- Phase 3 targets 4,000 participants in Malaysia and across the region
Maybank Foundation, is the main implementer of the Group’s community programmes and its mandate is to create positive, sustainable and long-term impact in communities where Maybank operates. The Foundation has implemented its programmes in at least 7 countries in ASEAN. One of its Flagship Programmes is the Reach Independence & Sustainable Entrepreneurship Programme (R.I.S.E). The R.I.S.E programme is focused towards participants from underprivileged communities, mainly people with disabilities (PWDs) — to help them increase their income without the need for business start-up grants. The programme is designed to train, coach, and mentor participants to develop their entrepreneurial skills resulting in higher income levels, thus improving their overall standard of living.
This R.I.S.E programme is already running in 3 countries, namely Malaysia, Indonesia and was introduced to the Philippines early this year. To date, there are more than 2,100 disabled and marginalised people who have been trained, and it has proven to be successful at enabling the participants to adopt innovative sales strategies into their business ideas, enhance business management skills and augment client acquisition and retention, whilst delivering the quick and sustainable income increase, without any loan or funding upfront.
With the overwhelming success of the Phase 2 project, on 7 December 2017, the R.I.S.E Phase 3 was officially launch at UiTM Seremban. The launch was officiated by YAM Tunku Besar Seri Menanti, Tunku Ali Redhauddin ibni Tuanku Muhriz, the Group President and CEO of Maybank, Datuk Abdul Farid Alias; and the CEO of Maybank Foundation, Shahril Azuar Jimin. Also present at the event were Deputy Secretary General (Strategic), Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Azman bin Mohd Yusof; Head of Tunas Mekar & Entrepreneurship Operation Department, Malaysian Academy of SME & Entrepreneurship Development (MASMED) UiTM, Adlan Ahmad Bakri; Director, OKU Development Department (JPOKU), Nor Tipah binti Majin and Director, Department of Social Welfare Negeri Sembilan, Mohamad Bin Hapil.
Speaking at the event, Datuk Farid said the R.I.S.E programme has successfully allowed participants to achieve a significant growth in their income after undergoing an intensive training and mentorship programme.
“In Phase 1 of the programme, we saw 280 participants succeed in their businesses in which each participant achieved a remarkable 411.7% average income increase. In Phase 2, 1,866 participants who were trained across Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines achieved an average income increase of 356.4%, 351.8% and 565% in those countries respectively,” he said.
“Given the huge success of the programme, we believe that the time is right that we launch Phase 3, which will now reach out to 4,000 people in four countries: Malaysia – 800, Indonesia – 2,000, Philippines – 1,000 and Laos – 200 as pilot, of which 70% will comprise PWDs.”
Added Datuk Farid, “At Maybank, we believe that corporate responsibility goes hand-in-hand with operating a business successfully. As one of South East Asia’s largest banking groups, Maybank is committed to being at the heart of the community wherever we operate. This is why we are at the forefront of many sustainable initiatives that aim to impact society.”
Meanwhile Shahril Azuar Jimin said that the RISE programme was designed to train, coach and mentor participants to develop their entrepreneurial skills and achieve higher income levels, thus improving their overall standard of living. R.I.S.E aims to have at least 40% of its participants gain an income increase of 100% within 3 months.
The R.I.S.E programme is being implemented regionally through Maybank Foundation’s partner organizations; social enterprise People Systems Consultancy (PSC), in collaboration with local Maybank business units.
At the event, the trainees was given the chance to enrol in a three-day training session which began on 6 December. The session covered practical topics such as how to run a business, financial goals, operational & planning, budgeting and tracking, sales and customer analysis.
They were also given the chance to hear personal experiences of three previous R.I.S.E. participants on how they have benefitted from the Programme and achieved outstanding increase in their monthly income. The three previous participants were Mohd Firdaus bin Abdul Latif, Nor Zaidah Binti Abdul Rahman and Azila Binti Alias, a paralympian that won a bronze medallist in table tennis at the recent ASEAN Para Games 2017.
Maybank Foundation focuses on 6 key pillars, namely Education, Community Empowerment, Healthy Living, Environmental Diversity, Arts & Culture, and Disaster Relief. Since its establishment, the Foundation has focused on identifying programs that can have the most tangible impact and sustainable results.