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Now that we are reaching the edge of 2017, the very last page is just about to be turned over for a brand new year. More often than not, we can only see how much we have grown when we take the time to breathe, rest and look back.
The past 11 months have been bustling for us at Make The Change (MTC) as community development took on a major role in driving the change that we do.
On top of providing creative services and corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects, MTC has been focusing on the chemistry forged through projects, events and programmes held in the community to share, grow and journey with our partners.
What has 2017 been like for the MTC family?
2017 looked a lot like collaboration and a rhythmic exchange of ideas as we built on genuine, existing relationships and reached out to establish new, exciting ones.
Here are some of the noteworthy highlights, in no particular order, within the MTC community in 2017:
1. Our signature programme is the main course
This year, we facilitated social entrepreneurship programmes to students from Yuying Secondary School and Pioneer Junior College. With the opportunity to test out their business ideas and contribute tangibly to social causes, the students became social entrepreneurs in their own right.
Beyond schools, we also crafted special introductory workshops, Social Entrepreneurship 101, for the public to join us.
2. DFG’s more-than-a-poster youth competition
Because its whole purpose is more than the poster itself. This year, we collaborated with Disabled People’s Association (DPA) to encourage young minds to design and speak up for persons with disabilities. It was awesome to have received entries that addressed a spectrum of different special needs from physical (eg. lift access for wheelchair-bound) to societal (eg. employing persons with disabilities) aspects.
3. Our interestingly lovable interns
How can we forget our interns? 2017 was a year that welcomed young interns from Raffles Girls’ School and ZhengHua Secondary School. We hope their time here has been a great one as they experience and learn something new beyond the classrooms.
Spearheading with raiSE for the Young Talent Programme, we also opened our arms to interns from NUS and SMU. It was a highly rewarding experience for us as we went the team over to Cambodia for the first collaboration under Design For Good (see point 7).
4. Paving the designer’s way in disability
Disability is more common than we know. Much of the social stigma today can be attributed to societal perceptions. For example, being short-sighted is a disability that has been compensated by the proliferation of trendy glasses. Today, glasses are seen to be more of an accessory than an assistive tool.
Following this rhetoric, we believe that what the person with disability needs to carve out his/her future today is a better chisel. We offered courses in Essential Communications, Digital Marketing , Website Design and E-commerce.
5. The potluck party for social good
Festival For Good was a great event for us to meet up with our fellow social entrepreneurs and witness how the landscape has been growing and changing. We got to check out many interesting ideas that embedded both goals of social and financial sustainability. Lastly, we also got to see how our students eagerly share on their own products as the last leg of the hands-on experience as a social entrepreneur.
6. Sharing what it means to communicate
Social Media For Good was a series of meaningful discussions with youths. Held at various venues, the sessions dug deeper to explore the meaning of communication and how to build up your own voice on social media. Powered by NYC, we had fun seeing how participants took part in the activities and applied the concepts on their own profiles.
7. Our ambitious venture into Cambodia for good
Armed with a start-up mentality, we sent our team of interns to begin from ground zero. Using Design For Good as a marketplace to showcase collaboration between artists, designers and communities-in-need, they created numerous visuals, marketing campaigns, product development and handled the logistics from scratch within the short span of three months.
Continuing that, DFG worked on storytelling and expanding the capacity of the platform. Our Krafters have also grown alongside us, particularly in skills of product development and marketing.
What does 2018 look like for us?
We are really thankful for the opportunities given to us this past year. Moving forward, we see ourselves taking on more projects that connects different sectors together to take the chance and make the change. Collaboration still remains as our priority as aligned social goals scale to sustain social value and touch lives.
If you or your organisation feels for what we do, we would love to meet up. Just drop us a mail at http://www.makethechange.sg/contact or leave us a text on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MakethechangeSG/ ;)