Elaine and Eduardo Saverin Foundation pledges $6m to support mental health training, youth work
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The Elaine and Eduardo Saverin Foundation will support a recently established master’s programme in clinical mental health by NUS and youth non-profit organisation Impart with $3 million each over the next three years.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
SINGAPORE – A $6 million pledge by one of Singapore’s largest private donors will provide scholarships to mental health professionals and support the work of a community agency working with troubled youth.
The Elaine and Eduardo Saverin Foundation will support a recently established master’s programme in clinical mental health by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and youth non-profit organisation Impart with $3 million each over the next three years.
The foundation was registered as a charity in Singapore in 2023 and ranks among the top 10 largest private donors here. Mr Eduardo Saverin, who co-founded Facebook, was named Singapore’s richest man by Forbes in September 2025, with an estimated net worth of US$43 billion (S$54.7 billion) at the time. He married his wife, Elaine, in 2015.
Impart, which works with youth facing adversity, enrols around 1,200 beneficiaries each year in its programmes and services. Its work includes helping young people with mental health conditions, reclusive youth who withdraw from society and those facing financial or social adversity.
The foundation’s $3 million pledge to the NUS Master of Clinical Mental Health and Psychotherapy (MCMHP) programme will support up to 24 full-time students over the next three years.
The master's programme, launched in 2024, provides advanced clinical training for allied health professionals like social workers, counsellors and youth workers who may lack formal training in areas like screening, assessment and evidence-based therapy.
The scholarship will fully cover tuition fees and provide students with a monthly stipend of $3,000 during the 18-month programme. Recipients will not have a service bond, but are encouraged to make a two-year moral commitment to work in the mental health or related sectors.
The pledges were announced at a May 8 event organised by the foundation to spotlight the mental health initiatives it supports.
At the event, held at Temasek Shophouse, Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration Desmond Lee said mental health challenges have become increasingly complex, with the world in significant flux on multiple fronts like economic uncertainty, armed conflict and social isolation.
This can be overwhelming for everyone, including young people.
“For children and youth, who are still building their resilience and social-emotional skills, life’s challenges and adversities can affect their mental well-being and impact their education, social relationships and careers,” he said.
Prevention, early detection and timely intervention are crucial, he added, and the Government is working to strengthen mental health support at a national level as well as in the community.
He said: “When we strengthen mental health support, we strengthen the fabric of society. And that is what the ‘we first’ approach seeks to achieve, where we all try to come together, work together, starting with conversations and begin to collaborate, and contribute towards collective well-being.
“When we help others thrive, we grow stronger too ourselves.”
The $6 million pledge was announced at the event, which highlighted the mental health initiatives supported by the foundation.
Speaking at the event, Mrs Saverin, the foundation’s co-founder and chairwoman, said: “Eduardo and I have always believed in something simple: When you invest in people and the systems that they hold or support, you unlock more than what any of us could achieve alone. Change doesn’t happen in isolation – it happens when people decide to show up together.”
She said that while the Government has made meaningful progress in reducing stigma and strengthening support systems, there is more to be done.
Highlighting the importance of community mental health, she said: “Community mental health is what happens before the hospital. It’s the teacher who notices, the friend who asks twice, the youth worker who sits across someone on a difficult Tuesday afternoon. It eases pressure on hospitals and allows healing to begin early...
“When we build capacity for social service organisations on the ground, we create spaces where young people can feel safe to raise their hand early, where a bad day doesn’t have to become a breaking point, and where healing happens not behind closed doors alone but in the middle of a caring community.”
