Welcome to Leap201
Leap201 is a Singapore-registered charity creating lasting, high-impact change for lower-income communities across Singapore and Southeast Asia. Leap201 was founded by Mr Michael Lien to help victims of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Over the past two decades, Leap201 has benefited over two million lives.
In Southeast Asia, we do venture philanthropy – social loans to early-stage social enterprises. Repaid loans are recycled back to other social enterprises, multiplying the impact of each donor dollar. We have lent over US$6 million to enterprises promoting poverty reduction, gender equality, sustainability and climate adaptation. Each dollar lent has mobilised US$3 to US$10 in follow-on institutional capital.
In Singapore, Leap201 conducts research, pilots programmes, and advocates for policies that improve the lives of lower-income families. Our Care4MigrantWorkers pilot became a permanent healthcare insurance scheme covering nearly 200,000 migrant workers. Advocacy on CareShield Life and the Workfare Income Supplement scheme helped spark policy enhancements that benefited about a million Singaporeans.
By 2030, Leap201 aims to reach 4 million lives.
Impact at a Glance
Lives Impacted to Date
Total Capital Deployed
6 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Our foot prints
Singapore
cumulative Lives impacted:
South East Asia
cumulative Lives impacted:
The Latest
Stories of Impact
Home4Life
For many lower-income Singaporeans, the key ways to bolster their retirement adequacy include work that suits their health and caregiving needs, and unlocking retirement income from their HDB flat. Leap201 is tackling the right problem — how Singaporeans can better plan, earn and be protected for a good retirement.
Home4Life
Singaporeans are ageing in smaller families and with a stronger wish to remain independent. The next generation of retirees might not lean on their children the way earlier ones did. Home4Life matters because it helps lower-income seniors prepare early, so they can age with security and dignity on their own terms.
Rethinking Workfare
A welcome piece to weigh in on some of our policies and programmes, aimed at uplifting the lives of our lower-wage workers.
Singapore Rebalanced
LEAP201’s combination of in-depth research, thoughtful advocacy and well-designed pilots is making a difference to the lives and well-being of lower-income families in Singapore, and will have an even larger impact as these efforts are scaled up.
Rethinking Workfare
We have worked with LEAP201 to develop these recommendations which aim to strengthen resilience of lower-income households against high inflation and economic uncertainty.
Partnering For a Better Future
