Reach for Perfection

Annice Lyn is a documentary and sports photographer based in Kuala Lumpur, who visually documents stories that resonate with critical importance. As a former national figure skater, her transition into documentary sports photography led her to become the first and only Malaysian female photographer whose work was accredited for the XXIII Olympic Winter Games, PyeongChang 2018.

She is currently a Canon Malaysia EOS Youth Ambassador, a laureate for Southeast Asia Women of the Future Award 2020 and a co-founder of Women Photographers Malaysia with the means to develop an inclusive culture through visual storytelling. Her work has been picked up by Forbes, Getty Images, Associated Press, AFP, the Washington Post, USA Today, The Guardian, and Olympic NBC Sports to name a few. She recently photographed the cover of TIME magazine's April 2021 Issue and is listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2021 for her advocacy for gender equality in visual culture.

Dewakan is Darren's expression of cooking with purpose. This decision sets the stage for imaginative, inventive servings of modern Malaysian cuisine using indigenous ingredients such as kulim, ketumpang air, keluak and tenggek burung.

In April 2019, Dewakan had the honour of being the first Malaysian restaurant on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list at 46th place with the title Best Restaurant in Malaysia. This year in 2021, Dewakan placed 66th in the 51-100 list of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants.

Darren's philosophy is simple. Be curious, have courage, value your roots. His focus has always been about a deep, reverent connection between the indigenous of Malaysia and the freedom to express his values through food. His food contends with his heritage and history, his clarity of what came before, as well as what lies ahead. This sense of purpose is what he will continue to work towards, not just for the growth of his team but also for the people in the industry and for the coming of age for modern Malaysian cuisine.

Darren was named in the Asia Tatler list of New Asia's Most Powerful, Influential & Stylish People to Know In 2020.

Kate is a psychologist who has a particular interest in the way our emotions affect us. She's passionate about helping people keep emotionally healthy in spite of what life throws at them and helping them reach their full potential. She's a church leader, speaker and author, and is also project leader of Headstrong, an online well-being space for teenagers and young people. Kate spends a lot of time explaining that she isn't married to Prince William but enjoys reading about the duchess' good dress sense in the newspapers. She lives in Hertfordshire with her husband, two children and (at last count) three cats.

Elisa Guerra has a degree in Early Childhood Education and a Master’s Degree in Education with a specialization in Teaching-Learning Process from ITESM.

Elisa received, in 2015, the Alas IDB Award as “Best Educator in Latin America”, given by the Interamerican Development Bank and “Movimiento Alas”.

Currently, Elisa is member of UNESCO’s International Commission for the “Futures of Education” (2019-2021).

She was one of the 2016 TOP 50 finalists for the prestigious Global Teacher Prize and was also a TOP 50 Finalist in 2015. This award has been called the “Nobel Prize” for Teaching.

Elisa is Founder and Teacher at Colegio Valle de Filadelfia (PreK -9th). Her school model has been replicated in 11 campuses in 5 Latin American countries.

‍https://elisaguerra.net/english/

Ellisha is the Managing Director of Thrive Well, a purpose-driven, trauma-informed community mental health organization that provides sustainable and accessible trauma-sensitive mental health research, advocacy, consulting, community development and clinical services to serve organisations and communities in need.

She has 7 years of experience working with both children and adults in the development and implementation of community mental health programmes for socioeconomically diverse populations ranging from corporate employees to underserved communities such as those from low-income, indigenous, neurodivergent, refugee and domestic violence survivors.

From 2017-2019, Ellisha served as the Honorary Treasurer of the Malaysian Society of Clinical Psychology (MSCP). She is currently the Vice-President of the National Alliance of Mental Health and is active in various advisory and advocacy roles specifically with universities on trauma-informed mental health curriculum and practices.

Born and raised in Malaysia, Julian embarked on his journey in figure skating at the age of four. Slowly fighting his way through competitions and going against the odds of a tropical country having a representative at the Winter Olympics, he managed to qualify and compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Throughout his journey, he has learned many values and experienced the true meaning of being an athlete.

Now as the head coach and director for his skating academy, Julian firmly believes in bringing out the best in his skaters and helping them achieve their goals. He has conducted several camps around South East Asia and even in Mexico. Hoping to pass on all that he's learned to the next generation. Julian was a South East Asian Games Champion in 2017 and 2019, and a six-time National Champion.

Will Van Der Hart is one of the co-founders and a director at The Mind and Soul Foundation, UK - a platform that aims to educate and equip people with the tools to better understand mental health. He is also a mental health first aider, a GiANT Worldwide coach and the author of 'The Perfectionism Book' and other books on mental health and well-being. Will's interest in emotional health is wide ranging, also reflecting his broad experience in a variety of pastoral contexts as an Associate Vicar at St Dionis Parsons Green, London.

Will is passionate about equipping leaders to look after their own emotional health as well as empowering them to manage the emotional needs of the people they serve. Will and his wife Lucinda lead on The Parenting Course, and have written a new parent course as well as a book for expecting parents, he also speaks at parent workshops which help to support young people's emotional health.

Cheryl is currently the CEO of Pemimpin GSL in Malaysia. Cheryl was previously appointed to the National Education Policy Review Committee formed by the Ministry of Education in 2018. Previously, Cheryl served as a Teach for Malaysia fellow for three years where she taught English in a rural school in Sungai Petani, Kedah. Prior to Teach for Malaysia, she worked a a PR consultant for four years. Cheryl was also part of the inaugural cohort of the Obama Young Leaders, Asia Pacific.

Cheryl graduated with a degree in Mass Communications and a Master in Management. She also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Education. She was also the inspirational teacher portrayed in the Malaysian film, Adiwiraku. Her message was that each of us is a superhero and we can each be a good leader if we put our mind to it. She empowered teachers to create a brighter future for themselves, their students, and the nation as a whole.

Lou is passionate about making a difference through education and champions equal access to technology to bridge the educational divide and bring about a positive wave of change in education. Through FrogAsia, she works to empower and equip schools, teachers, students and parents with the right tools and opportunities, made possible by the internet.

Lou graduated with a degree in Materials Science from Oxford University. She enjoys baking in her free time and co-founded Dilufe & Co, an annual Christmas baking project, to raise funds for charity. She is also a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Soon Seng joined the inaugural Teach For Malaysia Cohort as a Fellow in 2012. Prior to becoming CEO, he served as a staff member for over six years, overseeing the training, support and impact evaluation of the Teach For Malaysia Fellowship as Programme Director.

Soon Seng holds a degree in Management and Marketing (Murdoch University) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education (Universiti Utara Malaysia). He envisions a holistic education system that not only develops students’ academics, but also their social, emotional, physical, spiritual, and leadership skills, in order to thrive in the 21st century.