Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative

09/05/2025

Let’s celebrate our new class of Asia 21 Next Generation Fellows! 👏

Introducing 30 exceptional leaders from 27 countries and regions, dedicated to driving transformative change in their communities and the world for the greater good. United by a shared commitment to creating a more equitable, peaceful, and prosperous future for all, these changemakers embody the values of Asia 21—leadership with impact, public service, and a collaborative mindset.

This year’s Fellows will come together in Manila, Philippines, from December 5–7 for the annual Asia 21 Next Generation Fellows Summit. Learn more: https://asiasociety.org/introducing-asia-21-next-generation-fellows-class-2025

Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative

06/30/2025

12/05/2024

Here are some more fellows to introduce from the Asia 21 Class of 2024, including 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲, 𝐌𝐮𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐝, 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚, and 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐲𝐧!

𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐬𝐞, Executive Director of Transgender Equality Hong Kong, is known for successfully overturning the Hong Kong-wide inhumane policy requiring “full s*x reassignment surgery” for changing one’s ID card gender marker through 2 judicial review lawsuits from 2017-2024.

𝐌𝐮𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐝 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐔𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧 is the Co-Founder and COO of Ruangguru, Southeast Asia’s largest ed-tech company. Motivated by concerns over education inequality in , his team provides affordable and innovative educational solutions.

𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐤𝐢 𝐎𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨 founded Resolve Foundation in 2017 to provide an inclusive, supportive and enabling platform to amplify the voices of marginalized groups and foster leadership for inclusion.

𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐲𝐧 𝐘𝐢𝐦 is the Founder of Ply-Knits, a vertically integrated fashion company dedicated to sustainable innovation. Under her leadership, Ply-Knits has reduced apparel waste by 32% and increased plastic-free sourcing by 54% for Fortune 500 retail companies.

𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐙𝐡𝐮 presently serves as partner at Ascend Family Office, an asset management firm headquartered in New York with an office in Hong Kong. He is a passionate advocate for the arts, education, cultural enrichment, and the eradication of global hunger.

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐙𝐮𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰 is an experienced investment professional who most recently served as VP and Portfolio Manager at Hepco Capital Management, a NY-based multi-strategy asset management firm. He is passionate about studying and collecting Asian art.

Read more about our Asia 21 Class of 2024 here: https://asiasociety.org/asia-21-next-generation-fellows/class-2024

12/05/2024

Our 2024 Asia 21 Next Generation Fellows Summit is kicking off at the Hilton Orchard from December 6-8. Find more details here:

The 2024 Asia 21 Summit will be held in Singapore from December 6-8.

12/02/2024

Ahead of our Asia 21 Next Generation Fellows Summit, we’re excited to announce that this year INSEAD Executive Education—one of the world's leading and largest graduate business schools—will be providing two exclusive executive leadership sessions aimed at fostering innovation and strategic thinking among the next generation of Asian leaders.

"We are pleased to participate in the Asia 21 Summit and contribute to shaping the future of leadership in the Asia-Pacific region," said Sameer Hasija, Dean of INSEAD Asia Campus and Dean of Executive Education.

The sessions led by INSEAD will cover topics such as strategic decision-making, innovation in leadership, and the importance of ethical governance. These sessions are designed to equip participants with the skills and knowledge necessary to lead effectively in an increasingly interconnected and dynamic world.

Asia Society’s President and CEO Kyung-wha Kang said, "The world is pivoting to Asia politically, culturally, and economically, and Asia Society’s role is to make sense of it all – how global and regional dynamics are changing, and how to address challenges and opportunities together. We are honored to have INSEAD's support in this mission, and we look forward to the impactful discussions and outcomes that will emerge from their executive leadership sessions."

The Asia 21 Next Generation Fellows Summit is a premier gathering of young leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region taking place on Dec. 6-8 in Singapore.

INSEAD to provide two exclusive executive leadership sessions at Asia Society's Asia 21 Next Generation Fellows Summit in Singapore.

11/26/2024

We're looking forward to the Asia 21 Next Generation Fellows Summit on Dec. 6-8 in Singapore! We're spotlighting and welcoming four more members of the 2024 class, including 𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝, 𝐀𝐢𝐦𝐢, 𝐑𝐡𝐞𝐚, and 𝐋𝐮.

𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐲, a human rights activist from Afghanistan, is Chief Executive Officer of the World Anti Extremism Network, a global nonprofit headquartered in Canada.

𝐀𝐢𝐦𝐢 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐞𝐞 is Co-Founder and Director of Digital Innovation and Growth at Tyne Solutions, an award-winning tech consultancy specializing in bridging gaps in organizations using bespoke software solutions.

𝐑𝐡𝐞𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐞 is Co-founder and CEO of She Loves Tech, the world's foremost and largest tech startup competition and acceleration platform for women.

𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐮 is a reporter covering the intersection of technology and society in China for The Wall Street Journal.

Learn more about our fellows here: https://asiasociety.org/asia-21-next-generation-fellows/class-2024

11/22/2024

We're counting down to the Asia 21 Next Generation Fellows Summit next month in Singapore. Get to know four more of our incredible fellows — 𝐙𝐚𝐢𝐦, 𝐇𝐚𝐟𝐬𝐚𝐡, 𝐘𝐞𝐫𝐚, and 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧.

𝐙𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐌𝐨𝐡𝐳𝐚𝐧𝐢, Senior Director of External Relations at KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific, is responsible for leading significant initiatives including the ASEAN Economic Club and the World Digital Chamber, enhancing regional cooperation and digital innovation.

𝐇𝐚𝐟𝐬𝐚𝐡 𝐌𝐮𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐝 is an intersectional feminist and human rights advocate from Sri Lanka, with a decade of grassroots experience in developing cross-sectoral solutions.

𝐘𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 leads Partnerships, Value Creation, and Knowledge at the World Bank Group’s Venture Capital and Funds, which invests in technology companies and venture capital funds in emerging markets.

𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲𝐬𝐤𝐮𝐥, Co-Founder of Orient, is an entrepreneur with experience in Asia, technology, and international trade.

Learn more about our different fellows here! https://asiasociety.org/asia-21-next-generation-fellows/class-2024

11/07/2024

Get to know four more Asia 21 Next Generation Fellows we'll be welcoming to our network in just over four weeks—including 𝐍𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐚, 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐧, 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, and 𝐔𝐟𝐫𝐚!

𝐍𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐰 𝐋𝐢𝐧 is the Principal of Anagat Initiatives, originally founded to foster policy dialogue and enable a culture of collaboration through future thinking.

𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐳𝐚𝐤𝐚, a co-founder and co-CEO of TOY EIGHT, is a Japanese entrepreneur committed to significantly impacting child development, driven by his personal experience of overcoming dyslexia.

𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐜𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 is interim CEO of TerraWind Renewables, an onshore wind energy platform in Asia launched in partnership between Stonepeak and Shizen Energy Group (a renewable energy developer headquartered in Japan).

𝐔𝐟𝐫𝐚 𝐌𝐢𝐫, Founding Executive Director of the International Center for Peace Psychology & Paigaam, has been working at the intersection of psychology, arts, conflict transformation and peacebuilding for the past decade.

Learn more about their incredible work here: https://asiasociety.org/asia-21-next-generation-fellows/class-2024

11/05/2024

Delighted to introduce you to four more members of this year’s class of Asia 21 Fellows — 𝐒𝐮𝐲𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐠, 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐤, 𝐉𝐨𝐬𝐡 𝐋𝐞𝐞, and 𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐲.

𝐒𝐮𝐲𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐫𝐲, Executive Director of Women Peace Makers Organization, is a peace practitioner, a researcher, and an accredited mediator with extensive experience in gender equality, peacebuilding, strategic planning, and feminist leadership.

𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐤 𝐊𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐫 is a civic innovator and the founder of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), a nonprofit social enterprise based in Nepal.

𝐉𝐨𝐬𝐡 𝐋𝐞𝐞 is the Managing Director (APAC) of the Future of Privacy Forum, a global nonprofit organization furthering principled data protection practices in support of emerging technologies.

𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐧 is the Co-founder of the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy, established in 2018.

Learn more about their backgrounds: https://asiasociety.org/asia-21-next-generation-fellows/class-2024

10/29/2024

Get to know more of our Asia 21 Next Generation Fellows from the Class of 2024, including D𝐞𝐯𝐣𝐲𝐨𝐭, 𝐀𝐳𝐢𝐚𝐡, 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐚, and 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐚!

𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐣𝐲𝐨𝐭 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥, the Reuters Chief Correspondent for Thailand and Myanmar, leads a team of reporters providing real-time coverage of the two countries and delivering deeply reported stories across business, politics, and the protracted civil war in Myanmar.

𝐀𝐳𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧 is Head of Government Risk, Asia at McKinsey & Company. She is a thought leader and advisor to senior leaders on government risk across Asia and the Middle East.

𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐚 𝐉𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐠, Executive Director, Social Innovation Park; Co-Founder, Unicorns for Good, is a multi-cultural leader with a remarkable leadership track record, influence, and impact as President of the prestigious Marshall (Economics) Society of the University of Cambridge.

𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢 is a Senior Business Development Consultant at DeNA Co., Ltd., an IT tech company in Japan that specializes in harnessing technology to address healthcare challenges.

Learn about the backgrounds of our fellows here: https://asiasociety.org/asia-21-next-generation-fellows/class-2024

10/21/2024

Meet more of our Asia 21 Fellows from the Class of 2024, including 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐡 𝐑𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐭, 𝐍𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐀𝐧𝐧 𝐀𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞, and 𝐉𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐝.

𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐡 𝐑𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐝𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐲, an award-winning environmentalist and social entrepreneur from Bangladesh, is the Co-Founder & President of Footsteps.

𝐍𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐃'𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐳𝐚, Co-Founder and Chairman of Edamama Pte. Ltd., the largest online-to-offline (O2O) childcare retailer in the Philippines.

𝐀𝐧𝐧 𝐀𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐠 is conservationist and geotourism advocate, and the Co-Founder of the Masungi Georeserve Foundation in the Philippines.

𝐉𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐌𝐃, is a physician-scientist and resident neurosurgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He is also the Vice President for External Affairs at the Lebanese Academy.

Read about their impressive backgrounds here: https://asiasociety.org/asia-21-next-generation-fellows/class-2024

10/16/2024

As we look ahead to this year’s Asia 21 annual summit (Dec. 6-8)—now less than two months away—we would like to introduce you to the fellows representing the 2024 Class, and more importantly, who we are finally getting to meet in Singapore.

Please join me to welcome 𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐲𝐚, 𝐒𝐢𝐲𝐚𝐦, and 𝐒𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐧 to our Asia 21 network we have been building together for close to two decades!

𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐢 is a photographer, filmmaker, and artist from Islamabad, Pakistan. As a photojournalist, he focuses on human interest stories and has worked extensively on topics of global health and migration.

𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐲𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐡𝐮𝐮, Founder of FilmNomad, is a cultural leader and policy innovator from Mongolia. She has supported over 300 Mongolian filmmakers, elevating Mongolian cinema onto the global stage and fostering cross-cultural dialogue.

𝐀𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐲𝐚𝐦 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐢 is the director of Charmaghz, a Kabul-based nonprofit organization that runs the biggest chain of mobile libraries for children in Afghanistan and provides educational services to more than 2,500 children daily.

𝐒𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐧 “𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞” 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐢 is Executive Advisor and attorney of the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), a non-governmental organization that she co-founded immediately after the May 2014 military coup in Thailand. TLHR documents human rights violations and provides free legal support to people whose civil and political rights have been violated.

You can read about their impressive backgrounds here: https://asiasociety.org/asia-21-next-generation-fellows/class-2024