Little U

Guest Speaker Series

The Guest Speaker Series is a part of the General Track under The Learnery. The General Track consists of a full suite of programs : Preschool, Village, ParentED International and Guest Speaker Series. It is meant for whole families to learn with one another. In this program, we predominantly focus on these 4 criteria : Relevance, Curiosity, Courage, Long Term View.

As The Learnery mainly works with homeschooling families and families-facing-adversity, we are mindful of the safety of parents and children in our care. Membership to the General Track is currently based on word-of-mouth recommendation, selected invitation and referrals.

Interested individuals, organisations and agencies may write to us. We would be happy to speak at your events and collaborate on projects.

Career Guidance through Stories

  • Meet experts from around the world.
  • Get their secret sauce to success.
  • Ask anything.

These speakers come with a wealth of knowledge, broad experiences and are very passionate about their work. My hope is that their stories will inspire us to work on our dreams and aspirations. Sabrina Salleh Quek, Director of Guest Speaker Series (2021-2023)

Open only to Little U members.
Other audiences by invitation only.

Designer and speaker Dylan Soh (April 2024)

Live Recording with our host, Tim Rodriguez

“Hi, we empower young people to develop their careers.

The Little U Guest Speaker Series is the most well known program in Little U. It is both a knowledge sharing and career guidance platform. We link these paths to individuals whose stories reflect the breadth and depth of their decisions, and the sacrifices involved. In one hour, they will share their life story around the questions below, and then take questions from you.

  • What is your job?
  • Why do you do what you do?
  • How did you get started?
  • How would you advise others?
  • What do they need to do to get there?

I invite only those who …

  • Have mastery in their field of practice
  • I think is interesting and compelling to listen to
  • Have respect and compassion for young people from all stations of life

Come with a desire to learn from the best.”

At 18yo, Tim is our youngest Program Director at Little U.
Connect with Tim on his LinkedIn

Watch our Guest Speaker Series on Youtube, free

Our recordings are available to the public.
Learn with the best from anywhere in the world.

Sudhir Vadaketh, 2024

Past Speakers

2025

  • Tom Collins, Co-founder, Agora Colearning; Founder, Holotracker
  • Joanne Lai, Senior Advisory Group Partner at IPP
  • Christopher Tan, award-winning writer, cooking instructor and photographer

2024

2023

  • Tony Ong (Branch Head at Singapore Armed Forces)
  • Mike Flanagan, CEO of Mastery Transcript Consortium® (MTC)
  • Chia Ching Kai, designer and artist at @thepaperempress
  • Don Lowe, Founder of Lowe’f Artisanal, F&B
  • Kenneth Heng, Founder of Solve n+1
  • Paul Tambyah, Senior Consultant, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, National University, Hospital and Politician (SDP)

2022

Our Guest Speaker Series 2022 was sponsored by ABRY.

“In 2021, I asked ABRY if they would sponsor The Guest Speaker Series 2022. I have a dream that Singapore’s youths would have access to the best industry practitioners for career guidance. There would be no barriers of entry except interest. Whether the youths want to come for our Guest Speaker Series, would be a matter of interest to them. They should not be held back by the lack of money, networking opportunity, age, background, religion, ethnicity. Adriana Lim Escaño, ABRY’s CEO, said yes. I received a cheque from ABRY at my book launch in Dec 2021. ABRY has built our confidence to grow the Guest Speaker Series to reach the nation’s young people.” Dawn Fung, founder of Little U

2021

  • Elizabeth Wu, Co-founder of Trehaus
  • Jason Tan, Associate Professor of Policy, Curriculum and Leadership at NIE
  • Pang Shu Ming, Director of Mothercare
  • Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir, Associate Professor of Sociology, NTU
  • Max Boon, Co-founder of the Aliansi Indonesia Damai
  • Suhaili Osman, Curator of Malay Heritage Centre
  • Kelly Davis, Co-founder of Galileo

2020

  • Ken Yuktasevi, Founder and Creative Director of Parable Studio
  • Ashley Lieu, Marathoner and Chiropractor
  • Andie Ang, Research Scientist at Mandai Nature, President of Jane Goodall Institute
  • C. Kunalan, Olympic Sprinter, Relay Runner, Educator
  • Sonny Liew, Comic Illustrator
  • Alvaro SanMartin, Founder and Learning Engineer of Minds Studio
  • Kenneth and Adeline Thong, Co-founders of The Last Resort (TLR)
  • Chia Han Sheng, Vice President of Innovation at GiveDirectly
  • Professor Leo Tan, Director of Special Projects at Faculty of Science, NUS

2019

  • Bryan Tan, CEO of Dads for Life and the Centre For Fathering
  • Lee Lashi, Counsellor and Mandarin teacher for children with different abilities and special needs
  • Tong Yee, Co-founder of School of Thought, Director of The Thought Collective
  • Luo Ling Ling, Advocate and Solicitor, Manaing Director of Luo Ling Ling LLC Law Firm
  • Dr. Tan Siong San, Senior Consultant Surgeon, and Dr Rebecca Yap, Paediatric GP
  • Loh Lik Peng, Hotelier and Restauranteur Unlisted Collection Founder
  • Jason Wong, Founder of Yellow Ribbon Project and Dads for Life Movement

2018

  • Paul Seah, Senior Partner of TKQP Advocates and Solicitors
  • Tan Cheng Bock, Politician, Medical Practitioner and 2nd Chairman of Progress Singapore Party (PSP)
  • Jean Tan, Singer-Songwriter, signed under indie Korean label LEEWAY
  • Patrick Ng, Chapter Lead of Urban Sketchers Singapore
  • Wesley Loh, Founder at Memphis West Picture, Photographer
  • Kenneth Lau, Founder of Studio Asobi
  • Mark Wee, Executive Director of DesignSingapore, Principal/Founder of Annex A
  • Katharyn Peh, Director of Visitor Services at Gardens by the Bay
  • Bernice Lee, Founding Director of Graceworks

Our Past Program Directors

Thank you for making the Guest Speaker Series happen.

Testimonials

“The main ability that my time in Little U has given me is confidence.

It gave me opportunities and set me in situations to better my strengths and skills that I would not have otherwise gained. From business etiquette and email writing to project management and punctuality.

As a participant in the Teen Groups and administrator in the Guest Speaker Series, I had to tackle many new experiences, such as public speaking, writing proper business emails, team coordination, and dealing with consequential deadlines.

One thing I had to learn when having to do new tasks and projects was to just take the first step and try it. I had to stop overthinking about the steps and what others would think of me. It has been helping me to break away from my problem of procrastination and fear of failure.

I hope to apply what I have learnt to my time studying design and architecture in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. I would also like to thank Dawn Fung for mentoring and pushing me forward all these years.”

Yaek Quek, Program Director 2024, Guest Speaker Series

Join the Team

We are looking for interns to grow the Guest Speaker Series 2025.
Grow your portfolio with us at Little U! Read more.

Find out more about our General Track