Seeds of Good Symposium

The Seeds of Good Symposium brings together NUS students, staff, community service practitioners, social service agencies, and IHLs to explore key topics in community engagement (eg. exploring community assets, community partnerships, and innovation in community service).

Panel Topics

Panel 1: Planting Seeds of Collaboration

This panel will discuss strategies to identify, utilise and care for assets and resources in the community.

Introducing the speakers and moderator for the topic

Benjamin Tan

Chief Executive Officer

World Vision Singapore

Ben is the Singapore CEO of World Vision International, the world's largest child-focused charity, dedicated to transforming the lives of the most vulnerable children in communities riven by conflict and devastated by disasters. Ben brings over 20 years of experience in senior leadership roles, and has lived and worked in Beijing and Tokyo. He is a proud alumnus of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the National University of Singapore Business School; and serves on various non-profit boards.

Wilson Chan

Managing Director

Skillseed

Wilson is currently the Managing Director at Skillseed where he leads learning experience design and also serves as a Principal Trainer in equipping participants, from all sectors, in citizen engagement, community co-creation and social innovation skills. As Lead Trainer for the Engagement Immersion for Leaders course at the Civil Service College of Singapore from 2018 to 2023, he and his fellow Skillseed trainers equipped nearly 700 senior civil servants in citizen engagement and community co-creation skills. He has been shaped by the experience of befriending and caring for vulnerable elderly, as well as mentoring young students.

Chin Hui Ling

President

NUS Students' Community Service Club (AY23/24)

Hui Ling serves as the President for NUS Students’ Community Service Club (NUS CSC) in AY23/24. In the role, she oversees 24 projects and programmes, offering support and guidance to her fellow student leaders. During her tenure, the club successfully nurtured new student leaders who initiated innovative projects, extending outreach to previously unengaged community members, such as school attendants at NUS. Having worked closely with new student volunteers to initiate their own ground up community engagement projects, Hui Ling believes that everyone has a role in community service and can be inspired to contribute and learn from their involvement in the community.

Moderator: Palvindran Jayram

Social Service Professional

Palvindran Jayram has been serving in the social service sector for the past 11 years and has a strong passion for uplifting under-privileged families and strengthening communities. Trained in Asset-based Community Development, he has presented in a number of conferences and coached professionals and community members on the significance of communities contributing to the growth and well-being of others. He is co-founder of the Empowered Families Initiative Singapore, a non-profit that invests in the aspirations of lower-income families towards better position in life, an exco-member of Society Against Family Violence, and an active advocate for equal rights and civic responsibility.

Panel 2: Cultivating Good Soil

This panel explores effective strategies to forming and managing partnerships with stakeholders, ensuring all perspectives are integrated in achieving shared objectives.

Introducing the speakers and moderator for the topic

Yap Keng Hwee

Deputy Chief Executive Officer

Empact

Keng Hwee is Deputy CEO of Empact withs more than 20 years of experience in community development and youth development for the Singapore community. During his 20 years within the community, he has led conceptualisation and implementation of national level community programmes, as well as established sector development framework to enhance the youth development ecosystem. At Empact, he effectively connects and brokers partnerships across Public, Private, Philanthropic and People sectors to deliver social impact to both the local and regional communities. In Empact, Keng Hwee directs the Partnerships and Programme Management teams to support social giving initiatives by corporate partners, as well as designs and implements national level programmes. He also oversees selected Empact’s consultancy projects for government agencies and philanthropic organisations.

James Koh Kok Seng

Deputy Director (Central Cluster)

Silver Generation Office

James is the Cluster Head of central region and has help forged partnerships and collaborative initiatives with health and community care agencies and service providers to care and support the older adults in Singapore.

An engineer with 25 years of experience in the Singapore Airforce, James has expertise in operational infrastructure development and maintenance, as well as aircraft systems maintenance. James has worked in MINDEF, where he contributed to formulating policies on technology capability sustenance. He later joined A*STAR as a deputy director and played a role in developing the Fusionopolis cluster. James then became the director of operations at NEA, where he oversaw operations and led the cleaning workstream for food and beverage operations. In 2014, he joined the PSO and played a crucial role in its transformation to SGO and its merger with AIC.

Lee Hui Zhen

Secretary

Rotaract Club of NUS (AY23/24)

Hui Zhen is a dedicated advocate for having a profound impact on community service. She has been engaging with diverse groups including youths, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. Through her involvement with NUS Students’ Community Service Club and Rotaract Club of NUS, she has planned and executed numerous projects, shaping her volunteering journey throughout her years at NUS. Her vision of lasting impact drives her passionate involvement in various initiatives. Moving forward, Hui Zhen remains committed to enriching and empowering lives through volunteering, eager to explore new opportunities within the community service landscape.

Moderator: Vincent Ng

Founding Member

A Good Space

As a person in recovery from a mental health condition, Vincent Ng (NUS BBA 17') first became involved in community issues because of his diagnosis. This grew to a passion that led him to be a founding member of A Good Space (AGS), Singapore's first co-operative of social changemakers. During his 7 years of service at AGS, including 3 as its General Manager, he helped organize diverse changemakers to create greater social impact by working on collaborative projects such as convening 90 multi-sector stakeholders to tackle the challenges faced by migrant workers and organizing a national forum for 300 Polytechnic student leaders to learn about social issues.

Panel 3: Planting Seeds of Innovation and Exploration

This panel aims to empower and increase awareness of opportunities for students to create positive impact in the community within their circles of influence.

Introducing the speakers and moderator for the topic

Joshua Tay

Deputy Executive Director

Impart Limited

Joshua is the Deputy Executive Director of Impart. With 10 years of service in the ground-up social impact space, he brings his experiences supporting underserved communities into his professional capacity at Impart – driving innovation and volunteer-driven solutions for community change.

He has served on the Youth Advisory Group of the National Committee on Prevention, Rehabilitation and Recidivism (NCPR), where he drew from his experience supporting youths-facing-adversity to lend to national conversations on matters of policy and practice. He currently sits on the Board of Beautiful People, where he advises on program and service development.

Willoughby Niki Lee

Founder

TinkerThings Global

Willoughby Niki is an alumnus of the College of Design and Engineering (Class of 2022), Electrical Engineering & Innovation Design Programme (iDP) and the Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Centre. Recognised globally for his contributions in Artificial Intelligence for Impact leadership, Niki received the prestigious Global Grand Prize in Intel Artificial Intelligence Global Impact Festival, AI Shapers Category in 2022.

Niki co-founded VolunteerSG, a platform that has over 8,000 youth volunteers in Singapore, rallying youth to engage in skills-based volunteerism. His role in VolunteerSG has involved creating sustainable programs that bridge the private and social sectors, fostering international collaborations, and spearheading over 400 activities to date

Nuryanee Anisah

Co-founder

Commenhers

Nuryanee Anisah is a Year 2 Business Administration student in NUS. She is the CEO and co-founder of Commenhers, a brand, and company that offers consumers and corporate environmental solutions by upcycling textile waste into upcycled apparel and accessories while empowering beneficiaries such as local housewives, the elderly, and tailors as part of their production team.

Moderator: Celeste Ong

International Service Director

Rotaract Club of NUS (AY23/24)

Celeste serves as the International Service Director for NUS Rotaract Club in AY 23/24. In this role, she oversees five overseas projects and acts as a bridge between them and the EXCO, ensuring smooth communication and coordination. Additionally, Celeste is an active volunteer with Youth Corps Singapore, where she passionately champions the causes of children and youth. Her dedication to service extends beyond her formal roles, as she consistently seeks to make a positive impact both locally and internationally. Through her leadership and commitment, Celeste inspires others to join her in creating meaningful change in the lives of young people.

Audience

For Public

Organised By

NUS Office of Student Affairs