We are a family of designers, painters, strategists, coaches, filmmakers, and consultants to design innovative solutions that work.

Awaken Group collaborates with our Creative Collaborative partners and independent advisors and consultants with over 100 years of global experience collectively across over 30 countries to best serve our clients’ needs and goals. We launched our Creative Collaborative as a way to live out our core beliefs of “integration” of diversity and “togetherness” to design creative new solutions for our clients.

So-Young Kang, Catalyst, Founder & CEO

So-Young is Catalyst, Founder & CEO of Awaken Group, a multi-disciplinary Transformation Design (TD) firm that integrates strategy, leadership and innovation to design experiences that catalyze change. She is passionate about transforming the world through inspiring and developing “human, creative, adaptive” organizations. So-Young has been leading cultural transformations, designing user-centric experiences, coaching CEO’s and executives, training and developing, maximizing performance and designing organizations for almost 15 years. She is passionate about integrating East-West values and mindsets and has traveled around the world to observe, listen, experience, and be transformed so that she, in turn, can catalyze sustainable change.

So-Young has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA with honors from the University of Pennsylvania. She was previously with McKinsey & Company and Citigroup. In 2000, she founded The Young Professionals’ Group, a scholarship and advisor network to help students achieve their professional dreams. So-Young is a TED-ster and has been a TEDx speaker.

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Hanna Kim, Balancer and Manager

Hanna Kim is Balancer and Project Manager at Awaken Group where she leads and manages various strategic initiatives at the firm including marketing and research strategy. She has managed the Global Leadership and Innovation Survey US since 2010, an initiative that began in order to better understand leaders’ perspectives, strategies, priorities, and challenges around leadership as their organizations grow globally. She enjoys working with a diverse group of talented people in her team.

Hanna has a BA in International Relations from the University of Southern California.

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David Mervyn Khoo, Peacemaker and Consultant

David is Peacemaker and a Consultant with Awaken Group. He enjoys history and loves looking at the journeys that people and organisations take, helping to bring back stability, clarity and purpose in the original blueprints of intentions. David previously co-founded two successful F&B (food & beverage) companies that targeted schools and hospitals.

David was born and raised in Singapore. He has a Bachelor of Honours in Electrical Engineering from the National University of Singapore.

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Antonia Nicols, Connector and Consultant

Antonia Nicols has over 12 solid years of marketing, training, coaching, and administrative accomplishments in both domestic and international companies that have ranged from small businesses to large, multinational corporations, primarily in the fields of international telecommunications, marketing, and private equity. She has spent ten years coaching individuals on building coalitions, alliances, and effectively managing team-based projects spanning multiple sectors and entities.

Antonia serves as the Executive Director of the Young Professionals’ Group (YPG), a non-profit dedicated to providing scholarships and mentoring to underserved high school students in New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, and Singapore. She also serves as a Los Angeles Chapter Head of Room to Read, an international non-profit dedicated to funding libraries and literacy education worldwide. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Relations from George Mason University.

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Ethan Chong, Advocate and Consultant

Ethan Chong is passionate about helping to transform organizations. He believes strongly that awakening the human spirit in employees is key to making this happen. His vision is to see the global workforce awakened, with organizations investing heavily to maximize their employees’ long-term potential.

Ethan graduated from the Singapore Management University (SMU) with a BAcc and a Major in Organizational Behavior. He also completed his MSc in Management by Research at SMU.

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Samantha Hoong, Collaborator and Consultant

Samantha Hoong is Collaborator and Consultant at Awaken Group where she manages a committed team that seeks out innovative solutions to transform organizations from the inside out. She is passionate about exploring leadership principles and managing team dynamics to leverage each individual’s unique capabilities; thereby, bringing about greater team effectiveness.

Samantha holds a BA with honors specializing in marketing from the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore.

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Su-Lyn Tan Meyer, Energizer and Consultant

Su-Lyn comes from a background of hospitality design and branding. She has worked on various hospitality projects, including the legendary Russian Tea Room and Tavern on the Green in New York. She brings together her experience in communication and her understanding of the creative process.

Su-Lyn holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University in the United States.

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Adam Edgerly, Interculturalist and Consultant

Adam is an intercultural specialist and gifted communicator who has led transformational workshops for thousands across five continents. He has over twenty-five years of experience in public speaking and a unique ability to distill complex concepts into memorable principle and actions. A Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), a powerful tool for assessing and developing intercultural competence, Adam draws upon the latest science in the field and twenty years of senior executive experience leading and training diverse teams. As a Certified Master Coach, Adam also helps leaders unleash their potential and soar.

Adam has an MBA from Emory University with an international exchange at the University of Manchester, a BA and MA in Intercultural Studies from Biola University, with field research in leadership and language in Mali, West Africa and a Certificat de Langue Français from Université Paris Sorbonne (Paris IV).

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Patrick Joseph, Consultant

Patrick Joseph has a passion for people and possibilities. He loves the opportunity to combine individual talent and giftings with business opportunities to build successful and sustainable companies. He is passionate about the strategic planning & definition of core values that build an organization. Patrick has 10 years working experience in senior management roles in SMEs and start-up companies in Malaysia and Singapore ranging from satellite based learning technologies, mobile phone systems to branding and video production.

Patrick holds a Master of Applied Finance from University of Adelaide, Australia and an MBA from Charles Sturt University, Australia.

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Alex E. Yu, Motivator and Facilitator

Alex Eunkyeong Yu is an executive coach and global leadership consultant with primary areas of focus on global leadership development, intercultural management, culture change and transition, emotional intelligence and communication. She loves to facilitate individual and group processes in a way that encourages people to be mindful and creative when confronted with differences. Alex is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) by International Coaching Federation (ICF) and Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF).

Alex holds BA and MA in English Literature from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, and MBA in International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management with the honour of Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Sigma Iota.

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Merlin Kwan, Incubator and Consultant

Merlin Gerhard Kwan is a Creative Director and Entrepreneur, and a marketing consultant at Awaken Group. He works across the fields of Marketing Communications, Branding, and Digital Design. Merlin is a strategic thinker with a deep understanding of consumer behaviour. Over the years, he has created outstanding branding and multi-channel communications campaigns for local and multi-national brands in Germany, Vietnam, and Singapore.

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Shauna Barnes, Innovator and Consultant

Shauna is a career and performance coach and consultant. She has designed corporate strategy for organizations to maximize their ROI for new hires. Her extensive training through the renowned Coaches Training Institute has established her as a leading coach and consultant in her field. She has a passion for people and experiencing new cultures. She has traveled and worked in developing communities in both South America and Africa.

Shauna has a Masters in Science, Education, from D’Youville College and has participated in Graduate studies work at Harvard Graduate School of Education. She holds an Honors undergraduate degree in Media Information and Technoculture from the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

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Hwa-Young Yoo, Art Director, Art Angel Company (Creative Collaborative Partner)

Hwa-Young Yoo is the Art Director of Art Angel Company, a global art consulting firm. She believes that every individual has the potential to be creative and is passionate about helping people discover their inner feelings and thoughts, and express them freely into reality. She has taught at the Seoul Art Center in Seoul with her own curriculum called ‘Art in English.’

Hwa-Young holds an MFA from the Pratt Institute in New York. She has also taught art at Ducksung Woman’s University in Seoul, where she currently lives.

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Mark Wee, Director, ONG&ONG (Creative Collaborative Partner)

Mark Wee is the Director of OX:D, the Experience Design studio at ONG&ONG in Singapore, a firm that integrates urban planning, architecture, interior design, environmental branding, and landscape design in the creation of built environments. He is also the Co-Founder of UNION Experience, a Design Thinking school & innovation lab.

Mark regularly trains organizations on how Design Thinking can help innovate their products, services, and environments for a better future. He has coached and trained numerous public sector organizations and private sector clients on how to improve their user experiences. Mark holds a Bachelors of Architecture from Cornell University.

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Ken Yuktasevi, Director, ONG&ONG (Creative Collaborative Partner)

Ken Yuktasevi is a designer, artist and cultural entrepreneur specializing in the field of experiential design. He works across the fields of architecture, interior design, graphic design, film, organizational transformation, and branding. He is currently a Director at ONG&ONG Architects, building its new experimental arm, Experience Design studio (OX:D).

Ken studied arts and design at Stowe College in the UK where he received the Roxburough prize for Architecture. He then took a BA in film and cinematography at Bond University on the Gold Coast.

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Erwin Raphael McManus, Explorer and Advisor

Erwin is an author, speaker, activist, filmmaker and innovator who specializes in the field of developing and unleashing personal and organizational creativity, uniqueness, innovation and diversity. Engaging in such issues as culture, creativity, change, and leadership, Erwin is widely known as a thought-provoking communicator. His travels have taken him to over 30 countries and he has spoken to over a million people from a wide variety of audiences, including the NFL, Lionsgate, New Line Cinema, and ILOG. His work is featured in numerous films, articles, and magazines globally.

Erwin is a native of El Salvador, and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and Southwestern Theological Seminary.

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Dave Gibbons, Zealot and Advisor

Dave loves chaos! He is a proven innovation strategist, author, culture specialist and creative communicator. Dave shares dynamic insights on leadership development both in North America and throughout strategic cities globally. He speaks throughout North America and Asia. Recently he spoke at a global leadership summit where over 125,000 people listened to his work on third culture and how it relates to organizations. He just published a book on adaptive leadership across cultures and regularly consults executives, artists and the next generation of international leaders. He loves perplexities and innovatively working through conundrums.

He founded Yangdang, a donor engagement platform that connects causes with people and resources, is Chief Visionary Officer (CVO) of Xealot, which connects resources (human, financial and knowledge) to leaders and serves on the World Vision US board.

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Brian D. Molitor, Mentor and Advisor

Brian D. Molitor is Chief Executive Officer of Molitor International, a consulting and training company with over twenty-seven years of experience serving clients in North America, Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom, the Caribbean and Africa.

Brian’s business books, The Power of Agreement and Win Win Win, have helped thousands of people identify their organization’s vision, mission, core values and operating principles, as well as optimize their human relations. Molitor’s training courses, Leadership that Lasts, Barriers to Bridges, and Team Problem Solving have helped hundreds of organizations reach their highest potential.

Brian has produced and hosted numerous television programs that have aired in Africa, the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, South America, Canada, and the United States. He has most recently been the executive producer of a youth-oriented reality television show called TheDRIVEtv which airs in 170 countries.

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