About Us | genashtim.com

Our mission is to leverage technology and the internet

to develop and connect marginalized communities to the global economy

Genashtim was founded in 2008 with the purpose of providing sustainable, meaningful and gainful employment for the disadvantaged, especially for those from the less-developed economies. In creating a workplace which is inclusive and accessible especially for those with disabilities, we had to develop a 100% work-from-home model. This also led us to build a totally digitalized operation, focussing on eLearning.

It is providential that our challenges in trying to accommodate our diverse workforce have led us to become pioneers in remote work, digitalization and eLearning, which has in turn fuelled exponential growth in our business during the COVID-19 years.

In March 2018

We had 70 employees, of which 90% were persons with disabilities from more than 10 countries around the world. At that point, we started hiring refugees, and other disadvantaged people like the HIV-infected, seniors, and women living under oppression.

As of October 2024

EMPLOYEES 220
PWDs 82
COUNTRIES 26
CONTINENTS 6
REFUGEE 16
NON PWD 95
SENIOR 9
DISADVANTAGED
GROUPS
19.55%

Our Vision

Empowering People

Our remote work model enables us to provide employment opportunities to marginalized communities who face occupational inequality, especially People with disabilities (PWDs), refugees, LGTBQ, seniors and women in oppressed environments. We empower and engage them to develop and deliver products and services to our global clients.

Enabling Business

We serve global businesses by enhancing operational efficiency through improved processes, reduced costs, and outsourcing. Our products and services provide sustainable business advancement through delivery of quality learning and development as well as strengthened Human Capital.

Our Values

Global Mindset

We are global citizens with a global service mindset, going beyond borders to serve our clients across all time zones.

Agility

We move quickly and intentionally. We restructure and re-position with ease to take advantage of opportunities that can grow our businesses, create impact, and server our clients better.

Integrity

We are true to ourselves and true to others. We know that we can exist only if we deliver value to our clients with transparency.

Accountability

We stand by what we do. We acknowledge our responsibilities and flaws, and consistently explore the best solutions to meet our stakeholders' expectations.

Genashtim's staff in the Philippines

Genashtim's staff in Indonesia

Genashtim's staff in Malaysia

Our social innovation and social impact have been recognised with many international publications and awards – read more on these accolades in the news section of our website.

In 2015, Genashtim was not only certified as a B Corp, but every year since, we have been listed as "Best-for-the-World" among B Corps.

At the 2022 Steward Leadership Excellence (SL25), Genashtim was named one of the top 25 companies in Asia Pacific that have shown a dedication to creating a collectively sustainable world. Genashtim joins the ranks of Sunway Group Malaysia, OCBC Bank Singapore, Avtar Group India, and Angkas of the Philippines.

This honor will spur the organization’s triple-bottom-line corporate agenda towards addressing pressing issues through sustainable and responsible business.

About Us
Genashtim is a for-profit social enterprise, subscribing to the Triple Bottom Line concept of Profits, People and Planet. It was founded in 2004 by Thomas Ng, a Malaysian who currently lives in Australia. Thomas’ mission then was to leverage technology and the internet to connect marginalized communities to the global economy. This continues to be Genashtim’s primary purpose today.

Profit

We believe in the for-profit model because of the 3 “ty’s”:
– Sustainability
– Scalability
– Dignity – for the people engaged knowing that they are not surviving on handouts.

People

We are passionate about and dedicated to providing sustainable gainful employment for marginalized communities – starting with Persons With Disabilities (PWD). In March 2018, 90% of our permanent staff were PWD. Since then, we have also hired refugees and retirees. Today, 60% of our people are PWD, 30% refugees and 5% retirees. It is worth noting that most of our clients are not even aware of this.

We have also started discussions with lepers, the HIV infected, ex-convicts and women in oppressed environments. We are determined to prove that with the right opportunities, working environment and processes, people from such marginalized communities can thrive and be at least as productive as any other workers

 

Planet

Our entirely cloud-based operations and online delivery of learning and services minimize consumption of resources and production of emissions, allowing us to operate with a very small carbon footprint. Additionally, it provides a safe working environment for our people, enabling them to have a better quality of life.

Read more about our people here.

Genashtim’s staff in the Philippines

Genashtim’s staff in Malaysia

Board of Advisors

We are very blessed and fortunate to have a sterling board of advisors,
who are passionate to help us purely because they believe in what we are doing.

Stella Wong

Dr. Bradley Elphinstone

Willie Tham

Dr. Daniel Tan

Guy Russo

Management Team

thomas ng

Thomas Ng

Founder & CEO

thomas ng

Oh Thean Khoon

Finance

thomas ng

Andrea Chua

Human Resources

thomas ng

Ryan Allegado

Chief Technical Officer

thomas ng

Yap Kim Soon

Sales & Business Development

Andrew Manassee

Marketing & Corp. Communications

thomas ng

Macleen Nabong

Learning Digitalisation

thomas ng

Maszuin Kamarudin

Content Development & QA

Why the Name?

Genashtim (pronounced jen-ash-tim) is an acronym of the family members of our founder.
His wife’s name is Genevieve, daughter Ashley, and son Timothy

Genevieve, Ashley and Timothy

“When we first tried to register the company, we proposed a number of different names which describe our business. But they were all either rejected by the registrar of companies because they were too generic, or we could not register a domain which sounds anything like the names we selected. So I had to resign myself to the fact that we would have to come up with name which had nothing to do with our business. After an afternoon of doodling, I came up with Genashtim. Two years into the business, when we had eight employees, I gathered them in a room, and asked them to come up with a new name. I then left the room. A couple hours later, they emerged to say that they thought best to just keep the name.”

 

Thomas Ng

Founder