The Programme

The Fireside Chat featuring Yen-Lu Chow moderated by Dawn Fung will be an intimate and inspiring conversation focusing on Yen-Lu’s journey as an award-winning entrepreneur, technologist, venture catalyst, mentor & advisor turned mental wellbeing champion, social innovator and ecosystem builder, philanthropist and humanist. With a rich and storied background as a former Apple Distinguished Technologist and serial entrepreneur that also includes founding the family charity Over-The-Rainbow together with wife Yee Ling and several nonprofits in the social space, Yen-Lu will shed light on the importance of youth mental wellness and the critical roles that parents play in their children’s mental health journey – in the process helping to connect the dots on parenting: past, present and future.

In his words, “as parents and as a society, we find ourselves living in such a complex and volatile world – social media, rising cost of living, climate anxiety, polarized geo-political situations, the pervasiveness of technology and the rapid encroachment of AI in every facet of our lives. That raising a child is becoming an increasingly more challenging task is a gross understatement. With the rising rate of youth mental health issues and youth suicides, more and more parents are at a loss of what they need to do as their children grow into teenagers and young adults… 

Parents can play an important role in setting their children on the right path, but they need to be mindful about how they go about trying to do so. Most parents want to give their children the best. So, some children end up with too much that is simply handed to them and too little of what is vital in their development: role models, culture and values that help to define a person.

He believes deeply that every young person has a voice that needs to be heard – an innate gift, a deeply held aspiration needing to be nurtured, waiting to find creative fulfilment. And when we nurture the seeds of these innate gifts with attention, acceptance, and love, by providing the right environment and giving them purpose, these seeds sprout and grow, ready to express their gifts of truth, beauty, joy, creativity, love and light in the world. The tiny acorns will grow and blossom to become giant oaks.

The fireside chat will explore these themes and more – his current initiatives and vision for community mental health and wellbeing – and his continuing life mission to plant more seeds of happiness, healing, transformation and wellbeing in the world.