LEADING WITH PURPOSE: INTRODUCING OUR FOUNDERS AND BOARD OF ADVISORS
Meet the Visionaries and Guiding Forces Behind Ecoworks: At the core of Ecoworks’ pioneering journey towards sustainability and social impact stand our founders, Sean and Samantha. Their profound passion for environmental stewardship and community empowerment forms the cornerstone of our mission. Accompanying Sean and Samantha is our esteemed board of advisors—a diverse team of seasoned professionals and thought leaders in technology, sustainability, business, and social development. Each member contributes a wealth of knowledge, experience, and a shared commitment to driving impactful change, ensuring that Ecoworks not only dreams of a greener future but actively shapes it.
Our Founding Team
Sean Lam
Founder
Sean’s journey with Ecoworks stems from a deep-seated desire to drive significant societal and environmental transformation. He has often been struck by the contradictions in our sustainability efforts, such as replacing plastic straws with even larger plastic lids. Motivated by these inconsistencies, Sean strives for more impactful solutions. Under his leadership, Ecoworks takes action, not just in words but in deeds, with the ambitious goal of removing 10 million single-use plastic bottles from Singapore’s waste stream annually. Ecoworks is his fellowship project, supported by the esteemed Philip Yeo Innovations Fellow Programme.
The latest UN SDG report serves as a stark reminder that only 18% of Sustainable Development Goals are likely to be met by 2030. With Singapore highlighted by a concerning red dot, indicating significant challenges ahead, Sean recognizes that complacency is not an option.
Sean’s entrepreneurial path includes co-founding Jewel Paymentech, now part of fintech unicorn Advance Group. His tenure at Visa involved advocating for key regulatory changes, such as the implementation of 2 Factor Authentication and EMV chip cards—small but powerful tools that make a profound difference. Additionally, Sean is a member of the Singapore Standards Council, a volunteer police officer, NEA CV, and a People’s Association Grassroots leader. In each role, he is dedicated to fostering progress and making a positive difference in the community.
Samantha Thian
Co-Founder
In 2017, she founded Seastainable in Singapore to give back to marine conservation. She is passionate for South East Asian Sustainability initiatives, and Seastainable has been able to reach over 7 different ASEAN countries, as well as support over 33 global projects. She was also responsible for the development Stridy (a tech-based solution to community cleanups) in 2020 – which now has over 8,000 users world wide. She also has a strong sustainability corporate experience, with over 7 years in Unilever, HAVI (McDonald’s) and Electrolux – specifically on supply chain and consumer goods.
She graduated from the National University of Singapore with her Masters in Environmental Management, and Bachelors in Business Administration.
Her work has been recognized through various organizations, such as the National Environment Agency for the 15th NEA EcoFriends award in 2022. She had the privilege to represent Singapore at the Y20 Climate Change Delegation for G20 2023 in India and received the Forbes 30U30 Award for Social Impact Asia in 2023.
As an individual that is passionate about making a change from within, she is a strong believer of driving sustainability within organizations. She sits on the Climate Action Singapore Alliance as an Executive Member, as well as leads the Public Hygiene Council’s Youth Action Group as Co-Chair. She lives by the philosophy – “We don’t need one person doing sustainability perfectly, we need millions doing it imperfectly”.
Our Board of Advisors
Deborah Tan Pink
Advisor
A comms professional with 20 years of combined experience in journalism, publishing, public relations, and tech. Deborah started her career in women’s lifestyle publishing and was the launch editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan Singapore.
In 2013, Deborah left magazines to set up a content agency with 3 partners, doing content and PR for lifestyle and beauty brands. She made a pivot into Edtech in 2017 building learning around digital transformation, entrepreneurship, disruptive tech, and innovation for corporate and institutional clients around the world before taking her career into FinTech and Crypto in 2020.
Dr. Paul Condylis
Advisor
Dr. Paul Condylis, fondly known as Dr. Paul, is a distinguished AI leader and former quantum technologies researcher with a rich experience spanning nearly two decades. His journey includes significant roles such as a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, and the AVP of Data Science at Tokopedia (GoTo Group). Dr. Paul has been instrumental in advancing AI and quantum technology in Singapore, with a notable tenure as CTO at Jewel Paymentech, where he led innovative risk management solutions.
A testament to his dedication to innovation, Dr. Paul has secured 12 intellectual property protections across various roles, reflecting his broad impact in the field. Committed to community and sustainability, he actively contributes to Singapore’s societal growth through volunteer work, developing courses at Singapore Management University, and guest lecturing at NUS Business School, nurturing the next wave of scientists and technologists.
Sandra Lim
Advisor
Sandra, the Managing Director of Kantar Public Singapore, boasts over 20 years of expertise in policy and social research consulting. Her specialties include behavioural communications, public engagement, program evaluation, and data analysis across various sectors. Sandra is actively engaged in the research industry and previously held the position of President at the Market Research Society Singapore (MRSS). She also imparts knowledge through training at institutions like
Republic Polytechnic and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP).
Beyond her professional roles, Sandra is committed to community building, advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and serves as a board director at the Caregiving Welfare Association (CWA). Her multifaceted roles encompass advising, strategizing, training, facilitating, writing, and volunteering. Her guiding principle is to use evidence-based decisions to shape a sustainable future for all as highlighted in her blog.
Ivan Lim
Advisor
Experienced corporate finance and M&A executive. He spent over 14 years in investment banking before joining a large FMCG multinational in 2019 to lead their Corporate Development / M&A efforts in Asia.
He is passionate about working with strong mission oriented Founders and companies to grow their businesses.
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Interested in Joining Our Team? Keep Us on Your Radar!
Don’t forget to bookmark our site! We’re excited about the prospect of expanding our team and will be posting job openings soon. In the meantime, if you’re eager to get involved, we’d love your help! Whether it’s volunteering or participating in co-creation activities, your contribution is valuable to us. Feel free to DM us for more information or to express your interest. We look forward to potentially having you on board!