Dr Wong Kang Li is Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, Policy Lab where she drives projects on community activation and empowerment.
Kang Li has a PhD from the City University of Hong Kong where she was also the recipient of the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme. Her PhD research explored Singapore resident motivations and structural interactions in civic participation during COVID-19. She is a registered social worker with diverse experience in the social service sector.
Research Interests
Community empowerment, mutual aid, community activation, civic participation
Publications
- Wong, K.L. (forthcoming in 2026/7).Community Work with Older Adults. In H. Jonson, & T. Harnett (Eds.), Handbook on Ageing and Social Work
- Wong, K. L. (2024). Overlapping Functions: Volunteering and Other Forms of Civic Participation in the COVID-19 Disaster. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 35(5), 854–865. doi:10.1007/s11266-024-00652-9
- Chiu M.Y.L., Ghoh C., Wong C., Wong K.L. Dying in a foreign land: A study of completed suicides among foreign workers in Singapore. Transcultural Psychiatry. 2022;59(1):63-77. doi:10.1177/13634615211023672
- Wong, P. Y. J., Wong, K. L., Ghoh, C., & Chiu, M. Y. L. (2023). Supervision of supervisory practice: From idea to practice. International Social Work, 66(6), 1918-1931.
- Wong, K. L. (2021). Empowering older adults through community work: a review of the social work field in the past decade. Community Development Journal, 57(2), 234–259. doi:10.1093/cdj/bsaa064
Op-eds/Commentaries
- Wong, K.L. (2025, December 31). Give an hour of my time to my neighbour? Sure, why not. The Straits Times.
Conference Participation and Presentations/Speeches
- Presenter, “Prototyping a Community Wealth Incubator in Singapore”, at the 17th International Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research organised by International Society for Third Sector Research, 2026
- Presenter, “Builders of Our (New?) Society: Civil Participation in Singapore and the Impact of COVID-19”, at the 9th International Conference of Community Psychology organised by Society for Community Research and Action, 2022
- Presenter, “Builders of Our New (?) Society: Civil Participation in Singapore and the Impact of COVID-19”, at The People's Global Summit "Co-building A New Eco-social World: Leaving No One Behind" organised by UN Research Institute for Social Development and International Federation of Social Workers, 2022
Awards
- Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS), 2019- 2022