LAURENCE LIEN

CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF ASIA PHILANTHROPY CIRCLE AND CHAIRMAN OF LIEN FOUNDATION

Where governments, private enterprises and civil society may fall short in resolving complex social challenges, the Asia Philanthropy Circle aims to step in and step up efforts to catalyse change. Led by Laurence Lien—a member of Asia’s Most Influential: Impact list’s Hall of Fame—the platform brings together Asian philanthropists to accelerate private action for the public good by addressing systemic challenges through a collaborative approach to strategic philanthropy.

Take climate change, for instance. “There’s not enough philanthropy in the region that’s going towards addressing climate change. We can already see what happens when humankind has to confront an existentialist threat like the pandemic—the impact of climate change could be even worse,” cautions Lien, also the chairman of the Lien Foundation, which focuses its philanthropic work on improving the lives of the elderly and children with special needs as well as those from low-income households.

His most pressing concern, perhaps, is the danger that rising sea levels pose to vulnerable communities in Southeast Asia. “Southeast Asia is very vulnerable, and Indonesia and the Philippines are two of the most disaster-prone nations in the world. Many of these communities live on the coast and if sea levels rise, it’ll be even worse for them. We don’t have much time,” he urges.