Raj Bhavsar, an Indian-American artistic gymnast and bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, now an Olympic sports ambassador working to raise sports awareness in India; Sabrina Singh, an astronaut trainer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, teaching Japanese, Russian, European and American astronauts how to use their spacesuits and live sustainably on limited resources in space; Ka Hsaw Wa, member of the Burmese Karen ethnic nationality, a former student activist-turned-environmental advocate, and a 2009 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for emergent leadership; and Holly Chang, a former plant engineer who left her corporate career to become a Red Cross disaster relief volunteer, later establishing her own NPO to help channel philanthropic capital and volunteer expertise to build high-performing, trust-worthy organizations, are just four of more than 150 young leaders from the Asia-Pacific region, who will participate in the Asia Society’s fourth annual Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit, to be held for the first time in Kuala Lumpur from November 20-22, 2009.
Malaysian Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak will provide the Keynote Address at the Opening Dinner of the three-day event, dubbed “The Changing Face of Leadership: Crisis and Opportunity.”
Even as the West continues to sputter economically, Asia forges on in leading the world out of the recession, with many of the next generation leaders taking on greater and more significant roles in driving growth and innovation. Building on the conference theme, these under-40 Asia 21 young leaders will engage in discussions on how crisis can be turned into opportunity, identify what characteristics are essential in a global leader, and explore ways to help national leaders develop a global vision. They will further look into how ethics and responsibility factor in such areas as censorship and free speech, gender equality, corruption and governance, healthcare, education, and the arts. A dialogue about Islam in multi-cultural societies will feature Zainah Anwar, Project Director of Musawah, A Global Movement for Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family, and selected Asia 21 Fellows.
Delegates are also tasked to develop joint Public Service Projects, which they undertake collaboratively to create innovative solutions to lingering and newly-discovered social issues, and have wide-reaching impact that transcends borders and cultures.
In its continuing pursuit of excellence and creating trailblazing paths, the Asia 21 Summit this year is also being positioned as the first conference in Malaysia to be a “Sustainable Summit,” where the organizers, sponsors and delegates take extra care to make environmentally-friendly and energy-saving steps such as using public transport, sourcing goods and services locally, and using recycled products.
The Asia Society’s Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit is part of a larger initiative designed to help emerging leaders from across the region to develop common approaches to meet its shared challenges. It further seeks to build networks of trust across geographic boundaries and help next generation leaders to educate one another in the highest ideals of values-based leadership. “We need new types of leaders from every country who can both understand the transnational nature of the challenges we face and work together to address them,” said Asia Society Executive Vice President Jamie Metzl, who spearheads the program.
Established by the Asia Society with support from Founding International Sponsor, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the Asia 21 Summit is the pre-eminent gathering of Asia’s most dynamic young leaders from the Asia-Pacific region, from every sector including business, government, media, culture and civil society. To date, the network counts more than 500 of the most accomplished young leaders in the Asia-Pacific among its members, including businessmen, documentary filmmakers, environmental activists, human rights advocates, members of parliament, military personnel, performance artists, and social entrepreneurs.
“We’re proud to support the Asia Society’s Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit,” said Tom Montag, president of Global Banking and Markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “As a global organization committed to deepening and strengthening our public and private sector relationships in the Asia-Pacific region, we’re honored to be part of an initiative that encourages prominent young leaders to collectively confront Asia’s challenges and opportunities.”
This year’s main corporate sponsors include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Sime Darby and YTL Corporation Berhad. Partners include AirAsia, Thomson-Reuters, GoComm, Malaysiakini, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Zain & Co., with special support from Maxis, ASTRO, Powertek and KasehDia. Official venue of the 2009 Asia 21 Summit is the JW Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur.
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