NextGen 2025
2025 BINTAN RETREAT
A restorative strategy retreat on the island of Bintan, the 2025 Authentic Leadership Retreat at Banyan Tree Bintan gave NextGen leaders space to step back, reflect and set direction. Designed for young change-makers devoting their resources and talents to meaningful change, it blended personal renewal with collective vision-setting — exploring how authentic leadership can bridge divides and create regenerative, equitable futures in service of life.
THE PROGRAMME
Arrival & Grounding
Held from 7–10 February 2025 at the Banyan Tree Bintan, the Authentic Leadership Retreat opened with an intentional pause from routine. After the ferry crossing from Singapore’s Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and check-in at the resort, participants began with “Landing in the Environment” — a guided nature walk by the sea — followed by informal networking over dinner. Set deliberately away from the pace of daily work, the session invited leaders to set down their immediate to-do lists and create the space for deeper, less hurried thinking.
Reflection & Personal Strategy
Through workshops such as “Overcoming Challenges: Reframing Limiting Beliefs” (facilitated by the Happiness Initiative) and “Becoming Authentic Leaders,” guided reflection helped each leader take honest stock of their personal and philanthropic goals. Reflective exercises built awareness of how our beliefs shape the feelings and actions we take, surfacing what was working, what had drifted and what most needed their attention in the year ahead.
Collective Vision-Setting
Sessions like “Discovering the Self,” the “Creative Life Map” and “Developing a Vision and a Plan” invited the cohort to connect to body, mind and spirit and to map the significant events that shaped their work. Turning outward, participants identified shared priorities for the NextGen community — conversations that surfaced common ground and sparked several new collaborations, enriched by a talk on how technology is shaping our future with Jason Ho, Co-Founder of BEYOND Expo.
Recommitment & Departure
The retreat closed with a private seminar on “Connecting to Self and Navigating Inter-generational Dynamics” with Peggy Dulany Rockefeller, Founder & Chair of Synergos. Participants departed with renewed energy, strengthened relationships and a refreshed sense of direction — carrying a set of clear intentions into the year ahead.
Moments from the Authentic Leadership Retreat at Banyan Tree Bintan, February 2025.
