BY STACEY CHOE
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
I hope things are going well for you as the world starts to open up. At APC, we are beginning to travel, too. In May, we will be visiting some of you in Vietnam, then Malaysia. We will also pop over to Thailand in June. It has been too long—yet none of you have felt very far away with the many online events that have brought us together.
Our in-person events are also increasing, with international leaders like Mark Suzman (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) traveling through Singapore and keen to meet with the APC community. Even though the activities and programming at APC never seem to end—after the Climate Collective launch, there were Philanthropy workshops, then events on mental wellness and capacity building—we hope that everyone can find something relevant for you despite your varied interests. Remember to catch up with old friends and meet with new ones at this year’s learning journey to Europe, where we will relook how we do things and the broken systems that need to change. If there is one travel to make this year, make it this one with us! It is time, at long last, to reopen minds and get inspired once again.
We are also excited to announce that we are now at 55 members—the growing membership means that there should be more opportunities for collaboration and learning.
As this community expands, we have received questions on what APC is really about with our membership. Of course we can point to our vision of creating ‘A Better Asia through Philanthropy’; but we also realise that we have been around long enough and have something more to show for it. So: all the projects that you have been involved in, the events that you have participated in, the reports and guides that you have read from us—all these are APC. And to make sure that we are all on the same page, we are sharing with you the APC Messaging Playbook—a succinct piece of writing that sums up how we look at:
- The Role of Philanthropy
- Philanthropy in Asia
- The Importance of Collaboration
- Philanthropy & Government
- The Future of Philanthropy
Many of our members are ardent champions of APC—this APC Messaging Playbook is a resource created for you. We encourage each and every member to be an APC ambassador, and we hope these nifty talking points will be helpful for you, even in thinking about your philanthropy. Because APC is also, you.
Looking forward to seeing every one of you in person this year—perhaps at venn2022?
Stacey Choe
May 2022