To kick off the Community Forum, we have four keynote speakers who will share ideas that invigorate and excite them, followed by a panel discussion and dialogue with participants.

Unsu Lee likes to describe himself as a mental journeyman, a generalist who enjoys reading and thinking as broadly as possible. In his 20s, he directed a documentary on Burning Man, the temporary city in the middle of Black Rock Desert, Nevada. Since then, he has gone back 8 times. Many of his ideas on community and self-organisation are inspired by the week-long festival. In Session 9, he will be joining Adithya Raghunathan to share how Metamodernism, a new philosophical-political movement, has created practical change in their lives as activists and thinkers. In Session 10, he will join Jim See, Justin and Shamil in a talk shop about organising Singapore’s first Failure Festival. Here in the opening keynote, he will talk to us about The Simplicity on the Other Side of Complexity, inspired by the following quote: "I would not give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity." - Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Santosh Kumar is passionate about helping society to listen to and surface the voices of the people at scale. At OPPi, his mission revolves around people who are unseen, voices that are unheard and feelings that are unfelt. With the power of AI, he gauges the pulse of the people and channels their voices to where they need to be heard. At 4 other sessions of the Community Forum (Sessions 11, 15, 18 and 19), he will share how civic tech initiatives around the world have enhanced civic discourse and engagement; and their applications in Singapore. Here in the opening keynote, he will give us a preview of how Civic Tech can reinvent Democracy.

Jennifer Lewis continues to marvel at where life leads her as she surrenders to the discipline of not celebrating a ‘decade’ birthday at the same work place. Here she will share why she believes in learning about learning. She loves the annual mother-daughter trips when her daughter turns teacher as they share meals, concerts and silence.

Grace Ann Chua cares about restoring interdependence and gets tired sometimes. She believes that everyone has something to give and receive from another, and that we're all better together. She'll share some stories about how we might live complementary and not in competition to one another, and about her hypothesis that community building is just about improving communication. She's also the co-conspirator for Sessions 3, 13, 16, & 20 of the forum. Come hangout!

The Panel Discussion with the speakers will be moderated by Justin Lee. He cannot wait to hear more from them, but promises to facilitate a dialogue between the speakers and participants.