When Kenan Foundation Asia was founded in Thailand in 1996 by former Prime Minister of Thailand, Mr. Anand Panyarachun, as a charitable status, non-profit organization, it was with the understanding that the private sector has an important role to play in helping Thailand and the region address real development challenges. This includes not only private sector resources, but also leveraging knowhow and expertise to meet these challenges through integrated partnerships. As such, it is no wonder that Kenan is the partner of choice for companies such as IBM, Chevron, Citi, and Boeing when they need to deliver credible corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs as part of their overall strategy to engage key stakeholders in the government and the public.

Today, Kenan’s work in social and economic development is well recognized, thanks to our ability to consistently meet the development challenges facing the region, while aligning with key national and regional development priorities such as Thailand 4.0. Specifically, Kenan continues to use its development expertise in partnership with companies that are aligned with our vision to tackle key development challenges facing the region, including: Delivering 21st-century Education; Building Lasting Communities; Supporting Financial Freedom; Promoting Healthy Behavior; and Enhancing Small Business Competitiveness. In tackling these challenges, Kenan has developed a model of social and economic development that is also ideally suited to support corporate objectives, as it’s a proven, results-driven model that rests upon our exceptional capacity building activities, coupled with a deep understanding of how to engage and motivate our beneficiaries to improve their lives.

A company’s decision to join hands with Kenan Foundation Asia to empower people through great capacity building and engaging project activities should not be taken lightly. Above all, Kenan seeks to uphold its reputation for delivering credible, documented results that achieve real impact and serve to empower our range of beneficiaries. As a local organization dedicated to delivering quality service for both our beneficiaries and corporate donors, it means we can provide a better value solution to meet corporate needs. As such, companies usually seek to form partnerships with Kenan if they place a high value on results that lead to real societal change, and wish to receive recognition from the public and key government stakeholders for their efforts.

Kenan’s strategic partnership with multilateral and bilateral organizations goes back to our very founding, when the USAID bilateral mission to Thailand and the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) helped to establish Kenan Foundation Asia as an organization capable of continuing and furthering development cooperation between the two countries. Since then, we have worked with various governmental and intergovernmental organizations, such as USAID, the US Department of State, the Global Fund, the United Nations, ASEAN, APEC, and the European Commission to build the economic, educational, civil, and public health capacities of Southeast Asia.

Kenan provides world-class consulting, project management, training, and research services to our multilateral and bilateral partners. As a locally-based organization, we bring a unique and powerful combination of international expertise and culturally-specific knowledge to our programs and partnerships throughout Southeast Asia.

We enhance the impact of our programming through an innovative and cross-cutting approach that emphasizes governance and institution building, gender equality and women’s empowerment, youth development, and private sector engagement. These strategies underpin and drive everything we do, from developing engaging STEM curriculums and financial literacy programs, to building the capacity of CSOs and promoting good governance.

Our experienced team utilizes a broad range of development tools to deliver well-planned and impactful programs, including stakeholder analysis, action research, systems change, training, partner capacity building, conference and seminar organization, business cluster and value chain development, and behavior change communication.

Instrumental in helping to establish Kenan, the Government of Thailand has long played a crucial role as a partner and a funder of many of Kenan’s most important sustainable development projects and initiatives. Kenan has long-standing relationships built on years of trust and friendship with the Thailand International Cooperation Agency and major Thai Government Ministries, including the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Labour.

Kenan works with Thai Government agencies, organizations, and state-owned enterprises to carry out a wide range of development projects that contribute to the country’s national development goals. We conduct in-depth research and stakeholder analysis to advise the government on STEM policy, SME policy, intellectual property law, and investment promotion. Additionally, we work closely with a number of government agencies to advance small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as community enterprises. Together, we build the capacity of SMEs, industry clusters, and entrepreneurs in everything from business planning and proposal writing, to marketing and business matching, to financial literacy and negotiation.