Grace Forrest

Asia Summit 2014 - Long-Term Impact: Multigenerational Commitment to Change

Richard Ditizio, Andrew Forrest, Grace Forrest, Laurence Lien, Mike Wiluan

At a Milken Institute session, family philanthropists Grace Forrest, Mike, and Lawrence detailed strategies for sustaining mission-driven impact through business-oriented approaches, structural innovation, and intergenerational governance reforms. Grace Forrest leveraged forensic supply chain audits to expose modern slavery within Fortescue Mines, while Mike shifted the Batam family foundation from direct employment to community-based fishery seeding to support 1.3 million people across Indonesia. Concurrently, Lawrence transformed the Lien Foundation from a tertiary education focus to radical early childhood interventions in Singapore, utilizing data-driven advocacy to replace government risk aversion with pilot programs that eventually became public policy. The panel concluded that the future of philanthropy requires adopting venture structures, competitive talent incentives, and technology integration to solve systemic issues where capital alone is insufficient.