The ASEAN Community Impact Funds (ACIF) launched in early 2018, it is an umbrella of philanthropic funds that leverages on collaborative philanthropy to accelerate social progress in Southeast Asia through high-impact interventions.  The funds are started and managed by the Asia Philanthropy Circle, which is tapping into the resources and expertise of our members; convening and coordinating philanthropists and other stakeholders on a common agenda. Currently, there are two sub-funds under the ACIF, including the Thousand Days Fund Indonesia, which addresses stunting in Indonesia, and the Myanmar Community Development Fund, which focuses on the ground-up holistic development of the Taunggyi…

The ASEAN Philanthropy Dialogue is a project under Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC), which seeks to bring together ASEAN leaders, members of the Asia Philanthropy Circle, and working-level ASEAN government officials to discuss and agree to act on issues where philanthropy can work with governments in significant ways to address pressing social issues.  It will harness the collective intelligence and resources of strategic Asian philanthropists to grow cross-sectoral partnerships in ASEAN and grow social impact jointly.  The inaugural ASEAN Philanthropy Dialogue took place in Singapore on 21 March 2018. Hosted by APC and part of the fringe events accompanying Singapore’s ASEAN chairmanship,…

The inaugural ASEAN Social Impact Awards culminated in the awards presentation on 21 March 2018 at the Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore. Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC) members, ASEAN ministers, senior officials, and other philanthropists and social sector leaders gathered to celebrate and highlight the power of social entrepreneurs and the positive transformational changes they can make to the communities they serve.  Six award finalists, who were chosen out of 160 applications, had the opportunity to showcase their work at the event. Stanley Tan, Chairman of APC and the awards committee, opened the ceremony with a call for greater support and…

Philanthropy in education is popular across Asia but funds mostly flow into physical infrastructure and scholarships, and not into education software.  In particular, in order to effectively improve on the public education space, APC believes that we have to address the capability of the top level of school management as this is a critical factor for the success of any school and for changes to be effective.  APC’s pilot programme to train school leaders/principals is working with the India School Leadership Institute (ISLI) and Global School Leaders, the international platform for school leadership development programmes that are delivered locally.

Accommodation and service options for the senior population in Singapore is currently limited and nursing homes do not cater for seniors with low dependency needs and desire high autonomy and purposeful-living.  The Assisted Living Facility (ALF) Pilot aims to provide a demonstrable model for the market and government, offering a more community-centric model that engages with the residents.  APC is collaborating with a non-profit organisation to build this first purpose-built facility in Singapore.

Our Indonesian members are coming together to combine their resources and expertise in different fields in the community building of a rusunawa in Jakarta.  Working with GK (Gerakan Kepedulian) Indonesia, the project aims to work on a holistic level on the different issues affecting the communities living in such areas: education, healthcare, infrastructure, community-building and livelihoods.  The hope is that this project will eventually become a demonstration project for community building in other rusunawas.

Across Asia, as philanthropy grows and aims to be more impactful, there is increased demand for more professionalised forms of philanthropy, which in turn requires a ready pool of professionals with expertise and interest in this area.  However, it has also become obvious that the market for social sector professionals who understand what philanthropists want to achieve and who can work with them effectively is limited.  Whichever sector the leaders are taken from, there is often a mismatch: in expectations, in execution, and in the retention of these talents.  The danger is that philanthropic aspirations will run ahead of the…

Addressing rising extremism amongst youths was a key challenge brought up by our Filipino members.  This is an issue that we quickly realise needs addressing in many other Southeast Asian countries too.  We will be looking to start something small by partnering with NGOs working on existing programmes with children and youths in Mindanao and looking to tap into role models and to convene meaningful dialogues on the issue.  Our key belief for this project is to tackle this with the local communities upstream before it even becomes a security challenge downstream.