Africa in Tokyo

Qi made great connections happen! John Roberts, founder of Heal the World went to Tokyo and met again with Patrick Newell, founder of Tokyo International School. John shared his observations and thoughts from his Tokyo trip.

By John Roberts

Post Qi 2011 I had the pleasure of spending a few days with Patrick Newell in Tokyo. It was just before I started the bike to Africa campaign. I managed to sneak a training ride in from Tokyo's Narita Airport to Tokyo Bay. It was quite an interesting experience that included me being pulled over by the police for riding on the freeway. I can only imagine the crazy American jokes around the police station later that day.

At Heal the World, we have spent a lot of time thinking about scale. My inspiration for this trip (other than really oishi Izakaya) was to try and see how the Tokyo International School (Tokyo IS)'s quality standard could be brought to low-cost private schooling in Sub-Saharan West Africa. It was a bit like trying to figure out how to serve good Sushi in the desert-i.e. hard. Patrick is the founder of Tokyo IS, and quality is the name of the game there.

As I toured Tokyo IS, I realized there are two great hurdles to our hope:

1) Resource scarcity: You get what you pay for in education as in everything else. I remember two young students showing me how they were working side by side on a project together via Google Docs on their Macbooks. That won't be happening soon at one of our Peace Schools. But there is a possible middle road. It is a matter of finding the right permutations of donors, investors and collaborators. Part of my team's job is to negotiate these terms, recruit and structure these partnerships. What we are trying to build is a model that will allow us to solve the problem. In the countries we work in, only half of the kids go to primary school – pretty serious numbers. In our opinion the only way forward is to bring low cost private schooling (standing on the shoulders of James Tooley for that one).

Kids in Peace School, one of Heal the World projects

2) Supportive affluent parents: Steve Jobs said “a lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” Parents who can afford Tokyo IS know that a lot of their success is a byproduct of their education, and thus they value it. In the largely illiterate communities we work in, education has a value, but many of our parents don’t realize the magnitude of what could be possible if only we open the doors in their children’s minds – so we need to convince them. But we have found they are willing to listen. Amazingly enough, and quite inspiring indeed, we find our communities support their kids more just by our mere presence. As the old sayings goes, if you are coming halfway around the world to do this, I am going to do more too.

John in Africa

"Patrick really affirmed some learning that we have been having as an organization over the past year. We must get our offerings to the highest quality possible – within the budget – before we scale. A lesson we welcome but is hard to work on. Thanks, brother."

On the lighter side, a noteworthy part of my time in Tokyo was fond childhood memories of the words of the great world traveller and intercultural extraordinaire Big Bird (ref: Big Bird In Japan) "there sure are an unusual amount of people from Ohio” (Ohayo gozaimasu)!

Thanks for making great connections happen, Qi!

What You Can Do Right Now!

1. Watch John Roberts's Qi 2011 Talk
2. Read John Roberts's Bio
3. Become a Qi Member
4. Attend the next Qi event
5. Book a Qi Speaker
6. Support Qi with time or money

Is Singapore education system turning us into prostitutes of the Rat-Race?

Jack Sim, founder of World Toilet Organization fired at Singapore education system. Let's hear his sharp remarks about education and nation building!

By Jack Sim

Jack's self portrait

It's time MOE revisits what is the purpose of school education. Does scoring high academic marks mean the child will be a good leader? Why do we reward academic excellence IQ when what we want are leaders with more EQ? What is the competitive edge of our nation? Is it the ability to be more efficient or to be more innovative?If both, why are we not able to identify the innovative ones and instead condemn them as naughty boys?

At national level, how do we compete with the world information that is a commodity available to all on internet? Where university degrees are obtained through downloading best answers and changing the grammar to technically avoid plagiarism but is de facto copying? At personal level, are there other pathways to a fulfilling life besides the self-destructive Rat-Race? What is it that is uniquely Singapore in our ability to punch above our weight?

"In my view, a strong society is one that cares for each other and holds itself together through a sense of community. The competitive edge of a nation is rooted in the virtues of its people: hard work ethics, learning culture, a sense of responsibility, a strong family nucleus, love, compassion, patriotism, open-thinking and communication, and the strategic integration of all these virtues into a cohesive power plus the wisdom exploit opportunities presented to us everyday without turning us into prostitute of the Rat-Race."

What You Can Do Right Now!

1. Watch Jack's Talk at Qi 2011
2. Read Jack Sim's Bio
3. Become a Qi Member
4. Attend the next Qi event
5. Book a Qi Speaker
6. Support Qi with time or money

Johan Staël von Holstein in Singapore: We Are Enslaved by 2.0 Technologies!

The controversial debater and entrepreneurship advocate from Sweden had essential opinions for every individual to consider.

By Joakim Persson from ScandAsia

The Swedish serial entrepreneur Johan Staël von Holstein has made Singapore his new home since a few years back. He hopes he will be able to stay on, now seeing Singapore as the country with the “smartest politicians in the whole world” and as splendid for business start-ups.

Johan thinks Singapore is the one place in the world really understanding the need for supporting entrepreneurs. Not that he intends to initiate any more start-ups from scratch himself though, but rather help others.

Second best thing to love

The outspoken Swede has for decades been a strong advocate for innovations and entrepreneurship and mostly in relation to IT and new media. And often he has seen little understanding and action from politicians and governments.

And, also being a charismatic and well-known speaker, he often sees politicians as the key to the problem - or the solution - while the entrepreneurs are the fulfillers; those generating all tax revenue and being the ones behind all businesses.

Among the milestones so far he started Icon Medialab, which succeeded, says his CV, in fundamentally changing the entrepreneurial climate in Sweden. Further he started IQube, an incubator with ambition to create the world's best infrastructure and ecosystem for entrepreneurs in early stages.

“Entrepreneurship is the second best beautiful thing to love,” he said at the Designing Asia 2.0 gathering of the leading innovation network in Asia, arranged by Qi Global.

Johan speaking at Qi 2011

Enslaved by 2.0 technologies

Still, while calling for increased support for the entrepreneurs he is at the same time urging for legislation in the Internet era.

And he has some relevant issues to share which directly and indirectly should be of concern to all us.

What is on his mind now is genuine concern for where things are heading: we are totally enslaved by 2.0 technology companies, Johan let the audience know in Singapore back in October, representing the technology industry.

The evolvement of technology is going to continue being absolutely exponential for innovations, and entrepreneurs can solve all the problems the planet is facing. Breaking the monopolies, enabling all individuals getting access to these software would allow everyone to participate in the entrepreneurial frenzy.

However, he highlighted a fundamental concern relating to privacy, ownership and control of the individual’s digital assets.

Facebook is a concern? Yes.

"90 per cent of all my communication today takes place via Facebook, and 90 per cent of what I do there is work-related. And 90 per cent of all people I know and another 4000 I am connected with are on Facebook – how could I leave that? I have no choice! They have digitally enslaved me."

“People are forced to accept this and be stuck in these structures. And as long as you keep these technologies away from the individual – we can taste them but cannot access them to utilize to our own advantage and do what we want. We are completely in their hands,” he explains to ScandAsia.

In Johan’s mind, one’s own combined experiences, interests and skills should be controlled by the individual – and not be owned by Facebook or anybody else.

Each and one of us should have our own, if you like, cube.

“Privacy isn’t going to be dead for a long time. I hope. And why is this so important? I am no consumer - I am a person. I consume maybe 10 seconds a day. It’s about my memory, tastes, photos and my relations. I am giving away my brain to corporate institutions as they please. And this is going to be so bad that ‘1984’ is going to look like nothing. Like when the brand says they own their customers. But if I own you and all the value you create is mine – then it is slavery!”

“As a result of how the financial and political markets wrongly views entrepreneurship in a wider perspective, the engineers have built something that assimilates a gigantic Soviet, where everything is monopolistic, where you have one search engine, everybody is treated as part of the masses, treating us all alike etc.,” Johan paints the picture.

Lack of soul and passion

And the idea that everything should be for free on the Internet is a catastrophe to Johan.

"Put away that incentive to earn money in order make everything free – how will it then end? If I take my combined knowledge and experience and pack it as information and put it on the Internet and the info is for free – then information and knowledge is useless."

“If we live in societies with such realities – no wonder Europe and the U.S are falling apart like a house of cards!”

Then Johan highlights another fundamental problem; a system error with the banking world. And if anyone should have experience in this it is Johan himself.

“Practicality all companies are today owned by the pension funds, which are the workers’ savings. And the result is that companies are no longer owned by entrepreneurs, so there is no soul or passion behind it to grow larger and stronger and profitable, Instead short-term ideals run wild in the hands of greedy bankers. Meanwhile entrepreneurs, the real heroes in the society, find it very difficult to get any capital for their company start-ups, the only ones who can are companies associated with banks.”

Food for thought and a lot to digest.

What You Can Do Right Now!

1. Watch Johan's Talk at Qi 2011
2. Read Johan's Bio
3. Become a Qi Member
4. Attend the next Qi event
5. Book a Qi Speaker
6. Support Qi with time or money

Cathy calls for crowd funding for her DeforestAction project

Time to support Dr.Cathy Henkel's ground-breaking DeforestAction project! Please forward this information to anyone who may be in a position to donate to the project.

Posted By Wang Lin

The DeforestAction Project is an unprecedented multi-platform project which aims to start a wave of youth action across the globe to find solutions to the devastating reality confronting the forests of Borneo in Indonesia.

Cathy with her hairy friend in the forest

The core part of this project is to film the adventure of 15 young 'Eco-Warriors' who will spend 100 days in Borneo, saving orangutans and the forests. Cathy and her team have filmed the first 20 days and will return in March to film the next 80 days. The film will be released in early 2013.

Cathy has closed an exciting deal with a company in Singapore that will generate half the budget. She is also in advanced discussions with a number of leading brand sponsors, and has secured private investment. But she still needs to raise $1m out of the total budget. She is looking into crowd funding at http://www.thegreencrowd.com/projects/project-borneo-3d-film-rise-of-the-eco-warriors1/261. Donations are tax deductable through Documentary Australia Foundation.

More information about the project and a 5 minute teaser can be found at www.anactionmovie.com

Cathy's Contact Details

Email: cathyhenkel@virgoproductions.com.au

What You Can Do Right Now!

1. Watch Cathy's Talk at Qi 2011
2. Read Cathy Henkel's Bio
3. Become a Qi Member
4. Attend the next Qi event
5. Book a Qi Speaker
6. Support Qi with time or money

Great News From Heal the World

Qi's old friend John Roberts shared with us three greatest achievements of his organization Heal the World in the past 2011. Let's hear his great news!

Posted By Wang Lin

1. Open University of West Africa

Its latest project, the Open University of West Africa (OUWA) was launched in November. OUWA is a primarily online university focused on West Africa. They have had a great response to this project! Their vision for OUWA is to empower their students with the necessary tools to develop West Africa. It is a long-term investment, and one based on consensus, not dictating the rules of the game. They have expressed to freshman class that they want them to build OUWA together!

These are the kids who inspired Heal the World.

2. John Bikes to Africa

Heal the World, Inc. Founder John Roberts has thus far biked 800 miles on his journey "Bike to Africa". He is on a campaign to raise awareness for OUWA. They are seeking to create partnerships with existing universities, recruit current university students to mentor their students, and funds for their endowment. This journey is a statement about committment to this important work.

"I am biking to Africa to raise awareness for Heal the World, Inc.'s latest project: the Open University of West Africa (OUWA). We are looking for students to mentor our students, professors to curate OER's into courses, and those who can give, to do so."

John is on his bike journey.

3. Peace School

Its core school, "the Peace school 1.0" has continued strong in 2011. Their fall enrollment was over 400 kids! Kids at the Peace School are given lunch everyday, enjoy relatively small classroom sizes, and an environment built on purpose and love.

Inside Peace School

Kids in Peace School drew this picture. So artistic!

What You Can Do Right Now!

1. Watch John Roberts's Qi 2011 Talk
2. Read John Roberts's Bio
3. Become a Qi Member
4. Attend the next Qi event
5. Book a Qi Speaker
6. Support Qi with time or money

World Happy Day Singapore 2012

Last Saturday, 11 February, Qi and NESCAFÉ® Singapore presented a screening of HAPPY for the first ever World Happy Day to be celebrated globally.  Joining the thousands attending 600 worldwide screenings of the feature-length documentary, 160+ participants gathered at the School of Thought auditorium in hopes of learning how to lead healthier and happier lives.

HAPPY leads viewers on a journey across five continents in search of the keys to happiness. The film addresses many of the fundamental issues we face in today’s society: how do we balance the allure of money, fame and social status with our needs for strong relationships, health and personal fulfilment?

A message from the film’s producer, Eiji Han Shimizu, on the purpose and nature of the film was screened prior to the start of the film. Speaking at the event were Mr. Stephen Lew, Founder and Director from the School of Positive Psychology; Dr. Christie Napa Scollon, Associate Professor of Psychology at the Singapore Management University (SMU); and Mr. James Norris, Founder of Self Spark. This esteemed panel of speakers shared their insights on Positive Psychology, as well as practical steps and contributors to happiness.

NESCAFÉ® Singapore gave a special group of people a gift of happiness by donating $10,000 SGD to Operation Smile Singapore, an organisation that helps children in developing countries who are born with cleft lips and other facial deformities regain their smile through corrective surgery.

Qi was also awarded a generous donation by NESCAFÉ® Singapore to support its work to spread the positive message of this Happiness movement.

This inspiring evening ended on a high note as several audience members received fantastic raffle prizes, including a NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto coffeemaker, during the HAPPY Draw.  Additional prize sponsors included Georg Jensen, Levi’s, Fairmont Singapore, Sephora, echo @ Wheelock Place, Zhai, and Six Senses Laamu, Maldives.

To see photos of the World Happy Day Singapore 2012 happenings, please go to www.facebook.com/NescafeSingapore.

Aviva Great Wall of Education

Last November, Qi corporate member Aviva Asia Pacific inaugurated its third edition of the ‘Aviva Great Wall of Education’ in India, garnering over a million books donated by the children of over 500 schools from 10 of India’s largest cities to be distributed to underprivileged children in need.  “At Aviva, we recognize that Education is Insurance for a better future.” stated Mr. Gaurav Rajput, Director of Marketing, Aviva India. “In line with this thought, the ‘Aviva Great Wall of Education’ aims to improve the lives of thousands of underprivileged children by helping them into education.” This initiative is part of Aviva’s Street to School global programme established in 2009.  To read more about this project, please go to http://avivaindia.com/en/MediaCenter/PressRelease/NA_1_19-11-2011.aspx

What You Can Do Right Now!

1. Visit Aviva India website
2. Become a Qi Member
3. Attend the next Qi event
4. Book a Qi Speaker
5. Support Qi with time or money

The Rise of the Eco-Warriors

Here is it... The wonderful teaser that award-winning Film Director Dr. Cathy Henkel launched at Qi Global 2011. Watch is now!

About Qi: Qi is a Global Network of Innovators creating Human Progress in Harmony with Nature. For more information please go to www.qi-global.com

What You Can Do Right Now!

1. Watch Cathy's Talk at Qi 2011
2. Read Cathy Henkel's Bio
3. Become a Qi Member
4. Attend the next Qi event
5. Book a Qi Speaker
6. Support Qi with time or money

Singapore Chef Tries New Way to Save Rainforest

Rainforest Kitchen Project initiated by Qi is in The Wall Street Journal!

Contributed by Kaylene Hong, Wall Street Journal Southeast Asia

Singapore-based chef Andre Chiang is on a mission to save a rain forest and he’s planning to start by serving what an orangutan eats--wild ferns, orchid leaves and durian flowers, among other plants.

The Taiwan-born, French-trained chef’s concept is simple: Diners who tuck into his "Orangutan Salad," he hopes, will also think about saving the creature behind the dish’s name.

"If they (orangutans) don’t have a rain forest, they don’t have these ingredients, and they have nothing to eat," he said.

The "Orangutan Salad" will feature between five to eight plants--including wild ferns, wild tree mushrooms, wild figs, tree berries, orchid leaves and durian flowers--said the 35-year-old behind Restaurant Andre, one of San Pellegrino’s top 100 restaurants in the world this year.

The restaurant was voted onto the list within a year of its opening, and Mr. Chiang recommends that diners book a month in advance to secure a table.

Mr. Chiang is not only promoting a message through this new sustainable-produce project, named the Rainforest Kitchen. He also intends to source ingredients from Sintang, West Kalimantan on Borneo, by roping in villagers to help, hoping it will stop them from aiding wanton deforestation.

By giving villagers the chance to export ingredients such as dried wild mushrooms, edible plants and even honey, they would be able to generate revenue that gives them a lifeline to help keep the rain forest alive. That revenue may be small in comparison with the profits that can be made participating in forest-clearing, but every bit helps, he reasons, and at the very least it should help reinforce the idea that the forest is valuable.

"I use a lot of edible plants that you don’t really see, all the rare edible plants. For them it’s just five minutes’ walk into the jungle to pick (the plants), but they don’t see the value of it," Mr. Chiang said in an interview at his restaurant.

"They say this is everywhere, but for us it’s fantastic."

Mr. Chiang hopes that Restaurant Andre will help raise awareness about deforestation and spur people to take action.

"A lot of people say ‘Oh, Andre where do you get this fish, where do you get this salt?’ Sometimes my suppliers will go to other restaurants and say, ‘Oh you know what, Restaurant Andre uses this,’" he said.

"So it’s just a token for us to start out with something, (and) eventually there will be more people who are interested."

It’s not the first time Mr. Chiang has used a dish as a vehicle for an environmental message. When he first arrived in Singapore three years ago, he created a dish called "Forgotten Vegetables" at his previous restaurant, Jaan Par Andre.

The dish aimed to raise awareness about vegetables seldom used in cooking that also needed to be protected as part of the environment.

"Maybe in the next five to 10 years, you will not see these vegetables anymore because people are no longer using them, or people forget about them. For example ancient cauliflower, purple cauliflower, black tomato, yellow carrot, a lot of little vegetables," he said.

"Forgotten Vegetables" was just the start. The Rainforest Kitchen will be Mr. Chiang’s long-term sustainable produce project.

Still, will those willing to wait a month and fork out as much as $200 to dine at Restaurant Andre be willing to pay premium prices for jungle plants?

Mr. Chiang doesn’t doubt it.

"It’s from the wild rainforest, how many cities or how many restaurants in the world would be able to use wild jungle edible plants? That is so, so rare," he said.

"People catch the intention of what you’re trying to do, and they understand. I think it will come slowly. We have to plant the first seed and see how it grows," he added.

The Rainforest Kitchen project will only kick off after March, when Mr. Chiang makes another visit to Sintang.

Find out how it started at http://www.qi-global.com/blog/2011/9/22/rainforest-kitchen-on-the-way.html

What You Can Do Right Now!

1. Read Andre Chiang's Bio
2. Watch Andre Chiang's Qi 2011 Talk
3. Become a Qi Member
4. Attend the next Qi event
5. Book a Qi Speaker
6. Support Qi with time or money

Spreading Seeds of Happiness to the World

The secret to being happy is to help make other people happy. Geshe Michael Roach shares with Qi his thoughts on achieving real success in both personal life and business.

By Wang Lin

Qi: You play so many roles: teacher, author, businessman and textual scholar. Which role would you associate yourself with most and why?

Geshe Michael: My teachers for 25 years in the Tibetan monastery used to tell me that I should try to learn as many different roles as I could, because each role allows me to reach more people and to help them. Playing so many roles is most difficult, when I need to pay extra fees for my check-in baggage on flights, since I have to bring many sets of clothes: businessman, monk, yoga teacher, musician, and so on. So for me, your question is very good and insightful.

The one role I associate myself most with is as a student of my own Heart Teacher. In the Tibetan tradition, we believe that it is very important to have one person in the world who you treasure above all of your teachers: someone who really brings you the best things in your life. So when I think of who I am most, it is as a student still, even after over 40 years of training. And my favorite occupation is to take care of my Heart Teacher, whether it is by cooking, gardening, or running simple errands for him.

Qi: What is one memorable little story in teaching Diamond Cutter Principles around the world?

Geshe Michael: I spend a lot of time travelling the world and explaining the Diamond Cutter Principles to people--principles that I used to help found Andin International, which has reached US$250 million in annual sales and was recently sold to super investor Warren Buffett. My funds went to help refugees and poor people around the world.

"What makes me most happy is to see other people happy, and to help make them happy. I think this is true for all of us, whether we are aware of it or not. We are most happy when we have been able to make someone else happy."

Buddhist monks spend many years trying to reach a special state of meditation called bodhichitta, a kind of love and concern for the whole world, and a vision of what the world can become if we all try. I had never really seen how the principles could trigger this kind of compassion in people until one day I gave a talk to a large group of local factory owners in Guangzhou, China.

That day, we had talked a lot about how the seeds to be successful in business are planted by helping other business people to succeed in their own business. I felt that we reached a point where everybody understood this idea and was ready to try it.

And then I asked, very simply: "What do you all think would happen in the world, if everybody really believed that the only way to make money was to help other people make money?"

Suddenly the entire room was completely quiet, and I could see all these tough, hard businesspeople closing their eyes and imagining how the world would be...I could almost see them imagining all the people in the world who have money handing it to all the people in the world who need money, and the great wealth that would come back to every giver.

One of them raised his hand and said quietly, "Well....that would be a perfect world, a world of perfect harmony between all people."

At that very moment, I felt a wave of strong emotion, love and inspiration wiping through the whole room. It was bodhichitta, real ultimate love for every other living being. I have found that business people are often more hardworking and intelligent than many monks in a monastery, and I felt that at that moment they had understood real love in a way that few monks ever do. That was one of the most special moments in my life.

Qi: What makes you most happy?

Geshe Michael: What makes me most happy is to see other people happy, and to help make them happy. I think this is true of all of us, whether we really are aware of it or not. We are most happy when we have been able to make someone else happy. If we really understand the ancient Diamond Cutter Principles, then we really have something to offer to others that will make them extremely happy and successful.

Qi: What projects are you working on now?

Geshe Michael: I am working on about 200 projects and organizations with a lot of really talented and beautiful people. Here are three of my favorite ones at this moment:

1) A project to build an investment fund with the goal of providing one million free solar panels to poor people on each side of the Mexican-American border in the next six years with the help of Asian friends, and teaching Mexican young people Chinese language to help them continue solar business in Asia.

2) A book about how to apply the principles in my bestselling business book, The Diamond Cutter, to find and keep a successful relationship with that special person in your life (Doubleday/Random House Publishers in New York have already agreed to publish this, so have Oaktree Publishers, for the Chinese language version, for all Chinese speakers in Asia). This book will be called The Karma of Love. Watch for it!

3) An upcoming program for the scientific community at Princeton University where we will discuss how the ancient wisdom of Asia can be applied to solve the most famous problems of modern science, such as Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, one of the cornerstones of quantum mechanics. That is, if we really understand how the world is coming from seeds in our own mind, and that these seeds come from how well we take care of others, then we can actually solve some of the most difficult scientific questions about the nature of the universe around us.

"I plan to spend exactly half of the year in 2012 working on the world outside. I want to go to as many places as I can, helping people achieve their own financial success, perfect relationship, good personal health and working towards a world without pollution, war, or hunger."

Qi: What is your plan for next year?

Geshe Michael: I plan to spend exactly half of the year in 2012 working on the world outside. We have received invitations to teach Diamond Cutter Principles in over 50 cities around the world. I want to go to as many places as I can, helping people achieve their own financial success, perfect relationship, good personal health and working towards a world without pollution, war, or hunger. And then in my inner world, I plan to spend exactly half of the year with my Teacher, learning more about how to become a better person: more joyful, more calm and more focused. So I could be better equipped inside to help people outside.

Spreading seeds of happiness to the world

About Geshe Michael Roach
Born December 17, 1952, Michael is the first American who has been awarded the degree of Geshe, or Master of Buddhism, after more than 20 years of study in Tibetan monasteries. He has used this training to become a prominent international teacher, businessman, philanthropist, author, educator, public speaker, textual scholar, and musician. Geshe Michael graduated with honors from Princeton University and has received the Presidential Scholar Medal from the President of the United States at the White House.

In 1981 he helped found Andin International Diamond Corporation and bring it to annual sales of over $100 million, donating his profits to international aid projects. His book about achieving business and personal success through generosity, The Diamond Cutter, has become a global bestseller in 20 languages. He is the founder of the Asian Classics Institute, Diamond Mountain University, the Asian Classics Input Project, Worldview, the Yoga Studies Institute, Star in the East, Global Family Refugee Aid, Three Jewels Community Outreach Centers, and the Diamond Cutter Institute. Find out more at http://geshemichaelroach.com

About Qi GLOBAL
Qi is a global network of innovators. We provide members a platform for cross-industry networking and collaboration. Innovation happens with the cross-pollination of knowledge from a range of industries. Based on this principle, Qi works to bring together corporate, community and creative sectors to generate new ideas for sustainable development in the following areas: Architecture & Urban Planning; Conservation & Wildlife; Energy & Technology; Fashion, Art & Design; Food, Health & Leisure; Leadership & Innovation; Impact Investment; Policy & Nation Development; Women’s Empowerment; and Youth Ambition & Education.

Every October, Qi hosts an annual meeting in Singapore, gathering business and community leaders from around the world. Contributors demonstrate how social innovation can impact and change lives and communities in Asia. Qi Global Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore-based social enterprise founded in 2009 whose vision is to create human progress in harmony with nature. Find out more at www.qi-global.com/conference

What You Can Do Right Now!

1. Read Geshe Michael Roach's Bio
2. Watch Michael Roach's Qi 2011 Talk
3. Become a Qi Member
4. Attend the next Qi event
5. Book a Qi Speaker
6. Support Qi with time or money