Ashley Cheng

"Future may be close, but it may look nothing close to the present."

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Ashley is a social entrepreneur and activist who strives to help drive change for our collective future. As a geography lover since the tender age of five, she has always been fascinated by the beauty of Earth, striving to explore the streets of cities she has pinned on maps and to grasp their unique cultural and ethnic heritage. 

When she learned that the white North and South Poles she once admired on maps may soon be taken over by all-blue seas and that the four seasons she grew up studying may end up in mixed up clutters, she refused to settle. She knew she could not just sit and wait.

Future may be close, but it may look nothing close to the present. This is why Ashley founded Cultivation for Future with a group of youth. Initially conceptualized in 2020, the youth-led non-profit aims to cultivate multi-faceted mindsets and solutions for the future by devising systemic initiatives built upon environmental and economic values. 

Examining the world’s challenges through a multidisciplinary lens, Ashley has led Cultivation for Future to develop initiatives encompassing the environment, economy, technology, society, and—most importantly—the community. And these are just a small step to inspire more to join and start caring and changing the future. 

As a 17-year-old, Ashley is well aware that she might not be able to change the world and completely eliminate challenges even world leaders could not solve. But she knows she can help drive the change. She firmly believes that youths are the change-makers for tomorrow.