RSS Feeds
Contact UsMr Jim Pitofsky, USA
Jim Pitofsky is an avid contributor in the arena of social entrepreneurship. He was first introduced to service-learning as a student at Stanford University where he obtained his BA degree. Jim recently became the Deputy Director of the National Youth Leadership Council, one of the leading service-learning organizations in the U.S. and the world. Founded in 1983, NYLC reaches constituents in every state and over 20 countries. Jim came to NYLC following his tenure with the Social Enterprise Alliance, bringing his business acumen, social consciousness, policy expertise and innovative approaches to nonprofit sustainability to support NYLC’s work.
Ms. Sinee Chakthranont, Thailand
Sinee has been with Ashoka since 1997, and has been Ashoka’s country representative in Thailand since 1998. From this position she manages all Ashoka Thailand activities, including the selection of new social entrepreneurs for the Ashoka fellowship, organizing support activities and workshops for the 69 existing fellows, and overseeing the work of Thailand’s innovative learning program and support for those engaging in creative community funding strategies. Sinee has also worked among Indo-Chinese refugees settled on Thailand’s border with Burma and has participated in and organized many grassroots and community-based groups, including among Thailand’s ethnic minority hill tribe communities.
Dr. Mary Ann Tsao, Singapore
Mary Ann Tsao is the president and Chief Executive Officer of Tsao Foundation, a Singapore-based, but regionally oriented, non-profit operational foundation dedicated to developing innovative community health service programmes and models, training and education, collaborations for service integration, and policy dialogues Dr. Tsao is also presently the Chairperson of HelpAge International, a UK- based international NGO serving disadvantageous older people. She has worked with numerous UN agencies in various capacities, the most recent being the WHO’s Geneva-based Ageing and Life Course unit’s project on WHO Age-Friendly Guidelines for Health Care Centres where she served as a technical advisor.
Don Wong, Singapore
Mr. Don Wong is the Vice-President of HighPoint Community Services Association and the Executive Director of The HighPoint Halfway House. He also serves as the Vice-President of the Association of Christian Halfway House (Singapore). Mr. Wong has been serving in the anti-drug organisations and Drug Rehabilitation Centre since 1993. He started off as a counsellor at one of the halfway houses, The Helping Hand. In 1995, together with a few other volunteers, he started The HighPoint Halfway House to help rehabilitated drug addicts and reformed ex gang members get a head start in a society by proving their serving the community and proving their usefulness in a society which has largely rejected them . Mr. Wong has also conducted talks, discussion groups and dialogue sessions on drug awareness with the Singapore Armed Forces, the National University of Singapore and various secondary schools.
Mr Mathew Yap, Singapore
Mr. Mathew Yap graduated with double majors in Political Science and English Literature from the National University of Singapore in 1982. He has worked in diverse roles including a six-year stint as a senior correspondent with the Singapore Straits Times. In his current BP role, Mr. Yap is involved in business strategy planning, external affairs & communications. He is also responsible for designing and executing corporate social responsibility projects to deliver on the company’s reputation, brand values and business performance. In 1995, Mr. Yap launched a student-mentoring project with 30 mentor-volunteers which has grown to 15,000 mentors in 8 years. The project has so far benefited 30,000 under-achieving and disadvantaged school children in Singapore and Malaysia, and has won several awards.
Professor Wong Poh Kam, Singapore
Dr. Wong is currently Associate Professor, Business School and Director, Entrepreneurship Centre, National University of Singapore. He obtained two BSc.’s., an MSc. and a Ph.D. from MIT. Prior to joining NUS in 1988, he was a co-founder of two IT companies and the founding managing director of a consulting firm in Malaysia . He was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley and a visiting scholar at the Asia-Pacific Research Centre, Stanford University. He has played a leadership role in technology management and entrepreneurship education in NUS, including initiating and directing the MSc (Management of Technology) Program in the NUS Business School, pioneering the teaching of innovation management and technology entrepreneurship courses to engineering and science students, and co-directing/teaching various senior executive education programs related to innovation management, including the NUS-U.C. Berkeley Managing E-Commerce in Asia Executive Program and the NUS-WIPO Program on IP Management . He has been active in promoting entrepreneurship activities in Singapore , including initiating StartUp@Singapore and co-organizing the 2nd Global Entrepreneurs Challenge competition.
