Abbie Jung-Harada

Director, Philanthropic Advisory

Abbie Jung-Harada has many years of experience in the philanthropic and international development sectors in Asia. As co-founder of Synergy Social Ventures and main facilitator of its giving circle (Future Funders), she has engaged in collective philanthropy and philanthropic investment into innovative, early-stage for-profit and nonprofit social ventures for over 10 years. She has supported organisations working in subsistence agriculture, education finance for women, sustainable packaging, sustainable supply chains and maker-centred learning.

As the Asia Regional Director of NEXUS since 2011, she has been actively curating and advising a close-knit community of next generation funders and social changemakers working to create positive change in Asia through their family businesses, nonprofit organisations and social businesses. While Chair of the East and Southeast Asia Chapter for the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) from 2011-2019, she organised convenings for funders to share learnings and failures and explore ways to collaborate for greater impact. As the Board Chair of MakerBay Foundation, a socially and environmentally-focused makerspace and innovation centre in Hong Kong, she supports positive youth development and inclusive community development. 

Abbie's earlier career in humanitarian aid and international development (e.g., Médecins Sans Frontières, Save the Children) also contributes to her understanding of the pressing needs, challenges and opportunities in the region and the critical role that philanthropy can play.

Abbie has an undergraduate degree in neurobiology from the University of California, Berkeley and a master’s in public health with a focus on population and family health   from Columbia University. She is interested in regenerative development, systemic change models, refugee issues and early childhood education, especially related to language acquisition and memory. She is currently testing out her language acquisition theories on her young son. 

Barbara Jackson

Director, Donor Relations & Impact

Barbara Jackson brings combined experience from both the philanthropic and the private sectors where social design, collaboration, and complex problem solving stand as the common thread throughout her work. She brings a wealth of cultural experience having worked in the United States, across Europe and now Asia. Barbara is known for her entrepreneurial spirit and brings that to every role she takes on. 

In 2012 Barbara joined Zennstrom Philanthropies as a founding team member of a new and innovative strategic initiative to tackle ocean pollution with a systemic lens and collaborative approach. After several years, Barbara led the incorporation of the initiative into a foundation where she served as CEO and Chair of the Board. In this role, Barbara hired and managed the team and was responsible for the overall strategic planning of the organisation, fundraising, grantmaking, and programme execution.

Barbara moved to Asia in 2018 with her husband and joined the global IT consulting company, Capgemini, where she led a consulting practice focused on collaboration and design, managed the Diversity and Inclusion portfolio and was a member of the Management Board. 

Barbara holds an MBA degree from Stockholm School of Economics with a concentration in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She is eager to bring her unique skills and learnings to ACF and to help grow ACF into an institution that will exist for decades to come. In her free time, Barbara enjoys yoga - which she has practised for 20 years now - and being with her family. 

Ee Jean Law

Associate, Philanthropy Services

Ee Jean recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours from Yale-NUS College, where she majored in Anthropology and minored in Urban Studies. Prior to joining ACF, she has worked at various organisations in the social impact space, ranging from a Singapore-based social enterprise working in the education sector, to a social impact network where she was part of the team that launched Southeast Asia’s first philanthropic pooled funds that aimed to tackle regional challenges. 

Ee Jean is excited to explore how we can better support impact organisations in Asia to scale their impact and how we can facilitate more sustainable and impactful philanthropic giving. Currently, she is also a volunteer at Access Singapore, a Singapore-based non-profit that provides career exposure opportunities to underserved students.

Jia Xian Seow

Director, Legal, Planning & Advisory

Formerly a partner at one of the largest law firms globally and in Singapore, where her principal areas of practice were philanthropy, private wealth, and tax, Jia Xian is Director of Legal, Planning & Advisory at ACF. 

In her legal practice, Jia Xian spearheaded and led her firm’s Philanthropy & Non-profits practise, where she worked closely alongside funders and impact organisations on the structuring, establishment, building out and administration of philanthropic and non-profit structures and their operational activities. 

By drawing from her uniquely diverse, multi-sectoral professional experience across 15 years of legal practice, she has advised stakeholders that span the range of individuals, family offices, non-profit organisations and charities, large multinational corporations and financial institutions, as well as statutory bodies and government agencies, and on matters ranging from local and international tax, trusts and estate planning, to regulatory compliance, due diligence, and governance. 

Jia Xian is now eager to channel the knowledge and experience she has been equipped with, in supporting both ACF and its donors and partners in mobilising more purposeful giving towards the most pressing needs in the Asian region.

Joyce Teo

Director, Philanthropy Services

Joyce has more than 20 years of experience in the social and public sector specialising in corporate community investment,  philanthropy and grantmaking advisory. She was previously with the Community Foundation of Singapore overseeing the Centre for Applied Philanthropy, which focused on providing bespoke advisory services to high-network individuals and families on strategic philanthropy and grantmaking as well as research on thought-leadership issues on collaborative giving and donor-advised funds. Drawing on her experience and active interest in community building and asset-based partnerships, Joyce had spearheaded a series of collective giving and pooled funding initiatives, such as the Sayang Sayang Fund which raised more than $9 million during the pandemic and the FUN Fund, in partnership with the Agency for Integrated Care.

Joyce was part of the pioneering team at Salesforce.com Foundation where she managed the company’s philanthropic and employee volunteering programmes in the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to that, Joyce was with the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre developing initiatives that promote volunteerism and philanthropy within corporations, community groups and nonprofits.

A graduate from the National University of Singapore with Honours in Southeast Asian Studies and English Literature, Joyce appreciates that philanthropy is both a science and art - where we get to see the emotional expression of personal values in our donors expressed in the work through intentional and purposeful giving strategies. At Asia Community Foundation, she looks forward to contributing her experience in grantmaking and donor advisory to unlock the latent potential of philanthropy and build collaborative partnerships across different stakeholders to address pressing needs in Asia.  

Kerie Lee

Manager, Finance & Administration

Kerie has 20 years of working experience in finance, human resource and administration across different industries such as nonprofit, Food & Beverage, Marine (Oil & Gas), and tourism. She has been part of Lien AID supporting the team on local regulatory requirements, finance and business operations for more than 11 years. Kerie is known to her teammates as someone who is well-organised, proactive, and reliable in her work delivery. 

Her time with Lien AID has given Kerie exposure to developmental issues in the rural poor across Asia and this had impacted on her perspective on life to want to continue work in the social sector as her vocation.

Outside work, she loves to contribute to the local community and has been serving as part of her church to reach out and befriend seniors with her musical talents. Kerie is currently seconded to ACF and she hopes to be able to contribute and stretch her skills and knowledge in new ways, alongside with ACF’s aspirations and growth.

Laurence Lien

Chief Executive Officer (Acting)

Laurence Lien is an established Asian philanthropist and involved in a number of organisations. Laurence has chaired the Lien Foundation since 2009, and has been a board member since 2002. Lien Foundation is the third largest philanthropic organisation in Singapore by grant size, and which is well-regarded for its forward-thinking and innovation-driven approach in the fields of education, eldercare and the environment. Under his oversight, Lien Foundation has disbursed over S$250 million in grants.

Laurence is also the Chairman of the Asia Philanthropy Circle, which has more than 50 leading Asian philanthropist members who come together to exchange, learn and collaborate. 

Laurence was the CEO of the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre in Singapore from 2008-2014, when he started up the Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS) in 2009, and became its Chairman from 2013-2019. CFS is the fifth largest philanthropic organisation in Singapore.  

Prior to his work in the non-profit sector, Laurence served in the Singapore Government. 

Laurence holds degrees from Oxford University, the National University of Singapore, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He was also a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore from 2012-2014.