Welcome Speech By Mrs Mildred Tan, Chairman, NVPC at Inaugural Champions of Good, 7 Nov 2017
A very good morning,
Mr Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Finance,
Distinguished guests,
NVPC board members,
Esteemed partners of NVPC,
Champions of Good panel of judges,
Ladies and gentlemen,
WELCOME NOTE
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the inaugural Champions of Good event this morning.
The Champions of Good is a national recognition framework under Company of Good. It seeks to recognise leaders in corporate giving who are also influencers and multipliers. It is our hope that the Champions of Good will inspire the giving movement and help build a City of Good.
The Champions of Good was adapted from The Civic 50, an initiative of Points of Light that honours the 50 most community-minded companies in the U.S. each year.
I am pleased to share that Mr. Neil Bush, the Chairman of the Points of Light board of directors, is here with us today. Neil, may I ask that you please stand up so that we can express our appreciation.
APPRECIATION TO KEY STAKEHOLDERS
On behalf of NVPC, I would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest appreciation to the person who played an integral role in paving the way for this incredible journey — Mr Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Finance. We want to thank Minister for introducing new initiatives during Budget 2016 to nurture a culture of shared responsibility among corporates.
Without his steadfast support, the Company of Good would not be where it is today.
We are grateful to MCCY and MOF for the funding to NVPC to promote and build capacity for CSR in businesses. The government has also shown support through the Business & IPC Partnership (BIPs) scheme, which encourages employees and companies to give back, and by encouraging payroll giving amongst businesses via the Community Chest SHARE programme, where the Government matched dollar-for-dollar, the increase in annual donations made through the programme.
Companies are multipliers of Good and NVPC had the opportunity to harness this good Giving among companies with more a more systematic and holistic approach through the Company of Good framework. The Champions of Good was adapted from The Civic 50, an initiative of Points of Light that honours the 50 most community-minded companies in the U.S. each year.
I am pleased to share that Mr. Neil Bush, the Chairman of the Points of Light board of directors, is here with us today. Neil, may I ask that you please stand up so that we can express our appreciation.
Over the past year, we have grown from strength-to-strength, and today Company of Good has almost 1,000 members committed to making a difference. We have since empowered and equipped these companies to start giving, and to give better and more holistically.
INTRODUCING THE CHAMPIONS
To the Champions seated here with us today, you have been recognised for influencing and creating a multiplier effect in the corporate giving landscape, in each of your own unique ways.
Doing good is the first step for all of us, and we should all strive to do more. Today, we want to honour those who have been exemplary in good giving, and are committed to influencing and multiplying corporate giving in Singapore.
After a stringent review process that started since May 2017, the judging panel has identified 25 Large Enterprises and 20 Small and Medium Enterprises that have met the qualities of a Champion, to be recognised as our very first batch of Champions of Good.
The judging panel, comprising of Mrs Theresa Foo, Chairman of Singapore Business Federation Foundation, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Singapore’s non-resident ambassador to Kuwait, Mr Fernando Zobel, President & COO of Ayala Corporation, Professor David Chan, Professor of Psychology and Director of Behavioural Sciences Institute at SMU, Mr William Adamopoulous, Asia CEO of Forbes Media, Ms Anthea Ong, social entrepreneur and immediate past president of Society for Wings, and myself, have each brought to the table different expertise and offered a wide range of perspectives from experiences in the corporate, government, academic, media, social enterprise and non-profit sectors.
NEXT STEPS
To all our 2017 Champions of Good – as recognised peer leaders for corporate giving in Singapore, your companies will have the opportunity to engage with a wider community of like-minded companies, intermediaries and NPOs to share your values and approaches to corporate giving, as well as the benefits it has brought both to society and to your businesses.
We hope that as a Champion, you will be able to guide and inspire fellow businesses in Singapore to give or improve their giving journey.
CONCLUSION
With that, it is with immense pleasure that I once again thank Minister, our partners, volunteers, supporters and staff for making this event possible.
I also want to extend my gratitude to our esteemed judges for contributing their time and expertise in the recognition of our Champions today.
And finally, thank you to all of you for being here to celebrate our Champions today.
I wish you a very enjoyable day ahead.
