Last week, I participated in the international conference of AVPN in Bali, which had been planned for over six months. Finally, the large-scale conference with over 1,100 participants including social innovation investors, government officials, and NGO leaders from all over the world began.
For three consecutive days, I had the honor of hosting the keynote speech of TED President and Chief Curator, Chris Anderson. For a TEDx event curator, this was an invaluable opportunity. He gave an excellent speech, which was simple and powerful with a single main point. He emphasized the importance of having good intentions, courage, and the Creativity, Audacity, and Collaboration needed to solve big problems.
Creativity, audacity, and collaboration are three essential elements for achieving positive social impact. Creativity allows individuals to generate fresh and innovative ideas, while audacity empowers them to pursue bold and transformative actions that challenge the status quo. Collaboration, on the other hand, brings together diverse perspectives and expertise, enabling individuals to co-create and implement solutions that are more effective, sustainable, and equitable. When these three elements are combined, they create a powerful force for change that can overcome even the most complex social challenges. Moreover, the combination of creativity, audacity, and collaboration also promotes a culture of experimentation and continuous learning, where individuals and organizations are encouraged to take risks, learn from their failures, and iterate their approaches to achieve greater impact over time. Ultimately, embracing creativity, audacity, and collaboration is not only critical for achieving social change, but also for fostering a more innovative, resilient, and inclusive society.
Another impressive speech was given by the founder of the impact investment fund, Acumen, Jacqueline Novogratz. She spoke about how vision determines the world. At a dinner party one evening, she encouraged us to be brave and imaginative rather than getting bogged down in fixing small problems and neglecting bigger issues like inequality and climate change.
“We need to use our capital and move it to where it’s most needed and not just to where it’s safest.”
The AVPN Conference actually reminded me of my participation in a Junior Achievement program over ten years ago when I won the opportunity to compete in Malaysia. It was my first chance to travel abroad and it left a profound impact on me. At that time, I told myself that when I grew up, I wanted to have the ability to give more people the chance to explore the world and broaden their horizons. From that time on, I knew that vision determines our achievements, and our expectations for ourselves often determine the kind of people we become.
While various sectors focus on nurturing future leaders, over the past few years, we have been quietly building and harnessing the power of social innovation through promoting innovation exchange and educational programs, facilitating knowledge dissemination, and cross-sectoral collaboration to enable young people to develop their strengths. Today, while working for a social innovation investment organization in Singapore and managing projects remotely in Hong Kong, I cannot say whether or not I am successful, but the experiences I have had are priceless.
On this path to success, there are still many stories waiting to be discovered, and many projects to be explored. I look forward to returning home one day, after gaining new knowledge and experiences, while maintaining the passion and original intention I had when I first started.