Talk title: STEM for a Competitive Myanmar Workforce​

Aung Naing Oo is the Co-­Founder and Director at Myanmar STEM Education Association (MSEA), a social enterprise which works with schools, universities, and educators, to provide excellent and affordable Science and Technology lessons to Myanmar public schools. This is being done with the aim of helping learners develop creative, critical thinking and hands-­on skills. 
He also works as a Director at Engineering For Kids Myanmar, a well-­known STEM school in Myanmar. Aung loves to inspire kids and, at the same time, loves to learn from kids. He is a firm believer that Myanmar kids have the potential to excel in Science and Technology, and via Innovation, contributing to national development and economic growth when they grow up.

Talk title: #MeToo Myanmar: Men of Quality for Women Equality

Aye Thiri Kyaw actively contributes to public debates on sexual violence, domestic violence and abuse in Myanmar. Her publications have appeared in Gender & Society, New Mandela, Tea Circle Oxford and The Irrawaddy.  Aye Thiri’s research focuses on violence against women. 
She began her research career in 2012, when she examined experiences of domestic violence among the Myanmar migrant community along the Thailand-Myanmar border. She worked as a researcher with the Gender Equality Network (GEN) in Myanmar. Aye Thiri’s own experiences of gender discrimination drive her passion to promote women’s rights in Myanmar. Rejected from the Medical University of Myanmar based on her gender (as many women were), Aye Thiri completed her education at the University of Pharmacy.

Talk title: Fostering National Spirit

Born and raised in small Myanmar town Mogok, Elearzar strives to be a man of justice, peace, freedom, and love. Inspired by life experiences, he decided to be a Christian counsellor to support and lift the spirits of those in need. 
He also works as a project manager and teaches part-time at the Myanmar Institute of Theology. He strives to contribute to Myanmar’s nation building process and hopes that a peaceful, safe and developed country will be left to the next generation.

Talk title: One Country, Two Systems: Myanmar’s Financial Market​

Hal moved with his family to Yangon in the fall of 2012 from Hong Kong. He spent the previous ten years with the World Bank Group mobilizing investment into frontier markets in Africa, the Middle East and Asia while living in Mauritius, Indonesia, Washington D.C. and Spain.
A Canadian, Hal is Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of Yoma Bank as well as a co-founder of Wave Money, Myanmar’s largest mobile money business. He believes that financial technology (FinTech) will have a huge development impact in Myanmar.

Talk title: We Need to Talk About Menstruation

Hailing from France, Henriette moved to Myanmar two years ago. While living in Myanmar and travelling around the country, she realized the vast majority of Myanmar’s 15 million women of reproductive age lack basic knowledge and safe equipment to manage their menstruation, and that the local socio-cultural norms around menstruation are harmful to their mental health and self-esteem. She founded social enterprise Pan Ka Lay in 2018, with the aim of equipping girls and women with education, products and positive values around menstruation.

Talk title: Preparing Today’s Youth for Tomorrow’s Future

Dr. Kyaw Moe Tun founded Parami Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences as the first step of his journey to establish a not-for-profit liberal arts and sciences university in Myanmar.
Educated at Bard College at Simon’s Rock (USA), Oxford University (UK) and Yale University (USA), Dr. Kyaw Moe Tun believes that education at all levels is a universal right, rather than a privilege. He is committed to create and share high quality education opportunities available and accessible to Myanmar youth. This commitment forms the basis of his journey towards rebuilding Myanmar through a transformative education.

Talk title: How to Train a Little Dragon

The Little Dragons is a charity organisation based in North Dagon that works with young children to encourage them to participate in sporting activities. The four focuses are to empower young people, promote gender equality, educate and prepare young adults for the world of work. The organisation was co-founded in 2015 by Aung Kyaw Linn, who is now one of the lead coaches, local teacher and university student. He is a strong advocate for education and specifically strives to improve the standard of the beautiful game of rugby in his local township. Joshua Peck and Brad Edwards, international teachers at BSY and Network School, share Aung Kyaw Linn’s passion and value the importance of this vision. They are currently working alongside AKL to help coach and implement the core values of the Little Dragons.

Talk title: In the Name of Motherhood

Nang Ei Ei Mon is the Founder and CEO of ‘How She Did It’, Career Development Platform specializing in building women talent pipeline to power Myanmar. Her platform focuses on upskilling women in career break and career changes, and transitioning them into workforce as highly competent professionals.
Her past experience in Domestic Violence counselling and research inspire her to write about the twist and turns of women’s journey in balancing motherhood and ambition. As a life coach, Nang is passionate about helping individuals realizing their potential and expanding their mind into possibility thinking.
When she’s not working, you can find her exploring the town with her toddler daughter.

Talk title: Big Data for Small Farmers Across Rural Myanmar

Phyu Hninn Nyein currently leads the Yetagon Farm Advisory Business Unit at Proximity Designs, a social enterprise working to improve the income and resilience of rural smallholder farmers in Myanmar. Hninn's business unit provides these smallholders with advisory and diagnostics services that promote best-fit and climate-smart farming knowledge through diverse set of channels from technique dissemination at grassroot levels to digital platforms. Over the last 3 years, Hninn's business unit has provided advisory services to over 150,000 farmers in rural Myanmar. Hninn recently received the “Women of the Future – South East Asia Award” in the public service category for her work with smallholder farmers in Myanmar.

Talk title: Why Should Fashion Industry in Myanmar Become More Ethical?

Pyone is the founder of Virya Myanmar, an ethical clothing brand based in Yangon. Her passion for ethical fashion originated from her personal experience at very young age when she witnessed exploitation in the industry. Since then she has been determined that she would one day establish a socially minded clothing brand, which is now called Virya, a social business committed to empowering young women from underprivileged backgrounds. Prior to being an entrepreneur, Pyone spent more than 10 years in development field as a Governance Adviser at UKAid in Yangon and a number of other professional positions in the development field. She studied in Canada as a Jeanne Sauve Scholar and in the United Kingdom as a Chevening Scholar.

Talk title: I Have a Dream:  Myanmar People will be Tall One Day!

Singpi worked as a medical officer with an INGO named Mother, Newborn and Child Health & Food and Nutrition Security (MNCH & FNS) in Eastern Shan State. Having witnessed the nutritional status of the communities in the region, Singpi's passion to promote nutrition security intensified and he has since been serving as an active advocate for nutrition. 
He is currently reading his post graduate diploma course in Political Science at the University of Yangon and looks forward to participating in public policy-related engagements specifically on healthcare and nutrition in the future. He thirsts for social innovations, and is a big fan of TED talks.  He loves to read and write articles on health, social issues.  He is a big believer in the positive side of Myanmar’s future and is preparing to be part of that change.

Talk title: Youth Group: Our Dreams for Tomorrow

Tharaphi is a final-year medical student, with the experience of leading projects for education, health care and other related sustainable development goals. She also plays initiative roles in youth empowerment programs many times. She has been selected and or invited to the international forums and conferences to present youth voice and youth influence including gender equality and migrant workers’ rights. With her knowledge and passion, she works at an education startup as science subject consultant. During her holidays, she travels and views the nature at its best.

Talk title: Youth Group: Our Dreams for Tomorrow

Nicole is a youth empowerment activist with a focus on training, content creation and blog writing about youth employment. A runner-up at the Mekong Business Model Challenge sponsored by McKinsey & Co. and Google in 2015, Nicole is currently working as a partnership development officer at Centre of Excellence for Business Skills Development (CEBSD), a partnership initiative between UNESCO, Ministry of Education and PepsiCo.
In her role, she implements skill development programmes and workshops to increase the capacity of Myanmar youth and to create employment and workplace learning opportunities for them.