Most normal 20-year-old girls would be busy thinking about what they want to be when they “grow up” whilst filling their social calendar with fun activities. But not Emily Teng. At 20, she founded Blessings in a Bag (BIAB), a non-profit that provides a safe and trusted community space where children from Singapore’s most vulnerable areas can be themselves, learn new skills and grow into confident, compassionate and kind young people.

Emily’s work for BIAB has since garnered several awards and citations including the (Singapore) President’s Volunteer & Philanthropy Award and being named a United States Mission to ASEAN/Young South East Asia Leadership Initiative Fellow, a Good 100 Global Changemaker and a Generation T Asia Honouree. 

She has also partnered with industry leaders, global corporations and senior politicians to help drive meaningful change for underserved communities across several countries. 

In a span of only 13 years, Emily has steered the award-winning BIAB with great success. Her Beyond Awesome programme includes workshops, field trips and community building on Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons prior to pre-Covid lockdown days. She can’t wait to resume Beyond Awesome’s activities as soon as restrictions are lifted.

At only 33, Emily’s achievements would be the envy of most young women her age. Besides establishing the successful global social enterprise BIAB, she has also worked as a popular DJ and media personality in Singapore and has since become a sought-after TEDx speaker.

WeeklySparks was so inspired by Emily and the work she began barely out of her teens that we wanted to delve further into how her story evolved over the years, particularly during last year’s challenging moments.

On a personal note, Emily believes deeply in living an authentic, purpose-driven life and providing a safe, kind space for everyone.

WS: Tell us about yourself and how Blessings In A Bag started.

ET: It started small. I like to highlight this because, at times, we may think that we’re not ‘enough’ or don’t have all we need to begin, or that things need to be perfect in order to be shared with the world. I was twenty years old at the time and I knew I wanted to do something meaningful with my time outside of my work hosting my own radio show in Singapore.

The journey continued to unfold for me and we initially began by distributing much needed supplies to our friends and partners in places like the Philippines, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Eventually, we transitioned and focussed our efforts back home in Singapore by serving children and young people from vulnerable areas. 

WS: How do you stay positive and focused? 

ET: It’s frankly difficult for me to stay positive and focused all the time. I think it’s important for me to share that it’s okay not to be okay – that we don’t need to hold ourselves with the expectation to always be positive, focussed and productive.  

We are human, which means that there are ebbs and flows in the seasons of our life.  I am a highly sensitive person, and I have fibromyalgia, which is a chronic illness that can be debilitating at times. So there are certainly not-so-great days or even weeks.  So for someone like me, rest is essential.

I’d like to share other helpful tips for mental wellbeing and focus:

• Create a self-care toolkit for yourself that you can dive into (I’ll be sharing a free resource on my website soon). One of my go-to self-care activities is spending time in nature and unplugging from my phone.

• Be intentional about who you surround yourself with.  Let go of people that are toxic and especially those who do not honour your boundaries. 

• Journal.  Either start your own from scratch or purchase a guided one to support you to reflect on your days, weeks and months.  

• It’s great to plan, but during uncertain times, it’s probably better to plan in shorter sprints of times whether it’s a 90-day period or just setting an intention for yourself for that particular month and working backwards. 

• Constantly remind yourself that you’re doing the best you can. 

WS:  Who inspires you most and why?

My mother inspires me most - for having the resilience to follow her heart and chase her dreams, no matter what other people may say and despite overcoming obstacles in her own life.  Her love for learning new things and for greeting each day with optimism motivates me.  She is currently following her childhood dream to be in healthcare and I’m inspired by her courage to take the first step (which can often be the scariest) towards achieving her goal. 

I also look up to Fred Rogers, for reminding people to slow down long enough to connect with their heart and inner-child as a way to create a better, kinder and more compassionate world.  His life’s work has helped people become their best selves and he did this while showing up as himself.  His legacy of love continues to this day.

WS:  2020 was an unprecedented year for all of us. How did last year impact your life and Blessings in a Bag (in terms of operations)?

ET: Several years ago, I moved from Singapore to the San Francisco Bay Area so I remote-led an entire organisation in a completely different time zone.  Last year was uniquely challenging as I needed to navigate our community through a crisis whilst finding my feet in a new country in complete lockdown.

Much of what we had hoped to do had to be postponed or cancelled.  We had to pause all our in-person sessions with children for several months. This was the hardest adjustment as our goal is to provide a safe space for many in our community.   We also had to continue paying rent although we were not using the office at all.  We were impacted financially the most. 

As our lives slowly begin to normalise, our aim now is to encourage people to continue to give generously this year as we have re-opened our doors to children, albeit with smaller groups and whilst adhering to social-distancing protocol.  

WS: What was the most important thing you learned in 2020? 

ET: This isn’t necessarily something new that I learned but it’s something I like to share with others:  Community matters.

When navigating uncertainty, when leading through crisis and when feeling overwhelmed with all the things still on your to-do list, it matters who is with you and walking alongside you. It doesn’t need to be a large group of people, but surround yourself with people who consistently reflect your values, your light and who you are when you’re in the thick of it all.  It’s important to be in the company of people where there’s psychological safety, there’s sacred safe space and deep trust so that you can show up when things are great and, more importantly, when things are not.  

You can also look to external resources and support such as a therapist, a learning community, or a small group that convenes over shared values and beliefs. 

WS: What are you most excited about for 2021?

ET: My word for the year is Possibility. I’m excited to reflect at the end of the year to see how that comes up for me in future months.  I’ve just started to begin work as a mentor and consultant to other non-profit organisations and community leaders to better engage their communities and increase impact.  

I currently show up as a ‘Dream Doula’ with a new dream on my heart: To inspire and support 1 million people to birth their dreams (big and small) to the world, in service for the greater good. 

I support and mentor visionary women, small business owners and other community leaders to rest, to dream, to reimagine their lives, their work and the future.

Most importantly, I support people to take inspired action so that they can birth their dreams to the world – without the overwhelming feelings of burnout and isolation. I see myself as a personal cheerleader who walks alongside you as you do your life's most important work. In doing all this, the world is transformed – one person and one dream at a time.

WS: What plans do you have for yourself and Blessings in a Bag within the next 12-24 months?

ET: We’re at an exciting stage right now.  As I evolve and grow as a leader, it’s time for the organisation to evolve and grow up, too.  

We have a renewed mission and vision that was created recently. We believe every child has a right to opportunities, loving support and space to build their dreams.  We envision a future where young Singaporeans can shine their brightest, regardless of their background or circumstances.

To this end, we’re launching our annual fundraising campaign ‘Give the Gift of Safe Space’ that people can contribute to. At various times of the year, we’ll have a different focus for the campaign. Currently, we’re focussed on ‘Community’ where we invite donors to gift young people the opportunity for an adventure, to discover new sights across Singapore. We are also excited to connect with corporates and brands that share in our vision and wish to join us as a signature sponsor for 2021-2022. 

Michelle | ws

Images courtesy of Emily Teng | More information can be found on giviki.org and blessingsinabag.co.