Societal Leadership in Southeast Asia: National Landscapes, Challenges and Opportunities to Enhance Societal Impact

• Main Author: Institute for Societal Leadership
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2015
• Subjects: social issues; civil society; leadership; Southeast Asia; Asian Studies; Leadership Studies; Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/isl_research/1; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=isl_research
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This study draws its contents from the findings and insights that colleagues from the Institute for Societal Leadership have put together in the form of eleven Southeast Asian Country Insights Labs reports. The Country Insights Labs were undertaken to uncover the critical social issues facing leaders from business, government and civil society in each Southeast Asian country. During the visits to each country, ISL staff also investigated the challenges faced by civil society organisations (CSOs) such as philanthropic organisations, corporate foundations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), activist groups, social enterprises and impact investment funders. This paper aggregates the background research and key observations from interviews with more than 128 organisations and 148 individuals, and highlights the key challenges and opportunities for growth that cut across a number of the countries. The commentaries are foregrounded by a brief description of the national landscape of each country. While ISL believes that workable solutions and partnerships can be forged across borders and sectors, empathy and an awareness of how each country's unique context relates to its social issues are of primary importance.