Twenty Years of Building Leaders: Inside Youth’s Leader Singapore’s House of Future Leaders

In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles looked at a small island and saw what it could become. He set a vision for Singapore that was open to the world, built to last, and ambitious about its future.

Two centuries later, at the address that carries his name, Mr Kenny Nai is building on the same belief. “Great futures are designed from the start,” says the founder of Youth’s Leader Singapore (YLS). “Not at the application stage, not the week before an interview. From the start.”

As YLS enters its 20th year in 2027, it is opening a new chapter from its house at Raffles Hotel Arcade: the House of Future Leaders, a bespoke and hand-built path to education and career success for children and teenagers.

Where It Began

Kenny’s mentoring began in 2006, when he guided student volunteers from Montfort Secondary School’s Service-Learning Club. A year later, in October 2007, he gave the keynote at a bonding session for about 100 student leaders from schools across Singapore. Youth’s Leader Singapore was born that year as a youth hub set up by youths, for youths.

What followed was two decades of programmes built with schools and national partners. In the lead-up to the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, YLS led 28,000 young people in setting 34 national records with the Singapore Book of Records and was recognised by the international olympic committee.

In 2013, it piloted the Youth for UN Women Singapore certification programme with the Singapore Committee for UN Women, and its students went on to raise S$82,850 to assist women and girls across Asean. In 2017, it was a supporting partner of the Singapore Environment Council’s School Green Awards, and its character-building sessions reached more than 9,000 students in 20 primary schools, as recognised in The Straits Times.

Today, YLS counts more than 10,000 student leaders coached and trained, with the trust of over 114 schools and with 4,300 alumni attaining global top universities, scholarships, awards, and global MNC roles.

Built, Not Advised

Kenny is clear about what sets YLS apart. Much of education today is about attaining facts: subject revision, practising papers and sharing concepts. The student is still left to produce the academic results and navigate his/her future alone.

“We are about 90 per cent built,” he says. “We design the programmes, create the projects and platforms, and walk beside each child until the achievement is real. The portfolio isn’t described. It’s earned and opens doors for you in higher-educations to the corporate world.”

That, he believes, is why YLS alumni are noticeably confident. “Our students present their work, take questions, and speak to real audiences years before an interview or a boardroom.” Confidence is practised, not coached the week before.”        ``

YLS also exposes children early to young role models who have spoken at its national events, from champions and entrepreneurs to award-winning creatives, so that ambition has a face. And it teaches children to build frames rather than memorise facts, so they own their learning and their results.

Kenny with Bernice Ang (World Economic Forum Young Global Leader & Obama Scholar) at the launch of National Youth Achievers Forum 2010)

A House, Not a Classroom

The House of Future Leaders brings that model to families, in a setting chosen with intent: Raffles Hotel Arcade.

Parents are received as guests: a quiet lounge with coffee and tea, a quarterly Parents’ Salon on educational and career pathways updates and parenting masterclass, five minutes with the mentor at the close of every visit, and a written note to plant the seed of who they can become. Children learn in rooms of French doors and high ceilings, in small groups or one-to-one.

Five rituals of the house give the experience its traditions. Each child signs a Welcome Book with one ambition. The Founder’s Walk tells the story of Raffles’ vision and ends with the child writing their own vision board. Tea and Table teaches them to host a guest and speak with poise. Each finished project is sealed into their portfolio in front of their parents. And once a year, families, alumni and role models gather for Founders’ Day.

A Promise, Not a Pitch

Behind the experience sits the House Promise: every family receives the full house experience, every child leaves with what was built together, and if any part falls short, YLS makes it right at no extra cost.

“We can promise this because we build it ourselves,” Kenny says. “You can’t guarantee what you only advise on.”

Families can begin with public enrichment classes, courses and masterclasses, move into one-to-one coaching journeys, and join a national programme whose details will be announced in 2027.

The Next Twenty Years

For Kenny, the 20th anniversary is not a look back but a commitment forward. “Raffles gave Singapore a vision that lasted two centuries,” he says. “Our job is to make sure every young person who walks through our doors leaves with a vision of their own, and the record to prove they can achieve it.”

A proud three-generation graduation photoshoot of alumni members with parents and grandma at Raffle Hotel graduating with First-Class Honours and named Valedictorian in 2025.  

Success Story : From Student Leader to Corporate Leader

Sylvia Koh: From Student Leader to Scholar

In 2009, Sylvia Koh was a student leader at Anderson Secondary School when she joined YLS’s Mentoring Youth Leaders Program. By the following year she had completed it, setting out her own plan in a handwritten executive summary, the kind of work YLS asks every student leader to own.

The habits stayed with her. She went on to Victoria Junior College, was awarded an OCBC scholarship in 2012 , later went on to write a high distinction model paper for University of New South Wales in the faculty of law and is now a corporate lawyer.

“The Mentoring Youth Leaders Program has provided a platform for student leaders to be exposed to different roles and activities in an organisation. This is definitely essential in building their confidence and to convince themselves that they are capable of achieving more.”

Sylvia Koh Kia Ying Class 4:1 21 March 2009 Anderson Secondary School

For Kenny, her reflection, spotting, and citing her other schoolmates-Abdul and Glenn for better clarity in expressing ideas is one anchor toward her career destination. “We didn’t write her plan for her,” he says. “We built the platform and she than earned every line on it with leadership roles in JC/University and during her internship to reflect the exemplary track record in her resume.  

Kenny’s former mentees from Anderson Secondary have since returned to their old school as university graduates, a reminder of how far a student leader can go.

Your Child’s Turn to Begin: The door to the public is now open!

For two decades, the training behind Sylvia’s journey was reserved for student leaders chosen by their schools. That changes this December. For the first time, Youth’s Leader Singapore is opening its in-house programmes to the public, with its first public classes launching live on the ClassBuddy app.

The 2027 calendar opens with Living the Torch of Flame in January, five champion values, inspired by the IOC’s Olympic Values Education Programme followed by the Student Research Lab in February using Google for Education Workspace to guide students in research writing for their academic subjects and create google classroom lessons that benefit their own learning and others.  

Parents and children can now experience the same training that has shaped 4,300 young leaders with standout profiles, from half-day enrichment classes and three-session courses to full-day masterclasses at the house in Raffles Hotel Arcade. Each class ends with something real: a finished project and a new page in a portfolio that builds, class by class, into a profile ready for scholarships and admission to leading universities, from the Ivy League to The Russell Group.

“For twenty years, families asked how their child could join,” Kenny says. “Now the door is open. Every child can begin building their record, from the start.”

Recognition for the Founder

Kenny’s work has been recognised in its own right. He was named Best Youth Mentor in Singapore 2026 by the Evergreen Awards, and he is a finalist for the Pearson Educator Awards 2026, in the Preparing Students For The Future Award category, after three of his trainees nominated him.

“The recognition belongs to the students,” he says. “They are the ones who did the work.”

Explore more about Kenny Nai’s work and his mission to create future-ready leaders at Youth's Leader Singapore. Follow his journey and discover how you can contribute to shaping the future of youth leadership today.