Yan Liu

Co-Founder at School of Gumption

My experience and deep interests:

• Education (Adults)

• International Development

I am based in: Singapore

I was referred to THNK byEduard Burer.

I have been an entrepreneur for the last decade, mainly focused in the area of co- working, social innovation and creative leadership. My entrepreneurial journey began with my strong belief that co-creation is the most exciting and effective way to solve the most complex problems in the world.

FIRST COWORKING IN CHINA:

In 2008, I returned to China from living 8 years in Europe and co-founded the first co-working space in the country – XINDANWEI listed as FastCompany’s “The World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in China” in 2013.

FROM COWORKING TO CO-LEARNING AND CO-CREATION for Social Impact:

In 2013, I shifted my focus from operating co-working spaces to setting up two new companies that focused on the cultivation and facilitation of learning, co-creation and accelerating the development of great people and great projects: ASK LAB, an innovation crowd-sourcing agency and LOVING THE CROWD, a crowd-funding consultancy firm. In September 2014, I cofounded and curated The China Australian Millennium Project (C.A.M.P), a unique 100-day part-time incubator program including (12-week online plus the 5-day Summit in Sydney), designed to train, mentor and empower emerging young Australian and Chinese leaders and entrepreneurs. It began with on-line collaboration followed by workshops in Sydney where teams tackled the 20 most important societal challenges.

This year, I co-founded School of Gumption with BoP hub in Singapore to build skills, learning experience and networks needed for purpose-driven entrepreneurs or intrapreneur to become a better leader of positive impact.