THE MULTIPLIER EFFECT

Unlike many existing compilations of influential individuals, the annual Peak Power List hones in on a specific theme and highlights 10 personalities that best represent that idea. We’ve covered obstacle-hurdling entrepreneurs and trailblazing women, the topics often a result of a pattern developing in the news or societal happenings.

I can pinpoint the exact moment this year’s theme was crystallised – Nov 6, 2015, at TedxSingapore, when National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre ( NVPC) CEO Melissa Kwee took to the stage to talk about philanthropic giving. The segment on connecting the silos – leveraging on the knowledge and experience of others to improve one’s own giving practices – resonated. To be sure, technology is advancing at an exponential clip today because engineers can tap into and build on discoveries of the generation before. And now, in a world of instant information download and hyper- connectivity, there are more opportunities than ever for cause to fi nd like cause, to potentially enhance and multiply the good. But fi rst, the story must be told.

Thus began The Peak’s journey to fi nd the leaders in philanthropy and social enterprise in Singapore. As the space is vast and the causes numerous, we partnered NVPC to glean from its expertise and set up a panel of experts in the philanthropy sector to select the 10 personalities.

Over the course of five months, panellists Kwee and Ramandeep Sidhu (the latter oversees venture philanthropy and social impact at NVPC); Ming Tan, director of the Como Foundation; Susan Sy, executive director of UBS philanthropy and valuesbased investing; and representatives from The Peak pored over the merits of several dozen candidates shortlisted by various organisations and experts in the field. Our aim: to highlight champions from a range of causes whose work will serve as inspiration to others. And, if in featuring their stories, we manage to connect a few silos, to be a factor in that multiplication of good, it will be a year’s work well spent.