As part of the National Council of Social Services’ (NCSS) Empowerment Movement, Filos Community Services was invited to host a Learning Journey as the NCSS-appointed Empowerment Champion for the family subsector. Representatives from various Social Service Agencies attended the session on 2^nd August to hear about Filos’ experience in empowerment and to learn from one another.

The session began with an introduction to the Empowerment Movement, led by Ms Tina Hung- Senior Consultant, CEO Office at NCSS. Filos staff Ms Karen Vincent- Family Life Executive and Counsellor, and Ms Intan- Acting Head of Filos’ Family, Children and Youth Department shared practices and insights gained from empowering Filos’ family, children and youth beneficiaries. Through their candid sharing, attendees were able to pick up best practices while also relating to the challenges faced in empowering beneficiaries.

Executive Director of Filos- Dr Foo Fung Fong also spoke about Filos’ empowerment journey as an organisation, highlighting that empowerment is not simply a programme but a mindset shift. To conclude the sharing, Filos’ Community Engagement Manager- Ms Vivien Yeo- presented the ways in which Filos also empowers stakeholders as the SG Cares Volunteer Centre @ Bedok.

After the informative presentations, attendees were engaged in a lively panel discussion with the speakers, followed by a group sharing segment where they networked and got to know more about one another’s struggles and breakthroughs in their own empowerment journey with their organisations.

We hope it was a fruitful and empowering session for everyone as we work towards building stronger communities, together!