On the 13th February, The One Young World Asia team held the 2022 Asia Caucus, the very first of its kind, with the theme "Ethical Leadership for Sustainable Impact". The Caucus welcomed 200 participants globally, focusing on inspirational discussions, projects, and collaborations to set the scene for the 2022 One Young World Summit.
The aim of the Caucus was to connect, engage and inspire the One Young World Ambassador community, partners and mobilize people towards impactful and sustainable change, driving the conversation around being a powerful force for social good through SDGs 3,4 and 13.
The Caucus was hosted by One Young World Ambassadors Karthik Rampalli and Ruby Mathapongpan.
The Caucus kicked off with Opening Remarks from Kate Robertson, the Co-Founder of One Young World. In her inspirational opening address, Kate addressed the importance of ethical leadership that the world currently needs.
She spoke of the role One Young World has played since its inception, noting that it was "not started as a loose happy federation... (but) started for the sake of leadership, (with) ethical leadership (being) a hard thing to do:". She also spoke of the pivotal and important role Asia plays in pursuing ethical leadership, possessing the important economic leadership which comes power and influence that the region now represents. She importantly mentioned that "not a single activity of the single SDGs will be sustainable if the leadership is not there".
In her final remarks, she urged all participants that persistence is key, and how important it is for them to "hang in there with each other and support each other.
"I would urge you in this leadership journey to get in your own head, you have got to do the right thing. To do that, you will have to focus. You do not have time and energy for anything that will not change anything. "
The Caucus consisted of four Panel discussions centered around:
- SDG3: Good Health and Mental Wellbeing - "Increasing Accessibility for Mental Well-being"
- SDG4: Quality Education - "Building Teachers for Tomorrow’s Children"
- SDG13: Climate Action - "Everyday Guide to Combat Climate Change"
- Ethical Leadership for Sustainable Impact
The "Increasing Accessibility for Mental Well-Being" session was joined by James Chau (International Broadcaster and Host at The China Current) and moderated by Aashraya Seth (OYW Ambassador & Founder of The Intelligent Indian (TIIx)).
The session addressed how today’s leaders, both experienced and young, can increase accessibility for mental wellbeing in the region. Both James and Aashraya drew attention to the impact of COVID-19 in the region, stating that "the pandemic is far from over", as reflected by factors such as low vaccine efficacy. Most importantly, the session discussed the stigmas surrounding discussing mental health on the continent, with James stating that "the culture in Asia associates (mental illness) with failure and inability to move forward sadly.". Ultimately both argued that health and mental health must be viewed in relation to each other, and not in silos, to promote meaningful change. James also drew attention to the leading role One Young World has played in discussing mental health, "speaking about it consistently since 2011".
A key takeaway from this discussion was that health needs to be related to mental health, emphasising the need for one to take care of themselves and others around them.
The "Building Teachers for Tomorrow's Children" session was joined by Saad Abdullah (Head of Innovation of Youth Policy Forum) and Cecilia Calvo (Vice President of K12 Business) and moderated by Anggaris "Ghea" Anggia (OYW Ambassador and Founder & CEO of GenEd).
The session addressed how efforts can be increased in building teachers, the very people who provide Quality Education for the next generation. In this discussion, all three addressed the important role teachers play in shaping a student's education, with Ghea remarking that teachers are "the biggest influencers in students' lives". Both Saad and Cecilia drew attention to the increasingly important role tech has played in influencing educational outcomes, with Saad highlighting that we must ensure that "these (new) platforms are used well by teachers.". Both highlighted the important linkage between teachers and their communities, with Cecilia remarking that more effort should especially be made to "retain teachers in lower-income communities, (as those) that are displaced suffer the most with teacher quality.".
A key takeaway from this discussion was the importance and necessity of empowering teachers and ensuring that they are "at the forefront of whatever changes we are facing", as supporting teachers results in "a disruptive change in the way we educate teachers."
The "Everyday Guide to Combat Climate Change" session was joined by Eric Kawabata (APAC General Manager of Terracycle & Loop) and moderated by Robin Lewis (OYW Ambassador & Co-Founder of mymizu).
The session addressed what young leaders, as citizens of their countries, can do to combat climate change. Both Eric and Robin spoke of the growing significance of sustainability, and the ways in which climate change is negatively affected due to how waste is approached. Ultimately Eric argued that one needs to "fundamentally change the way they think about waste", focusing on the need to "create a new paradigm – (and) design for durability."
Eric spoke of his role at Terracycle and Loop, discussing how the idea of shared value is "not just to do good for society but also to drive economic purpose within your organization". Throughout this dicussion, there was an emphasis on sustainability endeavors, and how there is an increased emphasis on ESG (Environmental, social and corporate governance) within major financial companies. The discussion additionally centred around sustainability efforts, finding satisfaction in helping others, and how young leaders can be empowered to tackle climate change in their communities.
A key takeaway from this discussion is that we have to focus on 4Rs – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle AND refuse, only consuming what we need and not only what we do not need.
The "Ethical Leadership for Sustainable Impact" session was joined by Cheryl Ann Fernando (CEO of PemimpinGSL), Padmaraj Venkatappa (Head - Ethics, Risk and Compliance - CTS India & NGSC Hyderabad, India) and Royanne Doi (Outside Director of Gogo & Company, Inc. & Corporate Governance Specialist) and moderated by Aaroh Goh (OYW Ambassador &
Co-Founder of Project Orasight).
This final session discussed the meaning behind Ethical Leadership, how Ethical Leadership will bring about Sustainable Impact, and how the Caucus participants can be Ethical Leaders. All three pannelists drew on their experience of developing Ethical Leadership, focusing on doing good in their respective careers. Cheryl Ann spoke of the importance of "making a difference with the people who are working with her" in order to be an ethical leader. Padmaraj highlighted that "when an organization progresses from profits to sustainability, the ethics comes in", ultimately arguing that "For a region like Asia, the better the development of financial system, the higher the ach of sustainability goals." Royanne drew attention to her belief that "lots of people have courage to be a catalyst of change.", highlighting the essentiality of critical assessment and divergent thinking.
A key takeaway from this discussion was applying ethical principles to all areas of life, being open minded and courageous enough to do what is right.
The closing remarks of the Caucus were delivered by Mr. Kimihito (Kimy) Okubo (Chairman of One Young World Japan), who delivered an inspirational word to the Caucus attendees to end the Caucus on.
Speaking of the Caucus, he mentioned that "bringing people together from across cultures and encouraging them to meet and talk and brainstorm is a spark that ignites revolutionary innovations." With the inspiration gathered from the sessions of the day, Mr. Kimy encouraged the Caucus attendees to hold onto the discussion points brought up in the Caucus, keeping their visions in tact and passions ignited, to create sustainable action and change in the future.
In between the main sessions, the Caucus also featured:
- A Movement Meditation session with Jiaii Rin, Meditation Facilitator & Instructor
- A Networking break which featured two Start-Up presentations from Shreya Shreeram (One Young World Ambassador & Clinical Research Specialist at Virufy) and Yosuke Tamura (One Young World Japan Coordinating Ambassador & Project Leader at Guter Bergs)
A big thank you to all the speakers and moderators who participated in this Caucus, and a huge thank you to the One Young World Asia Caucus Organising Team (Emmanuele Marie Parra, Sinchita Dutta Roy, Tsuyoshi "Yoshi" Domoto, Jonathan Chu and Yosuke Tamura)!