SIP Distinguished Fellow Award

The SIP Distinguished Fellow Award honours legendary leaders whose illustrious lives have positively influenced lives across generations and communities around the globe. The Distinguished Fellow motivates collaborations and inspires extraordinary innovations across sectors. SIP Distinguished Fellows are outstanding role models and stalwarts of SIP's community of changemakers in shaping a more inclusive, sustainable, and better world.

Rob Walton has served as the Chairman of the Board of Wal-Mart since 1992. In this role, he has seen Wal-Mart grow to serve more than 200 million customers per week at more than 8,000 retail units in 15 countries, generating $401 billion in sales in fiscal year 2009. Wal-Mart’s many commitments feed into three primary focus areas: promoting renewable energy, eliminating waste, and selling sustainable products.

SIP Fellow Awards

The SIP Fellow Awards recognise outstanding and high achieving individuals who are creating systemic change in the community that they live and work in. Role models in their own fields, these individuals are thought and action leaders who are shaping the future in their own way and doing what they do best. SIP Fellows are stalwarts of SIP's community of changemakers in shaping a more inclusive, sustainable, and better world.

SIP Fellow Award 2009  

John Hope Bryant

Founder, Chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, USA  

John Hope Bryant is a philanthropic entrepreneur and leader in the business of empowerment. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Operation HOPE, America's first nonprofit social investment banking organization. 

Co-founder and CEO of Qifang, China  

Calvin Chin is a co-founder and CEO of Shanghai-based Qifang, a web service for Chinese students to find a way to pay for their education. Using a person-to-person lending and donation model, Chinese students use Qifang to connect to individuals, companies and organizations that support their educational dreams. 

Suhas Gopinath

Founder and CEO of Globals Inc., India   

Suhas Gopinath, now aged 22, a resident of Bangalore and hails from a middle class family, where his father was a defense scientist. At the age of 14 he was recognized as the world's youngest certified Professional Web developer through his project coolhindustan.com.

Melissa Kwee

Chairperson of Halogen Foundation, Singapore

Upon her graduation from Harvard, she returned to Singapore in 1995 and set up a non-profit for the development of women and youth called Project Access. She attributes her heightened social consciousness to the school she attended here, United World College, and its ‘incredibly-compelling vision of young people being a positive force in their communities’. Melissa spends much of her time doing corporate communications for the Pontiac Land group while sitting on a number of organizations such as the United Nations Development Fund for Women (Unifem), the Singapore Repertory Theatre and the United World College school board, either doing review work or ‘organizing, advocating or connecting people.

Chairman of Conservation International, USA

Peter A. Seligmann has been a leader in creating conservation solutions for the past 33 years. Since he founded the organization in 1987, CI has earned a reputation as an organization on the cutting edge, creating innovative and lasting solutions to the threats facing humanity, biodiversity and the natural systems that sustain us all.

President of Alun Alun, Indonesia

Dea Sudarman is President of Alun Alun, a modern retail space created not merely for enjoyment but also to support the development and marketing of Indonesia’s culture-based products such as handicrafts, food, drinks, and entertainment in Indonesia and abroad. The mission of Alun Alun Indonesia is to make a “Panggung Indonesia” (Stage of Indonesia) and make it the country’s pride and joy. The Panggung displays Indonesia at its best, showcasing its handicraft, culinary tradition and entertainment. It is also the place for education and fun learning about Indonesia’s cultural heritage.

Chairman/CEO of HealthSTATS International Pte Ltd, Singapore

Dr Ting is a medical doctor, serial inventor of medical devices and an author. He runs a private GP clinic half a day and devotes the rest to research. His inventions include – BPro – world first wrist-worn device capable of capturing 24hr BP readings and Pulse waveform analysis both at the same time.