SINGAPORE – Growing up was no bed of roses for entrepreneur Anders Tan, co-founder of Inclus, a business that offers coaching and app-based support, especially for youth with special needs.
He and his siblings had to fend for themselves on their education journey as their parents were busy working and did not have time to guide them. His cousin, however, stepped in to steer them onto the right track.
Inspired by what she had done for them, Mr Tan also wanted to make a similar impact on other people’s lives.
He joined forces with friends Shaun Tan, who wants to create an environment for individuals to unlock their potential, and Arudra Vangal, who faced various challenges due to his high-functioning autism. One thing led to another and they founded Inclus, which empowers people with disabilities through gainful employment.
Inclus helps employers implement a culture that supports inclusive employment through initiatives such as school internships or recruitment for full-time employment or contract work.
Its signature programme helps to secure internships and open employment opportunities for students and graduates with special educational needs from institutes of higher learning. Since 2019, more than 1,000 people with disabilities have been trained.
“Our goal is to always foster both economic and individual development, leading to improved well-being for students as well as the workforce,” said Mr Anders Tan.
Inclus uses a mobile app which allows life skills coaches to keep in touch with candidates and offer them real-time support and assistance to make their move into the workforce easier.
Inclus is looking to expand its support activities by working more closely with special education schools. In the long term, it has ambitions to grow beyond Singapore to countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam “to ensure equal opportunities for individuals with disabilities across borders”, added Mr Tan.
The firm’s work earned it a place among 25 projects within the Asia-Pacific region recognised for steward leadership excellence.
These projects were chosen by the Stewardship Asia Centre (SAC), in conjunction with graduate business school Insead’s Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society, advisory firm WTW and The Straits Times.
The annual listing – SL25 – for 2023 was released in November 2023, with companies and social enterprises lauded for projects that have made a significant impact on stakeholders, society and the environment.
SAC noted that these organisations had demonstrated actions to drive profitable growth by addressing the social and environmental challenges that threaten humanity, and the impact of their projects was felt in 14 countries.
Inclusive employment support is also close to the heart of the founders of Tea Ideas. Set up in 2012 by director Jacinta Ong and co-founder Albert Tan with friend Leeyau Chun Chuan, Tea Ideas wants to cultivate a supportive work environment to help seniors and kidney patients.
For example, it uses lighter equipment such as smaller kettles and incorporates larger font sizes in marketing materials.
Wellness is also important to Tea Ideas, which produces healthy and high-quality teas, including its signature Ultra Rich Antioxidant Tea.
Ms Ong said: “Engaging in light employment offers elderly individuals a renewed sense of purpose, contributing to enhanced physical and mental well-being. Moreover, the project plays a crucial role in boosting digital literacy among the elderly, equipping them with essential skills for navigating the digital age.”
Tea Ideas aims to have more roadshows and events to attract not only more seniors and kidney patients but also single mothers and autistic young people over 18.
In the longer term, Tea Ideas wants to set up a chain of social enterprise outlets that will create more job opportunities for beneficiaries and serve as hubs for skills development, Ms Ong said.
She added: “We also plan to engage external industry trainers to equip our beneficiaries with entrepreneurial and functional skills, enabling them to run successful ‘co-partner’ outlets.”
Bettr Group is yet another Singapore enterprise that makes inclusive employment a priority. “Bettr-ing our world” is the group’s motto, said special projects manager Jia Wen Kew. It has two brands – Bettr Academy and Bettr Coffee.
Bettr Academy provides education about all aspects of coffee and other beverages. It is a registered training provider under SkillsFuture Singapore. Retail brand Bettr Coffee provides sustainably sourced speciality coffee products and operates coffee bars at workplaces.
Bettr works with marginalised communities to offer employment opportunities. For example, as at October 2023, it has trained over 200 prison inmates and is on track to train an additional 300 inmates by mid-2024. Bettr has also worked with schools to train more than 100 at-risk students, with over 10 runs of its youth programme since 2019.
Altogether, Bettr has trained more than 14,900 students from over 30 countries, with 2,800 or so training places enjoying SkillsFuture Singapore’s support.
Bettr aims to improve the long-term employability, emotional capacity and resilience of marginalised and lower-income individuals. Around 80 per cent of the 246 marginalised people Bettr has trained have secured jobs post-graduation, a significant improvement from the 69 per cent who were previously unemployed.
