Idealists People Network
Meet the people who keep the work moving
This network brings together the people who have spoken, curated topics, co-created and contributed resources across editions of the Forum. Each person is connected to a real problem, a body of practical experience and a pathway for social innovation that others can join.
2026 Idealists People Network
Keynote Speakers
Hu Yong
Professor at Peking University’s School of Journalism and Communication; scholar and writer
Drawing on communications and public reflection to ask: as technology advances, how can people live with greater dignity?
Xi Zhinong
Founder of Wild China and wildlife photographer
Using wildlife photography and public-interest practice to reveal possibilities for caring for carbon-based life and acting across sectors.
Li Zhaolin
Product innovator in the AI era and instructor at Hundun Innovation
Exploring how individuals organize capabilities and action through one-person companies and product innovation in the AI era.
Xin Yuesheng
Senior private-equity investor and entrepreneurship mentor
Identifying business models and long-term value that AI is unlikely to replace, from investment and entrepreneurial perspectives.
Li Xiaoxiao
Founder of Qiangji Women Workers
Drawing on services for women workers to ask what work still deserves to be carried out with human warmth in the AI era.
Warm Gathering · The Beauty of People Guest
Chao Yang
Initiator of Xingzhe Learning Community
Curated the Warm Gathering · The Beauty of People keynote program, centering authentic human experience and resonance.
Han Fugui
An idealist finding new vitality in idle assets
Guest speaker at Warm Gathering · The Beauty of People during the 2026 Idealists Forum.
Liu Xiaohaoran
A 19-year-old with years of public-interest practice
Guest speaker at Warm Gathering · The Beauty of People during the 2026 Idealists Forum.
Zhou Ling
A visually impaired runner with 13 years of running experience around the world
Guest speaker at Warm Gathering · The Beauty of People during the 2026 Idealists Forum.
Yang Mingchuan
A committed participant in community first aid and round-the-world motorcycle traveler
Guest speaker at Warm Gathering · The Beauty of People during the 2026 Idealists Forum.
Wang Sheng
Education innovator focused on school avoidance
Guest speaker at Warm Gathering · The Beauty of People during the 2026 Idealists Forum.
Forum Curators
Yuan Yingjun
Community Operations Officer at the Rural Children’s Arts Education Network
Exploring how rural communities can become fertile ground for arts education that reconnects people and place, through sensibility and child development.
Li Jianxiong
Founder of Xin Keneng and Initiator of the Mind Night School
Exploring how emotional well-being can enter communities and everyday life through mental health, community healing and accessible services.
Ding Li
Founder of Green Rose
Using theatre, music and writing to bring migrant youths’ lived experience into public space.
Nolan
Founder of Tune, an AI application addressing manipulative behavior
An immersive role-playing experience examining the complex relationship among AI, verbal abuse, digital dignity and individual protection.
Zhuang Chujun
Multidisciplinary entrepreneur supporting people with disabilities and women’s income generation
Exploring how intangible cultural heritage can build trust, connect with markets and bring artisans into brand narratives.
Liu Jing
Founder of the Energy Management Alliance
Helping nonprofit practitioners and social entrepreneurs understand energy management and avoid burnout in long-term action.
Tian Yong & Ma Xun
Initiators of the Root to Flower Arts Fund
The Root to Flower Arts Fund joined young dancer Dong Jilan to open the 2026 Idealists Forum with Bawangbian, exploring how culture can remain alive.
Guo Wenlong
Department Director at the Livable Environment Committee of the China Association of Ageing Industry and author of The Elder-care Broker
Exploring social-entrepreneurship opportunities at the intersection of the silver economy, community services and essential livelihood needs.
Wang Sheng
Co-founder and Dean of Shanghai Oak Academy
Responding to failures across family, school and social-support systems behind adolescent school avoidance and withdrawal.
Li Hongying
Secretary-General of the Xiaogeng Foundation
The Xiaogeng Foundation returns to explore how AI can enter the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and enable solutions with long-term value.
Wang Jing
Founder of Tiantian Tiantian Community Learning Center
As AI performs more work, what capabilities will children need? This forum focuses on protecting the abilities that truly matter within families and communities.
Zhao Wenjing
Founder of Haorun Environmental Protection
Exploring new forms of collaboration between corporate CSR/ESG and long-term public-interest work, as companies move from sole donors to co-initiators.
Tang Lili
Partner and President of Innovative Business at Xiangban Group
As the digital era becomes more efficient, people can become lonelier. A business that cares about people is itself a heartfelt response to the AI era.
Russ Neu
Founder of Singapore social-innovation enterprise Social Collider
Southeast Asia is becoming a rapidly evolving center of social innovation; real cases reveal a window of opportunity.
Cui Yameng
Leader of Yameng Home
Yameng’s Accessibility Partners initiative convenes practitioners for accessibility experiences and immediate-improvement experiments, turning communication into action.
Song Haifeng
Founder of A Beam of Light Guide Running
Returning curator Song Haifeng grew from an individual volunteer into an advocate for guide-running. After training 3,000 volunteers, he is exploring how AI can amplify the impact.
Cao Xiaoyan
Partner, Director and CEO of Xiangban Group
Exploring practical, replicable and long-term operating models that enable rural communities to become sustainable, self-supporting platforms for coexistence.
Xu Peng
Secretary-General of TA Foundation
Focusing on the pet economy and turning controversy into constructive communication and public action.
Dachai
Executive Partner of the RBF Impact Investment Fund and Founder of Old Friends
Starting from first principles to explore new approaches to investing in essential livelihood sectors, alongside the launch of the NPI RBF Impact Investment Fund.
Zhao Yanqing
Program Director and Head of Community Programs at NPI Foundation
Launching support policies and toolkits for community changemakers to strengthen community-building practice.
Guo Xiaomu
Director of Chuxin Learning Community
Launching a social-enterprise development insights report based on program practice and examining trends and challenges facing Chinese social enterprises.
Yuhan
Team Lead of Parenting Insight Lab, Gold Award winner at the AI for Good Hackathon
Drawing on the AI For Good Hackathon to explore support systems for one-person social ventures and launch the AI For Good Impact Investment Fund.
AI for Good Hackathon Teams
Parenting Insight Lab
Exploring an AI personal adviser for family parenting that can support parent–child conflict and anxiety around family education.
Geography AI Classroom Lab
Building a geography-classroom assistant with maps and AI analysis so students can understand real-world systems through an interactive decision sandbox.
Silver Memory Catcher
Exploring game-based learning, AI scenario simulation and digital supervision for cognitive decline and volunteer training.
Whale Companion
Using sensory maps, AI analysis and route planning to help autistic people and their families enter public spaces more safely.
X-90dB Dance Crew
Exploring an AI-assisted dance tool for Deaf people that converts sound into visual flashes and vibration so rhythm can be seen.
To contact any of the people above, please reach out through the Idealists Forum organizing committee.