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Hearing from Diana Gan, EMBA’19Dec – Founder of Elementary Capital

What were your key takeaways after graduating from INSEAD in relation to having a positive social impact on the community? Creating positive impact starts from realising how our relationship with other people and the planet are shaped. Understanding impact lays the foundation for which we exist, and it can be a competitive advantage for businesses.

What do you believe are the critical elements for a business to act as a force for good? Nurturing people and getting the organisation mindset ready. If we provide people with the knowledge and the tools to create impact, the leadership sets a clear direction and empowers individual agency to drive the movement, collective transformation can happen.

What are some specific actions employees should do to enable a positive social impact on our community? Respect and care for others, take pride in doing the right thing, have no fear in calling out influences and behaviour that are toxic to the environment and toxic to other people.

What are some examples in your profession/ company where you’ve experienced BAFG first-hand? Educational offering that is democratising access to quality education, protecting the teaching profession and solving mental health issues. Climate tech companies that are driving decarbonisation. Waste management companies that are reducing plastic and other environmental pollution.

What key BAFG principles would you like businesses in Singapore to embrace? Act as a beacon for creating and sustaining impact. Share best practices with the world. Encourage international exchanges to leverage on latest R&D.

What were the main reasons for accepting an invitation to be an IAA Singapore BAFG judge? There are many like-minded people who care about leading impactful lives. This is a lifelong pursuit underscored by a sense of urgency; if we keep driving the impact agenda collectively, together we can go further and…faster…

What motivated you to be an advocate for businesses to act as a force for good? The destructive forces of over-consumption and neglect for the environment are untenable. We also need to take a hard look at people-to-people connection. I hope I can create some positive examples upon which my children can continue to build.

Catch-up with 2022 Judges – Interview series

Post #1 – Li Lian Liew GEMBA’13 – Director, Corporate Planning at Tan Tock Seng Hospital & Central Health

Meeting our 2023 Judges – Interview series

Post #1 – Diana Gan – Founder of Elementary Capital

Hearing from Li Lian Liew GEMBA’13 – Director, Corporate Planning at Tan Tock Seng Hospital & Central Health

How did you determine which businesses demonstrated a strong commitment to being a force for good? Essentially I used frameworks to judge. The ESG notion of People, Planet and Profit was an easy trio to remember so I looked for companies that not just tick the boxes but balance them. At the interview stage, I asked more probing questions about their business model because if these frameworks are not built into their ethos, then it probably will not be a sustainable force for good. 

How do you balance the need to recognize businesses that are making a positive impact with the reality that many businesses must prioritize profitability in order to survive? Most people think of the environment, but I also focused on the communities in which they exist, and whether their governance structure could withstand threats from externalities. I used DEI frameworks as well because it generates significantly better business decisions, so I know that those companies are also in good hands and perhaps more bankable. Like all VCs say, it’s the team that matters.

Meet the judges interview series

Series #1 – Li Lian Liew GEMBA’13 – Director, Corporate Planning at Tan Tock Seng Hospital & Central Health

In the years following World War II, Georges Doriot came up with the idea that the world needed a new kind of educational institution—one that united people, embraced diversity, and leveraged business to rebuild nations and promote peace. He envisioned an institution that could make a meaningful contribution to society.

That institution, of course, was INSEAD. In the decades since its founding in 1957, our school has never wavered from that vision. Our belief in using business as a force for good has come to define who we are, what we stand for, and how we conduct ourselves in the world.

INSEAD Alumni Association Singapore is pleased to launch “Business as a Force for Good” Award (BAFG Award) 2023.

Objectives

The Award recognizes Singapore companies and individuals who have demonstrated thought-leadership with respect to “Business as a Force for Good”, have a vision, mission statement and strategy clearly demonstrating their commitment, have developed best practices and have achieved remarkable economical results and/or meaningful societal impact.

Eligibility and Award Categories

All Singapore based companies* will be considered for the following award categories:

• BAFG Award 2023 for social enterprise in Singapore
• BAFG Award 2023 for start-ups in Singapore (established under 3 years)
• BAFG Award 2023 for SMEs in Singapore (revenue under S$100m or less than 200 workers)
• BAFG Award 2023 for corporates in Singapore (revenue more than S$100m or more than 200 workers)
• BAFG Award 2023 for incubator/accelarator/VC 

*Operating as a Singapore legal entity and registered with ACRA https://www.acra.gov.sg/

A jury made up of alumni leaders from various industries will identify the award winner. Selections will be based on the positive impact the organization has had on society through its programme or its core business activities.

Awards

The winners will be announced at the IAA Singapore AGM on Mar 2023.

Application or nomination

Please complete this link with the name of your company or a company you would like to nominate. We will need the name of a representative (yourself or another person-in-charge from the company nominated) whom the selection committee will contact for further details.

We will shortlist the Top 3 finalists from each category and they will have to submit a document (Powerpoint / PDF) with no more than 10 slides / pages including the introduction of your company and any other supplementary information.

The top 3 finalists from each category will then present to a panel of judges between 14 to 18 Feb 2023. They will have 15 mins to present and another 15 mins for Q&A.

Application and Nominations must be received no later than 5 PM Singapore time, 3 Feb 2023.

Conclusion

The “Business as a Force for Good” Award is a wonderful opportunity to recognize best practices, to give visibility to deserving companies and to promote INSEAD’s mission. We are very much looking forward to hearing from you soon.

For more information, contact Tan Eng Hwa at [email protected] or Jaz Chua [email protected] 

Gold Sponsors:

Diversity and Performance

Past Winners

2022 

• Corporate Winner – ENGIE Factory Asia Pacific & ENGIE South East Asia, Thomas Baudlot and Edwin Cheang
• SME Winner – RightShip, Gurpreet Singh MBA’14D
• Startup Winner – INSEACT, Michael Badeski MBA’19J and Tim Van Vliet MBA’19J,
• Social Enterprise Winner – B1G1, Masami Sato

2021

• Kacific Broadband Satellite, Christian Patouraux MBA’03D,CEO

2020

• Right People Renewable Energy, Robin Pho EMEBA’17Jan, Founder
  

2019

• ECOSOFTT, Marcus Lim (TIEMBA’13Jan) and Stanley Samuel (TIEMBA’13Jan), Founders

Where are they now? Catching up with past winners

• Right People Renewable Energy
• ECOSOFTT – MoneyFM
• ECOSOFTT – Study International

ECOSOFFT. Sam Al-Schamma (TIEMBA ‘13 ), a board member and investor in ECOSOFTT accepted the award on behalf of Marcus Lim (TIEMBA’13) and Stanley Samuel (TIEMBA’13). This social enterprise aims to address the global challenge of water shortage, scarcity and quality. ECOSOFTT has delivered more than 50 projects, providing safe drinking water to thousands of people; reduced fresh water intake by almost five-million litres per day; and reclaimed millions of litres of dirty water for re-use.

Congratulations to ECOSOFTT for winning the ‘Business as a Force for Good Award Singapore 2019 Edition’.

Nominations for the award included firms from a variety of industries and ECOSOFTT, a social enterprise that aims to address the global challenge of water shortage, scarcity and quality, emerged as the winner.

ECOSOFTT was founded by two graduates of the INSEAD TIEMBA programme, Stanley Samuel and Marcus Lim, both TIEMBA’13J. Their work has helped enable numerous communities to be self-reliant, water secure and sustainable.

At the moment the company’s projects reduce fresh water intake by almost five-million litres per day. It has also transformed the lives of thousands of women and girls who have returned to school or learnt economically-useful skills, because they no longer spend hours each day collecting water.

It is wonderful to see that many INSEAD alumni are enabling ‘Business as a Force for Good’ and the National Alumni Association in Singapore is looking forward to recognising such initiatives by making this award an annual tradition

ECOSOFTT is a social enterprise that aims to address the global challenge of water shortage, scarcity and quality by providing modular, water-management solutions. These enable communities to be self-reliant, water secure and sustainable.

They reduce fresh water intake and footprint by over 50%; reclaim, recycle and reuse over 80% of used water and discharge the surplus in an environmentally-friendly way to replenish sources or give to others.

So far ECOSOFTT has delivered more than 50 projects, providing safe drinking water to thousands of people; reduced fresh water intake by almost five-million litres per day; and reclaimed millions of litres of dirty water for re-use.

They’ve also transformed the lives of more than a thousand women and girls who have returned to school or learnt economically-useful skills, because they no longer spend hours each day collecting water.

ECOSOFTT’s vision is by 2050 to treat over one-trillion litres of water per day; enable 10,000 communities to become water smart; and protect, clean and restore a thousand water bodies.