Yidan Prize Foundation connects global insights and local expertise at annual flagship Summit

500 changemakers from over 50 countries stand in solidarity with Hong Kong and co-create paths forward through education

HONG KONG, Dec. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Yidan Prize Foundation, the Hong Kong-based global philanthropic foundation, convened over 500 educators, youth, and NGO leaders from over 50 countries across six continents for its annual flagship Yidan Prize Summit. In remembrance of those who lost their lives in the Tai Po fire, the international education community observed a moment of silence before the opening of the Yidan Prize Summit. Local and international representatives from the public, private, and philanthropic sectors also joined a week of education dialogues. A series of side events was held in collaboration with partners, including Hong Kong Foundation Exchange, Lirvana Labs, Our Hong Kong Foundation, Faculty of Education of The University of Hong Kong, and UNHCR – the UN Refugee Agency.

At the Yidan Prize Summit, Dr Charles CHEN Yidan, Founder of the Yidan Prize, highlighted the foundation's commitment to bringing people together as a community that listens and learns from one another. He said: "We do this knowing that what we can achieve together far outweighs anything we each do alone. And we are co-creating paths forward for a brighter future as a global learning community."

2025 Yidan Prize Summit and a series of education dialogues

Themed "Education at a crossroads: Co-creating paths forward for a brighter future," the 2025 Yidan Prize Summit brought together over 200 educators, 100 youths, as well as NGO leaders and representatives from more than 40 foundations, 30 universities, and 100 K–12 schools and networks, across two days. The first day of the Summit brought into focus critical topics, including: Staying human in the age of AI, defining the opportunities and challenges around edtech, how synergy and collaboration drive and sustain change, and cultivating leadership at every level. Speakers include Professor Ju-Ho Lee, former Acting President and Minister for Education of The Republic of Korea, Dr Fengchun Miao, UNESCO's Lead on AI and Future of Education, Andreas Schleicher of OECD, HE Serigne Mbaye Thiam of GPE and former Minister of National Education of Senegal, and Professor Yongxin Zhu, Founder of New Education Initiative.

The second day of the Summit inspired many with stories of transformation. Three Yidan Prize laureates, Dr Rukmini Banerji, Professor Usha Goswami, and Angeline Murimirwa shared their turning points in their journeys to becoming global education changemakers with Olympian-turned-educator Yvette Kong and youth leader Anna Yao.

Around the Summit, the Yidan Prize Foundation co-hosted a series of knowledge exchange events. In partnership with Our Hong Kong Foundation, an insight forum titled "From Global Opportunities to Local Action: Charting Hong Kong's Way Forward as an International Education Hub" gathered international experts from the Yidan Prize community to share their views on Hong Kong's potential and ways to foster cross-cultural collaboration and innovation in education. Dr Jane Lee, President of Our Hong Kong Foundation, delivered an opening remark alongside Bruce Au, Secretary-General of Yidan Prize Foundation.

Championing changemakers in education

The 2025 Yidan Prize laureates officially received their medals on 6 December. This marked the finale of the series of education events in Hong Kong, honoring the achievements of the laureates and the wider education community. 2025 Yidan Prize for Education Research Laureate, Professor Uri Wilensky, shared his vision of democratizing computational thinking — not as a niche skill, but as a fundamental literacy for every learner everywhere. 2025 Yidan Prize for Education Development Laureate, Mamadou Amadou Ly, shared his work in West Africa, demonstrating how multilingual education unlocks potential, preserves culture, and shapes a more equitable future.

Note to editors

Download images of the 2025 Yidan Prize Summit and side events here.

About the Yidan Prize Foundation:

The Yidan Prize Foundation is a global philanthropic foundation, with a mission of creating a better world through education. Through its prize and network of innovators, the Yidan Prize Foundation supports ideas and practices in education — specifically, ones with the power to positively change lives and society.

The Yidan Prize is the world's highest education accolade that recognizes individuals or teams who have contributed significantly to the theory and practice of education. It consists of two prizes, working in harmony: the Yidan Prize for Education Research and the Yidan Prize for Education Development. They're designed for impact: laureates of each prize receive an unrestricted project fund of HK$15 million over three years, helping them scale up their work, as well as a gold medal and a cash prize of HK$15 million. The project fund and cash prize are shared equally for teams.

For more information, visit yidanprize.org or contact media@yidanprize.org.
Find us @yidanprize on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.

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