Volunteering for a Cause – To Empower the Next Generation

Basking in the morning sun, our partner in Financial Advisory, Ellyn Tan, gathers with an aspiring group of women at the renowned Merlion Park, ready to set off on a walk along Marina Bay. Organised by Mentor Walk, this hour-long walk facilitates a collaboration between female leaders and executives in the industry such as Ellyn, and a group of female mentees who come together to exchange their experiences, enabling mentees to seek guidance through an open-sharing culture.

Group photo of Mentor Walks taken during a walk in August.

Unique in its approach, this sharing session aims to provide a safe space for mentees to seek advice on their careers, discuss work worries and build new relationships. With a passion to impart to the next generation, Ellyn resonated with this initiative and saw it as a meaningful one to volunteer her time to share her advice and experiences.

With her wealth of experience and specialisation in cross-border restructuring and insolvency, Ellyn has worked with high profile clients across a wide range of business sectors over the past 15 years. More than being a practitioner, Ellyn finds joy and building her team at Forvis Mazars. This is translated to her interpersonal relationships out of the workplace as she continues to impart her knowledge to mentees during the walk. She shared: “I recalled one mentee going through an internal restructuring post a Merger & Acquisition (M&A) exercise and she was feeling anxious. I guided her through and shared my thoughts on how to deal with the situation. Where possible, I will also connect my mentees to my network.”

In a recent walk in August, Rebecca Rallis was tagged to Ellyn as her mentee. Despite working in a different field, Rebecca felt that Ellyn was genuinely interested in getting to know her, asking questions along the way to find out about her areas of interests. She shared: “Ellyn’s insights were valuable to highlight that while we may be working through different situations, there are also often commonalities. Furthermore, she shared some suggestions on how she handled situations to give us ideas of what could work for us.”

Ellyn Tan, Partner in Financial Advisory (left) and two of her assigned mentees, Rebecca Rallis (middle) and another mentee (right).

Having volunteered over the past two years at Mentor Walks, Ellyn believes that the experiences with different mentees are invaluable ones and have greatly altered her perspective. She said: “Everyone needs a mentor and a mentee to progress. I believe that a mentor broadens your horizon while a mentee keeps you grounded. Being a mentor also hones one’s communication skills and it’s all about meaningful sharing that goes beyond lecturing.”

Ellyn is a testament to our key value of putting people at the heart of our development as we continue to commit to extending knowledge-sharing beyond the four walls of our office. We believe that change starts with each individual playing his or her part in volunteering in the community and through our collaborative efforts and abilities, we can make a change and impact lives around us.