Clintford Cadio & Howard Zhenn Leong

Gather—JA's online alumni community—not only offers entrepreneurial opportunities and builds professional networks but also develops friendships across borders.

JA Malaysia alumnus Howard Zhenn Leong and JA Canada alumnus Clint Cadio participated in JA programs in different regions, but they became friends thanks to the JA alumni network. Clint reached out to Howard in summer 2022 when Clint joined the third cohort of Gather Reporters. Clint wanted to connect with a fellow JA alum in his area, and he also wanted to hear about Howard’s experience as a Gather Reporter (Howard joined the first cohort in 2020). They met up at the JA Southern Alberta office in Calgary and became fast friends.

Because Gather Reporters work as international storytellers, interviewing inspiring individuals and producing content for JA Worldwide, we thought we’d turn the tables and ask Clint and Howard a few questions for a change.

JA Worldwide: Let’s start with the basics. Where did you grow up and what alumni networks are you a part of?

Clint Cadio: I was born in the Philippines and moved to Alberta, Canada, when I was 12. I’m an alumnus of JA Canada and JA Americas.

Howard Zhenn Leong: I grew up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and I came to Canada to attend university. I’m an alumnus of JA Malaysia and JA Asia Pacific.

JA Worldwide: What JA programs did you participate in, and how are you involved in JA today as an alumnus?

Howard: I participated in the FedEx/JA Asia Pacific International Trade Challenge in 2018. Today, I’m a Global Alumni Ambassador, building new JA alumni chapters around the world and strengthening the network.

Clint: I participated in the JA Company Program in the 2021–2022 school year. I’m currently a Gather Reporter in the 2022–2023 cohort.

JA Worldwide: When you were a child, what job did you imagine yourself having as an adult? Has it changed now that you’re older?

Clint: As a kid, I wanted to be a race car driver because I had a passion for sports and high-performance driving. I also really enjoyed studying mathematics and science, but I recently discovered I have a passion for philosophy and the humanities.

Howard: I wanted to be a neurosurgeon, because of a TV series about doctors. It looked cool and it’s a respectable job. In school, I really enjoyed physics. I was mesmerized by the equations that represent how the physical world works.

Clint: My ambitions changed as I grew up, and now I want to pursue a career in tech and be an entrepreneur. I hope to find a job in Web 3.0, specifically in blockchain tech and artificial intelligence (AI).

Howard: My career dream has certainly changed! Currently, I’m interested in econometrics, a quantitative and statistical subfield of economics. I’m interested in this field because it uses data to make sense of complex human behaviors.

JA Worldwide: How has JA impacted your life?

Clint: JA has been a very fun ride for me. I participated in the JA Company Program through my school. I was able to learn new things and gain so much wisdom from my peers, and that empowered me to do greater things. I was developed a passion for tech that has enabled me to develop different projects that align with my desire to make an impact on the world.

Howard: I dreamed of working in a global technology and advertising agency. I dreamed of studying at a top institution. I dreamed of how I can best contribute to the nonprofit world. And JA has helped me realize these dreams.

JA Worldwide: Why do you think you became friends? And what do you find yourselves talking about when you hang out?

Clint: We have similar interests that I think make us compatible as friends and collaborate on a sophisticated level.

Howard: We have a lot of common interests, starting with JA. A lot of our conversations involve technology, venture capital, and start-ups.

Clint: Yes, we talk a lot about entrepreneurship and start-ups, as well as casual topics about life.

JA Worldwide: What do you admire most about your friend?

Howard: Clint is really good at networking and connecting with people. He relentlessly seeks out the best advice and learns from people quickly. I would also say he’s good at making his environment work for him.

Clint: I admire Howard’s ambitions and work ethic. He’s a very hard-working person, and he’s able to shoot for the moon and make an impact on people’s lives.

JA Worldwide: Where do you think you would be without JA?

Clint: I would still be a normal teenager, but my time in JA accelerated my growth as a person. It helped me identify my passions and personal values. Without JA, I wouldn’t be the same person I am today.

Howard: I was at an important juncture in my life when I encountered JA—it was during my last year in high school. I was about to start a new chapter in my life, and I had no concrete plans. I jumped at the opportunity to intern at JA Malaysia, which led to my positions with JA Asia Pacific and now JA Worldwide. I dare to say that, without JA, it’s highly unlikely that I would have achieved the goals I have set for myself. So, I wouldn’t trade my JA experience for anything.

JA Worldwide: What’s next for you two?

Clint: I’m graduating high school in the spring.

Howard: This summer, I’m going to study AI and machine learning at Oxford.

We’re excited to see what these two incredible alums do in the future! Keep up with Howard and Clint on Gather.

Team Revival: Seeing Value in Discarded Plastic

JA Asia Pacific | JA Singapore

Tina Jiang, Sam Liu, Carlota Pinker Rego, Dhruv Sharma, Guanju Wang, Jackson Wang, Kevin Yu, Terry Zhang, Coco Zhou

Advertisers in Singapore use plastic banners to draw attention to products and events, ranging from restauraunt offerings to concerts. But once each non-recyleable banner has played its part, it’s discarded. Or at least it was, before a  JA Singapore team got involved.

Team Revival saw potential in the strong, waterproof, free materials in each banner and set about looking for a way to repurpose them. The result is the Versa bag, wearable in three ways: over the shoulder, as a cross-body bag, or as a backpack. In just the first few months of production, Revival kept more than 40kg of banner waste out of Singapore landfills. And they intend to keep climbing higher.

When developing its business plan, Team Revival made a decision to use only public transportation to deliver products, in order to further reduce the company’s carbon footprint. Then, Revival partnered with a local nonprofit in two ways: the team outsourced labor to the marginalized community members served by the nonprofit, workers who are in need of demonstrable skills in order to re-enter the workforce. Second, Team Revival gives a portion of each bag’s profit to the nonprofit.

Banners kept out of landfill. A low carbon footprint for delivery services. Marginalized community members gaining skills. And a donation for every purchase. 

Revival is saving Planet Earth, one bag at a time.

Edward Lee

When Edward Lee was 17 years old, he stopped by the office of his JA mentor. With his eye fixed on the charts and numbers pinned on the wall, he asked, “What is that?” Little did he know that the question would set the course for the rest of his career.

Edward learned a little about stock trading that day in 1972, and he soon became fascinated by the financial markets. He dedicated his free time to understand the workings of the stock exchange and mastering the craft of trading stocks. His stock-trading journey got off to a rough start, however, during the 1974 economic turmoil in the Philippines, when he suffered big losses. Since then, in times of crisis, he has turned adversity into opportunity.

““Financial stability impacts every aspect of a person’s life, as being in control of finances offers the freedom to focus on other matters.””

— Edward Lee

Edward started his financial career with an international trading company and, several years later, started his own investment firm with two of his original JA teammates. COL Financial, a publicly listed company, was founded on the belief that everyone can invest, not only the wealthy. But this required Edward and his partners to teach financial literacy. So, they created a learning infrastructure around investing, launched the EKL Learning Viber Community, and established Caylum Institute to further the cause of a properly educated and informed citizenry in the area of stock trading. 

During the COVID crisis, COL Financial had to reinvent itself. In the Philippines, most stock trades happen in person, but business shutdowns made that impossible. COL needed not only to make online investing possible but also create comfort with a virtual transaction. All the learning materials had to be transferred online, too. 

Today, in spite of only a US $4,000 per capita gross domestic product and a global pandemic, COL opens 200 to 300 accounts per day. 

Edward continues to be involved in JA, having served on the JA Asia Pacific and JA Philippines boards and mentoring Filipino students to repeated wins in JA Asia Pacific Company of the Year competitions. 

And he sees clients on the streets of Manila every day, who thank him for educating them about financial literacy. Although many of his clients came to him for financial advice, Chairman Lee always reminds them that gratitude/compassion/generosity is the mantra for investing and encourages his audiences to keep those words dear to their hearts, no matter what successes they achieve through investing. 

““If you can create an impact, no matter how small it is, you can change the lives of people. That is the most important achievement.””

— Edward Lee

Bonnie Chiu

At 16, Hong Kong–born Bonnie Chiu first discovered the power of social entrepreneurship. As CEO of her JA student company, she not only led her team to an impressive 200% profit, but subsequently donated 40% of those profits to the youth-serving organization, Make a Wish Foundation.

““I was 16 years old when I joined the JA Company Program in Hong Kong. We made over 200% profit on our investment and we gave about 40% of those earnings to Make A Wish Foundation. We won the JA Hong Kong Corporate Social Responsibility award, which, to me, was the most important award to win. I think even then there was a desire deep inside of me to make some difference in society.””

— Bonnie Chiu

Four years later, at age 20, Bonnie successfully petitioned to overturn the death-penalty conviction of a domestic-abuse survivor, organized a World Anti-Drugs Day event, and launched a global nonprofit for women and girls called Lensational. And she was just getting started.

By the time she was 25, Bonnie had been named to the Forbes “30 Under 30” Social Entrepreneurship list, risen to managing director of London-based The Social Investment Consultancy, which tracks and magnifies the SROI (social return on investment) of companies, and secured a regular column in Forbes to advocate for women and girls, all while continuing to manage her growing nonprofit. Three years later, in response to the global pandemic throughout 2020, Bonnie launched “Women & COVID-19,” a contest to give voice to the lives of girls and women during lockdowns. Through Lensational, the global movement Bonnie founded eight years earlier, underrepresented women use photography, digital storytelling, and video production to tell their own stories, advocate for the issues they face, and earn a profit by selling their work. This year’s contest resulted in 11 shortlisted projects receiving a cash prize, one-on-one mentorship, and a global platform for their stories. See more at lensational.org.

Bonnie is also the winner of the Humanitarian Grand Challenge, Facebook Social Entrepreneurship Award, and Hivos Social Innovation Award. She was featured as the Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goal 5 in the Lavazza Calendar, has been interviewed by dozens of global publications, and has been invited to speak about social entrepreneurship in more than 20 countries.

““I really think that, without the JA experience, I wouldn’t be running my own social enterprise company today.””

— Bonnie Chiu