The Story So Far
THE birth of organizations is rarely instantaneous. An idea sprouts, is shared, tested in unchartered waters and developed over time…. and yet it becoming a reality is hardly a certainty. But the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy has now become a reality from an idea to a legal entity. Now growth seems assured.
From an idea discussed among friends in 2000, the Centre for the Advancement of Philanthropy, based in Malaysia, has grown into an entity to study, harness and build philanthropy so that it may contribute to strengthening equity, ustainability, pluralism, democracy and peace in Malaysia, Asia and the world.
Josie Fernandez and Dr M. Nadarajah (Nat), two founding members of the Centre, initially deliberated the possibility of developing an entity to study, enhance and advance philanthropy nationally, regionally and internationally. Josie took the idea to Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), which responded favourably.
Encouraged by the university’s Vice-Chancellor Prof. Zulkifli Abdul Razak, a group consisting of the Dean of School of Social Sciences, Prof. Abdul Rahim Ibrahim, some local academicians, Josie and Nat started the Philanthropy Initiative of Malaysia (PHILIMA). The initiative conceived and managed a pioneering study on philanthropy in Malaysia. The outcome of this social endeavour was a national conference held on 9 October 2002 that included the release of a book, A Giving Society? The State of Philanthropy in Malaysia (edited by Josie and Abdul Rahim Ibrahim). Among the participants were Zainon Ahmad, Rash Behari Bhattacharjee, Yazdi Jehangir Bankwala, and Ravindran Raman Kutty (Ravi) who later came together as part of the founding board to build CenAP.
On October 2, 2005, a meeting was called to take the initiative to its next stage. Eighteen people – socially conscious individuals, NGO activists, representatives of corporations like Petronas and editors met and agreed to develop an entity which would advance not only transnational philanthropy but also indigenous philanthropy. The drive to achieve this resulted in building close relationships with Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines and Australia where national organizations on philanthropy were already an important part of the social landscape of their countries. The growth of these relationships over a period of time with regular meetings led to the consolidation of a stable network. This quickly bore fruit, and towards the end of 2005, Josie was invited by the Asia Pacific Centre for Philanthropy as Social Investment at Swinburne University, Australia to organize the Asia Pacific Philanthropy and Social Investment Workshop, which was held from Dec 7-8, 2005.
The workshop cum conference was ground-breaking in important ways. It was a first international gathering in the region that had philanthropy as social investment as its core theme. Resource persons and participants from Southeast Asia, South Asia, Australia and Europe discussed the growing importance of new directions of philanthropy in the new millennium.
Building on the impetus of the workshop, a number of the interested individuals met regularly over a period of time leading to the consolidation of a stable network. The work of the network has also been strengthened by the research of Nat in Indigenous Notions and Practices of Sustainability, and Josie in Indigenous Philanthropy, for which they were awarded Asian Public Intellectual Fellowships of the Nippon Foundation in 2005/06 and 2006/07 respectively.
A small founding board consisting of Josie, Zainon, Nat, Yazdi, Ravi , Rash and Goh Ban Lee resolved in 2007 to register the Centre for the Advancement of Philanthropy to advance the cause of philanthropy in Malaysia, Asia and the world.
