
Held in Bali, Indonesia, AVPN Global Conference brought together more than 1,100 member organizations/companies spread across 33 countries. Many of the world’s leading philanthropists, investors, and policymakers attended this international event from June 21-24, one of which was the CEO and Founder of YCAB Foundation, Ms. Veronica Colondam, who is also the Chairperson of AVPN.
The agenda for the AVPN Global Conference 2022 revolved around the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, including announcing new alliances, launching potential funding, and forming strategic partnerships to unravel Asian countries’ full potential within the next ten years.
CEO & Founder of YCAB Foundation, Ms. Veronica Colondam, took the stage to discuss various things including sustainability, economic empowerment, and the impact of social investment. She briefly shared YCAB Foundation’s challenges upon launching initiatives with partners during the pandemic to serve the community. Namely, Rumah Belajar Batik with HSBC, STEM with Mastercard, coding with Garena, and other activities.
When asked about the impact that YCAB Foundation has brought to Indonesia during the crisis, Ms. Veronica implied, “Clarity is important. In a post-pandemic situation, it became clear to us that we cannot serve a certain group (the bottom of the pyramid). They went back to their villages and 7% of our portfolios also went away with them, we’ve lost contact with our employees – which led the company to suffer. While on the other side, the foundation was actually on the rise, our programs scaled up really quickly and we even quadrupled (the donations coming in). Even though schools were closed down, our coding training went from a few thousand to 250,000 within a year. This program gave these beneficiaries a well-paying job at least twice or thrice the minimum wage. This pandemic had put us in the position to know what we need to do, what we can do, and who we can serve.”
This initiative is crucial considering that Indonesia is entering the post-pandemic recovery period and emerging from the economic crisis, which can be done by looking for opportunities to grow in the international market. YCAB Foundation aims to reach more people and build partnerships with stakeholders who share a common purpose and goal.