Project Sustainability

Introduction

What is this?

We are a bunch of career transition learners in a Sustainability course volunteering our time and energy to assist smaller organisations on their Sustainability journey.

Why we do it?

The SCTP course we are on equips us with lots of knowledge resources in the field. While we each have working experience in our respective areas and related knowledge, a glaring gap is our lack of actual Sustainability experience.

What is a typical action plan? (subject to iterative improvements over time)

First, we reach out to a potential SME/NGO who may want help in their Sustainability journeys. This is to understand:

• more about them;
• what they are already doing;
• what their priorities are; and
• explore possibilities of how their organisations might want to progress further.

Then we bring back the findings to the project team to discuss what we can offer.

We document later in this webpage the detailed progress of each interaction so as to illustrate specific parts of this action plan. As we progress, we will learn and incorporate changes into this plan.

Who are we reaching out to?

Unlike the large and listed companies, SMEs and NGOs (including charities) are less likely to have already staffed up on Sustainability-certified personnel and we hope are more receptive to our entreaties.

To start off, a Cohort 23 learner is in contact with such organisations and helped linked us up with one: Christian Outreach to the Handicapped. Given our limited resources, we have started out with them and will learn as we go.

If there are more learners interested, we can begin to reach out to other organisations too.

Value Proposition

For COH

• Free labour to help set up and/or collect Sustainability-related information

For Us Sustainability learners

• An opportunity to put theory into practice
• Good karma: Helping out a charitable organisation for a good cause

COH: Christian Outreach to the Handicapped

Background

Christian Outreach to the Handicapped (COH) is a non-profit social service agency dedicated to supporting and empowering adults with disabilities, aged 18 to 70 years old. They are committed to building an inclusive and compassionate community where every individual — regardless of ability, race, language, or religion — is valued and given the opportunity to thrive.

They provide day programmes, therapy-based activities, and life skills training for our beneficiaries — many of whom live with conditions such as Down Syndrome, Autism, and Cerebral Palsy.

For more information, check out their 2024 Annual Report.

Initial email to COH

Thu 28 May 2026

Jillian Yuen (who is copied in this email) and I are studying a Sustainability course with SIM. I believe Zann Chew might have mentioned to you our Sustainability interest group. She suggested we reach out to you.

In the past decade or so, more and more larger corporations have been hopping onto the Sustainability bandwagon. As they were collating the data and preparing reports for regulatory compliance, some/most have discovered surprising benefits in unexpected areas. While traditional regulatory reporting tend to focus primarily on financial matters, sustainability reporting is much more holistic and presents a much more comprehensive and actionable picture of organisations, and sometimes also the surrounding landscape.

We would like to meet up with you to understand more about Christian Outreach to the Handicapped, what you are already doing and explore possibilities of how your organisation might want to progress further.

Would you be available for an hour or two in the afternoon next week, perhaps Monday or Thursday? Jillian and I can swing by or office in Tampines or wherever more convenient to you.

Initial f2f meetup planned

Thu 4 June 2026

The intention of this first meeting is simply to meetup and get to know one another: Introduce ourselves and get to know what COH does and explore possible ways we can be of service.

We assume COH is interested in Sustainability and hope to understand:

• What COH knows and understands about Sustainability
• If they have already started on their Sustainability journey, where they are and what they have already done
• Why are they interested in Sustainability?
• Regulatory compliance
• Supply chain requirements
• Public relations and environmental-friendly ideals
• Staff/Volunteer acquisition and retention
• Business/Data analytics for internal self-assessment
• Process improvements and Cost savings
• What their priorities are

After that, Jillian and I will bring back what we learn so that we can all discuss how we can help.

Update: Due to miscommunication, this meet-up was re-scheduled to Thu 18 June 2026.

Rescheduled initial f2f meetup: Thu 18 June 2026

Haidah and suhaw had a productive meeting with COH earlier this afternoon at their office in ToaPayoh. They are in the very early stages of their Sustainability journey. In the past two years, they have embarked on a few sustainability initiatives and are in midst of evaluating more. Haidah⁩ probed into their various efforts and will share with everyone here over the next few days. Stay tuned.

What we shared

We are a bunch of career transition learners in a Sustainability course volunteering our time and services to assist smaller organisations on their Sustainability journey.

Prior to the growth of Sustainability, organisations tend to be predominantly its finances-oriented.

While this is represented in Sustainability's Economic pillar, recent dacades has seen the growing acceptance and embrace of the other two pillars: Environment and Social Justice.

What we learnt about COH

Haidah took much more comprehensive notes that suhaw.

Plan(s) going forward

As COH is currently very busy preparing for their upcoming AGM end-June, we plan to touch base with them again in July.