Intro

LiA@Allia

It has been a while since I completed my LiA at Allia, but as I reflect on the project, memories keep flooding back.

My time there was truly memorable – not only did I grow professionally by independently managing a project, but I also grew personally through the potential impact I created, the fantastic relationships I built, and the amazing memories I made.

Below, I will outline the project I completed; the lessons I learnt during my time at Allia; and the impact my work had.

The Project

How can Social Impact Business Leverage AI?

Allia is a charity and their Venture Support team focuses on accelerating impactful businesses and amplifying the positive change they create for people, planet, and place. Allia does so through offering programmes like ‘Start’ and ‘Grow Your Business’ to support social entrepreneurs.

The main scope of my project was to enhance their programme offerings by integrating AI into both Allia’s operations and the businesses they support. In other words, I aimed to enable them to spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time on impactful activities, hence enhancing their productivity through AI.

To achieve my aims, my role involved conducting in-depth first- and second-hand research on the current use of AI within the social impact sector, Allia, and its community of businesses. I then developed strategies to encourage greater adoption of the technology.

Ultimately, I formulated internal AI implementation proposals for Allia; designed an AI literacy programme for their business support initiatives; and developed a framework for ethical AI adoption. Finally, I compiled all my findings and presented them to the Venture Support team.

In addition to my assigned project, I also had the role of tagging along and facilitating the delivery of the ‘Start’ and ‘Grow Your Business’ programmes, as well as other events organized by Allia. 

My Learnings

My learnings could be divided into two main parts: hard knowledge and soft skills.

Hard knowledge: I gained extensive knowledge about AI – exploring different tools, communities, and experts, as well as the ethical concerns surrounding its use, and how its usage can be tailored for different businesses. Moreover, I also learnt a lot about the operation of social enterprises – particularly regarding their mindsets, resource constraints, impact measurement, and the politics and tensions involved. Deepening my understanding of these two aspects not only fulfilled my intellectual curiosity, but will also be integral to my future leadership journey, as this wealth of knowledge will enable me to carry out thought leadership effectively.

Soft skills: I significantly improved my communication skills, especially in public speaking. I still remember feeling very nervous right before my final presentation, as it was 30 minutes and involved a Q&A session – the longest and most challenging presentation I had in my second language. My performance during the two practice presentations with my supervisors was also not very strong, adding to my stress. However, I was pleased to find ways to calm myself down, and focus on final preparations and practices rather than dwelling on anxiety. Eventually, I delivered a successful presentation that both my supervisor and I were very proud of, receiving positive feedback. Through this experience, I learnt the importance of remaining calm and trusting myself in critical moments, knowing that everything will be fine in the end. On top of this, I also reinforced my research skills and project management abilities during my time at Allia. Again, as a leader, developing these soft skills will enhance my ability to exercise leadership effectively.

My Impact

I am confident about the tools I created.

My LiA project has the potential for a sustained positive societal impact. I believe that my AI implementation proposals and training programmes can help reduce time spent on monotonous tasks, instead allowing more focus on creating meaningful impact in the community. Hence, I feel optimistic that my work contains significant potential; and if embraced, could provide valuable and sustained benefits to society.

Ideally, I hope that the work I accomplished throughout my project can contribute to transforming how social enterprises operate. By enabling a diverse range of social enterprises supported by Allia to expand their impact, I believe my project aligns with the greater good and helps make a positive difference. This vision resonates with Allia's mission to amplify impact through positive change for people, planet, and place by supporting social enterprises with free programmes and coaching services.

Conclusion

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

This sums up my enjoyable time with Allia, where I experienced well-rounded personal and professional growth. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to spend time at Allia, and my time there was nothing short of fruitful and memorable. Thank you to everyone at Allia for making my experience so enjoyable and rewarding. I genuinely hope that my project outcomes contributed meaningfully, and that the impact we created together can help us move closer to the tipping point. Till next time!