Conference Schedule
19 November 2025
Join us for an exclusive conference where thought leaders gather to share insights and innovations.
9:30 AM – 10:00 AM
Registration
Registration
10:00 AM – 10:15 AM
Opening Remarks
This agenda block will feature an artistic performance, an Emcee welcome, and a Land Acknowledgement.
10:15 AM – 10:20 AM
Featuring
President, Singapore Management University
Host Welcome
Featuring
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Lily Kong
President, Singapore Management University
Lily Kong
President, Singapore Management University
Bio
Professor Lily Kong has been President of Singapore Management University since 2019, the first Singaporean to lead the institution and the first woman to head any university in Singapore. She also holds the Lee Kong Chian Chair Professorship of Social Sciences, with a courtesy appointment at the College of Integrative Studies. She is an interdisciplinary scholar, with disciplinary roots in Geography. She is widely known for her research on urban transformations, and social and cultural change in Asian cities. In particular, she has published a large body of work on inter-communal relations (including religious and racial relations), social cohesion, national identity, cultural policy and cultural industries, creative cities and creative economy, urban heritage and conservation, smart cities, migration and education. She has sat on multiple editorial boards of major international journals and is well-sought after as keynote speaker.
An award-winning academic, Professor Kong has received multiple international awards and fellowships, including the Victoria Medal from the Royal Geographical Society, the Robert Stoddard Award from the Association of American Geographers, the Commonwealth Fellowship, the Fulbright Fellowship, the Geographical Society of China Fellowship (Foreign), the SR Nathan Fellowship, and the British Academy Fellowship. She is consistently ranked in the top 1-2% in her field in studies by Stanford. She has also been conferred an Honorary Degree by Loughborough University.
Speaking Engagements
Featuring
President, Singapore Management University
About the Session
The Reach Conference will commence with a formal welcome from Professor Lily Kong, President of Singapore Management University.
10:20 AM – 10:40 AM
Opening Keynote
Bio
10:40 AM – 11:00 AM
Featuring
Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science & Economics, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Program Lead, MIT Solve’s Economic Prosperity Pillar
CEO and Co-Founder, Rumsan
DRR Focal Person, Punarbas Municipality, Nepal & Community Collaborator, Rumsan
Utilizing Blockchain for Social Impact and Empowering Vulnerable Communities Against Climate Shocks
Featuring
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Dilip Soman
Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science & Economics, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
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Ellie Moriearty
Program Lead, MIT Solve’s Economic Prosperity Pillar
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Rumee Singh
CEO and Co-Founder, Rumsan
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Omnath Dhakal
DRR Focal Person, Punarbas Municipality, Nepal & Community Collaborator, Rumsan
Dilip Soman
Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science & Economics, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Bio
Dilip Soman is a Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science and Economics at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. He has degrees in behavioral science, marketing, and engineering, and is interested in the applications of behavioral science organizations more generally, and for welfare and policy in particular. He is the co-author of Managing Customer Value (2022), author of The Last Mile (2015) and co-editor of The Behaviorally Informed Organization (2021) Behavioral Science in the Wild (2022), Cash Transfers for Inclusive Societies (2023), and What Works, What Doesn’t (and When) (2024). Dilip serves as the director of the Behaviourally Informed Organizations partnership (see https://www.biorgpartnership.com/). He has taught in the U.S.A, Hong Kong and Canada, and has worked with several corporations, governments, international organizations and start-ups. His non-academic interests include procrastination, cricket, travel, and taking weekends seriously.
Speaking Engagements
Featuring
Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science & Economics, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Program Lead, MIT Solve’s Economic Prosperity Pillar
CEO and Co-Founder, Rumsan
DRR Focal Person, Punarbas Municipality, Nepal & Community Collaborator, Rumsan
Ellie Moriearty
Program Lead, MIT Solve’s Economic Prosperity Pillar
Bio
Ellie Moriearty is the Program Lead of MIT Solve’s Economic Prosperity Pillar, where she leads open innovation challenges with a mission to bridge opportunity gaps and empower communities to thrive. Driven by a belief that ingenuity and innovation exists everywhere, Ellie works alongside supporters and experts to identify exceptional changemakers and scale their impactful solutions. Previously, she served as Senior Officer for Solve’s Learning Pillar, where she helped run eight innovation challenges aimed at improving outcomes for learners worldwide.
Before joining Solve, Ellie was Vice President of Program Development at Mindr, a social enterprise that runs programming and a SaaS platform to foster a sense of belonging at leading global organizations across finance, technology, and law. She has also consulted for organizations such as Innovations for Poverty Action and development consulting firm Kantar Public, advising on projects related to the economy, education, health, gender, and governance.
Ellie holds an MPA in Development Practice from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a BA in Economics and Human Rights from Barnard College.
Speaking Engagements
Featuring
Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science & Economics, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Program Lead, MIT Solve’s Economic Prosperity Pillar
CEO and Co-Founder, Rumsan
DRR Focal Person, Punarbas Municipality, Nepal & Community Collaborator, Rumsan
Rumee Singh
CEO and Co-Founder, Rumsan
Bio
Rumee Singh is the CEO and Co-Founder of Rumsan, a digital innovation firm dedicated to empowering businesses that create meaningful solutions for society. With a passion for leveraging frontier technologies to drive social change, Rumee focuses on bridging opportunity gaps and uplifting communities through innovation. Backed by over 20 years of experience leading production teams and developing transformative digital solutions, she brings a unique blend of technical expertise and social entrepreneurship to her work. An engineer by training, Rumee’s diverse background spans corporate communications, journalism, education, and impact-driven ventures. Her commitment to social innovation has earned her international recognition, including being featured among 25 changemakers in the Women for Change 2024 global campaign in Paris, and celebrated as one of ten women making a difference with technology in Nepal.
Speaking Engagements
Featuring
Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science & Economics, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Program Lead, MIT Solve’s Economic Prosperity Pillar
CEO and Co-Founder, Rumsan
DRR Focal Person, Punarbas Municipality, Nepal & Community Collaborator, Rumsan
Omnath Dhakal
DRR Focal Person, Punarbas Municipality, Nepal & Community Collaborator, Rumsan
Bio
Om Nath Dhakal is the DRR Focal Person at Punarbas Municipality, Sudurpaschim Province, Nepal, where he plays a vital role in coordinating disaster risk reduction efforts by connecting local government, communities, and stakeholders for effective preparedness and response. His key contributions include leading the implementation of local disaster management plans, capacity-building trainings, awareness initiatives, and strengthening early warning systems. During disasters, he serves as the primary contact for mobilizing relief and rescue operations, and for ensuring smooth communication with higher-level authorities.
Speaking Engagements
Featuring
Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science & Economics, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Program Lead, MIT Solve’s Economic Prosperity Pillar
CEO and Co-Founder, Rumsan
DRR Focal Person, Punarbas Municipality, Nepal & Community Collaborator, Rumsan
About the Session
This moderated conversation brings together diverse stakeholders for an in-depth discussion on using financial and technological innovation to help hard-to-reach populations facing the threat of climate change, all grounded in recent Reach Alliance research. Through an “in-conversation” format, panelists will share perspectives from policy, practice, and research, exploring the implications of the findings and identifying pathways for action and collaboration.
11:00 AM – 11:45 AM
The Role of Universities In Creating Impactful Change
11:45 AM – 12:00 PM
Special Announcement
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Lunch
Lunch
1:30 PM – 2:15 PM
Digital Transformation to Advance Financial Inclusion: Breaking Barriers to Access and Equity
2:15 PM – 3:00 PM
Harnessing Technology for Inclusive and Preventive Healthcare
3:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Featuring
Vice-President, International, University of Toronto
Learnings from 10 Years of Reach Alliance Research & End of Day Remarks
Featuring
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Joseph Wong
Vice-President, International, University of Toronto
Joseph Wong
Vice-President, International, University of Toronto
Bio
Joseph Wong is Vice-President, International, University of Toronto, where he is also a Professor of Political Science. He held the Canada Research Chair in Health, Democracy, and Development for two terms from 2006 to 2016, and the Roz and Ralph Halbert Professor of Innovation at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy from 2013 to 2023. Prior to being appointed Vice-President in 2021, Professor Wong was the U of T’s inaugural Associate Vice-President and Vice-Provost, International Student Experience, and before that, the Director of the Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He is the author of many academic articles and several books, including the latest From Development to Democracy: The Transformations of Modern Asia in 2022, published by Princeton University Press. His academic articles have been published in The Lancet, Perspectives on Politics, the Annual Review of Political Science, the Bulletin of the WHO, Comparative Political Studies, Governance, among others. Professor Wong has had affiliations with Harvard, Oxford, Fudan University in Shanghai, Seoul National University and the Institute for Policy Research in Taiwan. He has advised governments on matters of public policy in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas, as well as the UN and the WHO. Inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals, in collaboration with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, Professor Wong founded the Reach Alliance. The Alliance comprises eight university partners, including Tecnológico de Monterrey, University of Oxford, University College London, University of Melbourne, Ashesi University, the University of Cape Town and Singapore Management University.
Speaking Engagements
Featuring
Vice-President, International, University of Toronto
About the Session
3:15 PM – 6:00 PM
Community Service Learning Journey
Community Service Learning Journey
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