INK at Manipal Global’s NxtGen Summit in Seychelles
INK’s longstanding partnership with Manipal Global has enabled us to work together on some exciting programs. The Teenovators program that we run in association with the Manipal Global is in its second year and helps us reach out to thousands of school students across India and inspire them to think innovatively. INK has also been participating in Manipal Global’s annual NxtGen summit. This year’s NxtGen summit journeyed to Seychelles for a 3-day long immersive retreat focused on developing leaders for the next generation. This exclusive, invite-only event is usually attended by heads of businesses and human resources of leading corporations in India and abroad. INK hosted an INK Salon one of the 3 days of the summit.
It began with chairman of the Manipal Education Group, Mohandas Pai (watch his INK2015 interview with Lakshmi Pratury) addressing the participants and sharing his perspective on what the future of jobs might be and how it is important for all of us to prepare and lead the change. The Salon saw the participation of INK Fellows Shannon Olsson and Nirali Kartik (along with her husband Kartik Shah that makes up the popular musical duo Maati Baani), and INK Asia 2015 speaker Neal Cross, Chief Innovation Officer at DBS Bank Singapore.
The INK Salon on the 25th November at the picturesque Hotel Savoy in Seychelles began with Lakshmi Pratury introducing INK and sharing her valuable insights on how she thinks the leaders of tomorrow have to evolve. Next up we had Neal Cross who shared with the participants his unique approach to encouraging innovation in the workplace by encouraging the employees to be innovative outside of the workplace. Neal shared his work on creating hotels in the endangered forests in Indonesia to promote eco-tourism to curb poaching and wildlife slaughter. He ended his “Jungle Innovation” talk with examples and best practices on how his team has been successful in creating an innovative and collaborative work culture at DBS Bank. Shannon Olsson who followed Neal wowed us by giving us a peak into her world as a researcher.
Shannon heads the NICE Lab (Naturalist Inspired Chemical Ecology Lab) at the National Center for Biological Research in Bangalore. She shared with us some cutting edge research that will help understand how nature communicates. Shannon is pioneering in new experiments to understand bees using virtual reality, videos from which she shared with us at the INK Salon.
The session ended on a high musical note with Maati Baani – Nirali and Kartik Shah giving us a 30-minute-long performance which still left us wanting more.
The participants responded very positively to the INK Salon and we hope to be returning to the NxtGen Summit next year.
-Written by Vaibhav Mathur, INK Staff.
