Inspiring, Challenging Preparing Future Leaders

By now, you’d have heard of The Institute@ Tanglin - a space that will bring together a range of current and future disciplines, teachers, learners, facilitators, and mentors to work collaboratively. But how much do you know about Sohini Brandon-King, who oversees The Institute? Join us as we catch up with the newly minted Director of Scholarship, Inquiry, and Partnerships.

What were you doing before Tanglin?

I have had a career in the UK, US, and Singapore in higher education management, strategy consulting, and public policy roles for governments across these countries. Taking on these different roles in unfamiliar environments helped me grow in both a personal and professional capacity. Many of my choices were shaped by great mentors, and meeting people with inspiring stories who encouraged me to push myself beyond my comfort zone.

What was the most memorable part of your career so far?

It’s definitely the time when I was given the great privilege of being seconded by Deloitte to work for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) as the Project Manager to organise International Paralympic Day in Trafalgar Square in 2011.

We created so much buzz and excitement with plans for the day when the then Prime Minister and Mayor of London, David Cameron and Boris Johnson, requested to attend and play a doubles tennis match with wheelchair tennis athletes. This helped to boost ticket sales for the Paralympic Games way beyond expectations. The inspiring athletes, staff, and leadership of LOCOG, the incredible culture driving the Games, and the complexity of the project, made this an unforgettable experience.

Why is thought leadership important for an educational institution like Tanglin?

To prepare future leaders, we need experts and organisations outside of a school curriculum and environment, to provide perspectives, knowledge, and insight into the jobs of the future, and encourage students to think about how they will tackle the challenges they will face in their professional and personal lives.

I hope that the Institute@Tanglin can play some part in bringing people, growth opportunities, and a range of experiences and perspectives to the community and encourage us to think about the biggest challenges we face, provide a toolkit of skills and capabilities to address these and fuel discourse on these matters both in and outside of our school environment.

After speaking with Tanglin’s stakeholders, what is your roadmap for The Institute?

I joined the school in Term 3 last year and spent my first few months asking faculty, leadership, parents, and other external stakeholders what they thought the Institute should be, what type of programming it should have and what purpose it will serve. After speaking with them, we came up with the vision to inspire, challenge, and prepare the next generation of leaders in our community, by promoting excellence, providing thought leadership, and encouraging discourse.

“I hope that the Institute can play some part in bringing people, growth opportunities, and a range of experiences and perspectives to the community and encourage us to think about the biggest

challenges we face. ”

ROADMAP FOR THE INSTITUTE@TANGLIN:

we plan to deliver opportunities in the following areas

SCHOLARSHIP: We encourage both faculty members and students to nurture a deeper interest in in-depth studies by providing a platform to present and discuss research with experts from academia and various industries as well as creating niche courses of study.

INQUIRY: We provide opportunities outside the classroom to develop important life skills, capabilities, and interdisciplinary thinking through hands-on learning experiences like entrepreneurship projects, mentorships, and workshops with external experts.

PARTNERSHIPS: We plan to engage the wider Tanglin and Singapore community with external collaborations with corporate, government, and educational entities in the delivery of Institute programmes. By doing this, we hope to position Tanglin as a centre for thought leadership and not just a school.

DISCOURSE:

We will organise a series of forums and discussions with inspiring individuals and organisations across a range of expertise. This will not only challenge and expand our thinking across Tanglin’s strategic themes, it will also inspire discourse and learning across different disciplines in and outside of the classroom. »

To date, we have delivered our first Speaker Series featuring David Faulkner. David is an Olympic Gold medallist in Hockey (Seoul 1988) and was awarded an MBE for his services in Sport in 2021. During his sessions, he met our students, parents, and faculty as well as people from other schools to discuss how best to support our children’s aspirations in sport, athlete development, and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). Keeping with the excellence in sport theme, we also hosted an evening with former England Cricket captain Adam Holliaoke. He shared his inspiring journey in professional cricket where he explored the commercial driven changes in the modern game and discussed the implications for young aspiring cricketers as well as the future of the sport in UK and globally.

All in all, the sessions sparked interesting discussions and questions from students, parents, and teachers. We are happy that everything has gone well and look forward to organising similar events in the future. We welcome our community to join us on such events, so do check The Institute page on the Tanglin Trust School website for more information.

We have just set up a corporate partnership with SC Ventures to run a pilot entrepreneurship programme for CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) and hosting an upcoming faculty research forum in December. During the forum, the Vice President for Floorcare at Dyson will present a keynote speech on R&D, followed by breakouts for presentations and discussions. This forum is a great opportunity for our faculty as well as those from other international schools to present and discuss their research with their peers.

Since The Institute is positioning itself as a centre for thought leadership, what other audiences will it cater to?

We hope that it will cater to a wide audience, within and outside the Tanglin community. This includes parents, OneNorth businesses, and the wider community across different sectors in Singapore such as corporates, other educational institutions, NGOs, and the government.

Tell us something people wouldn’t know from your resume.

Having spent time in New Orleans as a child, I love Creole food, which is hard to find in Singapore. So, if you know any good restaurants serving Creole cuisine or have a good family recipe to share, I would love to hear from you! ■