Past Events

Nurturing Generations of Social Entrepreneurs (29 February 2012)

Social entrepreneur Mr Mechai Viravaidya, Chairman, Mechai Viravaidya Foundation and Population and Development International, shares how youths can be effective social entrepreneurs with ideas and sustainable business models that would make a difference.

Panellists: Mr Mechai Viravaidya; Mr Willie Cheng, director of Lien Centre for Social Innovation; Mr Aaron Maniam, chairman of the Advisory Panel at the National Youth Council Academy; and Ms Elim Chew, an SIF governor and the co-founder of the Social Innovation Park and 77th Street.

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Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Good (17 February 2012)

"All media is social," says Mr Andy Ridley, co-founder and Executive Director of Earth Hour at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Panellists: Mr Andy Ridley; Mr Walter Lim, director of Strategic Planning, Policy and Marketing Communications at the National Art Gallery; Dr Cherian George, Associate Professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, in the Division of Journalism and Publishing; and Mr Aseem Kumar Thakur, co-founder of GIVE.sg.

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The Zeronauts - A new breed of leaders (27 October 2011)

World-renowned authority on sustainability practices, Mr John Elkington, challenges everyone to "break the sustainability barrier".

Panellists: Mr John Elkington; Associate Professor Simon Tay, chairman of Singapore Institute of International Affairs; and Mr Howard Shaw, senior vice-president of corporate social responsibility at Halcyon Group.

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Focus on talents: The competitive advantage of specialists (21 July 2011)

Herb or weed? How we perceive an individual depends very much on the lenses through which we choose to view him or her, says social entrepreneur Thorkil Sonne, founder of Specialisterne and the Specialist People Foundation.

Panellists: Mr Thorkil Sonne; Ms Denise Phua, president of Autism Resource Centre (Singapore) and supervisor of Pathlight School and Eden School Boards; Mr Alvin Ng, managing director of Global Enterprises, Greater China and Asia Pacific, Cisco Systems; and Ms Tracey Ho, leader of Workforce Diversity for IBM, Asia Pacific.

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Towards sustainable living in a rapidly urbanising world (29 June 2011)

Acclaimed conservationist and UN messenger of peace, Dr Jane Goodall, says everyone needs to “do something to get out of the mess we’ve made”, because “the time will come when the planet sort of gives up”.

Panellists: Dr Jane Goodall; Mr Lee Tzu Yang, chairman of Shell Companies in Singapore; and Mr Howard Shaw, senior vice-president of corporate social responsibility at Halcyon Group.

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The role of entrepreneurs in developing social infrastructure (4 May 2011)

With India as the focus country for discussion, fellows of Ashoka, the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs, share about the revolution of the rickshaw transport industry, the push to provide low-income families with affordable housing, about how slum dwellers are empowered to improve their living conditions, and how modern technology has been adapted to meet the needs of the rural poor.

Panellists: Irfan Alam, founder of Samman Foundation; Pratima Joshi, founding member of Shelter Associates; Vijay Pratap Singh Aditya, founder of Ekgaon Technologies; Vishnu Swaminathan, director of Housing for All.

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Social Enterprises: here today, gone tomorrow? (31 March 2011)

Dr Tanatat Puttasuwan, the president and director of Population and Development International (PDI), presents his perspectives on sustainability in social enterprises.

Panellists: Dr Tanatat Puttasuwan; Mr Richard W. Blossom, chapter chair of the World President’s Organisation Singapore Chapter; and Ms Elim Chew, an SIF governor and the co-founder of the Social Innovation Park.

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