Children from urban poor communities have limited access to quality education. Because they lack the resources they need to improve their studies, those who cannot keep up in school eventually get left behind and drop out. 1 in 6 Malaysian children don't make it to Form 4. 85% of these children come from poor families. The aim of Pusat Bimbingan Pelajar (PBP) is to provide the academic guidance & mentorship that they need. The GG Education Fund then provides these PBP students, who cannot afford to further their studies, access to tertiary education so that they can transform their future.

Education has empowered students like Vig & Karthik to not only improve academically but become mentors to younger students in their community. Vig has transformed from not being able to speak English into a confident & fluent English speaker who scored straight As in his SPMs. He is now a program volunteer and together with Karthik mentors students in his community as well as students in schools for through our Financial Education program. Both are now pursuing their tertiary education. Since 2016, the GG education fund has been supported 2 students in their tertiary education and will support more in the coming years.

With PBP becoming an increasingly sustainable solution for the community, currently serving 85 students many of which who contribute as mentors, our long-term impact is to help more students like Vig & Karthik realise their potential, by improving academic performance, being better equipped with 21st century skills, increasing their motivation and purpose in life to be able to contribute positively to society.

Next Gen XLR8 equips youth with Microsoft Office skills to enhance their employability while helping them grow in confidence and character. Created in partnership with Microsoft Malaysia, it targets youth from low-income communities, low-performing schools and approved institutions (under-aged youth detained for criminal activity) equipping them with practical skills that will help them in their future.

In 2016, we impacted 407 students through 20 sessions, 35% above our project goal of 300.

Through the program,

• 57% of participants indicated they know how to record their income, savings and expenses better.
• 48% of participants indicated they can write a better resume to apply for a job.

Students have also demonstrated a more positive outlook in life as a result:

• "I would like to learn more about using laptops so that I can teach my younger siblings"
• "I will make my family proud and will not be how I used to be. I will make an effort, work hard and be the best version of myself"
• "I know how to use excel and build a resume. I've also learnt that life is about choices, and because of that I want to become a more responsible person and change my mindset from a negative to positive one"

Beyond computer literacy and 21st century skills, our long-term impact with these students is to equip them with values to be more resilient when faced with challenges as they assimilate into society.

Many young girls battle with issues of self-worth, identity and purpose causing them to lose their motivation and be less resilient when encountering life challenges. GLOW is a values-based mentorship program that helps them grow into confident young women with a sense of self-worth, identity and purpose. Participants include youth at risk from under-served communities, students from single parent households, or those with behavioral issues selected by school counselors.

160 students in 3 schools and 1 community went through the program in 2016. Using the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (which measures global self-worth), our program demonstrates the greatest impact with participants who have low self esteem. Participants have been able to sustain a higher self esteem score even in months after the program. School counselor are also recognizing positive behavioral changes in students. Participants demonstrate greater self-awareness in their feedback:

• "I learnt how to accept myself and that outer beauty fades, but inner beauty lasts forever. I understand how to better manage my emotions." - 15 year old, SMK (P) Taman Petaling.
• "I will try to control my emotions, so that the other people around me won't get hurt. Besides that, I will try to love myself and also people around me." - 15 year old, SMK (P) Taman Petaling

The long-term impact we aim to achieve with these participants is to increase their motivation and purpose in life to be able to contribute positively to society.

Most low-income families have single breadwinners who earn daily wages. When the breadwinner of the family loses their ability to make a living due to illness, injury or death, the family loses their source of income. PRUkasih is a free financial protection plan for low-income families, helping them recover from this sudden loss. Into our 6th year of partnership with Prudential Assurance Malaysia Berhad (PAMB), we expanded PRUkasih's reach to provide 20,632 low-income families free financial protection access in 12 communities across Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and Johor.

For this family of 3 siblings from Kuala Lumpur, the sudden death of their single mother meant that they had to fend for themselves. PRUkasih, provided them the financial stability for funeral arrangements, rent, food and time to grieve and recover in order for the eldest sibling to start looking for a job. Family Services supported the family through the entire transition; coached them in financial planning & budgeting. These are one of many cases in the community where we help families recover and build resilience so that over the long-term, more & more are able to have a conducive environment that supports children's access to education.