“Companies and the communities they operate in are interlaced. Singapore is an established home for Alpha Development in Asia, and we have always tried to contribute to support Giving to a range of beneficiaries. During the difficult times of COVID, it was easy to focus just on yourself or immediate family & friends, and I’ve been truly impressed by our team’s positivity in continuing to contribute to the wider community during these difficult times”. Paul Monk, CEO, Alpha Development.
“Companies and the communities they operate in are interlaced. Singapore is an established home for Alpha Development in Asia, and we have always tried to contribute to support Giving to a range of beneficiaries. During the difficult times of COVID, it was easy to focus just on yourself or immediate family & friends, and I’ve been truly impressed by our team’s positivity in continuing to contribute to the wider community during these difficult times”.
Paul Monk, CEO, Alpha Development.
Alpha is incredibly honoured to have been recognised by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) in Singapore as a Champion of Good 2022.
The NVPC is the steward of the City of Good vision for Singapore, where individuals, organisations, and leaders come together to give their best for others.
We were among a total of 112 organisations, representing different industries and company sizes, that have made extraordinary contributions in corporate giving, creating a positive impact on the lives of many.
We launched the initial Build Your Future programme in December 2020 and rolled out training as a series of in-person workshops and coaching sessions from Q1 2021, culminating in participant presentations to an expert panel in April 2021.
We sponsored the cost of the programme so that it was free of charge to all selected participants, and it was delivered by volunteer Alpha staff and our associate trainers. We also offered a grant to participants if they set up their business within 2 years of programme graduation.
We chose to support the foreign domestic worker (FDW) population, out of the other potential groups of people in need for 3 key reasons:
– Assessment of support levels for various groups of beneficiaries in Singapore
– Their need aligned to our expertise (Communication Skills, Financial Planning, and Business/ Entrepreneurship – these are all areas where Alpha Development specialises in training).
– Alpha’s team already had close connections to the FDW community, including via Race2Share. The company’s giving strategy aims to increase the proportion of employee-led/guided initiatives, and so this was a good fit to the personal interests of our staff.
We keep track of the participants enrolled in the programme who eventually started their own businesses when they went back to their home country. Although we completed an immediate Post-Programme Impact Assessment, ultimately the participants setting up their own businesses will define the success of the programme. For Cohort 1, all but one put their plans on hold because of COVID-19. One participant returned home to the Philippines last month to set up an online business – we are staying in close contact with her.
But our work doesn’t end when the programme ends. We are holding a catch-up event with the Cohort 1 participants, as part of 22 Days of Doing Good, to understand everyone’s progress and how we can help them move forward – so we are able to continue helping and giving back.
If you would like more information about this initiative, please contact us.
