Events

CHAIRPERSON

Dr Echo Lei Wang, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

The Third Sector, also called the voluntary sector, is gaining importance both in terms of demonstrating civil vitality and delivering services outside the scope of the public or private sectors. Third Sector organisations include community-based organisations, nonprofits and philanthropic agents, non-government organisations, social businesses and social enterprises, among others. This panel will examine the role that third sector organisations play in supporting healthy urban economic and social activities. With speakers from both the academic and the industrial sectors, this seminar is looking to ignite cross-sector discussions and to benefit a broad audience that are interested in both the theoretical and the practical implications of the activities of civil society institutions in modern cities. 

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Carolyn L. Hsu holds the position of Full Professor of Sociology at Colgate University in New York. Her research focuses on activism, citizenship, social entrepreneurship, nongovernmental organizations, and the social credit system in China. She has published articles in China Quarterly, Voluntas, and Sociological Quarterly, among other journals. Her latest book is Social Entrepreneurship and Citizenship in China (Routledge).

Christine Lin brings with her over ten years of experience in the banking and finance industry, serving both private clients and corporate entities. As Vice President at DBS Foundation, Christine is responsible for nurturing social enterprises across Asia through grant making and capacity building programmes. Christine believes that the future of a business is one that seeks sustainable financial, social and environment bottom line. She has worked with many social enterprises to support their business growth while creating impact to the communities and the environment. Since 2015, DBS Foundation has provided over SGD 5 million in grants to champion social entrepreneurship in Asia. Christine graduated with a Master of Science in Applied Finance from the Singapore Management University and has a Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences from the National University of Singapore.

Reza Hasmath is Full Professor in Political Science at the University of Alberta. He has previously held faculty positions in management, sociology and political science at the Universities of Toronto, Melbourne and Oxford, and has worked for think-tanks, consultancies, development agencies, and NGOs in the USA, Canada, Australia, UK and China. His award-winning research looks at evolving state-society relationships in authoritarian contexts, with an emphasis on China and NGO activities.

Xiaoguang Kang is Professor at Renmin University of China (RUC) School of Public Administration, and Dean of China Institute for Philanthropy and Social Innovation (CIPSI), supported by RUC. He is also the State Council Special Allowance Expert. Previously, he served in the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research interests include nonprofit management, charity and philanthropy, political development, state-society relations, and Confucian political culture, etc. Except being the chief editor of the textbook Nonprofit Organizations Management, he has authored and coauthored many books, such as Administrative Absorption of Society, and Strategic Study on NGO-Government Collaborations, etc. Besides, he initiated the first-of-its-kind study to investigate China’s nonprofit sector, of which findings are organized into the annual output–Observation Report on the Third Sector of China, ever since 2011. He has numerous articles published in top refereed international journals, including Sociological Studies, Management World, Modern China, and Social Sciences in China, etc. His scholarship has won the National Science Progress Award twice.

REGISTRATION

Registration is closed, and instructions on how to participate in this webinar has been sent out to registered attendees. Please write to aritm@nus.edu.sg if you would like to attend the webinar.