Management
May Ling’s journey in the non-profit sector started in 2000 with the National Council of Social Service (NCSS), where she led the fund-raising team for the SHAREprogramme. She also worked on partner relations for the Community Chest, and after attaining her Graduate Diploma in Social Work, she served in the Service Development Division leading the team in children and youth services before she was head-hunted to rejoin the private sector.
Returning to her calling, May Ling’s homecoming to NCSS in 2014 was to contribute in the eldercare sector before moving on as Deputy Director to the Service Development Division. In her five-year stay, she conceptualised and spearheaded projects such as “Empowering Seniors” – an effort that rallied the leaders in the eldercare services towards a common goal of purposeful engagement and, the “Community Kitchen” project – where conversations and relationships are built to harness the strengths and interests of senior persons in the community with the people who matter in their lives.
In 2019, May Ling joined the Singapore Business Federation Foundation as their General Manager. With her dedicated team, she launched three flagship programmes:
Gerard started his journey in the sector as a youth worker at Bukit Ho Swee Community Project (former name of Beyond Social Services) back in 1982, focusing on providing guidance to hard-to-reach children and youths in the streets who frequently got into trouble with the law because of drugs, gangs and other crimes. Over the years, his duties expanded as he moved on to head Bukit Ho Swee Social Service Centre, as part of a pilot project which eventually contributed to the development of the current island-wide network of FSCs and its service delivery model.
During his time as Centre Co-ordinator, he started the Hangout, a youth centre that addressed the culture of delinquency among the young in the neighbourhood, and conceptualised the Streetwise Programme – a national diversionary initiative for youth in street corner gangs which was adapted by the National Youth Council. Over the time that he has dedicated to the organisation, he has transformed Beyond Social Services from a neighbourhood-based organisation into an island-wide focused strong team that serves over 11000 families across 14 neighbourhoods today.
Gerard is a certified Counsellor in Marriage and Family Therapy and Clinical Member of Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Singapore. He is also a Trainer in Non-Violent Communication via Somatic Consensus and a facilitator for Community Workplaces.
