Co-Creation by Design: Asia, Women & Innovation

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With the growth of Asia there is an ever growing need to foster cooperation among organizations, entrepreneurs, innovators & to go beyond gender to develop and scale up service and education initiatives in the region. Even with the rising frequency of “Asia” being thrown around, this term does not usually come hand-in-hand with “women” and “innovation”. This panel shares insights from 2 key women in the field of entrepreneurship, technology and innovation who have been building important ecosystems and communities to help bridge this gap, build the talent, and grow the region.
This session offers insights into the new patterns and new ways of thinking that is being created and applied in the world’s largest and fastest growing economy. See the Asia & Innovation from the perspective of two powerhouse women in Asia and learn about how as businesses, entrepreneurs and investors, you can engage the region and be a part of its future.

Presenters

Bernise Ang

Co-Founder

Syinc

Bernise Ang is co-founder of Syinc a civic lab that uses design methods to innovate around services, programmes, and sometimes public policy.

Though she studied Psychology, it was her foray into student activism in Sydney that started her down a rabbit hole in social change, politics, and eventually, design. She tried her hand at strategy development for young people at UN climate negotiations, was involved in something that led to the formation of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development in Singapore, and climbed Mt Kilimanjaro with Jessica Biel and others.

Under some Asian parental pressure, Bernise spent some time in a private equity firm as a business consultant. She eventually left finance to focus on Syinc. The company specialises in designing solutions for "extreme users" - such as the low-income, isolated, marginalised; and works with partners like the Singapore government, IDEO, TEDxSingapore, UNDP.

Bernise sits/has been on some boards, is a fellow with some orgs, and has a relationship with some startups that she describes as "friendtorship".

She plays the trumpet, is fascinated by quantum field theory, and picks up useless phrases in different languages as a fun party trick.

Grace Clapham

Founder

The Change School

A Third Culture Kid, born in Jakarta, Indonesia and raised throughout Asia Pacific for over 20 years, Grace is passionate about connecting the dots and encouraging collaboration between entrepreneurs.

Grace co-founded Secret {W} Business(www.secretwbusiness.com) and more recently founded Change Ventur.es (www.changeventur.es) to help changemakers realize their ideas and passions. Grace is also the Director & Founder of Agent Grace where she consults and works with new businesses entering the SEAsian region in business strategy, brand management and marketing. Besides her own ventures, Grace is a co-organiser of CreativeMornings Singapore,SheSays Singapore and Lead Curator and Organiser of TEDxSingapore Women. She recently also joined deceler8.me as an ambassador to help curate the first cohort of entrepreneurs needing to re-focus.

She loves to travel and meet new people, especially kick-ass women entrepreneurs and changemakers.

She's passionate about empowering individuals to push their boundaries, build their own personal brand, strengthen personal relationships for success and unleash their creative potential. She hopes to encourage more cross-sector collaborations and build better cross-cultural understanding.

Grace will be launching The Change School (www.thechangeschool.com) on March 8th 2014.