah Ng to find out how you can craft the right message to reach the right people.
Gain valuable insights on visual storytelling techniques, learn how to speak to your key audiences, and tell your brand story in a way that matters. You will also learn how to leverage social media, graphics and videos to get the message out.
To ensure the best experience for our attendees, limited slots are available.
ABOUT JOSIAH NG
Josiah Ng thought he knew a lot about storytelling until his two young children disrupted his life and became his harshest critics while creating bedtime stories with them every night. Since he was a child himself, Josiah has believed in using the power of stories and film to make a positive impact in the world.
With a background in video production and a talent for crafting compelling narratives, he has made a name for himself in the industry, leading the film and social content division at DDB Group Singapore. Josiah most recently headed the video team at Mothership, Singapore’s leading digital news site, and is now an independent director and producer.
Throughout his career, Josiah has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Rising Star at Hall of Fame (Institute of Advertising Singapore), the Ngee Ann Kongsi Gold Medal, Cathay film prize, and Shaw Foundation Gold Medal. He has also directed a feature documentary, <<André & his olive tree>>, which broke Taiwanese box office records and is currently listed on Netflix.
Join us at The Majurity Conversations 2024
THU, 11 APR | 9AM TO 2PM
National Gallery Singapore, Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium
(City Hall Wing, Basement 1)