Through immersive study visits, practical learning frameworks, and peer exchange, 18 social impact leaders explored how Singapore’s philanthropic ecosystem can inspire new approaches to social change in China.
From 21 to 27 September 2026, the third cohort of the Executive Leadership Program (ELP) Singapore Module brought 18 leaders from philanthropic organisations and social enterprises, alongside next-generation philanthropists, to Singapore for a week of immersive learning. Jointly organised by the China Global Philanthropy Institute (CGPI) and Li Foundation, the program combined institutional visits with practical tools to help participants translate insights into action.
Building on feedback from the first two cohorts, ELP Singapore has evolved from introducing participants to Singapore’s philanthropic landscape to equipping them with approaches they can apply at home. Cohort 3 advanced this focus through two complementary components: philanthropic thinking tools drawn from Li Foundation’s experience, and an action research workshop that encouraged participants to examine their organisations’ strategic challenges.
Together, these learning components helped participants connect what they observed in Singapore with the realities of their own work.
Across philanthropy, impact investing, social enterprise and community development, four key insights emerged.
Through engagements with the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) and Community Chest, participants explored how sector-wide institutions support social service organisations through capability-building and resource mobilisation. These examples highlighted that strengthening the social sector requires more than funding individual initiatives; it also means investing in the infrastructure and networks that enable organisations to deliver sustained impact.
The Julius Baer Foundation shared its work addressing wealth inequality, alongside philanthropic advisory services that help individuals and families approach their giving more strategically. Presentations on the Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC) and Asia Community Foundation (ACF) further illustrated how collaborative philanthropy can bring donors together around shared priorities. By pooling resources and knowledge, such approaches can enable more coordinated and strategic responses to regional challenges.
At the Temasek Shophouse, participants heard from Temasek Trust and the Centre for Impact Investing and Practices explored how impact investing can direct private capital towards measurable social and environmental outcomes. raiSE, Singapore’s centre for social enterprises, demonstrated how funding, policy support and capacity-building can help social innovators grow. Leap201 offered another perspective through its work in venture philanthropy and systems change, showing how philanthropic capital can catalyse solutions beyond conventional grantmaking.
Together, these examples illustrated how different forms of capital and institutional support can help promising initiatives become more sustainable and achieve greater impact.
At Dignity Kitchen, a hawker centre operated by people with disabilities, participants saw how employment, inclusion and commercial viability can coexist in an everyday business setting. Further engagements with The Foundry and residents, including Tiggie Kids and Ray of Hope, offered perspectives on how social impact initiatives address specific community needs and support underserved groups.
These examples brought broader concepts of philanthropy and social innovation closer to lived experience, highlighting the importance of designing solutions around people’s needs and sustaining them over time.
Two evening events made this trip particularly unique and offered participants different perspectives on how social impact can be communicated, supported, and amplified.
At the National Gallery Singapore, participants attended the Semi-Finals of the Inspiring Asia Micro Film Festival, an impact storytelling initiative co-founded by Li Foundation. Over two hours, they were treated to 17 shortlisted micro films and five AI films from 10 countries and regions on the theme of community empowerment. Beyond celebrating compelling stories of social change, the segment aims to stretch the imagination of social sector leaders about how impact can be communicated. With AI and other emerging tools expanding creative possibilities and lowering production barriers, even smaller NGOs and community organisations can explore new ways to tell their stories, reach wider audiences and inspire action.
At the Conrad Orchard Hotel, participants attended the Diabetes Singapore 55th Anniversary Gala Dinner, with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam as Guest of Honour. As one of the organisation’s key donors, Li Foundation was recognised at the event with an award. The evening offered participants a firsthand look at how an established social service organisation mobilises support, acknowledges donors and partners, and raises the public profile of its work. It also demonstrated how fundraising events can bring together supporters around a shared cause while sustaining long-term community impact.
Drawing on Li Foundation’s experience, thinking tools and frameworks such as the Three-Circle Theory, Philanthropy IPO and Moonshot Philanthropy were introduced to participants, helping participants reassess their organisations’ missions, resources and operating environments to identify opportunities for greater impact.
The action research workshop complemented these tools with an iterative approach to complex challenges: planning, acting, observing, reflecting and reframing. Rather than assuming every challenge has a ready answer, participants learnt to revisit their assumptions and consider whether the problem itself needs a different understanding.
Sometimes, progress comes not from finding a better answer, but from asking a better question. Participants began asking different questions about their organisations, identifying challenges to investigate and approaches to test after returning to China.
At the closing session, participants shared plans to apply the Three-Circle Theory when assessing how to improve existing projects, introduce action research cycles to address persistent team challenges, and draw inspiration from Singapore’s social enterprise ecosystem to explore new approaches to social innovation in China.
The learning will continue through the ELP Singapore alumni community, where participants can exchange experiences, discuss implementation challenges, and share feedback on the program’s tools. This ongoing exchange helps turn individual insights into pooled knowledge while informing the program’s continued refinement.
By connecting leaders across sectors and geographies, ELP seeks to help more Chinese social impact leaders translate new perspectives into practical approaches for their organisations and turn individual learning into collective progress.
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