

- After a circuitous career path, founder and CEO of OWN Academy Natalie Chan made the pivotal decision to re-engineer the education system
- The Hong Kong native was one of 50 youths from around the world selected to attend last year’s 49th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
[Sponsored article]
If it takes guts to switch professions for a completely different industry then Natalie Chan must have a healthy supply.
In the span of a decade, the Hong Kong native, 32, who spent her high school and university years in the United States, has held five unconnected professional roles since graduating from the University of Southern California in 2009 with an engineering and business degree.
Ultimately the universities of the future will be defined by industries and driven by what they need, so we are reverse engineering how that learning should be like for students
She was an IT adviser, human capital consultant, co-teacher and then film producer and assistant to photographer-cum-conservationist Sean Lee-Davies, before becoming founder and CEO of OWN Academy.
Her start-up offers Hong Kong youth “experiential learning” in professional settings – through partnerships with companies in various industries – to help them find their passion.
