CHANGE THE WORLD
Rebekah is also grateful for her family’s support. She says, “My parents have always taught me to give back and I am extremely fortunate to have this opportunity to make this my career. Their support encourages me to do this well and with my very best.” She also manages her family’s Jia Foundation, which supports projects in the areas of youth education, mental healthcare and arts documentaries with social impact objectives. Together with Cheryl, who oversees programme development, Rebekah reviews applications and personally spends time meeting the people from the different beneficiary projects. One of the foundation’s current projects is working with a Cambodian-registered non-government organisation, Social Capital Venture Development Foundation, to install water filtration systems in schools located in the Kampong Chhnang Province and in Siem Reap. With so much on her plate, Rebekah only focuses on a few projects every year to give each one her best. Besides The Social Co, she is currently also volunteering as a country director for Nexus, a global movement that brings together social entrepreneurs, investors and philanthropists in creating global solutions. Next on her radar: an anti-bullying movement with a child-friendly resource toolkit set up by February next year with the long-term goal of establishing a charity that provides practical resources for children and parents to tackle bullying. She says, “I want to stay authentic and always hopeful that we can make the world a better place. There is so much going on in the world—if we can make a change from tiny Singapore, I hope it would inspire others to do the same.”