SEAGULL 2015
SEAGULL is an exclusive, fully-sponsored leadership development programme hosted by the Institute for Societal Leadership at the Singapore Management University
22 handpicked change makers, 11 Southeast Asian Countries, 3 cross-country immersions, 1 life changing experience.
SEAGULL aims to develop your capacity to be a societal leader by providing you with high-level analytical skills, exclusive opportunities to be mentored by some of Southeast Asia’s most prominent personalities and a chance to exercise those insights meaningfully with actionable projects for important causes.
Southeast Asia needs a new generation who understands that leadership is not confined to political office or the highest echelons of the business world, but thrives in the hearts and minds of the purposeful. SEAGULL will convene the next generation of societal leaders for the most populous and promising region in the world. You will be part of the first cohort of the SEAGULL network.
Participants
If you’re a local undergraduate in your university with a heart to see society deeply shaped and changed for the good of people, and if you’re an outgoing person who enjoys interacting with peers from other cultures, SEAGULL is for you. The following are requirements you'll need to meet at participants of SEAGULL.
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Be a citizen of a country in Southeast Asia
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Be a currently enrolled in a local university an undergraduate student.
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SEAGULL 2015 consists of three immersions in different countries. As the costs of each immersion are fully sponsored by Singapore Management University, participants are required to fully commit to attending all three immersions.
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As SEAGULL will be conducted in English, it is a requirement that all participants be proficient in written and spoken English.
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Demonstrated leadership ability is a primary factor taken into consideration when selecting SEAGULLs, they should also score well on a variety of indicators such as their application essays, and interviews, and referral letters which note their leadership track-record.
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The ideal participant should possess demonstrated leadership potential, intellectual curiosity, an openness to other cultures, a passion for self-improvement and, most importantly, for service to the community.
Programme Offerings
The primary objectives of the SEAGULL 2015 can be categorised into four major buckets: Insights, Skills, Contributions and Networks.
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Insights
Participants should complete the programme with new insights around social change for their communities and Southeast Asia. The camp will expose participants to present-day regional geostrategic and sociopolitical issues of significance, coupled with an essential understanding of the history of the region. Its programmes will broaden participants’ perspectives regarding the present and future challenges their generation faces as well as yet-untapped possibilities for solutions. By the end of SEAGULL, participants should have an enhanced understanding of the complex challenges facing the region and societal leadership’s role in addressing these macro issues.
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Skills
Participants will Receive in-depth training in Design-Thinking and rapid prototyping that will help them become more effective in the way they solve problems for the future. Over the course of the three immersions, participants will be developed into holistic thinkers who're able to spot opportunities for improvement in the environment around them and to identify rigorous solutions..
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Contributions
Equipping SEAGULLs with vital conceptual skills and developing the related leadership attributes is an integral part of the program. Participants will be exposed to strategic planning around problems, and be taught how to systematically diagnose and create solutions to issues close to their hearts that they want to make better. During the course of the three immersions, participants will have the opportunity to work closely with an Social Impact Organization of their choice and help craft an enduring and robust solution to it'
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Networks
The three immersions of regular contact with each other is also designed to foster close bonds between participants and create an authentic community among them. In addition to creating regional bonds which could feed into cross-border collaboration in the future, the SEAGULL network is intended to give each participant a cohort of like-minded and capable peers to emulate and mutually support.
Programme Outline
Creating the most impactful programme possible involves thinking out of the box and sparing no expense to get the right results. SEAGULL is the first multi-immersion experience of its kind that focuses exclusively on the development of Societal Leaders for the future of Southeast Asia.
SEAGULL is envisioned to be a 9 month long programme consisting of three immersions throughout the programme period. The first immersion will be held in Singapore, in January 2015, and the second will be in Manila in July 2015. The third immersion will be in September 2015.
The first immersion to be held in Singapore will focus on building the leadership capacity of the participnts and exposing them to the various socio-economic and geostrategic challenges that face the Southeast Asian region in the coming years.
Following this, participants will work closely with selected Social Impact Organizations on pressing challenges they face. Applying design thinking and rapid prototyping methodologies to these problems, participants will collaborate to derive robust and sustainable solutions which will take these Social Impact Organizations into the future.
The third immersion happens after a period of solution refinement and participants will once again return to present their solutions to a panel, and compete to win prizemoney which will be donated by Singapore Management University toward the implementation of their solution.
Trainers
For SEAGULL 2015 to take high potential undergraduates to the next level of their capabilities, Singapore Management University is providing the highest calibre of trainers around. With our expert trainers who are expert leadership development, policy implementation and strategic thinking, SEAGULLs can expect nothing less than the best that experience has to offer.
Martin Tan
Executive Director - Institute For Societal Leadership
Martin Tan is the Executive Director of ISL. He is the Co-Founder and former Executive Director of Halogen Foundation Singapore, an Institute of Public Character that is committed to youth leadership development in Singapore and the region which Martin founded in 2003. As a leadership development practitioner and motivational speaker, Martin has conducted programs in Afghanistan, Australia, Bhutan, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and the USA. He is also a Master Facilitator for The Leadership Challenge and The Student Leadership and certified facilitator of the Birkman Method. Martin was conferred the Singapore Youth Award in 2013.
Lim Lai Cheng
Academic Director, Institute For Societal Leadership
Dr Lim Lai Cheng currently serves a dual appointment as Academic Director of ISL and as a faculty member of the School of Social Sciences at Singapore Management University. She was formerly Principal of Raffles Institution. She has extensive experience in the Singapore Education System, having played key roles in curriculum development and led corporate planning teams at the Ministry of Education. Lai Cheng is a Director of the Principals’ Academy, Inc. (Singapore) and advisor to foundations in countries such as South Africa and Slovakia, which are working on improving their education systems. She holds a BA and MA from Cambridge University and PhD from University of London and NIE Singapore.
Tony Lai
Chief Strategist, Institute for Societal Leadership
Tony Lai currently spends a significant amount of time as the Chief Strategist of ISL. He is also the owner and partner of The Idea Factory – an innovation strategy company that moved its global operations from San Francisco to Singapore in 2002 to focus on Asia. Tony’s experience in both strategy and business has seen him hold positions in the past such as the Chief Operating Officer with APM Pte Ltd (a property management subsidiary of the ARA Group) from 2013-2014, Managing Director of Experiences at Mediacorp Pte Ltd in 2013, Assistant Chief Executive with the Singapore Tourism Board from 2009-2012 and CEO of The Idea Factory from 2001-2009.
