Established in February 2006, the Lien Foundation Centre for Social Innovation at SMU is a collaboration between the Lien Foundation and SMU. In August 2007, the Centre established a Speaker Series as part of it’s overall commitment to be a nexus for scholars, non-profit leaders, corporate executives, philanthropists and government agencies to strengthen their capability as a unified and talented body promoting social change.

The Speaker Series also includes an annual Distinguished Speaker Series, the first of which was launched on 22 August 2007 with inaugural speaker Mr Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairperson of BRAC (formerly Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee.) Mr Abed spoke about the holistic approach to poverty reduction pioneered by BRAC, which in the span of three decades grew into one of the largest non-government development organisations in the world.

Subsequent talks include those given on 24 September 2007 and 9 October 2007 by Mr Yeoh Seng Eng and Mr Michael Drake respectively. Mr Yeoh, Co-Founder of Care Channels International (CCI), in his talk titled “From Dependency to Dignity”, described how the non-profit organisation CCI believes that the poor have the potential to move out of poverty if given the opportunity and training. By providing a hand-up and not a hand-out, even people living in abject poverty are able to become self-sufficient and independent. CCI’s unique social enterprise model is used in China, East Timor, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand, and has already helped over 200 families raise their living conditions.

Speaking about corporate social responsibility (CSR) Mr Drake, Managing Director of TNT Greater China, explained how CSR demonstrates the economic, social and environmental impact of a business, and how sustainable development builds the foundation for a more productive, competitive, knowledge-based economy. “CSR”, he said, “Is business’ contribution to sustainable development.” TNT ranked first in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in 2007 and has launched initiatives such as Walk the World for the World Food Program.