About the non-profit

The Southeast Asian Service Leadership Network (SEALNet) was founded at Stanford University in 2004. Our mission is to create a cross-cultural network between students and professionals interested in Southeast Asian developmental issues. Our goal is to empower students to create positive change both by participating in service leadership projects and by inspiring other students to become leaders in their own communities.

SEALNet's mission is to bring service to Southeast Asia and to promote the spirit of service leadership in the region. Through a common platform of service, we contribute to the development of future Southeast Asian leaders as well as young leaders from other parts of the world, and thus create trusted networks of students and professionals who are committed to each other and to ASEAN's regional progress.

In the summer of 2007, SEALNet will send teams to Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. While all of SEALNet's actions are defined by service and leadership, each project is designed to address the unique needs of the communities we serve.

Each team has about 15 members from diverse backgrounds and nationalities. Each team is lead by leaders who are either from Southeast Asia or have extensive knowledge of the project site.

Inspired by a group of professionals who passionate about development in Southeast Asia, my friends and I at Stanford decided to found SEALNet in November 2004. The founding team includes Kevin Siew, Hanna Chiou, Suki Kulvaraporn, myself, and a few other friends. Kevin graduated last year and is serving in the Singapore military. Hanna is a consultant at Boston Consulting Group in San Francisco and Suki is a consultant at McKinsey in Bangkok.

What are your day-to-day responsibilities?

I spend most of my time working with the current student leaders of SEALNet to design the summer projects and I also collaborate with our professional advisers and our members to raise funds.

My responsibilities involve writing and responding to a lot of emails from people within and outside SEALNet. I also spend a a good amount of time running or attending meetings organized by other SEALNet leaders.

I also engage in regular meetings and discussion with other SEALNet leaders to improve SEALNet's sustainability.

As a graduating senior, I chose to take a step back, creating space for the younger leaders to run the organization. Nowadays, I organize less meetings but spend more time observing and providing feedback to help younger leaders grow. Now, I am confident that after my graduation, SEALNet is in the good hands of my capable friends.

My work everyday with SEALNet deals with questions such as "Is SEALNet doing good work?" "Are we sustainable?" "Do people enjoy working in SEALNet?" "Do our members learn and grow over time?" "How to maximize our impact on the ground?" "How to keep SEALNet a fun and warm community for everyone?"

Most notable milestones

• The first notable milestone was our successful implementation of Project Vietnam 2005. With the sponsorship from Stanford University, the MTV-YouthVenture, the Goldman Sachs Social Entrepreneurship Fund, and many individual donors, SEALNet successfully built a computer laboratory, trained 15 teachers to use English teaching software to enhance their teaching capacities, and provided leadership workshops for 20 gifted high school students.
• After that first milestone, we have been expanding consistently. SEALNet had 3 projects to Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia in the summer of 2006. This summer, we are organizing 5 trips to Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
• This year, our program is officially recognized and sponsored by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

What's the niche?

We are unique in various aspects:
We emphasize the two pillars of SERVICE and LEADERSHIP as our operating principle. We are very deliberate in ensuring that every SEALNet member enjoys the experience and grows as a person through their involvement with SEALNet.

In addition to implementing specific service projects in Southeast Asia, we conduct workshops for local high school students, inspiring them to reach out and serve their own communities. These young students join us in our projects and through active involvement in performing service, they become more confident of their own abilities to help others. After SEALNet teams leave, many local students start their own service groups to serve and to learn.

What's the biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge is how to strike the balance between quantity and quality of the projects. We hope to increase the number of projects but we also need to ensure that the projects meet our expectations.

Another balance is how to find the balance between expanding SEALNet to other campuses to maximize our impact and keeping SEALNet a close and personal community. So far, we have been very effective because SEALNet leaders are good friends who enjoy spending a lot of time together planning or implementing projects. It would be challenging for us to ensure this warm and cozy environment once SEALNet expands beyond Stanford.

What's in store for the future?

• We hope to keep improving the quality of our service projects to maximize the impact on the local communities.
• We hope to organize service trips to all countries in the Southeast Asia region
• We hope to be financially self-sustaining with SEALNet alumni's donations in 10 years
• We hope to expand SEALNet to other campuses

Best way to keep a competitive edge

For SEALNet: To keep a competitive edge, we keep recruiting students who are dedicated, hardworking, nice, and visionary to our group. We make sure that everyone has a fun and enlightening experience so that SEALNet experience will transform the lives of SEALNet members, in a humble way.

Personally: To keep a competitive edge, I keep learning how to make decisions better by learning from people I interact with everyday. Since I spend a lot of time with SEALNet mentors and friends, I thus learn a lot from SEALNet community. I also keep learning from my teachers and peers at Stanford.

Guiding principle in life

I have a few favorite quotes that I strongly resonate with. These quotes reflect the guiding principle in my life.

"Pay It Forward"

"Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind." -Bertrand Russell

Yardstick of success

How well I sleep at night

Goals yet to be achieved

Run a successful business in Vietnam that provides jobs to thousand of workers in Vietnam and beyond. The business will connect Vietnam to the global economy.

Significant amount of profit from the business will be used to build a center for professional development, an education institution that will provide training for young people to make them more competitive in the labor market.

Best practical advice

Live today to the fullest.

Supportive words from a family member or friend

"SEALNet is full of nice and inspiring people!" - from many friends

Mentors

Kevin Teo, KweeBin Teo, and Leng Lim are the three people who inspired my friends and me to start SEALNet in 2004. Since the folding of SEALNet, they have been my closest mentors who have nurtured my personal growth everyday.

David Abernethy is my closest professor at Stanford. Even though he has not taught me any official classes, he is the professor whom I have spent the most time with. An emeritus political science professor, Professor Abernethy still devotes his time in teaching students who are interested in public service. Professor Abernethy has advised in almost everything I did at Stanford, especially running SEALNet.

What motivated you to get started?

Friendship. The desire to serve, to learn, and to share.

Like best about what you do?

A lot of laughter and strong friendships.

Like least about what you do?

Insufficient sleep.

At age 10, what did you want to be when you grew up?

An astronaut.

What was your first job?

I washed cars (by hand) in Singapore.

Biggest pastimes outside of work

I have so many pastimes:

• traveling everywhere to visit friends
• good conversations
• supporting Stanford basketball

Person most interested in meeting

Bill Clinton. I'm amazed by his intelligence and charisma.

Leader in business most interested in meeting

Bill Gates. To learn from him the art balancing between making money and giving back to society.

Three interesting facts about yourself

1. I have friends in all continents except for Antarctica
2. I used to be very shy, quiet, and introverted
3. I lived with my parents till the age of 5, then my grandparents till 11, and since then, I have lived either in boarding schools or host families.

Three characteristics that describe you

1. Happy
2. Optimistic
3. Friendly

Three greatest passions

1. Create jobs for people in Vietnam and beyond
2. Make and keep loyal friends
3. Build and run a successful company

Favorite book

"The English Patient" and "Build to Last"

Favorite cause

Job creation

Who would you like to be contacted by?

We would love to be contacted by:

• Non-profit organizations who are interested in collaborating with us to scale our impact
• Institutional and individual sponsors who are interested in supporting SEALNet
• Students who are interested in joining our summer trips
• Students from other campuses who are interested in expanding SEALNet to their campuses or forming similar organizations.
• Anyone who would like to help us do a better job!