A music class put on by Electivity. (Courtesy of Claudine Ng)
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A music class put on by Electivity. (Courtesy of Claudine Ng)
When Novato resident Claudine Ng started raising her twins in Marin, the busy mom found herself constantly on the road, going from activity to activity, and under pressure to find and organize activities herself in her already jam-packed schedule.
She felt like there had to be a better option for parents like herself, so she decided to create it.
Ten years ago, Ng, who was trained as an organizational psychologist and worked with children with autism, founded Electivity, an educational services organization that partners with schools and recreation centers to provide after-school programs, summer camps and enrichment activities taught by local instructors on a variety of topics, such as the arts, STEM and life skills. It provides on-site programs at no cost to the schools, which oftentimes don’t have the resources, such as the staff or budget, to put on these events themselves.
“It was out of a personal need,” said Ng, who moved to Marin from Wisconsin 12 years ago. “It was a light bulb moment to create this service for the community.”
After beginning with its first school in Mill Valley in 2015, the company has grown to more than 65 partner organizations in the Bay Area, given out hundreds of scholarships and served thousands of children through its in-person and online programs.
“It solidified our notion that there’s a gap and there’s a need in the market for such a service,” said Ng, who serves as Electivity’s CEO.
This year, Electivity was honored as one of America’s top 100 small businesses by the United States Chamber of Commerce. The acknowledgement recognizes the 100 businesses — chosen out of more than 12,000 entries — for their “remarkable contributions in driving innovation, growth and ingenuity both locally and globally,” according to the United States Chamber of Commerce.
According to its website, “These businesses shine through their inspiring ideas and the ways they overcome challenges, enrich community impact, foster vibrant company cultures and engage customers.”
For Ng, this honor was a wonderful surprise.
“You never think about getting any awards or being recognized or anything,” Ng said. “You just try to do your best as an entrepreneur, as a community builder, to build the programs that you think will uplift the community and bring value to the community. I’m really honored and happy to have achieved that award.”
Last month, Ng went to an event in Washington, D.C., where Electivity was honored with a star on the United States Chamber of Commerce’s Walk of Fame. She also attended workshops and other events highlighting various business professionals, such as business journalist and media executive Eric Schurenberg and Neil Bradley, executive vice president, chief policy officer and head of strategic advocacy at the United States Chamber of Commerce, and mingled with other entrepreneurs.
“The one word that echoes through the experience was community. It’s all about the community. Every honorary I met there has made an impact in the community, and that resonated with what we do,” said Ng, former president of the Bay Area’s chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
One of the lessons she took away from the experience was the importance of self-care and getting good-quality sleep.
“You tend to forget about that part. You’re always on the go: strategizing, working and wearing a lot of hats. So sometimes you just forget to take care of the important stuff, which is yourself,” said Ng, who dealt with some health issues this year. “It’s an aha moment for me to take time to rejuvenate and reenergize and focus on what’s important to me as a person, mom, wife and community contributor.”
Going forward
Ng, who was raised in Singapore, developed a deep appreciation for the intersection of people, business and psychology. No matter where her career took her — from the airline industry to talent assessment to entrepreneurship — her goal remained the same: her desire to help people and businesses thrive.
“The skills and the experience that I accumulated through the years as an executive in the corporate industry helped me in identifying needs and helped me in reaching out to the community and growing and strategizing Electivity as a whole,” said Ng, who got her bachelor of science in psychology at the University of Western Australia and a master of science in organizational psychology at Birkbeck, University of London.
What might the next 10 years hold?
“My vision is to scale and to be able to bring programs to more schools and communities. I think what we do well is that we support a network of independent instructors, many of whom are women, immigrants and people of color and in the community, and by connecting them with all these opportunities and the schools, it creates a scalable and community-driven ecosystem where students thrive and parents feel supported,” she said.