Pledge 1%'s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way.
So-Young Kang
Founder & CEO, Gnowbe
Singapore and the US
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
I'm the "Chief Energizer" so my main role is to energize our team, clients, partners, investors and broader ecosystem to catalyze everyone to create interactive social experiences online.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
Seeing my team stretch and grow into their potential. I love seeing people awaken to new possibilities for themselves and the amazing creators we design Gnowbe for.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years - what motivates you to keep going?
This crazy idea that we can really make a difference in changing how people create and engage with content in more human ways - social, interactive, reflective.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Breathe. It's so important to stop, pause and breathe to take it all in. One day at a time.
What does generosity mean to you?
Giving of yourself (time, resources, expertise) even when no one is looking.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
One of the biggest global challenges we are facing is a rapidly increasing mindsets and skills gaps. At Gnowbe, we understand that one key way to address this is by empowering creators - trainers, educators, coaches and thought leaders - with next gen authoring tools to design learning experiences that can actually shift mindsets, develop behaviors and build skills. This has been a huge gap so it's exciting to be able to stand in the gap.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Catalyst. I'm very purpose-driven and have made it my life-mission to try to solve really large global issues and bring as many people as I can towards making a positive impact.
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
Launching a $10M Scholarship to empower anyone to develop micro-learning instructional design (MID) skills to design more engaging, effective shared digital experiences.
