Understanding that the purpose of education is to make a difference in lives, we ask ourselves: How can we better prepare students to engage and thrive in today’s ever-changing world, so they can lead in the uncertainty and make a difference?
It’s the journey that transforms us, not the destination. What does it mean to enjoy the process of delivering education together with those who are part of it. How can we make education enjoyable and engage students in today’s world?
Building people of character and integrity, and instilling good values should be the foundation of how education is delivered. On this note, how do we support students to navigate and leverage the benefits of today’s digital world?
Jason Wee is the Co-founder of Architects of Diversity Malaysia, a non-profit that aims to bridge communities and identity groups among youth for justice, peace, and a sustainable future. Since 2018, AOD has partnered with various local and international organisations, including the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, to design and execute opportunities for intergroup contact.
Additionally, AOD spearheads diversity, equity and inclusion education and anti-discrimination advocacy. Jason has led various programmes and research projects on racial and religious misunderstanding, prejudice and conflict, focusing on strengthening structures and systems to mend Malaysia’s growing divide. He is a graduate of the School of Public and International Affairs with a focus in Race, Ethnicity and Discrimination at Princeton University.
Karen's passion for early education began in 2005 while she was still a marketing professional. Her research on the best schooling options for her young children set her on an entirely new career path. Today her philosophy of early childhood education is very much rooted in Montessori pedagogy, where kindness in children is nurtured and their full potential is realised through meaningful learning.
As the Head of Centre at Kindity, Karen's vision is to integrate the Montessori and design thinking philosophy in the setting. Her interest is in how approaches to education and pedagogy enhance learners and teachers’ critical engagement with global issues through their own contexts. She hopes that Kindity’s early years framework integrated with global citizenship education offers a fresh interpretation of early childhood education for families and educators in Malaysia and beyond. Connect with Karen on Facebook at @kindity.my
Pursuing perfection is less about achieving it, and more about having a spirit of excellence in all we do, to be the best version of ourselves as lifelong learners and inspire others to do the same. How do we help students strive for excellence in today’s world?
Will Van Der Hart is one of the co-founders and a director at The Mind and Soul Foundation, UK - a platform that aims to educate and equip people with the tools to better understand mental health. He is also a mental health first aider, a GiANT Worldwide coach and the author of 'The Perfectionism Book' and other books on mental health and well-being. Will's interest in emotional health is wide ranging, also reflecting his broad experience in a variety of pastoral contexts as an Associate Vicar at St Dionis Parsons Green, London.
Will is passionate about equipping leaders to look after their own emotional health as well as empowering them to manage the emotional needs of the people they serve. Will and his wife Lucinda lead on The Parenting Course, and have written a new parent course as well as a book for expecting parents, he also speaks at parent workshops which help to support young people's emotional health.
Elisa Guerra has a degree in Early Childhood Education and a Master’s Degree in Education with a specialization in Teaching-Learning Process from ITESM.
Elisa received, in 2015, the Alas IDB Award as “Best Educator in Latin America”, given by the Interamerican Development Bank and “Movimiento Alas”.
Currently, Elisa is member of UNESCO’s International Commission for the “Futures of Education” (2019-2021).
She was one of the 2016 TOP 50 finalists for the prestigious Global Teacher Prize and was also a TOP 50 Finalist in 2015. This award has been called the “Nobel Prize” for Teaching.
Elisa is Founder and Teacher at Colegio Valle de Filadelfia (PreK -9th). Her school model has been replicated in 11 campuses in 5 Latin American countries.
Ellisha is the Managing Director of Thrive Well, a purpose-driven, trauma-informed community mental health organization that provides sustainable and accessible trauma-sensitive mental health research, advocacy, consulting, community development and clinical services to serve organisations and communities in need.
She has 7 years of experience working with both children and adults in the development and implementation of community mental health programmes for socioeconomically diverse populations ranging from corporate employees to underserved communities such as those from low-income, indigenous, neurodivergent, refugee and domestic violence survivors.
From 2017-2019, Ellisha served as the Honorary Treasurer of the Malaysian Society of Clinical Psychology (MSCP). She is currently the Vice-President of the National Alliance of Mental Health and is active in various advisory and advocacy roles specifically with universities on trauma-informed mental health curriculum and practices.
Dewakan is Darren's expression of cooking with purpose. This decision sets the stage for imaginative, inventive servings of modern Malaysian cuisine using indigenous ingredients such as kulim, ketumpang air, keluak and tenggek burung.
In April 2019, Dewakan had the honour of being the first Malaysian restaurant on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list at 46th place with the title Best Restaurant in Malaysia. This year in 2021, Dewakan placed 66th in the 51-100 list of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants.
Darren's philosophy is simple. Be curious, have courage, value your roots. His focus has always been about a deep, reverent connection between the indigenous of Malaysia and the freedom to express his values through food. His food contends with his heritage and history, his clarity of what came before, as well as what lies ahead. This sense of purpose is what he will continue to work towards, not just for the growth of his team but also for the people in the industry and for the coming of age for modern Malaysian cuisine.
Darren was named in the Asia Tatler list of New Asia's Most Powerful, Influential & Stylish People to Know In 2020.
Annice Lyn is a documentary and sports photographer based in Kuala Lumpur, who visually documents stories that resonate with critical importance. As a former national figure skater, her transition into documentary sports photography led her to become the first and only Malaysian female photographer whose work was accredited for the XXIII Olympic Winter Games, PyeongChang 2018.
She is currently a Canon Malaysia EOS Youth Ambassador, a laureate for Southeast Asia Women of the Future Award 2020 and a co-founder of Women Photographers Malaysia with the means to develop an inclusive culture through visual storytelling. Her work has been picked up by Forbes, Getty Images, Associated Press, AFP, the Washington Post, USA Today, The Guardian, and Olympic NBC Sports to name a few. She recently photographed the cover of TIME magazine's April 2021 Issue and is listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2021 for her advocacy for gender equality in visual culture.
Kate is a psychologist who has a particular interest in the way our emotions affect us. She's passionate about helping people keep emotionally healthy in spite of what life throws at them and helping them reach their full potential. She's a church leader, speaker and author, and is also project leader of Headstrong, an online well-being space for teenagers and young people. Kate spends a lot of time explaining that she isn't married to Prince William but enjoys reading about the duchess' good dress sense in the newspapers. She lives in Hertfordshire with her husband, two children and (at last count) three cats.
Born and raised in Malaysia, Julian embarked on his journey in figure skating at the age of four. Slowly fighting his way through competitions and going against the odds of a tropical country having a representative at the Winter Olympics, he managed to qualify and compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Throughout his journey, he has learned many values and experienced the true meaning of being an athlete.
Now as the head coach and director for his skating academy, Julian firmly believes in bringing out the best in his skaters and helping them achieve their goals. He has conducted several camps around South East Asia and even in Mexico. Hoping to pass on all that he's learned to the next generation. Julian was a South East Asian Games Champion in 2017 and 2019, and a six-time National Champion.
Cheryl is currently the CEO of Pemimpin GSL in Malaysia. Cheryl was previously appointed to the National Education Policy Review Committee formed by the Ministry of Education in 2018. Previously, Cheryl served as a Teach for Malaysia fellow for three years where she taught English in a rural school in Sungai Petani, Kedah. Prior to Teach for Malaysia, she worked a a PR consultant for four years. Cheryl was also part of the inaugural cohort of the Obama Young Leaders, Asia Pacific.
Cheryl graduated with a degree in Mass Communications and a Master in Management. She also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Education. She was also the inspirational teacher portrayed in the Malaysian film, Adiwiraku. Her message was that each of us is a superhero and we can each be a good leader if we put our mind to it. She empowered teachers to create a brighter future for themselves, their students, and the nation as a whole.
Lou is passionate about making a difference through education and champions equal access to technology to bridge the educational divide and bring about a positive wave of change in education. Through FrogAsia, she works to empower and equip schools, teachers, students and parents with the right tools and opportunities, made possible by the internet.
Lou graduated with a degree in Materials Science from Oxford University. She enjoys baking in her free time and co-founded Dilufe & Co, an annual Christmas baking project, to raise funds for charity. She is also a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Soon Seng joined the inaugural Teach For Malaysia Cohort as a Fellow in 2012. Prior to becoming CEO, he served as a staff member for over six years, overseeing the training, support and impact evaluation of the Teach For Malaysia Fellowship as Programme Director.
Soon Seng holds a degree in Management and Marketing (Murdoch University) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education (Universiti Utara Malaysia). He envisions a holistic education system that not only develops students’ academics, but also their social, emotional, physical, spiritual, and leadership skills, in order to thrive in the 21st century.
Constant change calls for a society that can be adaptable to change and innovate new ways of shaping education with the future in mind. How would we design learning environments that help students thrive in tomorrow's world?
Ajjrina is a financial analyst in the Energy Industry and the Founder of JomEducate, the first one-stop platform for free and subsidised digital learning and mental health resources in Malaysia.
Having worked in Finance for over 12 years, Ajjrina’s expertise covers areas of Financial Modeling, Corporate Finance, Treasury and Planning & Performance insights and analysis. Her passion to serve the community started when she became a permanent volunteer to Soup Kitchen in 2014 & 2015 providing food to the urban poor in Kuala Lumpur. She later initiated and raised RM205,000 via RM1000-per-household campaign benefiting 205 families in Hulu Kelantan whose homes were destroyed in flood. In 2021, realising the exacerbated impact of the pandemic especially to the most vulnerable community and the widening of education gap due to mandatory online learning, she compiled a variety of digital learning resources to contribute towards ensuring quality and access to education for all.
As a mother of three children in the corporate world, Ajjrina hopes to see continuous improvement in the education landscape of our country and encourages those outside of the education industry like herself, to also take charge and play a role in the future of education.
Dzameer began his career in 2007 as a consultant at PwC and co-founded Teach For Malaysia in 2009 which he led for 10 years as its Managing Director. He is currently the CEO of Yayasan Tunku Abdul Rahman, a scholarship Foundation focused on providing tertiary education opportunities to low-income communities and actively consults regionally in public education transformation.
Dzameer is constantly curious about the intersection of emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and leadership. He had the privilege to attend a series of public, private and international schools for his basic education and believes a child’s background should not determine his or her life.
Ian Michael Wong’s passion for education and human development has led him to gain experience that encompasses marketing, hospitality, training, and humanitarian work. Ian is now a teacher at a private international school in Selangor and believes that curiosity is innate and good teachers keep learners curious.
Kiran is a Designer who became a Teacher, a Principal who grew into an Education Reformer, and now, a Social Entrepreneur. After graduating from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (India), Kiran successfully ran her own graphic design firm over a decade before she founded The Riverside School in Ahmedabad in 2001. The school is now viewed as a laboratory for prototyping “design processes” which enable “transformative” student learning experiences.
In 2009, Kiran launched “Design for Change” which uses a simple 4 step design framework – FIDS (Feel, Imagine, Do, Share) to cultivate the I CAN mind-set in all children. Today, DFC is the world's largest movement of change - of and by children, and is active in over 60 countries, impacting more than 2.2 million children and 65,000 Teachers.
Shao-Lyn has been in the design industry for over 15 years, working on a range of corporate, educational and government-based projects. A few years after completing her MA in Graphic Design from the University of the Creative Arts, UK, she discovered permaculture site Embun Pagi, and was awestruck by how little she knew about cultivating her own food, and by our high level of dependency on others for basic necessities.
Shao-Lyn then co-founded Eats, Shoots & Roots in 2012, with the aim of empowering people with the skills and tools to grow their own food. Since then, Eats, Shoots & Roots has since designed and built 46+ edible gardens, organised 100+ edible gardening workshops and sold 19,000+ edible garden products, all with the essence of educating people about their relationship with nature, through food.
Michelle Alice Tan loves experimenting with the power of social design. With a background in Interior Architecture & Design, she held the role of Head of Conference in thinklab©. She then completed a research paper on Humanitarian Design which led to her involvement with EPIC Homes.
In 2011, Michelle founded the Youth Design Network (YDN) and has represented Malaysia in several occasions, such as the ASEAN Youth Forum on Innovation & Creativity, Microsoft Innovate 4 Good, Asia On The Edge Singapore, and ASEAN Youth Inventors Expo Jakarta where she won the ‘Favorite Invention Award’. Michelle went on to be the Design Thinker In-Residence at Genovasi, Malaysia’s own ‘school of innovation’ where she coached over 300 innovation ambassadors to-be, before starting her own company, DESIGNation LAB,, which is a platform that celebrates and retails the best of independent local designers and is now a product incubation studio.
Michelle now runs Pico Olo, a design house that works with artists to make modern art products, with the hope to make art accessible and to get their products to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Design Store one day.
Natasha is the Founder Director of Women in Rail Malaysia, a not-for-profit entity which was established in 2017 to support and promote equality and diversity within the Malaysian rail industry. She is also passionate about promoting the Malaysian rail space as a career of choice to young women currently studying in secondary school and in universities.
Natasha has worked in the Malaysian rail space working for the regulator (SPAD), the operator (Prasarana) and now works on the construction side, as Stakeholder Director at YTL Construction, building a 192km double track rail link connecting Gemas to Johor Bahru. Since 2018, Natasha has sat on the board of a plantation company listed on Bursa Malaysia.
In 2019 the German government recognized Natasha as a one of the ‘Remarkable Women In Transport’, officially recognizing her as a female change-maker and highlighting her contribution to sustainable mobility solutions. Natasha studied law at the London School of Economics in the UK, specialising in EU law.
Pui Lin has been in the advertising industry since 2004, and has worked with a range of agencies and corporations such as Maxis, Astro, Nestle, on strategy and campaigns. She currently does project management for Eats, Shoots & Roots, and supports in workshop facilitation.
Her keen interest in early childhood education has also led her to pursue further studies in Early Childhood & Special needs education, and she currently facilitates all children workshops at ESR, and is also the co-founder of Rimbun Montessori. She believes that green education is very important in the early years, as part of the holistic development of a child.
Nick specialises in helping organisations bring vision into reality and looks after business strategy at FrogAsia. He believes that equal access to education will change lives and is an advocate for multi-disciplinary learning. In 2008 he launched the Tekua project which offered an alternative model for public-private partnerships to finance schools in Tanzania while empowering students to discover their own agency.
Nick graduated with a Masters in International Health Management from Imperial College London and a degree in Geography from the London School of Economics. The core of his career has been in management consulting with KPMG Australia specialising in organisational design, behavioural change and digitally enabled operations.
Racheal Kwacz is a Child and Family Development Specialist, experiential Respectful Parenting facilitator and sought-after international speaker. Her signature brain-based, heart-centered approach, to combining deep inner reparenting shadow work with research-based practical tools have proven to be the transformational breakthrough for parents and professionals all over.
Racheal has worked with families, training educators, physicians, professionals, as well as leading and developing curriculum with schools and childcares. She is passionate about building a trauma-informed inclusive community, bravely inspiring us to come home to ourselves as we raise kind, confident, resilient, strong children and communities together. To find out more about her work, please go to rachealkwacz.com or follow her on her social media channels @rachealkwacz.
Samuel Isaiah is a passionate and driven educator who strives to bridge the educational gap. During his time serving in an indigenous school in Pahang for 9 years, Samuel honed his skills in pedagogy localisation, project development and implementation, and effective classroom strategies. He was recently named as the Top-10 Finalist of the prestigious Global Teacher Prize in 2020, in collaboration with UNESCO. Samuel is currently the Program Director at Pemimpin GSL.
As an educator who is passionate about teaching, sharing, volunteering, travel, and learning, d’Arcy has spent the past 20 years giving over 1,400 presentations to 140,000 people across more than 90 countries and in the process, working with development, environmental, social justice, and global education organisations towards a world with access and opportunity for everyone, everywhere. His self-initiated conceptand organisation, Teaspoons of Change, focuses on the personal choices, decisions, and actions that have a positive impact on people and the planet.
d’Arcy is also an ambassador, advocate, and enthusiast with many organisations including: World’s Largest Lesson, JUMP! Foundation, Global Citizen, End Polio Now, UNICEF, WHO, Gates Foundation, RESULTS, the Global Education and Leadership Foundation, Live Below the Line and many others. He currently lives and works out of a tiny sustainable house in Australia.
Andreas initiated and oversees the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and other international instruments that have created a global platform for policy-makers, researchers, and educators across nations and cultures to innovate and transform educational policies and practices.
Before joining the OECD, he was the Director for Analysis at the International Association for Educational Achievement (IEA) and has spent over 20 years working with ministers and education leaders around the world to improve quality and equity in education. He has been recognised as “the most important man in English education” by Former UK Secretary of State Michael Gove and is a recipient of numerous honours and awards, including the Theodor Heuss Prize for “exemplary democratic engagement”.
Saku is a serial entrepreneur, innovator, author, and speaker with a background in media and television. He specialises in ‘creativity and innovation’ and has taught in more than a hundred companies around the world.
During his 20 years in television, Saku produced thousands of hours of programs, created almost 100 tv formats, and co-founded Broadcasters, one of the most successful independent tv production companies in Finland. In 2009 Saku Tuominen was the Chief Creative Officer of Zodiak Entertainment, the world’s 3rd largest tv production company in London. In the same year, he also founded Idealist Group, a production company of ideas with a mission to improve the world with bold ideas that are well executed. Saku is currently focused on improving K12 education globally through HundrED, a global education community that seeks and shares inspiring educational innovations.
Will Van Der Hart is one of the co-founders and a director at The Mind and Soul Foundation, UK - a platform that aims to educate and equip people with the tools to better understand mental health. He is also a mental health first aider, a GiANT Worldwide coach and the author of 'The Perfectionism Book' and other books on mental health and well-being. Will's interest in emotional health is wide ranging, also reflecting his broad experience in a variety of pastoral contexts as an Associate Vicar at St Dionis Parsons Green, London.
Will is passionate about equipping leaders to look after their own emotional health as well as empowering them to manage the emotional needs of the people they serve. Will and his wife Lucinda lead on The Parenting Course, and have written a new parent course as well as a book for expecting parents, he also speaks at parent workshops which help to support young people's emotional health.
Cheryl is currently the CEO of Pemimpin GSL in Malaysia. Cheryl was previously appointed to the National Education Policy Review Committee formed by the Ministry of Education in 2018. Previously, Cheryl served as a Teach for Malaysia fellow for three years where she taught English in a rural school in Sungai Petani, Kedah. Prior to Teach for Malaysia, she worked a a PR consultant for four years. Cheryl was also part of the inaugural cohort of the Obama Young Leaders, Asia Pacific.
Cheryl graduated with a degree in Mass Communications and a Master in Management. She also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Education. She was also the inspirational teacher portrayed in the Malaysian film, Adiwiraku. Her message was that each of us is a superhero and we can each be a good leader if we put our mind to it. She empowered teachers to create a brighter future for themselves, their students, and the nation as a whole.
Lou is passionate about making a difference through education and champions equal access to technology to bridge the educational divide and bring about a positive wave of change in education. Through FrogAsia, she works to empower and equip schools, teachers, students and parents with the right tools and opportunities, made possible by the internet.
Lou graduated with a degree in Materials Science from Oxford University. She enjoys baking in her free time and co-founded Dilufe & Co, an annual Christmas baking project, to raise funds for charity. She is also a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Soon Seng joined the inaugural Teach For Malaysia Cohort as a Fellow in 2012. Prior to becoming CEO, he served as a staff member for over six years, overseeing the training, support and impact evaluation of the Teach For Malaysia Fellowship as Programme Director.
Soon Seng holds a degree in Management and Marketing (Murdoch University) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education (Universiti Utara Malaysia). He envisions a holistic education system that not only develops students’ academics, but also their social, emotional, physical, spiritual, and leadership skills, in order to thrive in the 21st century.
Bhagya is a participant of Project ID’s Young Educators Challenge (YEC).
Project ID exists to provide opportunities for students from low income communities to live their best lives. The Young Educator’s Challenge, organised by Project ID, is an opportunity for students of Malaysia to learn, design and empower peers around them by taking control of their online learning. Young Educators compete by planning and conducting their ideal online class to their peers.
Faiz is a participant of Project ID’s Young Educators Challenge (YEC).
Project ID exists to provide opportunities for students from low income communities to live their best lives. The Young Educator’s Challenge, organised by Project ID, is an opportunity for students of Malaysia to learn, design and empower peers around them by taking control of their online learning. Young Educators compete by planning and conducting their ideal online class to their peers.
Irina is a participant of Project ID’s Young Educators Challenge (YEC).
Project ID exists to provide opportunities for students from low income communities to live their best lives. The Young Educator’s Challenge, organised by Project ID, is an opportunity for students of Malaysia to learn, design and empower peers around them by taking control of their online learning. Young Educators compete by planning and conducting their ideal online class to their peers.
Khoo Zhen is a participant of Project ID’s Young Educators Challenge (YEC).
Project ID exists to provide opportunities for students from low income communities to live their best lives. The Young Educator’s Challenge, organised by Project ID, is an opportunity for students of Malaysia to learn, design and empower peers around them by taking control of their online learning. Young Educators compete by planning and conducting their ideal online class to their peers.
Zhi Xiong is the Chief Learning Officer and Co-founder at Chumbaka - a social enterprise that runs technology enrichment programs based on open-sourced technology (Arduino, Python, Visual Programming, C++, Raspberry Pi, 3D printing, and electronics), which instill life skills among the primary and secondary schools students. His work constantly revolves around empowering students, teachers and local communities with essential life skills for this 21st century.
Zhi Xiong is also a Teach For Malaysia alumnus and believes that for education transformation to happen, it takes more than just focusing on the shortcomings of public schooling. A quality education requires the attention, dedication, investment and engagement from various community stakeholders, through various forms of public-private partnerships.
Evan Yan is the Head of Department of the Advertising and Graphic Design faculty of The One Academy. Being in the higher education industry for more than 15 years, he spends his time devising methodologies to develop creativity and artistic talents in students, and also conducts lectures involving the application of graphic and persuasive design in emerging technologies.
He is part of the founding teams of two Award Winning EdTech startups: Ace Edventure Studio & Mebooks Asia, which uses gamification, interactivity and engaging storytelling as the heart of creating innovative teaching and learning products.
