4 ASEAN Social Entrepreneurs Making a Difference

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​In the last few years, social enterprises have started popping up all over Southeast Asia to address pressing local issues. These initiatives have brought about exciting gains for a variety of communities across the region. But as some of the region’s seasoned entrepreneurs know, it takes heart and hustle to build a business. Take inspiration from these 4 social entrepreneurs who pursued successful business opportunities while doing good.

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Patrick Dulay
Founder & CEO, The sparks project‍

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Seeking a role model from the onset of your business is critical. Patrick Dulay is one good example of a skilful social entrepreneur –incorporating social impact into the business by using creative talents. Patrick Dulay is the Founder & CEO of The Sparks Project— a Filipino-based crowdfunding website and community for founders, creatives, and changemakers who are passionate about using their creative talents to build sustainable businesses. As an industry mover in the Philippines, it is dedicated to promoting creativity and innovation through its website and various community events. 

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Patrick is passionate about education and entrepreneurship which inspired him to serve entrepreneurs by providing them access to tools that help accelerate their business ideas to reality, creating impact throughout their journey. Over the last 10 years, he has worked with and mentored several creative startups and social enterprises, such diverse connections help in accessing more funding creating more effective social impact.

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Connect with Patrick Dulay

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Tiffany Shiyi Lai
‍Co-Founder, Kaimana Living ‍

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Tiffany Shiyi Lai is the Co-Founder of Kaimana Living, Brunei’s first dedicated store specialising in high-quality products for a low-waste living. Launched amid the pandemic, Kaimana Living has weathered the storms through fast decision-making, risk mitigation and a strong online presence. Sustainability and low-waste living is a very niche market in Brunei hence, Kaimana has been actively creating awareness through social media and pitching competitions.

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Before diving into social entrepreneurship, Tiffany worked for various settings as an administrative assistant, sales associate, secondment, senior corporate planning analyst, corporate strategic planner, management secretariat and business developer where she gained experiences which helped Kaimana Living enter the picture and thrive.

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Connect with Tiffany on Linkedin

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Didi Malai Abdullah
‍CEO, SMARTER

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Southeast Asian social enterprises are stepping up to help local communities. In Didi's case, her personal experience has shaped her social entrepreneurship journey. As a mother of four children, two of whom are autistic, and as a sister to an autistic brother, she is driven to keep her NGO on track to help solve the needs of persons on the spectrum.

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Didi is the CEO of SMARTER Brunei, an NGO that focuses on providing world-class quality services, programmes, training and employment to individuals with autism. She has worked with the NGO for 10 years and is dedicated to ensuring her NGO continues to be innovative and proactive in advocating and upholding the rights of all individuals with autism and the diffable community. Through her work, she also aims to bridge the communication gap between individuals with autism and their community.

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Connect with Didi on LinkedIn

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Reese Fernandez Ruiz
President and Co-founder, Rags2Riches

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Your passion for solving social and environmental issues through creativity will be ignited with Reese Fernandez Ruiz. Reese runs Rags2Riches (also known as R2R), a fashion and design house empowering community artisans from the Philippines that started with the mission of lifting Filipino artisans out of poverty. Each purchase of their handwoven piece empowers the person who crafted it, while creating a positive environmental impact. 

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Reese juggles between her duties at home as a mother, with all her other roles as an entrepreneur, public speaker, systems designer, and many more! She also teaches people about purposeful entrepreneurship, business numbers, sustainable fashion & design, inclusive supply chains and anything related. Reese is enthusiastic for a better and more sustainable future without leaving anyone behind.

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Connect with Reese on LinkedIn

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Meet them live at Goal Social 2022, the 3-day ASEAN gathering hosted by Brain Juice Collective. 

Grab this opportunity to connect with like-minded peers and learn from the social impact powerhouses in the region. 

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Hurry and get your tickets now!: https://bit.ly/GS22xSUSS

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