Catherine Loh

Catherine joined CFS having spent more than 20 years in the financial industry where she held various leadership positions in the Singapore offices of Nomura, Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs. Catherine started her career at the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).

Since 2012, Catherine has led CFS on a strategic growth path by increasing the number of donor funds and volume of donations, as well as raising social impact through effective philanthropy. Catherine works in close partnership with the Board to ensure that the organisation fulfills its mission and create strategies for its future success. Catherine’s involvement in charity and volunteer work began in 2004 when she first chaired the philanthropy committee at Lehman Brothers Singapore.

She currently serves on various committees in non-profits including those of Assisi Hospice, Metta Welfare Association, Telok Kurau Primary School as well as the Advisory Committee of the National Youth Fund established by the Ministry of Community, Culture and Youth (MCCY).  She joined the Temasek Polytechnic Board of Governors in 2020.

Catherine holds a CFA and graduated with an Honours degree in Economics and Statistics from the National University of Singapore.

Kek Seow Ling

Kek Seow Ling is a social work practitioner with LCCS.

She is passionate about restorative practices and Asset Based Community Development. She believes that people do care about their community and would value their voice being heard to co-create solutions as a collective.

Low Lih Jeng

Lih Jeng is a Senior Consultant at Sage Mediation and specializes in the mediation of disputes involving civil and criminal harassment, defamation, employment, landlord/tenant, and personal injuries.

Having served as a District Judge and Deputy Registrar of the State Courts of Singapore for more than a decade, Lih Jeng has resolved a vast spectrum of general civil and community disputes. She has a sharp eye for the important issues in complex disputes and the underlying concerns driving the parties. Numerous counsel and their clients have commended Lih Jeng for being a fair, empathetic, patient, and respectful mediator who allows them to fully express themselves and actively explores practical solutions.

Lih Jeng’s extensive professional history spans the private, public, NGO, international, and local sectors. She has served as the Legal Consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Assistant Director and Head of the Singapore Volunteers Overseas Programme at the Singapore International Foundation, Asia Pacific Regional Co-ordinator for Andersen Legal, CEO of the Law Society of Singapore, and Teaching Consultant at Singapore Management University, University of Buffalo, Temasek Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic. She received a Special Recognition for the Pursuit of Quality Teaching from the School of Business and Accountancy at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Lih Jeng has a particular interest in the advocacy of leadership, multi-cultural diversity in governance, and social development and gender issues in Asia especially those involving girls and young women.

Lih Jeng is a Certified Mediator (Level 4) at the Singapore International Mediation Institute and the International  Mediation Institute. She is an Accredited Mediator of the Centre for Dispute Resolution, UK (CEDR), and Accredited Mediator and Tutor of the School of Psychotherapy and Psychology, Regent’s University, London.

Lih Jeng obtained her LL.B from the National University of Singapore and holds an LL.M (Public International Law) from University College London which she read on a British Foreign & Commonwealth Office / British Business Association Scholarship. She has Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) from the University of Cambridge / British Council. Lih Jeng is admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore and practiced several years in Singapore. She is also a member of the UK Law Society.

An active Girl Guide from young, she was elected Chair of the Asia Pacific Regional Committee of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) from 2010-2016 and was a World Board member of WAGGGS. Lih Jeng was the Honorary Secretary and is now Advisor to the National Council of Girl Guides Singapore.

For her work with WAGGGS, Lih Jeng has been recognized with multiple awards including the Silver Elephant Award conferred by the Bharat Scouts and Guides of India, the Hansa Puttu (Twin Swans) Award conferred by the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association, the Pingat Bintang Kehormatan (Honorary Star) conferred by the Girl Guides Association of Malaysia , and the Fellowship Honour conferred by the International Scout Guide Fellowship Asia Pacific.

Andrew Ong

Andrew is co-founder of Break The Cycle SG – a groundup started in 2020, that supports ex-offenders to break the cycle of recidivism and achieve positive life goals, through cycling. An ex-offender and an avid cyclist himself, Andrew was inspired by those who had invested in him and wanted to pay it forward. For his life transformation and service to community, Andrew was conferred the Outstanding Adult category of the Singapore Silent Hero Award 2020.

Chandran Kukathas

Professor Chandran Kukathas is Dean and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Political Science at School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University. He was Head, Department of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) from 2015 to 2019. He also served as the Chair of Political Theory in the Department of Government and as Warden of High Holborn and Grosvenor House Halls of Residence at LSE. Before his appointment at LSE, Chandran was Neal A. Maxwell Professor of Political Theory, Public Policy and Public Service at the University of Utah and has taught at the University of New South Wales, Oxford University and the Australian National University.

He completed his Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science at the Australian National University and his Master of Arts in Politics at the University of New South Wales before going on to complete his Doctor of Philosophy in Politics at Oxford University.

He is a highly regarded political theorist best known for his contributions to multiculturalism and to the understanding and assessment of Hayek’s political philosophy. Chandran is a prolific writer and has published extensively in leading academic journals as well as in non-professional journals. He has authored / co-authored several books including The Liberal Archipelago: A Theory of Diversity and Freedom; Rawls: A Theory of Justice and Its Critics (with Philip Pettit); Hayek and Modern Liberalism; The Australian Political System (with David Lovell, William Maley and Ian McAllister) and The Theory of Politics, an Australian Perspective (with David Lovell and William Maley).

Dipa Swaminathan

Dipa Swaminathan is a Harvard-educated lawyer with over 24 years of professional experience. She currently holds the position of Assistant General Counsel at Singtel.

Dipa also founded the successful social initiative ItsRainingRaincoats, aimed at improving the welfare of migrant workers in Singapore. ItsRainingRaincoats won the President’s Award for Philanthropy and Volunteerism 2017. 

In 2018, Dipa was the recipient of a fully paid scholarship by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the Harvard Foundation to attend an executive education program at the Harvard Business School on social enterprise initiatives.

Dipa sits on the management council of the Arcadia estate, is an active parent association member at the United World College of South East Asia, a Ted X speaker and is regularly invited to various schools and universities to address students. She is also keenly involved in grassroots activities.

Shannon Pei

NUS Year 3 undergraduate

Anissa Idris Lim Jing

An undergraduate pursuing a degree in Public Safety and Security, Anissa is an individual who is passionate about serving the community and making a mark in society. She believes in striving for excellence and servant leadership.  An adult volunteer with the National Police Cadet Corps for 4 years, she regularly returns to her alma mater to guide and shape her juniors to be active citizens and community leaders.

Karen Pooh

Karen is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist registered with the British Psychological Society and the Health and Care Professions Council in the United Kingdom. The Ministry of Health of Singapore sponsored Karen to obtain a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at University College London.

Karen works with clients of all ages and particularly enjoys supporting adolescents and adults who desire to form a better relationship with themselves and others. With her clients’ permission, she also works closely with their systems such as families, schools and other healthcare professionals.

In London and Singapore, Karen has worked on a wide range of mental health issues presented in hospital and community settings. Her clinical approach is integrative and tailors her treatment plan in accordance with her clients’ multi-faceted needs. She uses a combination of evidence-based therapeutic modalities, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), third wave CBT, Systemic Therapies and Psychodynamics.

With a keen interest in Mindfulness, Karen attended training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and completed her teacher training in MSC. She decided to delve deeper into this area after she observed that many clients feel inadequate or are very hard on themselves. Karen uses a compassion-based approach to enable individuals to tap on their strengths, boost their resilience, and grow in alignment with their core values.

Besides this area of interest and specialty, Karen also enjoys working on mood and anxiety disorders, adjustment disorders, trauma, grief and autism. 

Karen currently holds a teaching appointment at Yale-NUS and NTU. Her research has been published and presented at international conferences. She also offers clinical supervision. 

Karen believes that mental health is more than the absence of illnesses and that individuals are able to flourish and live a meaningful life despite experiencing storms in their lives.

Lorraine Lim

Lorraine Lim, BA; Grad Dip SWK; MSS (Counselling), received her Bachelor of Arts (Double Majors – Sociology & English) from NUS, completed her Grad Dip in Social Work from SUSS and Master in Counselling from the University of South Australia.  

Lorraine has been counselling abused women and children since 2008 and joined Star Shelter under Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) in 2011.  

She oversees the shelter management which includes operations and programmes to support survivors of violence rebuild their lives free from violence.  She also oversees the Maintenance Support Centre, a multi-service centre providing support for those facing difficulties concerning spousal and child maintenance.

As a specialist in shelter management and family violence issues, Lorraine conducts training and is invited to give talks both locally and overseas through the Asian and Global Network of Women’s Shelters.  

Lorraine was the chairperson for the Family Violence Working Group (Central Division) and continues to be an active member of the group since 2014.  She is also a committee member of the Society Against Family Violence (SAFV).  

Since 2020, she co-chairs the Focus Group sub-committee of the Family Violence interagency Taskforce headed by the Ministers of State for MSF and MHA.  In 2020, she won the National Family Violence Networking System’s Family Violence Dialogue Group Appreciation Award, in recognition for her contributions in the management of family violence cases and interagency work in Singapore.

Zulkifli Baharudin

Mr Zulkifli Baharudin is the Executive Chairman of Indo-Trans Logistics Corporation, a logistics and supply chain company across Indochina. He is an Independent Director of Ascott Residence Trust Management Limited, Asian Plantations Limited, GDS Holdings Ltd (PRC), Virtus Holdco Limited (UK), and Omni Holdco LLC (USA).

Mr Baharudin also currently serves as Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. 

He was a Nominated Member of Parliament of Singapore from October 1997 to September 2001; and was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2005, and Public Service Star Medal in 2011. He has a Bachelor of Science from the National University of Singapore.