Chun-Yin San

Practice Lead – Strategy, Foresight & Futures
Australia

Chun-Yin is the General Manager of ThinkPlace’s Strategy, Foresight & Futures global practice. As our resident expert in explorations and foresight, Chun-Yin is a trusted partner with clients to challenge norms, unlock imagination about possible futures, and identify practical actions that can be taken today to enable future success.

Chun-Yin’s specialty is facilitating inclusive and engaging strategic foresight exercises followed by concrete strategy design processes to realise the social impact. He has led foresight-powered strategy projects in Australia, South-East Asia, and the United Kingdom. This has included the co-design of an Australian Space Manufacturing Roadmap with industry and government that has guided hundreds of millions of dollars in public investment, a COVID-19 scenarios exercise for the Australian Government that was a finalist for the 2020 Public Sector Innovation Awards, and technology visioning workshops for private industry in Singapore.

In 2023, two large projects led by Chun-Yin were recognised with Australian Good Design Awards: the participatory futures-led development of Australia’s new National Strategy for Volunteering, and the design research of new modern workforce management tools for the Australian agricultural sector. In addition, Chun-Yin has been invited to present on foresight for public policy at the invitation of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, UNDP Thailand Policy Lab, and the Australian National University’s Futures Hub.

Chun-Yin holds a MSc in Science Communication (with Distinction) and a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science with Global Health (with First Class Honours), both from Imperial College London. His Master’s thesis examined the application of participatory foresight approaches in national science and technology foresight programs.

Outside of consulting, Chun-Yin has experience as a charity trustee, nonprofit director and public board member, including as licensee and director of TEDxCanberra, the national capital’s ideas festival. He is committed to advancing equity outcomes for people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds, and mentors young CALD leaders to nurture their potential as well as eliminate systemic barriers to representation in senior leadership. He has been part of research groups and professional associations advancing social impact in the region, including the Digital Asia Society and the Asialink Leaders Program, and in 2022 undertook a secondment as acting lead for ThinkPlace Singapore.

Chun-Yin has lived in Hong Kong, Sydney, London, Singapore, and Canberra – but is at home in many places.