The Matcha Initiative
I am an impact and philanthropy advisor based in Singapore, with over 20 years of international experience across entrepreneurship, luxury, philanthropy, and impact investing. I have spent the past several years supporting foundations, family offices, NGOs, and impact-driven organisations in defining and strengthening their impact strategies, fundraising approaches, and impact measurement frameworks.
Passionate about mobilising capital towards meaningful environmental and social change, I focus particularly on women’s empowerment, climate resilience, refugee inclusion, biodiversity, and regenerative initiatives across Southeast Asia. I try to combine strategic thinking with a highly human and collaborative approach, helping organisations and leaders clarify their vision, structure their impact journeys, and build authentic partnerships.
Since I was a child, I’ve always had a strong aversion to waste. Whether it was repurposing old notebooks or finding creative ways to reuse materials, I instinctively tried to make the most out of what I had.
I didn’t have the language for it then, but looking back, it was my first expression of what sustainability meant to me: respecting resources and using them with care and intention. In 2019, after more than a decade as an entrepreneur and corporate leader, I felt a growing disconnect between my professional life and my personal values. I realised that I wanted my work to contribute meaningfully to the well-being of people and the planet.
That year became a turning point—I made the conscious decision to shift my career towards impact. I immersed myself in learning, eventually focusing on impact measurement and management (IMM) to help organisations and investors turn their good intentions into tangible, measurable outcomes. Since then, I’ve advised family offices, foundations, and social enterprises on how to design strategies that are mission-aligned, data-driven, and grounded in real community needs. I work to ensure that funding and programs are not only well-intentioned but also effective and accountable. This professional transition also deepened my personal commitment to sustainability. I try to live by the same principles I apply in my work—consuming consciously, choosing organic and local produce whenever possible, and prioritising second-hand over new.
I believe that individual choices, when multiplied across communities, have the power to shape systems. For me, sustainability is not a trend or a job title—it’s a way of being. It’s about living and working in a way that honours interdependence, that makes space for future generations, and that recognises the human and environmental cost of doing nothing. Every decision—personal or professional—counts. And I want mine to count for something better.
I’ve led the design and implementation of impact measurement frameworks and sustainability strategies that align funding decisions with environmental and social outcomes, while also promoting conscious, low-waste practices internally.
One key challenge was aligning diverse stakeholder expectations around impact, which I overcame by co-creating clear, values-based frameworks and using simple, transparent tools to foster trust and shared understanding.
What I’m most proud of is having the courage to shift my career toward impact—it took a lot of energy, and it still does, to step into an uncertain field I knew very little about. But I’ve met incredible people along the way, and I’m grateful every day for having made that move.