Management

  • 20180521-Alfie Our Team
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    Alfie Othman

    Chief Executive Officer

  • Tham_Jierong Our Team
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    Tham Jierong

    Assistant CEO and Head, Venture Building

  • Suba_Circle2 Our Team
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    Subashini Balakrishnan

    Head, Ecosystem Development

Venture Building

  • 20180521-Fairuz Our Team
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    Mohamed Fairuz

    Lead, Grant Management

  • Sera_Circle Our Team
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    Sera Peh

    Manager, Grant Management 

  • Anissa_Circle Our Team
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    Nur Anissa

    Manager, Grant Management 

  • 20180521-Erwin Our Team
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    Erwin Chan

    Lead, Venture Insights & Capabilities

  • Hannah_Circle Our Team
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    Hannah Wang

    Manager, Collaborative Financing

  • XY Our Team
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    Xiaoyin Shen

    Consultant, Collaborative Financing

Ecosystem Development

  • 20180521-Serene_2 Our Team
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    Serene Tay

    Lead, Capability Development

  • Sarah_Circle Our Team
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    Sarah Ng

    Manager, Capability Development

  • yen_yee_circle2 Our Team
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    Ho Yen Yee

    Lead, Sector Growth

  • Cass_circle Our Team
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    Cassandra Chow

    Manager, Sector Growth

  • Carol_circle Our Team
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    Caroline Ang

    Manager, Sector Growth

  • Siti_Circle Our Team
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    Siti Nurdzafirah

    Manager, Sector Growth

Corporate Services

  • Guan_Khim_Circle Our Team
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    Quek Guan Khim

    Head, Finance

  • Filza_Hanani Our Team
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    Filza Hanani

    Manager, Finance and Human Resource

  • Farihin_Circle_2 Our Team
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    Mohammad Farihin

    Executive, Finance and Grant Administration

  • Gomala Our Team
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    Gomala Rajendra

    Executive, Admin

  • weishan_white_Circle Our Team
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    Koh Wei Shan

    Lead, Strategic Communications

Alfie Othman

Chief Executive Officer

“Social entrepreneurs are mavericks. But nothing great is achieved without a touch of madness.”

Alfie Othman heads the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise, raiSE.

Alfie has had a successful banking career of over twelve years in the banking sector. Alongside his private sector work, Alfie has devoted significant time to the public sector and civil society. He founded his own social enterprise and has served as advisor and mentor to many social enterprises in Singapore and in the region.

Before raiSE, Alfie was the Executive Director of the Social Enterprise Association.

Alfie is recognised as a Social Enterprise practitioner within Singapore. Since 2016, Alfie has been appointed as a Fellow at SUSS, providing advice on the emerging Fin Tech phenomenon.

Tham Jierong

Assistant CEO and Head, Venture Building

“Social issues are multi-faceted. It is therefore important that policy makers understand the issues on the ground before taking out a quill to write some fanciful paper.”

Tham Jierong currently oversees the Corporate Services and Venture Building teams at raiSE.

Prior to raiSE, he was with the Ministry of Finance (Singapore) handling various policy portfolios from economic, security, to land and infrastructure financing.

Subashini Balakrishnan

Head, Ecosystem Development

“It is indeed rewarding to be serving a business community with a double bottom line and I am excited about the opportunity I have been given to articulate their value.”

Subashini oversees the Ecosystem Development team that champions the collaborative efforts of various stakeholders in supporting and nurturing the social entrepreneurial community in Singapore. In raiSE’s endeavor to encourage every enterprise to be a Social Enterprise, the team is at the forefront of welcoming interested Corporates to make Social Enterprises a part of their sustainability journey.

Concurrently, she also heads the Strategic Communications unit that manages the marketing, branding, and public relations efforts to increase the awareness of and raise support for Social Enterprises in Singapore. Prior to joining raiSE in 2017, Subashini has led various teams in the areas of Enterprise Development, Marketing and Communications, and Corporate Development. She has 15 years of exposure in varied industries both in government and the private sector.

Subashini is passionate about the impact that inclusive businesses can have on our communities and takes a personal interest in the narration of their impact through integrated communications. Having managed her own fashion retail business, she has an astute understanding of the trials and tribulations of a local startup founder and is known for her sensibilities and contagious enthusiasm.

Mohamed Fairuz

Lead, Grant Management

“I am excited to be part of the team developing an emerging sector by supporting the growth of sustainable social enterprises to maximise social outcomes.”

Mohamed Fairuz is part of the Venture Building team at raiSE, to evaluate and support grant cases.

Fairuz has 11 years of accounting and finance experience in the local social service sector. He has worked closely with local Volunteer Welfare Organisations as well as directly with beneficiaries for various social enterprise projects, focussing on youths at risk and ex-offenders. In his previous position, he helped lead his organisation from an accumulated surplus of $2mil to $10mil in 10 years. His professional background, coupled with his passion for the social sector, also prompted Fairuz to lead a number of fundraising events.

Sera Peh

Manager, Grant Management

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to support the passion and commitment of social entrepreneurs alongside the Venture Building team.“

Sera supports the Venture Building team at raiSE through the evaluation of grant applications.

Prior to joining, Sera worked at Agency for Integrated Care where she evaluated grants for individual beneficiaries. She looks forward to witnessing a society where every enterprise endeavours to become a Social Enterprise.

Sera graduated from Murdoch University with a Bachelor of Business, Accounting, and Finance.

Nur Anissa

Manager, Grant Management

“I look forward to driving positive change and shaping a more equitable and sustainable future through the growth of the Social Enterprise sector.“

Anissa supports the Venture Building team at raiSE through the evaluation of grant applications. She graduated from the Singapore University of Social Sciences with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, with a minor in Communications. Anissa hopes to make a lasting difference in the Social Enterprise sector and create meaningful connections with like-minded individuals and organisations with similar visions.

Erwin Chan

Lead, Venture Insights & Capabilities

"What makes an Entrepreneur rich? Risk taking, Innovation, Can-Do Attitude and always asking themselves - How do I add value to society?"

Erwin Chan designs innovation and entrepreneurial capacity building programmes at raiSE that activates the Social Entrepreneur’s Head, Heart & Hands for transformation.

Erwin has a PhD in biomedical research and is interested in seeing systemic transformations in healthcare. During his post-graduate days, Erwin led medical and dental teams to Cambodia and facilitated social innovation projects in Indonesia and Australia. In 2012, Erwin co-founded a medical device startup that focused on developing solutions for chronic pain management. After failing, he became interested in understanding how the entrepreneurial experience can enrich the personal leadership journey. Erwin was part of the team that won first place at the MITx Entrepreneurship Bootcamp in 2016. He is a Certified Instructor for “Disciplined Entrepreneurship” for new venture creation. Erwin has taught in universities & polytechnics including Bioentrepreneurship at NTU. He also volunteers as a mentor in developing children & youths holistically.

Hannah Wang

Manager, Collaborative Financing

“The solutions proposed to address social gaps are often innovative and exciting, but we need all hands on deck to ensure the sustainability of these solutions and make long-lasting social impacts.“

Hannah supports the Venture Building team at raiSE.

As an advocate of “working for a purpose”, Hannah is deeply inspired by entrepreneurs’ dedication to their social cause. She believes that Social Enterprises play a pivotal role in filling the gaps left in the provision of social services and is motivated to play her part in building up this emerging sector.

Hannah graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, majoring in Economics and Psychology.

 

 

Xiaoyin Shen

Consultant, Collaborative Financing

Xiaoyin Shen is an experienced corporate lawyer who has a passion for building purposeful ventures. Xiaoyin has more than 10 years of professional experience in corporate and M&A practice, working with top law firms and heading in-house practices in MNCs and reputable institutions. At the same time, she has founded two social enterprises. Currently heading ESG & Data Privacy practice at BTPLaw LLC, she has provided advisory and legal services to family offices, institutional investors, fund managers and impact start-ups. Her legal expertise as well as her practical experiences in business and social entrepreneurship make her an invaluable partner to her clients and teams.

Xiaoyin is also a violinist and uses her passion for music for good causes. She and her group of fellow music-loving friends, Music InCommon, performs regularly for charity fundraisers. She is also a Board Director and Advisor at Pasat Merdu, a local charitable organization promoting local music and education.

Serene Tay

Lead, Capability Development

“Harnessing the best of humanity by creating opportunities for growth, innovation, collaboration to achieve greater good while building sustainable businesses.”

Serene Tay plays a dual role in Capability Development and SE engagement. She focuses on developing SEs' leadership and enterprise capabilities, implementing initiatives to build a vibrant community and providing advisory to entrepreneurs, C-suite level of corporations and industry partners.

Prior to joining raiSE, Serene spent ten years working with businesses to achieve profitable growth, create social value, and build their capabilities by providing strategic consultation on strategy and organisation transformation, corporate planning and development, strategic marketing, regional development, operational improvement and capacity development. Serene is familiar with social issues through her volunteering work with vulnerable women, children and youths, with a focus on learning and skills development.

Sarah Ng

Manager, Capability Development

“I believe that there is more than enough to go around in the world. I am glad I get to play my part in deploying the resources to the underserved communities.”

Sarah  supports the capability development team at raiSE.

Sarah has always been very intrigued by the term social entrepreneurs. Achieving sustainability as a business entity is challenging enough. Concurrently, having to achieve social impact makes it an even greater challenge. Although, it is a challenge worth taking on.

Ho Yen Yee

Lead, Sector Growth

“Having received much support during my social entrepreneurship journey from many dedicated and inspiring people, I hope to do the same for aspiring social entrepreneurs.”

Yen Yee develops and facilitates programmes for raiSE and our ecosystem partners to share insights and experiences in the areas of business and social impact, thereby developing capabilities in social enterprises, companies and social service agencies looking to create social impact in a sustainable manner. She also oversees the engagement of SEs and stakeholders to elevate raiSE's value and credibility as a membership body, through the curation of membership benefits, refinement of raiSE's membership evaluation framework, and organising of outreach activities.

Yen Yee was a winner of the Singapore International Foundation’s Young Social Entrepreneurs programme in 2012. She co-founded a social enterprise - IMPad - to provide low-cost and biodegradable sanitary pads for women in rural India. Her volunteering experience with various non-profit organisations also gave her a good understanding of the social issues in Singapore and the developing countries, strengthening her desire to help the less privileged.

Prior to joining raiSE, Yen Yee was part of the founding teams of three media and digital solutions start-ups. With her experience in start-ups and the social sector, she wants to support aspiring social entrepreneurs in creating sustainable solutions to address social needs.

Cassandra Chow

Manager, Sector Growth

“Social entrepreneurs are innovators who use market-driven strategies to tackle critical social issues. The work they do is awe-inspiring and I am excited to support them through this journey!" 

Cassandra is part of the sector growth team, taking charge of partnerships with other ecosystem stakeholders to benefit and grow the Social Enterprise sector.

Upon graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Banking & Finance from the University of London (SIM), she interned at a charity advocating for skills-based volunteering, to bridge the gap between corporates and non-profit organisations. This spurred her on to take up the role at raiSE, to leverage her expertise and interest to continue working with partners in building the Social Enterprise ecosystem in Singapore.

Caroline Ang

Manager, Sector Growth

“Social Enterprises are made up of everyday people with extraordinary passion and vision.”

Caroline supports the sector growth team at raiSE.

Caroline believes that Social Enterprises form a crucial bridge between social gaps and the public, allowing the public an avenue to support and alleviate these issues through small, everyday actions. She looks forward to a future where all businesses make the effort to do good and is excited to play a part in developing this future.

Caroline graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Master of Arts degree in History. 

Siti Nurdzafirah

Manager, Sector Growth

“The Social Enterprise ecosystem is always evolving, and it is exciting to see many individuals spearheading their own cause in the sector. I wish to provide support in any way I can.”

Siti supports the sector growth team at raiSE, reviewing new membership applications and guiding Social Enterprises on their social impact creation.

She is an advocate for social entrepreneurship because it gives companies a structure for achieving business success while doing good for the community. It also serves as a continued source of inspiration for individuals, particularly the youths, to continue making constructive contributions to the economy and society.

Having served the community in various capacities at Yayasan Mendaki and other organisations in Singapore, Siti aspires to make a meaningful contribution to raiSE by supporting the growth of the ecosystem and the Social Enterprise members.

Quek Guan Khim

Head, Finance

“You have to really believe in what you are doing, be passionate enough about it so that you will put in the hard work that it takes to actually succeed, and then you will be successful.”

Guan Khim was seconded from the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) to oversee the finance and budget functions of raiSE. His professional experience in both the private and public sectors has built him a sound foundation in managing his finance duties conscientiously. His never-say-die attitude and 'look at big picture' mindset have enabled him to take in his stride the various and often, challenging, financial portfolios that he has handled.

With Guan Khim’s strong accounting knowledge and problem-solving skills, his key roles in MSF included managing and maximizing the utilisation of budget while working closely with policy and operation departments to provide value-adding insights on the financial feasibility of their projects.

 

 

Filza Hanani

Manager, Finance and Human Resource

“A single jigsaw piece is meaningless but when pieced together, a clear vision is materialised." 

Filza supports the Finance and Human Resource functions at raiSE. Having graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Business and Management from the University of London, Filza served the community through various areas at the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, also known as Muis, and various institutions in Singapore, helping to ensure governance and compliance with statutory regulations on Finance and HR matters.

She hopes to contribute meaningfully to raiSE through the empowerment of our people in order to serve the sector. 

Mohammad Farihin

Executive, Finance and Grant Administration

‘Working for a raiSE makes me feel good about myself because I understand that I am directly or indirectly contributing to benefit others in a socially responsible way.’

Mohd Farihin supports the Finance and Admin team at raiSE.

Prior to raiSE, he has more than 10 years of experience within the service industry; from handling a fitness club’s operations as a front-of-house manager to ensuring that the needs of premium class passengers as met as a Passenger Relations Officer with SATS. Most importantly, he is passionate to give back to society and is involved in charity events organised by a recreation club he joined in his free time.  

Gomala Rajendra

Executive, Admin

“Genius is in the idea. Impact, however, comes from action” – Simon Sinek. I believe my contribution to the company will be beneficial to the people and make a difference that will leave a lasting impact on society.

Gomala supports the Corporate Services Team at raiSE. As a person who is passionate about doing good, she has volunteered in several social services organisations. She has been part of the organizing committee for SRKT annual bursary award ceremonies to help the deserving students with financial assistance. Gomala has also provided her assistance to SunLove Elderly Home by delivering vegetarian bento meals in her free time.

Gomala hopes to continue her journey of doing good through raiSE and would like to inspire others to give back to society as well.

 

Koh Wei Shan

Lead, Strategic Communications

“Social Enterprises find sustainable business solutions to social problems. That’s exactly what excites me to be part of the sector!”

Koh Wei Shan leads the digital marketing and public relations work at raiSE, and is also part of the Venture Building team where she guides founders from diverse business sectors to develop sustainable business and impact growth strategies. Notably, she ran 2 cohorts of the Sustainable Impact Accelerator, Asia's first VC-based accelerator for Socially Impactful Enterprises, powered by Quest Ventures and raiSE. 

Wei Shan started her career in Ogilvy Singapore where she worked with local and regional brands such as HSBC Singapore, Hilton APAC, BMW Performance Motors Singapore, MCCY (Our SG), and Skillsfuture SG on their social media and integrated communications campaigns. She also volunteered her time to lead Ogilvy’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives including the organising of staff volunteer sessions, fundraising activities, and working on pro-bono marketing campaigns for Non-Profit Organisations.

Wei Shan graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management (Double Major in Marketing and Strategic Management) from Singapore Management University.