News
TODAY: New S$528,000 fund to help disadvantaged people stay employed
When stereotypes, stigmas and prejudices prevent people with disabilities or mental health problems from finding jobs, they are often financially or socially disadvantaged for life. To overcome these barriers, a new fund was launched to address the problem of social exclusion of disadvantaged groups here, bringing employment and vocational training support to where it is needed most.
The Business Times: New fund to help Singapore’s marginalised groups land jobs
The Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS) has launched a new fund to raise the participation of marginalised groups in Singapore’s workforce. Among other things, the Lift (Learning Initiatives for Employment) Community Impact Fund will support programmes that provide vocational training for marginalised individuals, and place them in jobs in the open market.
LIFT (Learning Initiatives for Employment) Community Impact Fund – Training and placing marginalised persons into stable jobs
The LIFT Community Impact Fund supports programmes that provide vocational training and social support for marginalised groups in Singapore before placing them in jobs in the open market. The programmes target persons with disabilities, persons recovering from mental illnesses, disadvantaged women and youth-at-risk.
Media release: CFS launches community impact fund to raise marginalised groups’ participation in the workforce
CFS has launched a new community impact fund to address social exclusion from the country’s workforce. Called the LIFT Community Impact Fund, it will support programmes that provide vocational training for marginalised groups in Singapore and place them in jobs in the open market.
A Call for Collaborative Giving: Bridging the Divide for Persons with Disabilities
This second Colabs publication reveals some of the challenges that persons with disabilities in Singapore face integrating into our community. This includes the lack of sustainable employment options and other opportunities to participate meaningfully in society. Some suggestions for collaborative solutions based on the collective feedback of over 80 participants in the series are outlined here.
A turning point for community philanthropy
In the life of any organisation, there are special moments that will be remembered as being turning points. CEO Catherine Loh reflects on a phenomenal year and muses on a new era as CFS looks forward to the next decade with the exponential growth of community philanthropy and a new Chairman at the helm.
Singapore Tatler: Kith and Kin
The family behind Naumi Hotels and Rang Mahal Restaurants, Surya, Ritu and Gaurang Jhunjhnuwala, shares how its late patriarch Shyam Sundar Jhunjhnuwala’s spirit of entrepreneurship and giving lives on through the generations through the S S Jhunjhuwala Charity Fund established with the Community Foundation of Singapore.
938Now: Night Chat with Susan Ng
CEO Catherine Loh and donors Lim Wei-Jen and Ashely Ong from Liontrust were guests on 938Now’s Night Chat with Susan Ng talking about giving back in a more structured and impactful way. In Wei-Jen’s words: “CFS is like a school that gives you professional tips on how to give in a more meaningful way. Take the first step and see how amazing philanthropic work can be.”
Singapore Tatler: Living Legacy
More people are starting to think about philanthropy and giving back, instead of leaving it as a post-retirement consideration. Thio Shen Yi and Stefanie Yuen Thio, and Adrian and Susan Peh tell Singapore Tatler how they are making more strategic and effective giving through their private charity funds with the Community Foundation of Singapore.
Singapore Youth Impact Collective helps youths progress from classroom to working life
The Singapore Youth Impact Collective – a first-in-Singapore initiative – uses the collective impact model to empower disadvantaged youths to progress more smoothly from the classroom to fulfilling careers. The Collective launched two youth empowerment programmes and opened a new A.P.T.I.T.U.D.E. Centre at ITE College Central.
Berita Harian: Programme to prepare youths for the workplace launched
The Singapore Youth Impact Collective is an initiative in Singapore that uses the collective impact model and allows donors and non-profit organisations to solve complex social issues together. The Collective wants to increase the ability of youths from underprivileged backgrounds to advance in the workforce through training and skills development.
Lianhe Zaobao: By encouraging participation in interest groups to improve skills, youth collective helps students plan their careers
The Singapore Youth Impact Collective consists of six organisations including Changi Foundation, TOUCH Community Services and the Community Foundation of Singapore. It aims to help students from ITE improve their professional skills by encouraging them to participate in different interest groups and pick up workplace skills.
The Straits Times: From school to workplace: Help for disadvantaged youth
Called the Singapore Youth Impact Collective, these initiatives come after a series of discussions in the social service sector recognised that while education can help bridge social gaps, environmental factors – such as negative social influences or the home environment – can hinder youth from reaching their full potential. Changi Foundation, the Community Foundation of Singapore, Credit Suisse, Octava Foundation, Shine and Touch are behind the initiative.
Media release: The first Singapore Youth Impact Collective to empower disadvantaged youths
The Singapore Youth Impact Collective – the first such initiative here – launched two youth empowerment programmes and opened a new A.P.T.I.T.U.D.E. Centre at ITE College Central today, to help disadvantaged youths transition more successfully from the classroom to working life.
Singapore Tatler: Community Foundation of Singapore Celebrates 10th Anniversary
The Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS) was founded during a tumultuous time. Chairman Laurence Lien recalled that it was during the global financial crisis of 2008 and Lehman Brothers had just collapsed—hardly good news for a non-profit organisation that was set up to encourage and enable philanthropy in Singapore.
Fresh off the press
Two new publications just rolled off the press – CFS Annual Report 2018 and ‘A Call for Collaborative Giving’, the first publication from Colabs that sheds light on the challenges disadvantaged young persons face at home. Available for download here.
Speech by Chairman Laurence Lien at CFS’s 10th anniversary celebrations
Chairman Laurence Lien recalls CFS’s challenging early years – born during the 2008 global financial crisis as a start up that people took time to believe in. CFS spent its first five years just building credibility and trust. But a decade on, it has accomplished so much. “As someone who has been so actively involved in the growing CFS, I am extremely proud of what we have achieved in these 10 years,” he said.
Speech by CEO Catherine Loh at CFS’s 10th anniversary celebrations
CEO Catherine Loh talks about CFS’s role and how a strong and developed philanthropy ecosystem is crucial to ensuring sustainable and impactful funding support. “The entrance of a community foundation like CFS has transformed how philanthropy is approached,” she said, signaling future plans to grow legacy giving, collaboration and impact.