Podcast Episode 21 is out: Wai Foong Ng from Matchable

By Lukas on 13 Sep 2023

Matchable volunteering is revolutionising the way companies volunteer. Far from the days of painting fences and picking up litter, Matchable finds you a perfect volunteering opportunity for your interests, skillset, and time available. Boasting clients like Primark, Lululemon and Dentsu, Matchable has created over £2m+ of impact value through volunteer partnerships. Today we’re speaking to Foong, the founder, who shares her journey so far including:

  • Her traditional asian upbringing and her ‘tiger mum’
  • Being sent to a French school in London. The only Asian kid, and the only non-French speaking kid
  • Her mum’s unique approach to pocket money
  • The discipline her childhood gave her and how that’s been useful in her career
  • How she ‘lived someone else’s idea of success’ with a career in a Big 4 accountancy firm
  • The ultimate rebellion against her parents to become a startup founder
  • The genesis of Matchable and the mission to revolutionise company volunteering
  • How she’s motivated by helping people find their purpose through volunteering
  • How she set about becoming a founder and what a founder looks like today
  • Her fear of public speaking
  • The challenges involved in being a founder and how you’re expected to do EVERYTHING
  • Her approach to hiring and empowering people to own their area of the business
  • The experience of volunteering through Matchable
  • Reducing the volunteer matching journey from 3 months, to 3 minutes
  • The focus on UX
  • The range of organisation available on the platform – from traditional charities to more innovative impact startups
  • Providing more flexibility to employees around their volunteering – opportunities from 30 minutes of contribution and encompassing a range of skills
  • When the CEO of Dentsu volunteered to write a blog for one of their impact organisations
  • The benefits for businesses of running a volunteering programme from ESG KPIs, to employee retention, to learning and development
  • The hidden load of emotional labour that can land on leaders

Want to appear? Email podcast@standingongiants.com

You can listen to the podcast here:

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