Lien Centre for Social Innovation

🎬 Lights, camera, education! Last week, members of the SMU community and beyond joined us for an exclusive screening of the acclaimed documentary Unteachable Documentary, followed by an insightful panel Q&A that shed light on the film’s creation and the present and future of education in Singapore. Through the film’s exploration of Singapore’s three-stream education, examination of emerging peer-to-peer pedagogy, and subsequent panel discussion of the nascent full subject-based banding system, the evening was one of thought-provoking dialogue and meaningful connections.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our esteemed panelists Lisa Teh and Damian Ng of the Unteachable team, Nathan Peng (Singapore Management University), and Ng Pak Tee (Nanyang Technological University) for contributing their valuable experiences and insights, Baker Hughes for their support, as well as all who attended for making this event possible.

Stay tuned for more happenings as we remain committed to fostering social learning and community dialogue.
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Join us for an exclusive screening of the acclaimed film Unteachable Documentary. This film documents the groundbreaking teaching methods revolutionizing education for Singapore's Normal (Technical) stream students through one teacher's journey.

Stay afterward for an insightful panel Q&A to delve deeper into the making of the film and the broader topic of education in Singapore. Dinner will be provided.

Limited seats available! Register at tinyurl.com/Unteachable2024 by Monday, 22 July 2024.

Event Detail:
📅 Date: Thursday, 25 July 2024
⏰ Time: 6:00 - 9:00 PM
📍 Location: SMU U-Lounge, Level 6, SMU Administration Building (81 Victoria St)

More details of the event can be found here: smu.sg/unteachable2024

🎉 We are thrilled to announce the top 10 teams that have been selected to join the Women in Entrepreneurship Incubator powered by Standard Chartered Singapore and Singapore Management University!

After an incredibly competitive application process, we're excited to reveal the exceptional women-led teams that have demonstrated remarkable potential and innovation. These extraordinary entrepreneurs have been chosen for their groundbreaking ideas, unwavering passion, and commitment to driving impactful change in their respective industries.

Join us in congratulating the following trailblazing teams:
▪️ Bridging Generations – Innovating the preservation of culture and heritage
▪️ Commenhers - Revolutionising sustainable fashion
▪️ Ferticlay - Transforming waste into sustainable building materials
▪️ FinESG – Driving sustainability in business through data analysis
▪️ Full Circle Family - Artificial intelligence for parental wellbeing
▪️ GatherRound - Empowering communities through social impact initiatives
▪️ Greenairy – Revolutionising indoor air quality through plant-based air purification
▪️ Milkiway - Streamlining patient care by maximising health plans
▪️ Picknic - Personalised nutrition solutions for cancer patients
▪️ SpedGrow - Empowering special needs individuals via tech-driven financial education

💡 Each of these teams embodies the spirit of resilience, creativity, and entrepreneurship, and we cannot wait to support them on their journey to success. Over the coming months, they will receive tailored guidance, mentorship, and resources to help them scale their ventures and make a lasting impact on the world.

A big thank you to our selection committee for their diligent work and to all the inspiring applicants who showcased their incredible visions and determination. Stay tuned for updates on the incredible progress these teams will undoubtedly make!

We are privileged to be one of 50 grant recipients, and the only one from Singapore, of Citi Foundation’s inaugural Global Innovation Challenge. The US$500,000 grant will support an investigation of the root causes of Food Insecurity locally and the development of an evidence-based pilot programme to empower and uplift food-insecure households to eventually sustain themselves independently.

Food insecurity is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, directly impacting communities around the world. The grant will strengthen our existing work on food insecurity in Singapore and, through an in-depth knowledge of the lived experiences of households, enable us to innovate a solution to systemic challenges facing low-income urban communities.

Citi Foundation’s inaugural Global Innovation Challenge provides a total of US$25 million to 50 organisations working to improve food security and the physical and financial health of underserved communities. The Lien Centre for Social Innovation at Singapore Management University is honored to work with Citi Foundation in this valuable partnership and looks forward to connecting with fellow grantees from around the world for the exchange of best practices.

Learn more about other recipients across the globe: citifoundation.com/challenge

It’s a wrap! Singapore Management University interns came together last Friday to share their summer work experience in the non-profit sector under the Diana Koh Social Transformation Programme. Their scope of work ranged from community research on lower income families and innovations to address senior needs, to dysphagia awareness programming and content creation on ADHD, to fundraising and corporate philanthropy research plus many others!

It was a pleasure for the Lien Centre for Social Innovation to facilitate university-industry collaborations that enable students to gain experiential learning, contribute to NPOs and participate in building a more vibrant, just and inclusive Singapore. Many thanks to all the NPO supervisors, colleagues and members who made this a memorable summer for our interns, our guest speaker Ryann Lai from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Estate of Diana Koh and Baker Hughes for their support!

A big thank you to our internship partners:
aidha Beyond Social Services Boys’ Town Care Corner SG CARE Singapore Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore Daughters Of Tomorrow Food from the Heart (Singapore) Lion Befrienders Unlocking ADHD