Cynthia Chang received her Bachelor of Arts (Southeast Asian Studies and Theatre Studies) from the National University of Singapore. She completed the Managing International Education Programmes course conducted by Queen’s University, Canada and is a certified facilitator for Kouzes and Posner’s The Leadership Challenge workshop.
Cynthia was a Project Manager at Youth Expedition Project - an initiative organised by Singapore International Foundation (SIF) where she designed international service-learning programmes for youths. Previously as a Researcher & Public Education Coordinator at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, she initiated a youth council to redesign top-down university seminars into youth interest driven conference programmes. She had also helmed Leadership Development at Raffles Institution.
She has lived in Canada, Malaysia and Thailand, and served on international service-learning expeditions in Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia and Thailand. In 2002, she was awarded the SIF-ASEAN Student Fellowship. Cynthia had presented papers at the SIF International Service Learning Conference and the Asia Pacific Roundtable of the ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and International Studies.
Having had a lifelong interest in the arts, Cynthia played the French Horn during her school days, and was the college band president, participating in overseas exchanges to Borneo and Australia. Theatre dominated her university life, and her drama group was nominated for Best Ensemble Cast at the Life! Theatre Awards for their performance in Poetry@Action. She also headed the board of photographers at NUS Raffles Hall.
Cynthia believes that experiences alone are not intrinsically mind-broadening, but that it is the attitude and lenses with which we frame such experiences that are essential in determining the development of the appreciative, open mind. Her passion in youth development stems from her gratitude for the many people who have helped frame her experiences, and she endeavours to pass this on, guiding students in their own journeys of discovery towards a life imbued with purpose and meaning.