GMF#25 | What Really Happens at Give.Asia After Hours? Meet Gena.
TL;DR:
After sunset, the Give.Asia office transforms—friends gather, ideas spark, and social impact hackathons take flight. It started with a lunch introduction to Gena, whose vision for Playces redefined how people connect. Now, we’re teaming up to reimagine volunteering through Givebacks—a way to give back while doing what you love. If you share this vision, reach out to gena@give.asia!
Give.Asia after dark: The office transforms into a space for social impact hackathons.
Playces & Connection: Gena’s vision is that good things happen when people simply know each other.
The Power of Teaming Up: Give.Asia and Gena joined forces to inspire more people to do good.
Introducing Givebacks: What if giving back was part of the things we already love doing?
Let’s Build Together: If you share this dream, reach out to gena@give.asia and be part of it.
When the Sun Sets, the Hackathon Begins
The Give.Asia office is different after sunset. The hum of conversations, the clinking of bottles from Alvin’s fridge, and the buzz of ideas fill the space. Friends gather, whiteboards fill up, and just like that—a social impact hackathon is in full swing.
It’s not just brainstorming. It’s aspiring and inspiring friends coming together, pushing boundaries on what it means to do good.
A Lunch That Sparked a Collaboration
A few months ago, I got a message from Wayne:
"Hey, would you be keen to meet Gena? She's working on something interesting called Playces."
We met over lunch, and within minutes, I was hooked.
Gena doesn’t just believe in people—she sees connections where others don’t. She spoke about strangers becoming teammates, communities forming over shared experiences.
"If more people knew more people," she said, "the world would be kinder without even trying."
And she was right.
At Give.Asia, our mission has always been to inspire more people to be kind. But to do that, we need to first bring people together—and Playces was exactly what we had been looking for.
Reframing Volunteering: The Birth of Givebacks
So we started hacking around one question:
What if volunteering wasn’t about giving up time doing what you love, but about spending more time doing what you love—while making an impact?
That’s how we landed on the concept of Givebacks.
Picture this: A group of friends lacing up their football boots for their usual weekend game. But this time, every goal scored contributes to medical aid for a child in need.
Imagine this: Coffee lovers gathering at their favorite café—not just for their caffeine fix, but to help raise funds for rescued cats finding their forever homes.
What if doing good wasn’t a separate activity, but woven into the things we already love doing?
That’s the idea we’re building.
Want to Build Something Together? Let’s Talk!
This idea is still taking shape, and we need dreamers, doers, and builders to make it happen.
If you believe giving back can be something different—something better—let’s make it real together.
Drop Gena a note at gena@give.asia, and let’s create something amazing. 🚀
