Structure & Approach
Karunā Climate Collective Pte. Ltd. is incorporated in Singapore as a hybrid platform combining fee-for-service advisory with field-building and grant-funded research. Advisory services generate the primary revenue base; pipeline development and field-building work expand our reach and social value. We operate at the intersection of earned income and mission.
About the Name
Karunā, in Sanskrit and Pali means “compassion” — especially an active, heartfelt compassion that motivates helping others who are suffering.
Across traditions:
- Buddhism: Karunā is one of the Four Immeasurable — the wish for all beings to be free from suffering, supported by action.
- Hinduism: A divine quality associated with empathy, mercy, and kindness in action.
- Everyday use in South & Southeast Asia: Commonly means compassion, mercy, or kindness, usually with a sense of moral or spiritual depth.
For the Karunā Climate Collective:
Our choice of this name expresses climate action rooted in compassion and interconnection — caring for people, communities, and the planet.
Founding Team
Athena Ronquillo-Ballesteros
Co-Founder, Karunā Climate Collective Pte. Ltd.
Chip Fay
Co-Founder, Karunā Climate Collective Pte. Ltd.
Milag San José-Ballesteros
Co-Founder, Karunā Climate Collective Pte. Ltd.
Founding Principles
Community-Centric Design
- Prioritise local knowledge and lived experience in identifying climate interventions.
- Ensure communities are decision-makers, not just beneficiaries.
- Prioritise Indigenous Communities
Strategic Philanthropy
- Equip philanthropists with tools to organise support effectively, ethically, and sustainably.
- Emphasise outcomes that are both high-impact and scalable.
Integration of Contemplative Wisdom
- Facilitate mindfulness and values-based alignment for philanthropists to connect personal purpose with climate action.
- Integrate contemplative practices to support reflective decision-making in complex, high-stakes climate investments.
Systems Change Orientation
- Align funding with systemic interventions that influence policy, finance, and market mechanisms and territorial natural resource rights.
- Promote innovations that scale beyond single projects to drive regional climate resilience.
- Bringing partners together into a cohesive, collaborative ecosystem focused on collective impact—moving beyond siloed work and counterproductive competition.
Sourcing Resources, Aggregating for Scale and Impact
Track Record & Credibility
Collectively, our founders have:
- Influenced $100M+ in climate and Indigenous rights philanthropy across Southeast Asia
- Built and led multi-million-dollar grant strategies in Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and beyond
- Trained and guided philanthropists at Climate Lead, Growald Family Fund, and Ford Foundation
- Led Indigenous rights policy at AMAN, the world’s largest Indigenous rights network
- Coordinated environmental governance across 16 Asian countries (AECEN)
- Guided climate action across 13 C40 member cities in 10 countries
- Deep relationships with WRI, WCS, Rainforest Alliance, Samdhana Institute, CLUA, C40, ICSC
- Policy influence including Indonesia’s Constitutional Court Decision No. 35/2012 on Indigenous Forest Rights