Powering Youth Development with LinkedIn
Meet Grace Seow
Social Impact Manager, LinkedIn
CSR Champion for Halogen x LinkedIn Programmes
As a Social Impact Manager at LinkedIn, Grace Seow has worked closely with Halogen in strengthening our partnership with LinkedIn, driving change through the spearheading of events such as the LinkedIn Career Roundtable and LinkedIn Mentoring Programme. She reflects on her journey with Halogen, and how the partnership has helped to heighten social mobility and build networks of support for youths.
For Grace Seow, Social Impact Manager at LinkedIn, furthering the cause of youth development through innovative means was a driving factor for LinkedIn’s partnership with Halogen. The partnership began in 2016 with #INspire Academy, which provided LinkedIn’s employees with exposure to corporate volunteering, while enabling Halogen’s work with youth development.
“As an established youth development organisation with very seasoned practitioners, I am always inspired by Halogen and have huge respect for your depth and breadth of knowledge,” shares Grace.
Having a clear sense of purpose has directed LinkedIn’s objectives in the impact it wants to make on youth, through its partnership with Halogen.
“[It] has allowed partners like us to easily determine the best way we can lean in to drive win-win outcomes,” she explains, adding that this has also enabled her company to consider the role they can play in the youth development ecosystem, to provide collaborative solutions to national and social issues.
A shared vision for empowering youth
In growing the partnership, finding alignment between Halogen’s purpose and LinkedIn’s social impact goals was key. Grace found that LinkedIn’s vision of creating economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce lined up with the mission at Halogen. “Such alignment helps us both deliver value both ways and more importantly to the young people we serve – effectively allowing our whole partnership to be greater than the sum of its parts,” she says.
Halogen’s approach to building strong foundations for young people, and working towards collaborative solutions with other stakeholders in the youth development sector, also resonated deeply with LinkedIn’s vision for creating change.
“Just as important as our programmes is the data we produce,” she muses. “[And] our platform and products that aim to ignite conversations, shift social norms, values, and perspectives on both sides of the marketplace to facilitate equitable access to opportunities for more young people.”
A rewarding partnership
LinkedIn’s collaboration with Halogen has deepened over the years, through recurring events such as the LinkedIn Career Roundtable, which connects students with LinkedIn staff who share their career journeys, help students to identify potential career pathways, and teach them how to use platforms such as LinkedIn to maximise their portfolios.
LinkedIn and Halogen have also spearheaded initiatives such as the LinkedIn Mentorship Programme, a 1-on-1 mentorship journey that aims to guide and support university students in their transition to becoming working professionals. One mentee from the programme was even hired by LinkedIn: “His mentor at LinkedIn recommended him to a hiring manager of another team, and he became our first Halogen mentee-turned-employee!”
Working with Halogen has been a fulfilling experience for Grace.
“When Covid struck, I was so impressed by how agile and quick the nonprofit was to pivot digitally in all aspects. I appreciate how Halogen always strives to achieve professionalism in all aspects while delivering very human services,” she recalls.
“We love the can-do, innovative and the agility of the Halogen team. It’s been a joy to be part of the energy that you bring into the room!”
Keen to empower youths to develop the skill sets they need, and make a difference in their journeys of growth with your company? Join our Halogen+ community, and be a part of our youth development ecosystem!
