What is leadership to you? When it comes to determining an individual’s ability to lead, does gender matter? How can you become a future leader?

Last Thursday night (November 28), beijingkids got answers to all those questions from the graduation ceremony of 2019 Venture Education’s Future Female Leaders (FFL) at the British Ambassador’s Residence.

This year, there were 30 participants in total. Among this group of 13 to 17-year olds, ten different schools in Beijing were represented, such as Harrow Beijing, Dulwich College Beijing, Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing), and No. 171 Public High School. The participants also represented a diverse range of perspectives, with eight nationalities from five continents featured.

READ MORE: 8-Week Mentorship Program Helps Beijing Teen Girls Become Future Female Leaders

An Overview of the Event

The night kicked off with with an informative and interactive keynote speech by Danae Dholakia of the British Embassy Beijing, Candice Zhao of Educating Girls of Rural China, Danielle Byrnes of Harrow Beijing, and Charlotte Smith of Venture Education.

Ms. Dholakia shared her personal story of African adventure and being “naughty” and creative in the face of adversity. She laid out key strategies and reminders for living, working, and thriving authentically in the face of any challenge or setback.

As for “what is leadership?”, Ms. Zhao explained it with a saying from the famous Chinese book the Art of War, “Leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and discipline.”

Ms. Byrnes fully encourages female students to take the lead, and she’s really proud that they have learned so much through this program.

Ms. Smith mentioned the Plan International’s report “Taking the lead”, a global study of 10,000 girls and women, which reveals that while 76 percent of girls aspire to be leaders, there are many contributing factors that deter girls from following or achieving these aspirations.

“Connecting female students with female role models grants permission for these experiences to be shared in an understanding and supportive environment.” She believes seeing the reality of powerful women is the first step towards believing in the possibility for themselves.

As well as a celebration of the program, the event was also a launch of Venture Education’s latest report, “Girls’ and Women’s Education in the UK”, which highlights existing gender disparities in education and showcases UK examples of best practice on how to address them.

FFL participants were awarded certificates for their efforts and achievements, and and then a few were selected to participate in a panel discussion to provide their personal reflections and feedback.

Highlights of the Panel Discussion 

From the panel discussion, we were impressed by the detailed and thoughtful answers shared by the panelists. Here is a selection of their responses.

On the importance of female leadership

Dora from Harrow Beijing, said, “Although now in the society sexism has been improved and not as big of a problem as in the past, it still exists. Female-led companies make up only 4 percent of the Fortune 500 companies. And that is not because we don’t have the ability, but we are still not being valued.”

On a dream career

Daniella from Daystar Academy said her massive love for animals will not change any time soon as to what her career would entail. Two of her favorite quotes from the program are “You are told your university and degree choice is the most important choice of your life, but the reality is it can influence your path, but learning does not stop when you step out of the classroom.” and “What you are told that you’ve got to get it right the first time, but the reality is to do your research, talk to people who have come before you. Don’t be afraid to change direction, and try to get as much diversified experience as possible.”

On the characteristics that a successful female leader should have

Thembekile from Pakistan Embassy College Beijing, believes a successful female leader should be someone that is confident, creative, emotionally intelligent, never gives up, and doesn’t only dream big but dreams small; as it takes a series of small steps to achieve a goal as big as gender equality.

Photos: Courtesy of Venture Education

Another successful 2019 Jingkids International School Expo (JISE), Beijing is in the books! With 4,000 families (over 8,000 people in attendance) throughout the weekend, visiting exhibitors from all levels of academic learning, and forums with topics ranging from curriculum talks, innovative education, and student mental health, the weekend also culminated with our first ever JISE Youth Entrepreneurship Competition.

Hosting this massive event at Kerry Hotel made our two-day expo even more attractive with great supplementary family-friendly activities and great dining outlets.

With families spread out across the main ballroom dedicated to K-12 schools and early learning organizations at Kerry Sports, it made for a stress-free atmosphere with highly focused interactions, creating numerous high-quality leads for our exhibitors.

The second day started with a very informative lecture with David Shinkfield (Headmaster of Harrow Beijing), Richard Thornhill (Principal of British School of Beijing (BSB) Shunyi), and Antonio Flores (Director of Curriculum and Professional Development at Beijing Huijia Private School), giving participants a detailed explanation of their respective curricula.

While the growing number of curricula making their way to Beijing can turn into an alphabet soup at times, there are tried and tested models found locally and around the world that parents need to be considering when picking a school.

Parents learned that while there were many inherent similarities between IB, IGCSE, and the following A-Levels, the differences were very much in the details on how these curricula adapt to suit the needs of the individual school and Beijing’s diverse international student body.

Day two of JISE 2019 was also the final day of the JISE Youth Entrepreneurship Competition hosted by Venture Education and Techtrek. Ten high school teams pitched their entrepreneurial ideas about ways to overcome the emergence of AI through creative and economically sustainable business models.

A group of five students from Dulwich College Beijing and their app that hopes to drive creativity and the arts in rural China and beyond took home the grand prize of RMB 5,000. All of the students went home with not only an award but also a considerable amount of experience gained through meeting and hearing lectures from seasoned entrepreneurs.

JISE 2019 Beijing – Day Two Highlights

Without further ado, here is some photographic evidence of our exhibitors, attendees, speakers, and everything else that made the weekend a huge success.

From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank everyone who came out to JISE 2019, and we hope that the weekend was a valuable and informative experience for you and your family. Moving forward, we at beijingkids will continue to be your Beijing guide for going “beyond school choice” and into a never-ending journey towards a life filled with academic and personal fulfillment.

Photos: Photoplus.cn

Slots are filling up for the Jing International School Expo Youth Entrepreneurship Competition – we will continue to enroll teams (no deadline) until we get closer to the capacity of 20 teams per division.

No experience is necessary to take part – you’ll learn everything you need on the day of the event itself!

The event, to take place Feb 23-24 at the Kerry Hotel as part of the Jing International School Expo, is conducted in English and is open to teams of five who are currently enrolled at any Beijing school.

There are two divisions: Middle Schoolers (Grade 6-8, with the workshop happening Saturday, Feb 23) and High Schoolers (Grade 9-12, with the workshop happening Sunday, Feb 24).

Not only a competition, the event is an awesome learning opportunity for middle schoolers and high schoolers who want to develop their skills.

You’ll walk away with skills in:

• Understanding the design thinking process
• Analyzing the needs of customers
• Creative solution idea generation
• Crafting your pitch
• Delivering a short, punchy presentation
• Teamwork

Professional facilitators from Venture Education and Techtrek will coach teams on site on how to develop an idea into a sellable pitch, all in one day.

Venture Education is a social enterprise that empowers students through entrepreneurship education. Techtrek helps young learners develop the tech skills they need to thrive in the modern world.

Successful Beijing entrepreneurs will be on hand throughout the day to guide students through the process. The day concludes with short three minute pitches to a panel of real-life entrepreneurs, to be followed by an awards ceremony with RMB 38,000 in prizes up for grabs.

Entry is free and no preparation is necessary – all you need to bring is your open mind and a team of five from your school.

Interested? We will continue to enroll teams (no deadline) until we get closer to the capacity of 20 teams per division.

So get out there and form your teams and register for this free learning opportunity!

Register here!

For more information about the 2019 JISE Youth Entrepreneurship Competition, contact Mike Wester at gm@truerun.com or via WeChat at mwinchina.

Photo: verywellmind.com