Curious Creative Advocate
Claudine Fernandez is the exited founder of Artistic Strategies Academy (ASA), an educational organization that nurtured young writers in Singapore through the arts. She also coaches and conducts professional development workshops for teachers and parents to enhance children's and teenagers' creative capacities, critical thinking skills and mental wellness. Under her tutelage, her students have won more than 10 awards for local and international competitions, including the Royal Commonwealth Essay Competition. She is the author of the children’s activity books, Every Child’s Guide to Write Away! (Volumes 1-3), The Ultimate Writing Guide and I Am More Than Enough: A confidence-building journal for tween and teen girls. She has been teaching English and Literature for more than 14 years and holds a Master’s degree in Arts in Education from the Harvard University. Claudine has also lectured in various universities like the SUTD, NTU and SMU in Singapore.
Geopolitics Junkie
As a scholar and researcher, I am fascinated by the fundamental questions of how and why states and societies pursue power. Throughout my career, I have sought to answer these questions in relation to, first, how great powers compete and shape the international politics in the Asia-Pacific, and second, how Muslim societies in Southeast Asia mobilise and use religion in their pursuit of political power. This exciting, lifelong intellectual journey has led to 18 books thus far that I have either authored, co-authored or edited. As a public intellectual, I have had numerous opportunities to share my thoughts with international media and at various international fora. My work is also “translatable” and “policy relevant” through speaking engagements ranging from C-Suite boardrooms to the U.S. Congress.
Provocateur and Firestarter
Peachy capped 25-years in marketing communications as Ogilvy & Mather Philippines' Chief Executive. Though the years, she assumed regional and global creative director roles, then shifted gears and became Chief Strategist, driving cross-discipline integration. As Managing Director, she oversaw the digital transformation of the Advertising discipline.
She stood as Senior Industry Fellow at the De La Salle University College of St. Benilde and Professorial Lecturer at the University of the Philippines. Hyper Island called and she became its Master’s Programme Director.
She still consults for the Philippine government, private corporations and speaks about Human Centered Design, Transmedia Storytelling and the Ethics of Customer Experience. As Managing Director of Hyper Island APAC, she drives their mission of building people for the unknown.
Sceptical Optimist
At a pivotal moment when technological possibility is both awe-inspiring and ethically challenging, Veronica explores bio-digital imaginaries and future worlds. As an artist, designer, researcher, and educator, she works transversally across design, science, society, and ecology to challenge conventional ways of seeing and knowing. She founded the Polyphonic Futures Lab, a design-science ideas laboratory at NTU, to materialise ambiguities, challenges, and possibilities central to imagining collective futures. Embracing experimental approaches with diverse media, including ancient craft, film, objects, and installations, she operates at the cutting edge of emerging biotechnologies, frequently collaborates with scientists and top institutions like Cambridge and Tufts University, to spark curiosity and amplify diverse voices. Her internationally exhibited work creates powerful, thought-provoking experiences, encouraging reflection on today’s decisions that influence tomorrow's futures.