How are we making an impact that matters?

A COVID-19 budget tracker of our own

John Michael Lava  (Deloitte Philippines Alumni) decided to use his audit and accounting expertise by getting involved in a private citizen-led effort to track the Philippine government’s COVID-19 budget.

The #COVID19PH Citizens’ Budget Tracker is the brainchild of Ken Abante, a policy researcher at the Ateneo de Manila University who created a publicly accessible Excel file showing the details of the Philippine government’s COVID-19 budget under RA 11469 Bayanihan to Heal as One Act and disbursements to help ensure accountability and transparency surrounding the use of funds.

Michael was brought into the purely volunteer-run project to handle the most critical part of the tracker: making sense of the financial reports the group was getting from various government agenices, and translating that to data that regular citizens could easily understand.

“I had a strong feeling of helplessness when this crisis started. I thought to myself, is there really nothing I can do considering I’m not a doctor or a nurse,” said Michael.

The budget tracker project allowed him to help in the country’s COVID-19 response by bringing relevant data closer to Filipinos and helping them understand what government programs were available to them during the crisis. Michael believed that there should be comprehensive auditing, oversight, accountability, and reporting mechanisms to monitor the government’s disbursement process and help ensure that those in need receive the designated resources.

“I think the main lesson I’ve learned through this crisis is that there are so many people willing to help,” said Michael

Deloitte Philippines’ frontliners care for their communities

In mid-March, Dianne Elisse Go ​(Deloitte Philippines Internal Services Junior Associate), or Denisse to her colleagues, began serving the community during this unprecented times. Two days after the President placed Metro Manila under quarantine, Denisse​ started to work with a small group of volunteers to pack goods for 5,000 families.

“It was tiring and draining, especially if you look at all the items that we had to pack, but it was all worth it to be able to help and to see how grateful the community was,” says Denisse.

Simlarly, Kenneth Sebalda (Deloitte Philippines Audit Associate) made time to volunteer despite it being the Audit peak period. He spent his evenings doing relief work, packing 1,000 to 2,000 bags with basic goods every night for distribution to 15,000 families around his hometown.

​“I wanted to help in my barangay because I saw how people were struggling. There were parents who couldn’t buy milk for their kids. I wanted to lessen their burden,” says Kenneth, who grew up actively involved in community service.

Both volunteers agreed that the need to help their community far outweighed their worries about the virus.

With some parts of Metro Manila easing out of the strict lockdown, Denisse and Kenneth continue to do their volunteer work with a new appreciation for what the entire country is going through after having firsthand experience seeing how the lives of citizens had been affected. 

Helping Malaysia's underserved children transition to digital learning

Committed to ensuring that education is accessible to all, Deloitte Malaysia’s KidsEdu initiative joined hands with the YTL Foundation to provide 100 tablets with 40GB internet data to students from B40 households. 

Deloitte KidsEdu, our education outreach programme, found that children, from Bottom 40% (B40) households under the Malaysian Income Classification, were unable to transition to online learning amid COVID-19 because of limited access to technology. Our contribution of over USD14,000 is yet another step towards ensuring that no child is left behind in their education journey. 

Launched in June 2019, our KidsEdu volunteers run weekly English classes for approximately 120 primary school students, from the ages of 7 to 12, in two B40 public housing communities. With in-person classes halted by COVID-19, we hope to resume our KidsEdu programme virtually, utilising learning resources developed by YTL Foundation and FrogAsia. 

“As we move towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution, marked by accelerating innovation, automation of processes, and an increased focus on digitalisation, we hope this initiative will help nurture students with the needed core skills for the future of work,” said Yee Wing Peng, Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Malaysia. 

Supporting 300 underprivileged children with laptops for remote learning amid COVID-19

Deloitte Singapore raised over S$100,000 and donated 84 laptops and tablets to support non-profit organisation Engineering Good’s ‘Computers Against COVID’ Initiative. Our campaign has supported 300 underprivileged children with laptops that enable them to participate in remote learning.

In just under two weeks, we broke our fundraising record, raising S$103,340. Employing our funds and by refurbishing devices donated by us, we were able to support 300 children, under the care of organisations such as the Singapore Children’s Society and other benefactors, with access to a laptop.

Our impact will last far beyond COVID-19. “With access to laptops and technology, these children will be able to develop new skills that will empower them as employment and the world go digital,” said SEA Social Responsibility Leader James Walton.

Click here to watch the full interview.

Enabling Myanmar’s youth to achieve economic resilience: Collaboration with Y Care International and YMCA Myanmar

18 Deloitte professionals in Myanmar led a 5-day-programme on business skills for youth aged 20-25 in partnership with Y Care International and YMCA Myanmar. Focusing on important lessons in marketing and basic finance, we aimed to equip 90 beneficiaries with the knowledge to achieve economic resilience and social empowerment in their communities.

Overcoming language barriers and time constraints, among other challenges, our programme was well received. Encouraged by this positive reception, our people are further energised to continue devoting their time to volunteering and societal impact. In this way, we will fulfil our vision of making an impact, one future at a time.

“It’s an experience that cannot be explained in words. Everyone deserves to and should experience it. Truly a life-changing opportunity not to be missed!”

— Ang Ke Qin, Senior Consultant Deloitte Singapore [Image Name: Programmes 2 Y Care]"
 

Upskilling students for ‘new-collar’ professions: Collaboration with IBM

There has been a growing demand for ICT professionals over the past few years, resulting in a skills gap in Singapore's workforce. Disadvantaged students will likely be left behind in this digital transformation. To this end, Deloitte partnered with IBM to take part in their P-TECH initiative. Initially launched in the US, P-TECH in Singapore aims to upskill youth studying in ITE to prepare them for new-collar jobs. These highly sought after technical roles in fast-growing technology sectors demand vocational skills over traditional college degrees. For this purpose, P-TECH provides ITE students with coding and technological education, supplemented with mentoring, career guidance, internship opportunities, and workplace competencies training.

Three Deloitte professionals, from our Risk Advisory practice, helped trainers and assisted more than 30 students from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) at a series of basic Python workshops in early 2020. Totalling over nine hours, these workshops focused on foundational coding knowledge that will help students navigate school, internships, and eventually their careers. Through our volunteers, we were able to provide underserved youth with access to skills so that they can be work-ready for the fourth Industrial Revolution.

Empowering youth with financial literacy: Money & Me: Youth Financial Empowerment Programme

24,000 Malaysians, aged 35 and below, were declared bankrupt between 2011 and 2015. Recognising the need for improved financial literacy in youth, Deloitte Malaysia partnered with The Edge Education Foundation’s ‘Money & Me Programme’. Seeking to instil financial literacy as a basic life skill, the Programme also equips youth with entrepreneurship skills to open alternate career paths for them.

Our financial literacy and expertise as a professional services provider and our firm-wide Facilitator Excellence programme, which educates our leaders on achieving engagement and learning during a training, made us the best fit to be Money & Me’s training partner.

On 24 Feb 2020, we hosted our first ‘Training of Trainers’ (ToT) session led by Subhabrata Dasgupta, Transfer Pricing Executive Director of Deloitte Malaysia. He trained 44 Money & Me trainers about the best ways to teach youth so that the trainers could effectively fulfil the goals of the programme. The trainers responded with overwhelmingly positive feedback, particularly for the simplicity and effectiveness with which various teaching theories and approaches were taught. Applying their learnings from the workshop, these 44 trainers will be able to empower over 1,000 youth with financial literacy.

Equipping students with the right skills for the fourth Industrial Revolution: Collaboration with ASSIST

In partnership with the Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST), Deloitte Philippines and Deloitte Consulting Philippines Centre launched a new Training of Trainers (ToT) programme in Feb 2020.

Our professionals trained 20 IT educators at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) about agile software development methodology. By equipping educators with the skills to support students, we will help close the skills gap for Filipino youth and prepare them for the Future of Work. The ToT programme is also being expanded to other universities to scale up our potential to make an impact that matters.

Guiding the next generation of entrepreneurs: Halogen Foundation’s Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge 2019

Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE, pronounced as ‘nifty’) is a funded programme designed to activate the entrepreneurial mindset and build business skills in youth from underprivileged communities. NFTE’s innovative, hands-on curriculum allows young people to learn entrepreneurial skills and attitudes through activities such as opportunity recognition and market research.

The 60-hour NFTE programme culminates in NFTE Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (NYEC) where the top 3 students from each NFTE school pitch their business ideas to a panel of esteemed judges from various industries.

Four Deloitte professionals volunteered as Business Coaches during the NFTE Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (NYEC) 2019, guiding 8 students during the three-day-long NYEC Level Up. Our professionals reviewed the students’ business plans, served as their sounding boards, and helped them sharpen their value propositions and pitches.

Equipping students with IT knowledge through a state-of-the-art computer class

Deloitte Southeast Asia partnered with a non-profit organisation, Fund Isaan, to provide Sangkha Industrial and Community College with a state-of-the-art computer class. Fund Isaan was established in 2008 by Rony Wuytjens (Retired Deloitte Partner) to support the education of children in the Isaan region of Thailand.

In line with Deloitte’s mission to prepare youth for the emerging economy in our increasingly technological world, these resources will be used by about 2,700 students over four years for IT education and other subjects.

“The support from companies like Deloitte allows Fund Isaan to provide education and information technology to children (and adults) who would otherwise have very few options in life. When parents and siblings lose their low paid labour, it is important that we continue our support and, where possible, increase our efforts”, said Rony Wuytjens, Founder Fund Isaan

Nurturing youths towards growing their money and improving their economic prospects

Deloitte GROW is a WorldClass program from Deloitte New Zealand and now implemented in Southeast Asia. 

On 22 March 2021, Deloitte Indonesia is the first practice in Southeast Asia to launch the Deloitte GROW program in collaboration with Barry Callebaut for students aged 15 to 17 year’s old in Lampung and Sulawesi Barat, Indonesia.

This program challenged students to grow their seed capital and create opportunities for them by instilling an interest and appreciation for cocoa farming in the future while helping to improve their economic prospects. It included a 3-day theory session, followed by a 4-week challenge, where 13 volunteers from Deloitte Indonesia facilitated insightful coaching sessions. Through this pilot launch, Deloitte Indonesia impacted 39 students. 

Introducing Business Ethics concepts to students in Malaysia

Deloitte Malaysia collaborated with Junior Achievement (JA), a non-profit organisation that prepares youth to succeed in a global economy.

On 7 and 8 December 2020, we conducted the Deloitte Business Ethics Program for 40 students who JA selected from the top schools across the eight states of Malaysia. It was a two-part facilitator-led program conducted via Zoom that introduced ethics, ethical leadership and business integrity to young minds. Eight Deloitte professionals from Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and peers from JA assisted in the planning and executing these modules.

Empowering students through a design thinking workshop

On 20 March 2021, the Deloitte Southeast Asia Innovation team conducted a virtual design thinking workshop for the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore)’s Roots & Shoots Youth Leaders Council. The Roots & Shoots program is a global environmental, animal welfare, and humanitarian youth outreach programme operating in 110 countries. The program empowers young people to solve problems through projects that incorporate leadership and project management skills, which gives them the confidence to make a positive difference to people, animals, and the environment.

The workshop introduced the basics of design thinking to eight youths in the Singapore chapter, who were tasked to simplify the recycling process to make people recycle more. It included hands-on activities that allowed them to experience the integration of innovation into different phases of their projects and how design thinking can solve real-life challenges.

Guiding social entrepreneurs to gear their businesses towards investment readiness

Deloitte Southeast Asia collaborated with Transformational Business Network (TBN) Asia on a six-month Social Enterprise Training Hub (SETH) program that guides social impact entrepreneurs in gearing their businesses towards investment readiness. Deloitte supported TBN’s ecosystem by connecting social entrepreneurs with subject matter experts, coaches, and industry leaders. In addition, three Deloitte professionals, Shuhaela Fabya Haqim, Anurag Bhalla, and Jack Jixiang Foo, volunteered as business mentors for three organisations: MyEduSolve, Wecare, and Seadling.

Furthermore, on 3 February and 30 April, Deloitte organised two masterclasses for 32 social entrepreneurs on ‘Digital Customer Acquisition Strategies’ and ‘Multiplier Leadership’, which covered digital marketing, business growth, and people management strategies. These masterclasses were led by our Deloitte professionals Gopal Kiran, Hamsapriya Selvam and Farah Shahran. Through this WorldClass collaboration, Deloitte Southeast Asia and SETH aim to provide 500 new jobs and served 100,000 people living in poverty through 20 SMEs.