Firetree Philanthropy Foundation

Today is World Mental Health Day and the theme this year is "It's Time to Prioritise Mental Health in the Workplace." In our experience, a significantly overlooked part of this is mental health and wellbeing support for the staff of non-profits and community based organisations - many of whom are working in challenging contexts dealing with extremely tough social and emotional issues. Many of the partners Firetree works with have lived experience of the issues they are working to address too. So I'm delighted that we're working with the fantastic team at Humankind.my on a pilot programme to provide mental health support to the staff of some of the organisations that we’re supporting, alongside our co-funding partner, Dreams Asia. This is in addition to our shared flexible funding commitment to the organisations for their core work. After conducting a confidential listening exercise with the staff from each organisation, working with qualified mental health professionals, the Humankind team came back with a thoughtful, tailored and contextually relevant programme of support. This includes: - 1-2-1 counselling support for staff that wish to access it - A wellbeing fund for staff - Capacity building for relevant staff in trauma-informed psychological first aid - Resiliency groups and - Training in therapeutic play skills. The pilot launched in May 2023 and, based on positive feedback, the support offered was expanded this year and includes an additional organisation. You can read more about the pilot in the short blog below, co-authored with Pam Guneratnam from HumanKind. I'm so thrilled to have found such an expert and empathetic partner in HumanKind. We're at the start of this journey, but we know it's essential and I would love to connect with any other philanthropic funders out there supporting similar work in Southeast Asia. https://lnkd.in/gqh4jdyK #WMHD #nonprofits #community #mentalhealth Kate Griffin Prae Nanthaporn Seributra Francesco Conrotto Caruso Terri Jayme-Mora Mark Cox Firetree Philanthropy Foundation

🌏 For the #InternationalDayofCharity, we asked our non-profit partners what their biggest wishes were when it comes to #philanthropy and #funding. Here is what they had to say: 🤝 Trust - The most successful relationships between funders and NGOs are anchored on #trust. 🌿 Unrestricted Funding - Multi-year unrestricted funding gives groups the flexibility to respond to the needs of their communities. 🧑🤝🧑 People - Core operational funding recognizes the value of the people needed to lead impactful organizations. 🌟 Supporting small projects can deliver very tangible #socialimpact on the ground. 💡 Mindset Shift - We cannot be business-as-usual to solve today’s problems. We need to be willing to take calculated risks to make a difference. In Firetree, we strive to work in solidarity and partnership with the organizations that we fund, moving beyond traditional and hierarchical notions of “charity.” We would like to thank our current and former partners BagoSphere, Uplifters, The Kite Tales, Baan Dek Foundation, and Resolve Foundation for sharing their insights with us. Marie Kretz Di Meglio Victoria Wisniewski Otero (She/Her) Zhihan Lee Thin Lei Win Sébastien More-Chevalier Nang Sein Pwint

Systems Thinking for NGO Leaders   🌿 Join this free interactive workshop for experienced NGO leaders in Southeast Asia who would like a basic introduction to systems thinking and explore how this can be used by their teams.    ⚡Are you a senior NGO leader in Southeast Asia tackling complex and deeply embedded challenges in your community? Systems thinking is a helpful approach that gives us tools to understand the interconnections and root causes of the systems that we hope to change.   👉 This is a basic introductory workshop designed for leaders who do not have previous formal experience with systems thinking. The discussion and session activities are tailored for Founders, Executive Directors, and key decision makers in NGOs who are interested in exploring this approach with their teams.   🗓 Date: Wednesday, August 28, 2024   ⏰ Time: 10AM-12PM Philippines / Singapore / Malaysia   9AM-11AM Thailand / Cambodia   📒 Format: Interactive Online Workshop via Zoom; Workshop will be facilitated in English   📒 Duration: 2 hours   💡 Hosts/Facilitators: Terri Jayme-Mora | Fellowship Director, Firetree Senior Fellowship Erika Tatad | Director, xchange PH   ✏ SIGN-UP LINK: https://lnkd.in/gKcAnbzB  As there are limited slots available for this free workshop, interested participants are asked to fill-up this brief form by August 14th. Successful applicants should receive a confirmation of their workshop slot by August 19th.   Check out some of our systems thinking materials here: https://lnkd.in/gnRiTKue   A collaboration of Firetree Philanthropy & xchange PH

Systems Thinking for NGO Leaders   🌿 Join this free interactive workshop for experienced NGO leaders in Southeast Asia who would like a basic introduction to systems thinking and explore how this can be used by their teams.    ⚡Are you a senior NGO leader in Southeast Asia tackling complex and deeply embedded challenges in your community? Systems thinking is a helpful approach that gives us tools to understand the interconnections and root causes of the systems that we hope to change.   👉 This is a basic introductory workshop designed for leaders who do not have previous formal experience with systems thinking. The discussion and session activities are tailored for Founders, Executive Directors, and key decision makers in NGOs who are interested in exploring this approach with their teams.   🗓 Date: Wednesday, August 28, 2024   ⏰ Time: 10AM-12PM Philippines / Singapore / Malaysia   9AM-11AM Thailand / Cambodia   📒 Format: Interactive Online Workshop via Zoom; Workshop will be facilitated in English   📒 Duration: 2 hours   💡 Hosts/Facilitators: Terri Jayme-Mora | Fellowship Director, Firetree Senior Fellowship Erika Tatad | Director, xchange PH   ✏ SIGN-UP LINK: https://lnkd.in/gKcAnbzB  As there are limited slots available for this free workshop, interested participants are asked to fill-up this brief form by August 14th. Successful applicants should receive a confirmation of their workshop slot by August 19th.   Check out some of our systems thinking materials here: https://lnkd.in/gnRiTKue   A collaboration of Firetree Philanthropy & xchange PH

We are thinking of hosting free webinars for senior impact leaders and sharing some of the content that we cover in the #FiretreeFellowship. Please help us decide on the topics by voting below.  #seniorleaders #SoutheastAsia #impact

Congratulations to Starfish Education on Starfish School being shortlisted for this prestigious prize! It’s a huge credit to all the years of work that teachers, support staff, children and parents have all put in.

Join the Fugee Team! Fugee is hiring for the position of School Manager. If you are experienced working in an educational setting, have strong project management and organisational skills, and love working in a multicultural environment, this may be the role for you. Apply now: http://bit.ly/applyfugee #jobopportunity #hiring

🌿  “In my hometown, many families, including my relatives, had to sell land to repay loans. Their children dropped out of school to support their families. It's not due to insufficient income but poor money management. They overspend on unnecessary items and underestimate the importance of saving for emergencies. I believe that effective money management can improve overall well-being.” 🌿 During his Firetree Senior Fellowship, Sarakk Rith used his time to explore and develop a youth-focused financial literacy programme to help address the deep-seated and growing challenge of financial indebtedness in #Cambodian communities. 👉 Unlike standalone or one-off #financialliteracy training sessions, Sarakk is embedding his work in the programs of existing youth-focused NGOs who are already supporting the long-term development of young Cambodians, especially those from rural communities. 👉 By collaborating with these trusted NGOs, Sarakk is able to tailor the financial literacy content in Khmer language and make it much more relevant to the lives of these young people and their families. His goal is to create safe spaces for young people to learn, discuss, and practice better decision-making and financial management for their futures. Prior to joining the #FiretreeFellowship, Sarakk had been the Executive Director of a leading youth development NGO in Siem Reap.  🌟 When asked about his experience in the Firetree Fellowship programme, this is what he shared: “I believe the fellowship offers a wonderful chance for you to not only evaluate the feasibility of your project, but also to assess your dedication in bringing it to fruition. It would be beneficial for you to pinpoint what aspects you want to test and utilize the fellowship period for conducting those tests.” #SoutheastAsia #leaders #impact

🖐 5 things we learned about holding space online As much as we value the chance to connect with each other in-person, most of the Firetree Senior Fellowship circles happen online. We are sharing here a few things we've learned about bringing people together and #facilitating meaningful conversations online. We would love to hear your tips and best practices for facilitating online gatherings. Feel free to share them in the comments. #firetreefellowship #holdingspace #facilitation #communitybuilding #socialimpact

Highly recommend for the Firetree Philanthropy Foundation Senior Fellowship. Couple of my friends joining the program confirmed to gain insights and great experiences.