Off to a new adventure!

After 4.5 years, I'm moving on from my roles in #SmartNation and #EDB. "What do you do exactly?" is a question I often get, given how non-traditional these roles have been. As I sat down to reflect, here are a few highlights.?

• Founded the Singapore Tech Forum in the Bay Area which grew from 700 --> 1300 --> 7000 registrants over three years - proud of our platform, which has been the first time #Singapore and #Southeast Asia tech have been systematically represented in the Bay Area tech scene.?

• Built a new talent attraction?paradigm for the Singapore Government, based on community participation over hard-selling. More than 700 super talented developers and product managers signed up to volunteer with us during Covid; for the online Singapore Tech Forum in 2020, 3500 of the 7000 registrants were actively participating on our Virtual Lounge (on Slack!) even before the event began. Community and content interplayed beautifully; we built women-in-tech groups and massively boosted women's participation in our events by simply providing childrens' rooms;?

• Starting from zero, built a 200-strong pipeline of global tech talent to build #techforpublicgood in Govtech through direct recruitment, mentorship, fellowships, volunteering (new programs designed based on thousands of conversations with global tech talent and top tech employers)?

• Met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the Istana to share about Singapore's tech talent situation and my?recommendations. Moderated a candid 1-1 with him later that year on Singapore's tech future.?

• Worked with colleagues in #Govtech and #SmartNation on new policies, programs and service journeys to improve the experience of tech talent in Government; worked with #EDB to design and implement a new TechPass to enhance Singapore's attractiveness to global tech talent.

• Built a #SEA network in the Bay Area, including tech leads and investors from Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines >> more to come from us!?

• Strengthened the international employer brand of Singapore's Smart Nation drive through speaking?engagements at CES, SXSW, AI Expo, Womens' Forum, HRFestAsia. Public speaking was something I accidentally fell into, but turned out to be helpful?as part of an inbound strategy at the start.?

• Built two new teams from scratch with fifteen amazing people across SF, NY, London and Singapore. Learned to lead remote teams before Covid hit (which proved to be helpful)

The external highlights tend to mask the most meaningful parts of the experience, which for me tend to revolve around the people I got to work with:

• The quiet conversations helping teammates with personal and professional challenges, especially when Covid first hit.?
• Witnessing team members gain new confidence and energy as they saw the impact of small changes, let alone the big bold things we did together?
• Advocating for those who go unseen because their work takes place behind the scenes - especially relevant because most of my team members were in global markets?
• Building mission-oriented teams who would go above and beyond for the vision and for each other. Having people from different agency and teams come together to work across boundaries (@gim lay @victor @stanley @xuan hong @kelvin zin @Jennifer tang @Michelle loh @Brandon @qian hui) Expanding the pie, not fighting over it - that's something I live by!?
• Meeting thousands of inspirational tech leaders, developers and product managers, who challenged my assumptions, gave me new understanding on the future of talent and work, and inspired me to push hard for change.?

Significantly, these 4.5 years showed me I was more resilient than I thought, and that strength and vulnerability aren't mutually exclusive. Social media tends to gloss over the lows,?but here are a few.?

I was the lone part-time?hire for the first 18 months of my role in the U.S. In a new market which was cold to my mission back in 2017, I did everything from event planning to budget, strategy, policy, operations and clean up.?Most talent I reached out to never called me back. Having a sixteen-hour time difference with HQ made ample room for miscommunication and misunderstanding. I had never felt more alone in my career and life (new country, new job, two young children). And a few years later, after getting two jobs and two amazing teams, I burned out during the height of the Covid pandemic's winter wave (all better now after some time off).

As many of us know, kindness can be scarce when you are a leader and the expectation is on you to figure it out. BUT the little kindnesses of mentors, peers, team mates and the hundreds of tech talent pulled me through each moment I felt like quitting. A few people can make a huge difference, like Elliot Katz, my first friend in the Bay Area who made fifty connections in the tech community within the first week (still a record), Sandhya Devanathan from Facebook, who offered to host the first Singapore Tech Forum with 6-weeks notice, Jacqueline Poh, who even after we stopped working together would call and say "I'm calling about YOU. How are YOU?".

I am a strong believer that the darker parts of our experiences - the places we feel most discouraged and alone, become the channels for empathy, connection and leadership. This job has given me plenty of those, along with plenty of positive impact and moments of joy - the best kind of job, no? :)

There are so many people I want to thank specifically @Chee Khern, @Kok Yam, @Swan Gin, @Kai Fong, @Cheow Hoe, @Ping Soon, @Patrick Yee, @Jeffrey Siow, @Jacqueline Poh, @Jasmin Lau, @DN Prasad @Evangeline Chua. Please continue to support the amazing folks at #SmartNation #EDB #Govtech. @Sarah Thiam @Jiayi Tay @Hilary @Jean Tan @Samantha Wee @David Ho @Jennifer Tang @Ethan Cher @Karen Leo @Brenda Tan @Qian Hui Chia @Bao Hui Tan!! I'm off to a new phase, but these people, and this past season, will always mean so much to me. My thank-yous here.

I'm taking a break before deciding on the #nextplay.

I'll continue to advise and support start-ups as I've been doing in the past few years - always happy to support tech founders in talent, employer brand and value prop, GTM strategy and operations, global partnerships, etc.

Culture and talent strategy continue to fascinate me, especially in situations of (i) rapid growth (ii) multiple cultures within a company (e.g. different generations of talent, tech talent vs non-tech talent). The questions percolating in my mind are:

How do people and organizations change? If change and acceptance aren't mutually exclusive, how do they relate? I used to have a more rose-tinted view of change, but the past few years have taught me the path to change is much more complicated.

What are the bounds for diversity, inclusion and belonging in the workplace? If you peel beneath the surface, this might be one of the most emotionally divisive issues of our time across generations and political leaning. We can't afford inaction yet every action seems highly charged and insufficient.

I'm in the midst of a #changemanagement and Leading for Equity and Inclusion Certificate with Northwestern University this year, as a way to clarify my thoughts and learn from experts.

Let's keep in touch and I'll update as things unfold :)