SU Welcomes 10 New Chapters and 3 Renewals

author
Dharmishta Rood
published
Oct 10, 2018
category
Community

Just days after the 10th anniversary of Singularity University’s founding, we’re happy to announce this quarter’s cohort of Chapters. We’re welcoming two new countries, and ten new Chapters for a total of 13 Chapters, including our renewals, bringing our overall total to 126 Chapters in 63 countries. Kenya and Slovakia are the newest countries to join the SingularityU Chapter community. We’re announcing new SingularityU Chapters in Bratislava, Slovakia; Chennai, Delhi, and Mumbai, India; Nairobi, Kenya; Phoenix, AZ, Portland, OR, Sacramento, CA, and Seattle, WA in the USA; and Zapopan, Mexico. Chapter renewals are in Brussels, Belgium; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and San Diego, CA, USA.

SingularityU Chapters

This is the first cohort of Chapters added since the 2018 Leadership Forum, an annual event for our SingularityU Partners. The 2018 Leadership Forum hosted 240 attendees from 45 countries, spanning three days in San Francisco leading up to SU Global Summit. The event is exclusive to SingularityU Partners: teams that are hosting a Chapter, Country Partner, Global Impact Challenge, or Summit. The event focused on celebrating successes, sharing updates among SU and community members, and peer learning. Please see the below video for some of the best moments of the event.

Are you interested in engaging members of your local community in thoughtful conversations about exponential technologies? If so, learn more about our growing global network of SingularityU Chapters. Explore the current Chapter locations, and if you don’t see your city or country represented, apply to lead one! The quarterly application is open today through November 7th.Now, meet the Chapter leadership teams in their own words:

SingularityU Bratislava (Slovakia)Juraj Bednar“I have decided to create the SingularityU Bratislava Chapter in order to bring together an interesting community of hackers, entrepreneurs, and people with a positive outlook on the world shaped by technological and humanitarian progress. I see this activity as a catalyzer of positive change and progress towards a better world.”—Juraj Bednar, leadership team member
SingularityU Brussels (renewal, new team) (Belgium) Jacques Colle, Johan Cattersel, John D. Breidenstine, Jonas Van Riel, Mercy Njima“My participation in the December 2015 Singularity University (SU) Executive Program on exponential technologies changed the way that I look at my work, my world, and the impact that I can have on both. The creation of an SU Chapter in Brussels is an opportunity to gather and explore how we can use technology to “slay and solve grand challenges,” one conversation at a time.”—John Breidenstine, leadership team member
“I strongly believe that the many grand challenges we face today can be solved with technology, but not without people. Therefore it's of the utmost importance to bring awareness to our community, to make sure we bring the exponential mindset to everyone and especially to the many decision makers we have in Brussels, the capital of Europe. An SU chapter in Brussels feels like the ideal place to start.”—Jonas Van Riel, leadership team member
SingularityU Buenos Aires (renewal, new team) (Argentina) Agustina Paz, Alan Gegenschatz, Diego Pereyra, Esteban Lopez Blanco, Federico Marque, Fredi David Vivas“I hope to contribute with my commitment and energy to this new SU chapter and I am thrilled to start working with the leadership team with so many different backgrounds.”—Agustina Paz, leadership team member
"Being part of this team inspires me to continue my learning and gives me the possibility to share to the local SU community and to future members the latest and updated information regarding new technologies to create a prosperous Argentina. I hope all this effort contributes to a better quality of life for all Argentinians."- Alan Gegenschatz, leadership team member
"Participating with SU showed me that tech is helping health much more than expected and that the change is coming. I hope with this Chapter we can contribute to the Argentinian healthcare system addressing our key topics." —Diego Pereyra, leadership team member
“By establishing a local SingularityU Chapter, Buenos Aires gets more support to foster a local ecosystem that resonates with the future vision we learned at Singularity University, and advance the use of exponential technologies to solve the local grand challenges of Buenos Aires and Argentina. We want to expand local access to exponential thinking and the SU global network to local institutions, businesses, entrepreneurs, and investors, for greater positive social impact.” —Esteban Lopez Blanco, leadership team member
"Being part of the GSP of Singularity University was something that changed my professional career and my life; those concepts and mentality revolutionized my world. I want to share some of that with the community of Buenos Aires and keep learning with them!"—Fredi Vivas, leadership team member
SingularityU Chennai (India) Arun Subbiah, Bhavesh Shah, Hari Krishnan, Kiran Reddy, Lakshmi Sneha, Ratheesh Krishnan, Surya Krishnan“Technology, Social impact, and Organisations: we intend to find ourselves in the intersection of these three circles, at its sweet spot.Like Singularity University, our effort is all about disruptive ideas, unheard advice, and undiscovered inspiration.With one small event every week, we intend to combine different clusters of experimenters, communities, and changemakers into an open, physical and living platform that will become an involved and breathing ecosystem. Our goal is to instill the purpose of exponential tech, share stories of those who further the cause, build an economy of innovative ventures, promote the collaborations and integrate experts into public administration, arts, academia, and social entrepreneurship.”—SingularityU Chennai Chapter leadership team
SingularityU Delhi (India) Nitesh Jain, Rishi Khemka, Vipul Jain“I truly believe that “The next generation of ideas will be better fostered by a community that thinks together,” because humanity needs a collaborative approach to bring changes that make this world a better place to live. My idea in creating the Chapter is to build this strong community right in the capital of incredible India! New Delhi has a vibrant business environment, intelligent policymakers, innovators, and a thriving startup ecosystem which I believe brings an apt set of minds who can share ideas and join hands to look at creating the next level of abundance. All those who share the same passion are welcome to join the Delhi Chapter of Singularity University.”—Nitesh Jain, leadership team member
SingularityU Mumbai (India) Bhavik Chinai, Gladson D'Souza, Krishna Chokhani, Saket Agarwal“We're delighted to partner with SU on starting its Chapter in Mumbai. We hope to spread knowledge about exponential technologies, aiding the momentum of execution of ideas which will help solve global challenges. The journey will be enriching for all of us and we look forward to making a global impact through SingularityU Mumbai.”—SingularityU Mumbai Chapter leadership team
SingularityU Nairobi (Kenya) Beth Koigi, Clare Sewell, Elisha Bwatuti, Ernie Williams“Having been part of the SU community I felt privileged to get exposure to exponential technologies and how they could potentially help solve global grand challenges. For Kenya, being a hub of innovation, this Chapter will bring together great innovators and foster sharing, partnerships, and collaborations.”—Beth Koigi, leadership team member
SingularityU Phoenix Aaron Bare, Carl Kasalek, Sheila Kloefkorn"We are energized by our experiences with Singularity University internationally and are excited to form a local Chapter of Singularity University here in Phoenix to increase exposure and activity around exponential technology. We look forward to highlighting local innovations and helping to increase the visibility of Phoenix as a center for technology advancements globally." —Sheila Kloefkorn, leadership team member
SingularityU Portland Amine el Filali, Justin Williams, Ryan Tool, Steven Parton“With growing access to advanced technology, we see the potential for innovative solutions to solve some of humanity's biggest challenges. We believe that the more people there are collaborating to address these issues, the higher the likelihood such solutions will surface. Similarly, we recognize the invigorating power that community can have to both personal well-being and to a city. It's for these reasons we felt it was time Portland had a magnet for people of all backgrounds to come learn, share, and grow together—positively transforming ourselves, our community, and the world at large in the process.”—SingularityU Portland Chapter leadership team
SingularityU Sacramento Greg Margetich“Times are changing. They always have. The difference now is that significant change occurs in a few years as opposed to a generation. The Sacramento team is enthralled and honored to be approved as a new Chapter in the community of Chapters throughout the world. We feel especially honored as Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, which boasts an economy ranked 6th in the world. We plan to bring SU and the study and impact of exponential technologies altering our lives into focus to our community and region.”—Greg Margetich, leadership team member
SingularityU San Diego (renewal, new team) Ben Badiee, Dan Palazzo, Dr Gary Krahn, Shay Badiee“We are excited and humbled by the opportunity to begin a Singularity University Chapter here in San Diego. We have plans to connect with innovative people in our area to become one of the most successful Chapters in the world. There are many global challenges that can be solved with knowledge of exponential technologies. We plan to form a Chapter that will impact a global vision of innovation and change.”—SingularityU San Diego Chapter leadership team
SingularityU Seattle Ani Chahal Honan, Joe Honan, Manvir Dhaliwal, Warren Stickney“We are honored and thrilled to launch SingularityU Seattle! As the fastest growing tech hub in the United States, Seattle is renowned for our iconic leadership in innovation, maker-culture, and community service. Our leadership team members are alumni of Singularity University, where we've explored the opportunities and implications of exponential technologies that are shaping the future and solving the world’s most urgent problems. We look forward to engaging, sharing, and finding mutual inspiration by connecting our local and global community in exciting ways—where massive impact and abundance in our world is truly possible.”—SingularityU Seattle Chapter leadership team
SingularityU Zapopan (Mexico) Israel Ojeda Coronado, Karla Montes Gonzalez“My goal in creating the local Chapter is to give the opportunity for marginalized parts of our community to discover and learn about exponential technologies and how they could positively impact their lives.”—Karla Guadalupe Montes Gonzalez, leadership team member
“The only way to become a developed nation is by developing our people; SU brings besides exponential technologies the hope for a better, more prosperous, equal, inclusive, fair, and just world; that hope is what I want to share with my people who are suffering from the shortcomings of our society.”—Israel Ojeda Coronado, leadership team member