by Dr. Glenda Antonio
The year 2020 came in as a surprise that no one ever imagined. While surviving the global pandemic became our primary concern, our stories spoke not only of challenges but also of victories. Amidst the negativities that dominated the year, many of us also discovered opportunity in adversity.
As the mandate to stay at home brought people closer to their families, it also became an avenue to build new relations and learn new skills for individuals and organisations. We at Spring Rain Global (SRG) were able to capitalise on our ventures in 2020, seeing the situation as an opportune time to offer our services despite majority of the global population restricted indoors. We began by reviewing our programs in line with our various advocacies to better address the needs of the time. We also forged key partnerships in the philanthropic ecosystem, giving birth to the collaboration with IISLA Ventures so we can catalyse the realisation of our goals.
According to SRG Founder, President and CEO, Dr. Glenda Antonio, the journey of SRGwith IISLA Ventures has resulted in strategic directions for the company to better navigate towards long-term sustainability. These include: (1) assessment of strengths and areas for improvement in leadership, governance, and ecosystem; (2) alignment of revenue model to focus on coaching and trainings in line with SRG’s 6 Pillar Capacitation Model; (3) customisation of trainings to better respond to the felt needs of partners; and (4) development of innovations on capital flow to support the funding needs of the company and its ecosystem. Through this, SRG has realised that the way forward is to ensure that it can readily respond to the needs of its partner organisations, through their respective Philanthropic Development Offices (PDOs), especially in capacity building and capitalisation in line with their sustainability plans.
We extend our deepest gratitude to the IISLA team, especially to its Founder and CEO, Jennifer Viloria, for this noble undertaking, and for opening new opportunities to promote collective impact in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as we journey together with PDOs and other stakeholders in our ecosystem of good. IISLA has influenced us to be more organised, audacious, and strategic in our approach, facilitating an enabling environment for the entire ecosystem to grow.
As we recognise the urgency of effectively responding to changes and shifts in how society operates, we recalibrate our strategic focus through the support of IISLA to achieve sustained development outcomes that will benefit us, our partners, and the bigger community today and in the years ahead.