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“Certified B Corporations are a new kind of business that balances purpose and profit.” - BCorporation , B Lab They want to be the solution instead of adding to the overall problem, which includes all the challenges we face, especially with respect to environmental issues and the inequality gap. The B Corps Movement was launched in 2006 and since then, nearly 4000 companies are labelled as B Corps. They include brands we’d recognise: Ben & Jerry’s, The Body Shop, Patagonia, King Arthur Baking Company. They span 74 countries and there are even some in Singapore ! All are part of a pioneering movement for organisations to stake claim as socially responsible businesses; and being as transparent as they can so consumers know they can trust them. It means legally they are required to consider the decisions when it comes to the community, environment and their workers, customers and suppliers. When they pass the rigorous testing, it means these companies meet the highest and best standards of verified social and environmental performance. “The B Impact Assessment looks at everything, from ratio of CEO pay to that of the lowest paid worker to permeable concrete in the parking lots. It gives people an idea of where they are and then this motivation to improve.” said Vincent Stanley, Director of Philosophy at Patagonia, Inc. “We saw that as an opportunity to write these values into the articles for incorporation and to protect the company’s values in the event of succession over time.” It’s not just about competing to be the best in the world anymore. Businesses need to strive to be the best for the world. Isn’t that impressive? But if you think about it, for B Lab to achieve that as a vision, more need to get on board. “There are many amazing organizations, business leaders, and others who are helping to build that larger movement.” said Andrew Kassoy, CEO and co-founder of B Lab. “That’s a powerful model that we have to offer to the world, and it’s a model we can offer only because of the incredible commitment, the choice that each B Corp makes when they decide to throw in their lot to do together what none can do alone.” “The next generation of purpose-driven companies need to go a step beyond these models to actually create value for the world — to go beyond a mission-driven, do-no-harm approach to actually creating new value that leaves the world a better place than it found it.” said Anthea Kelsick, Chief Marketing Officer of B Lab. “My hope is that the B Corp community will continue to be the leading visionaries and examples of what businesses should look like. They will be the center of innovation for the future of business and continue to move the needle and push the boundaries of the role of business in society. “And I hope that their continued efforts will inspire more companies to behave the same way so that we move closer to a truly inclusive economy.”

After all the tremendous amount of effort, we can now celebrate that we are recognised as one of the B Corps’ Best for the World™️ 2021. Among the socially responsible companies in Singapore, Make The Change (MTC) has one of the highest B Impact Scores. And we couldn’t have done it without the commitment and professionalism of our dedicated team! MTC is an award-winning social enterprise that focuses on integrating their creative arm, Change Agency, to aid in their continuous endeavours in community programmes. As a strong advocate of doing business for good, our priorities include always offering affordable and integrated solutions in design, marketing, and digital advertising. With the constant support of our clients, we have been able to plough-back a portion of our profits to continually run community projects with positive impact such as our Persons With Disabilities (PWD) incubator programme, as well as upskilling and providing work opportunities for refugees in Indonesia. “Change Agency had good clientele and review, the work was done fast and with great quality.” Sally Choo, Manager at Silver Ribbon shared. Another long-time client, The Ascott Limited also had this to say about us: “A reliable vendor AScott has been working with for many years. The work is always creative and pushes the boundaries of creativity.” We are truly grateful for the words of encouragement and support from every single one of our clients. As such, we always remember to give back when we can, however we can. MTC Give Back has offered pro-bono creative services to agencies like Club Rainbow (Singapore), Silver Ribbon, YWCA Singapore and Bright Vision Hospital. We also provide subsidised rates to clients in NGOs and SSAs for all creative services as we are believers and supporters of the good work that these organisations are advocates of. On top of that, a major focus of MTC is educating people on the varying uses of iPads, such as In media literacy and digital art in primary and secondary schools ; In content writing, communication design and marketing with persons with disabilities PWDs ; and In social entrepreneurship, digital art and thinking and social media for good to the public MTC’s social initiative was even highlighted by Communications and Information Minister S Iswaran , saying that “The work of strengthening digital literacy in Singapore is an ongoing effort and we want to catalyse more ground-up initiatives.” Thanks to all the concerted effort, MTC is B-Corp certified and continues to ensure that their belief and purpose will be what guides them moving forward. B-Corps are part of a pioneering movement for organisations to stake claim as socially responsible businesses. The community ‘works toward reduced inequality, lower levels of poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of more high quality jobs with dignity and purpose.’ “For B-Corporations [and] social businesses it’s much more than the social mission, social impact focus is in the core [values] of the company.” expressed Christopher Marquis, professor at SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University and author of Better Business. “Business giving or social responsibility is really about businesses trying to imagine what kind of good they can create by doing what they’re doing.” explained Masami Sato, co-founder of B1G1. “In this world today, the most important thing is that we realise we are in this together; and we are here in our own unique ways to collaborate with each other so we can create a really sustainable, fulfilling world together.” “I have always been driven to stand for a higher purpose, not take anything for granted and work hard to create a lasting impact.” said Jacqui Hocking, CEO and Storyteller of Vision Strategy Storytelling (or VS Story). “My personal objective is to get more people inspired to do the free B Impact assessment and start thinking about things beyond profit for their startups.” “One of the nice things about the B-Corps certification process is that it gives you structure and makes you really kind of think about things more seriously.” expressed Tom Greenwood, co-founder of Wholegrain Digital, London’s original WordPress Agency. Let’s continue to build a better world !

Steve Jobs once said, “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” Make The Change has always considered youths to be future change makers and as change makers, design thinking is an essential tool they should be equipped with. Design thinking combines empathy, creativity and rationality to meet user needs and drive business success¹. Through the course of 7 sessions with the girls from Tanjong Katong Girls School, they learnt how to: Emphatise: To develop a deep understanding of the problem Define: To articulate the problem they want to solve Ideate: To brainstorm and select potential solutions to work on Prototype: To design a prototype to test their solution Test: To test and refine their solution The girls were split into 6 groups and tasked to come up with ideas to redesign their school library. Even though the workshop was conducted after their schooling timetable, they still remained proactive and enthusiastic when defining problem statements and ideating their solutions. We also brought them down to Enabling Village to gain inspiration and learn how to create a more inclusive environment in their library. On the last session, we were pleasantly surprised by the girls’ hard work as they presented their research findings, user needs and thought processes. They have clearly identified the problems their schoolmates faced when using the library and came up with innovative solutions to tackle them. They even showcased their well made prototypes to earn some brownie points from the judges. We wrapped up the workshop by announcing the winning team. As all of the groups displayed great team spirit and generated wonderful ideas, the points between one another were tight. With that, as cheesy as it sounds, every one of them is a winner in our hearts. We believe that the workshop has been a fun and enriching one for the girls at Tanjong Katong Girls School and we look forward to seeing their ideas being implemented in their library! ¹http://www.michaelbartl.com/article/human-centered-design/

Artwork by Make The Change Other then Golden Village, Bugis Village, Holland Village and the last Kampong in Singapore (Lorong Buangkok), our little red dot is also home to the newly designed Enabling Village . The design of Enabling Village is unlike any kampong - it is a space that intricately embraces and facilitates participation by visitors with disabilities. It is a village where everyone and anyone can fit in. When an environment is designed with such high sensitivity to needs and suitability, it creates a space that is inviting for the able-bodied and disabled alike. The heart behind this project draws out the essence of what a village is - authentic, homely and welcoming to all. Truly honouring the idea that every single individual brings a different flavour to the table, this space has been designed with l ifestyle, architecture, technology and user experience in mind . Amenities such as wheelchair-friendly washrooms serve to maximise use and freedom of movement. Given this environment, the Enabling Village goes further to foster its community by facilitating workshops and classes for the disabled so as to bridge them back into society with skills of their own. We are happy to have a part to play in this larger ecosystem by opening up possibilites from the creative industry. Offering taliored programmes in digital marketing , design and website/ e-commerce, we believe in holding the door of opportunity wider so that more can love what they do, and do what they love.

As part of this, we launched a new platform that focuses on helping educators on incorporating technology into their lessons. The launch of this platform comes at a very exciting time since recently the Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung has announced that by 2024, all Secondary 1 students will own a school-prescribed personal learning device under a new national digital literacy programme. Moreover, by 2028, all secondary school students will be equipped with a device, he noted. The Singapore Education system will need to innovate and incorporate technology into the lesson plans and our new platform will help empower educators. iPad for Learning is an online professional learning community designed for educators to get lesson ideas that meaningfully integrate the use of SLS with powerful learning tools on iPad, share their own best practices and positive impact of teaching and learning in an iPad learning environment. iPad for Learning offers resources such as: - Lesson ideas for different subjects - Instructional videos for home-based learning - SLS design maps - Sharing of lesson plans and best case practices by other educators In addition, we can also conduct workshops to help educators develop proficiency in the features of how to incorporate technology into their classroom, and with confidence create content using Apple Creative tools. Make The Change mission is to Empower and Transform Communities throw Design and this new initiative will help educators to empower and transform their students and school learning environment. We would like to encourage all educators to join our community and start planning on how to incorporate technology into the learning environment.

Montfort Care, Goodlife Studio (Tiong Bahru) Make The Change conducted a 2-hour digital arts workshop designed specifically for seniors at Montfort Care . Seniors were introduced to the fundamentals of digital drawing while also learning the basics of online safety, including how to recognize common scams. The session emphasised greatly on the core values of "Be Kind, Be Smart & Be Safe" , encouraging the importance of digital literacy skills to navigate the online world. The objective of the session was clear: to promote social engagement, encourage creative thinking, and empower seniors with tools for self-expression and online safety. In an age where technology is rapidly evolving, it is vital that seniors feel confident using digital platforms, not only for creative purposes but also to protect themselves online. Activities and Highlights Throughout the workshop, seniors were engaged in hands-on activities, exploring digital drawing techniques while learning how to navigate digital interfaces safely. The energy in the room was lively, though there was a key challenge. As some seniors were more accustomed to traditional mediums like paper and pencil, navigating the iPad's interface felt unfamiliar. However, with patience and support from the trainer, these hurdles were gradually overcome, leading to a positive and enriching experience for all. Positive Impact from Digital Workshop Spark Excitement for More Learning Throughout the session, the seniors demonstrated impressive creativity as they explored digital drawing for the first time. The feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive. Many seniors expressed interest in attending similar workshops in the future, eager to dive deeper into the use of digital drawing tools. Their enthusiasm reflected not only their enjoyment of the session but also their growing confidence in using digital tools. The workshop stands as a testament to how impactful and enjoyable learning in a digital space can be, regardless of age.

We recently went to Fei Yue Active Ageing Centre (Hougang). Our first session with them was fruitful, with seniors enthusiastically participating. Due to the overwhelming response, we opened a second slot to accommodate even more participants. The overwhelming interest showed a genuine desire among participants to learn, further extending its impact within the community. One of the senior's artwork! The workshops combined scam awareness education with creative digital expression. In both sessions, seniors were introduced to common scams and equipped with practical strategies to stay safe. They also explored digital drawing on iPad through the Procreate app , creating various artworks which featured the slogan: "Be Kind, Be Smart, Be Safe." With a bite-sized approach, the sessions made learning accessible and engaging for everyone. Watching the seniors light up as they discovered the potential of digital tools was a powerful reminder of their adaptability and curiosity. DAFA not only enhanced digital literacy but also inspired creativity and fostered community connections, leaving a lasting impression on everyone involved. If you would like to bring this program to your senior members, please contact us at info@makethechange.sg !

At Precious Active Ageing Centre, SkyTerrace@Dawson Make The Change conducted a 2-hour Digital Arts For All (DAFA) workshop at Precious AAC , SkyTerrace@Dawson. During the workshop, the seniors learnt about online scams, how to be more vigilant online, as well as fundamentals of digital drawing.  Through the workshop, the seniors understood the importance of digital literacy skills to navigate the online world. Additionally, the workshop emphasised greatly on the 3Bs — "Be Kind, Be Smart & Be Safe" . Activities and Highlights The seniors were guided through an eye opening session on online safety, where they learnt about common scams, fake news and AI-generated deep fakes. This session aimed to raise awareness about how the digital world is constantly evolving and how important it is to stay informed. Through interactive discussions and examples, they picked up useful tips on spotting red flags such as suspicious messages or misleading headlines. In addition, the seniors created some simple drawings on the digital canvas using Procreate. For many, this was a whole new experience. With the support of the trainer and 3 helpful student volunteers, many of them managed to understand and follow through the activity well. To reinforce the values of the 3Bs , they created an appreciation card to thank someone they love. Who knew learning could be this fun? During the workshop, the seniors showcased amazing creativity as they dived into digital drawing for the first time. Many expressed a keen interest to attend similar workshops in the future, wanting to explore other digital tools. If you are a part of an organisation that works with seniors and would like to bring similar digital arts workshop to your centre, feel free to reach out to us here !

Our Digital Drawing Programme has kickstarted in November 2024! The programme focuses on teaching them essential digital drawing techniques using Procreate on iPad. From mastering fundamental strokes to creating intricate digital illustrations, this programme offers hands-on experience to bring their artistic visions to life.   Introducing Procreate In the first module, our journey began with teaching them the basics of Procreate. While these tools might look simple at first glance, navigating them can be tough for those with sensory or physical disabilities. Each participant faces unique obstacles that may affect their range of movements or sensory experiences, adding a layer of complexity when learning digital art. Despite these obstacles, they showed tremendous determination and remained optimistic.  Building Skills Through Drawing a Self Portrait One of the most exciting activities was creating self-portraits! Students learnt how to import their own pictures into Procreate as a base for their digital drawings. To make it more fun, they transform their illustrations into personalised WhatsApp stickers, which they could share with their loved ones. This exercise allowed them to express themselves, see their own identities reflected in their work! What to Expect Moving Forward As we continue with the Digital Drawing Programme 2024, participants can look forward to engaging hands-on sessions, and opportunities to explore their creativity. Feeling inspired? Great news, we'll be having the second round of intake in March 2025. Whether you're refining your skills or just starting out, each session will introduce new techniques, digital tools, and fun challenges to enhance your artistic journey. Stay tuned to our website , let's create a brighter future, one digital canvas at a time!

In the latest episode of the Conversation of Change podcast, co-founders Adriana and Pal delve into the origins and mission of the Empowered Families Initiative (EFI), a Singapore-based program dedicated to uplifting lower-income families by focusing on their strengths and aspirations. EFI distinguishes themselves by emphasizing trust, autonomy, and accountability, empowering families to take charge of their futures. The initiative offers access grants, savings matching, and peer support networks, enabling participants to pursue goals such as education and skills development. Adriana and Pal share personal stories and discuss the challenges and successes encountered by the families they support. They highlight how EFI's approach contrasts with traditional social assistance models, which often focus solely on meeting basic needs. By investing in families' potential and aspirations, EFI fosters a cycle of opportunity and growth, leading to tangible outcomes. The episode emphasises the importance of enabling families to shape their own futures with dignity, challenging conventional models of social support. To gain deeper insights into EFI's transformative work, listen to the full episode here:

Written by Phoebe Wong from Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) Growing up, I always thought working a 9-5 office job would be much too mundane for me. Yet, my internship at MTC was anything but. Over the course of 2 weeks, I was able to learn valuable skills, create meaningful content and be welcomed into a warm, genuine organisation. With the help of friendly colleagues, a fellow intern and the seemingly unending supply of Mentos candy in the office, days spent in the MTC office were great. Thinking back, the candy I ate would bear similarities to my overall experience at MTC - both were refreshing and sweet. I found the work done at MTC to be refreshing as the way this organisation was so multifaceted was nothing like I had seen before. I enjoyed how my work at MTC allowed us to reach out to a wide variety of clients/beneficiaries through different means - eg design, workshops, etc. The first few projects assigned to me were centred around students - namely, educating them about staying safe online. I shortlisted entries for a competition about using GIFs to demonstrate understanding of being safe/smart on the Internet. In addition, I also worked on adding content to and updating slides about this program. Before this, I rarely saw GIF-making and art as an effective form of education, but it was refreshing to learn how MTC used design to teach. Apart from working on student-centred projects, MTC also gave me the opportunity to help them with environment-centred projects. I did up a proposal for a company about fulfilling Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Prior to this internship, I had a brief understanding of the SDGs, but working on this task allowed me to internalise them. In turn, I learnt more about ethical, sustainable business practices. Apart from that, I was also tasked to set up MTC’s TikTok account and start working on content ideas for them. As an avid user of social media myself, it was pretty fun to put my ‘knowledge’ of current trends to good use (who says scrolling on TikTok is useless)! I also got to think about content creation from a business/corporate perspective, and this brief foray into corporate TikTok creation allowed me to develop my skills in communicating ideas effectively. It was heartening to work alongside truly kind people, and have an overall sweet experience in this internship. I was given the opportunity to learn as well as create, and it was made better by being surrounded with amicable coworkers. In the process of making an introductory TikTok for the MTC page, I got the chance to hear from some coworkers about their work at MTC, and it was great to see how they felt positive and passionate about what they did. I enjoyed having such a friendly working environment to grow and develop! My experience at MTC was nothing short of fulfilling and I am incredibly thankful for this opportunity!

Students from DPS International, Dunearn Secondary School, Raffles Girls' School, Serangoon Garden Secondary School, Zhenghua Secondary School, Nan Hua High School During the year-end months, we usually get quite a number of interns joining us in our everyday work at Make The Change. From October 2023 to January 2024, we had a total of more than 40 interns, some even as young as 14 years old, from more than 10 schools! Our youngest interns from Nanyang Girls' High School (left) and Raffles Girls' School (right) We are very honoured to have given them a taste of working life in a social enterprise, and are grateful for all the support they have given us through their time and effort here. As we wrap up our intern season, we would like to share with you words of reflections by our interns about their experiences with us! Many of them had expectations and found that they had lots to gain: "This internship experience was extremely meaningful. At the start of this internship programme, we were asked why we joined this internship programme. Over the course of the first three days, I discovered why I wanted to intern at MTC and that was to not only gain real life working experience but to experience working in a social enterprise with a mission to help disadvantaged people such as persons with disabilities (PWDs ) who we were working with." Tricia, Dunearn Secondary "I had always wanted to experience what it would be like to work in an office setting since young. This internship not only gave me such an experience but also enhanced my passion for learning, my spirit of helping others and taught me how to use technology for the greater good." Aahana, Raffles Girls' School "The friendly atmosphere and kind mentors allowed me to learn and grow together with my fellow interns over the course of this week." Ruixin, Raffles Girls' School "On top of sharpening our skill sets, the internship allowed us to reach out to and play a role, albeit a simple one, in helping out local marginalised communities, an insightful learning experience that could not have been received from the typical rote learning in schools." Wayne, Temasek Junior College They gained a sense of what it's like working in a social enterprise, a glimpse of working life in general, and even a better understanding of themselves: "Make The Change has given me the invaluable first-hand experience of working in a social enterprise, and directly see the tangible positive impact that I can have on the beneficiaries in the community." Shannon, Raffles Girls' School "Through this internship, we have gained many new insights into what a social enterprise job environment is like" Yihan and Huang An, Nanyang Girls' School “Surprisingly, for work, our mentors are not with us all the time. We do have to depend on ourselves to solve problems so we have to be more self-driven… I have learnt to be responsible, and to complete tasks on time.” Deon, Serangoon Garden Secondary "Gaining real-world experience seemed an infinitely more useful prospect compared to lying in bed all day. I’m pleased to say that after working here, I learnt early that admin work was not for me, but the gentle pressure from the environment served as motivation to complete what was essential." Adara, Nan Hua High School During their time with us, we ran workshops for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and interacting with people different from themselves was an eye-opening experience for our interns: ”On the last two days, we participated in a workshop for video with people with disabilities. Through the workshop, I was able to learn about empathy especially when working with PWDs, but I was also able to learn more about videography which was really interesting.” Adine, Zhenghua Secondary School " I helped a deaf person and it was quite hard trying to communicate as we needed to write down everything instead of just talking which I was so used to…She was very nice and was patient with me trying to communicate with her as I was not experienced." Erica, Zhenghua Secondary School "I managed to empathise with the needs of beneficiaries as well as I got the opportunity to interact with someone who is autistic and got to learn more about his struggles when his dad shared that with me." Janelle, Raffles Girls' School "I feel that guiding the PWDs during the workshop was impactful as we [got] to create a greater sense of empathy and get to know them a little more since they might be neglected in the eyes of society at times." Kai Xin, Serangoon Garden Secondary School "Another particularly enjoyable experience included our visit to the Muscular Dystrophy Association at Bishan. It was particularly heartwarming to see how the administration work could translate into the tangible impacts of MTC’s social work on disadvantaged communities we were seeing at MDAS." Ern Xin, Temasek Junior College Through the various tasks assigned them, these youth developed both hard skills ”MTC has given me the opportunity to learn how to edit professionally using Canva. Before this, I had never done editing seriously for a project other than creating slides for school.” Wei Xiong, Dunearn Secondary School "Through the process of making the social media posters, I learned practical skills in graphic design and marketing that I firmly believe will help me in my future career." Edward, Serangoon Garden Secondary School "I really enjoyed the time in Make The Change (MTC) as I learnt a lot on how to plot tables to" organize data using sheets and numbers." Ziling, Nan Hua High School "I acquired proficiency in working with the Numbers app, crafting timesheets, making slides and creating engaging blog posts on Wix." Raahila, Temasek Junior College and soft skills: "...improve our communication and interpersonal skills and understanding of the code of conduct in a professional setting through communication with the staff and the opportunity to listen in on interviews." Afreen, Temasek Junior College "...during this work attachment, while doing my task given by the company to my best ability, I also learnt alot from the company about the industry and many soft skills such as creative thinking and teamwork." Randall, Zhenghua Secondary School ”My internship in MTC was a unique experience that taught me the value of independence. Gavin, Zhenghua Secondary School “I learned to approach challenges with resilience" Faris, Zhenghua Secondary School "Communication was also an essential skill that we found important, both amongst the interns and with our mentors. By checking in with one another, it ensures that everyone is on the same page and encourages new ideas/perspectives that could benefit the entire team." Belinda, Temasek Junior College Overall, the interns enjoyed their time with us and we are so glad to have been a safe space for them to explore and experience a slice of what we do! "I got to work on multiple small projects while still having the opportunity to understand how it contributes to the bigger picture. I could work on the websites, improve on my excel skills while still volunteering to help disabled people and presenting as part of a workshop. I don’t think I could’ve done such a huge array of tasks anywhere else." Andrea, DPS International School "Throughout these 5 days, I have made new friends. Furthermore, the workshop that I attended has taught me new things. I am super grateful for this amazing opportunity to be able to work as an internship in Make the Change and I will definitely look forward for more internship activities in the future." Ashlynn, Dunearn Secondary School "I've thoroughly enjoyed my 2 weeks of interning at Make The Change as I was able to make new friends and learn new skills. I'm very grateful to have received guidance from Mr Pedro and Ms Ruth, they were extremely patient and kind in teaching us when we were unfamiliar with the work required. It's been so fun working together with students from other schools and I feel very fulfilled from this experience. Kimberly, Raffles Girls' School "It was overall an enriching experience that enabled us to learn more about what a social enterprise does and how it is able to make a impact in society. We were given a great opportunity to collaborate with students from various schools, which improved our teamwork and communication skills." Nathan, Keyon and Jun yi; Victoria School "Overall, the internship has been quite an enriching experience for me, and I am very thankful for the kindness that I have received throughout the programme. I would recommend this internship to those looking for a taste of what it is like to work in a social enterprise, and look forward to possibly participating in it again!" Jaanvi, Raffles Girls' School Students from Raffles Girls' School, DPS International School (left) and Serangoon Garden Secondary School, Zhenghua Secondary School (middle) and Temasek Junior College (right) We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the interns for their invaluable contributions. We trust that your tenure at Make The Change was both enriching and memorable. Thank you for your dedication and hard work!