YSEALI Summit 2022 Keynote

With Deputy Assistant Secretary Camille Dawson, US Ambassador to ASEAN Yohannes Abraham, and 150 young leaders from across ASEAN. Image credit: YSEALI

My Keynote at YSEALI Summit 2022

We are here in this beautiful city to make new friends, reconnect with old ones, learn from each other, and most of all, be inspired.

Be inspired about what, specifically?

Let's start with why you are in this room.

You are in this room because you are a changemaker. Not just any changemaker. You are a YEASLI Leader. 

What does it mean to be a leader? For me, leadership is about empowering others. Giving other people the belief, skills, resources and opportunities to take on bigger roles, to realise hidden potential, to become leaders themselves.

But before you can empower others, you need to empower yourself. You are already part of a community of young leaders and changemakers. That's a start. But that's not enough. I believe self-empowerment starts with curiosity. Curiosity about yourself, curiosity about others, and curiosity about the world.

It took me a long time to understand myself. I knew from a fairly young age I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I didn't like the idea of working for other people. 

But, simply knowing I wanted to be an entrepreneur wasn't enough. Entrepreneurship can take many forms and flavours. My first business is a frozen yogurt chain. Many flavours…

I briefly contemplated starting a creative agency. I had a short stint as a fashion entrepreneur. Terrible for the environment. It took me many years to realise what I really want to do as an entrepreneur is to help young people become original thinkers with a sense of purpose. My purpose, I realised, is to help others find theirs.

Once I figured out my purpose, I needed to rally other people to join me on the journey. Saturday Kids, and later Doyobi, became the vehicles for me to get others onboard a shared mission of helping kids become original thinkers. The people I brought onboard came up with the Saturday Kids manifesto. Let me read you a few lines:

Don't fear the new, try what scares youGotta make the climb to enjoy the view

It's fine to fail but just don't bailThe second time's easier for you to prevail

Listen to your parents, but not too muchBreak rules a little and add your own touch

Sometimes we get angry messages from parents, complaining that their kids said they've been told it's ok to not listen to mummy and daddy. I usually just ignore these parents, but if I could really be bothered, this is what I'll tell them.

I wish I came up with that wolf and sheep fable. This was written by a gentleman by the name of Nick Alchin, the head of college at UWCSEA. I love these two lines in particular - the wolf can change things in ways that sheep never can. And maybe that’s the education we need to be offering; one that produces wolves, not sheep.

It is my fervent hope that all of you in this room are wolves. Not the predatory sort, but the sort that can think critically and independently, and ultimately forge your own path.

The sort of changemaker like Obama Leader I Putu Wira, the founder of Five Pillars Experiences. Wira works with local heroes in Bali to promote sustainable tourism as a means of supporting the economic development of rural communities.

The sort of changemaker like Obama Leader Ian Yee, the editor at R.AGE. Ian spent six months undercover in order to expose child sex predators, which ultimately led to new laws against child sexual crimes.

Inertia and the slow pace of change can be deeply frustrating. I feel that frustration day in and day out. For over a decade, I've been trying to inspire parents and educators to rethink how kids are being taught in school. It feels like running uphill with a headwind. It's not that I don't think school's important. Of course kids should learn how to count, read and write. Without numeracy and literacy skills, everything else becomes much more difficult.

What I rail against is the obsession with standardised tests and academic achievements over everything else. I don't believe the ability to memorise chemistry equations prepares young people for anything other than doing well in standardised tests. What young people need more than anything else in order to make their way in the world, or better still, to make a dent in the universe, are skills like critical thinking, and habits of mind like bias for action.

The story of now is where I have failed. A story of now is about the challenges the world now faces, the choices it must make, and the hope to which we can aspire. The world is facing many, many challenges - climate change, geopolitics, war, inequality, failed nation states. If there's one magic pill for all of these problems, it's education. But not education as we know it. What we need is education that equips young people with the skills, mindset and desire to solve these humanity-scale challenges.

After ten years, I still haven't been able to convince enough parents and educators to join me in this urgent challenge of reforming education. Many, many parents and educators are still stuck in their ways. So, believe me when I say I understand the frustration some of you feel.

It’s ok to feel frustrated. It’s ok to feel some days that the world is against you. But not everyone is born to be a changemaker. Not everyone has a vision for how they think the world should be. Many people are just happy to go with the flow. Leave it up to other people to fix what needs to be fixed. But that’s not who you are. 

I thought about what practical advice I should leave you with.

First, be authentic. Starting with yourself. Keep asking yourself what motivates you. What’s the change you want to see in the world? Be authentic with other people. Dialogue across differences. Find common ground. Treat people with respect.

Second, be great at storytelling. When you are trying to effect change, you need to convince other people to come along the journey with you. The fastest path to the brain is through the heart. Being authentic helps.

Third, be resilient. The journey of change is long. It is not for everyone. However hard it gets, however long it takes, keep at it. And be relentless. You need to keep reminding yourselves "we are the ones we've been waiting for".

"The moral arc of the universe is long, and yes it bends towards justice, but only if people like you keep on bending it along the way." Martin Luther King said this.

Or as President Obama puts it more simply, “You got to have staying power.”

Martin Luther King also said "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?''.

When I attended the Obama Leaders convening just before Covid, one of the most powerful ideas I took away is this line Mrs Obama said.

“You are the answer to somebody’s life today. Put some positive light out there, be the yes in somebody's life.”

So keep doing what you're doing. Believe in yourself and your ability to empower others. Believe that despite the struggles and frustrations, the constant sweat and occasional tears, you will prevail. Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in ten. The days are long and the decades are short. Make the most of the decades you have ahead of you.

I wish you all the best. Thank you.