A Relentless Pursuit

As the founder of two nonprofit organizations that seek to raise awareness and funds for underprivileged women, Christine Amour-Levar aims to push the frontiers for women's empowerment.

- Cheryl Lai-Lim

"Growing up in the Philippines, I was a "} tomboy. I didn't want to wear dresses. Instead, I wore pants and called myself Joe," Christine Amour-Levar tells me, chuckling as she recalls her childhood. The Singapore-based French-Swiss-Filipina philanthropist, environmental advocate, and marketing and communications consultant add that she has always had a penchant for sports.

"Football, basketball, track... sports has always been something that I loved. In fact, I was playing for my high school varsity team when I first visited Singapore from the Philippines at 15, for a football tournament against one of the international schools here," she reveals. She eventually moved to Singapore permanently in 2005 from the US, after her company at that time relocated her here.

Her passion for athletics meant that she grew up "wanting an international career that had something to do with sports". However, it was only after she met French entrepreneur Valerie Boffy, who had summited Mount Everest in support of Women For Women International, a charity that champions women survivors of war, that she found a calling.

"To see someone do something so brave in support of other women in need, that really moved and impacted me," says Christine.

HOW IT STARTED

Deciding to combine her love for sports and adventure with her experience in marketing and consultancy, Christine, together with Valerie, and French photographer and art curator Karine Moge, decided to set up the non-profit Women On A Mission (WOAM) in 2012. The core objective of the NGO is to support vulnerable and abused women who are affected by violence through fundraising and advocacy work.