MEET THE DIRECTOR
CROSS-CULTURAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER ON GENDER EQUITY & MARKETING STRATEGY
An award-winning filmmaker and respected advertising executive who has lived around the world, Izzy inspires your audience to look at the world with fresh eyes and to dream of possibilities they didn’t see before. How? Through moving personal stories, compelling data, and dynamic public speaking.
“Izzy has been a dynamic speaker and a thoughtful mentor to the many students and emerging filmmakers she encountered around the world. In addition to screenings, Izzy led many masterclasses and weeklong workshops. Izzy is a true professional, with excellent communication skills, incredible drive, and a passion for telling stories that matter to her, and to the world.”
~ Rachel Gandin Mark, Director of International Programs, Program Director,
American Film Showcase, U.S.C. School of Cinematic Arts
KEYNOTE & SPEAKING TOPICS
The Big Flip: Breadwinning Moms and At-Home Dads
Women At The Center: Imagine A World Led By Women
Why The Big Flip Matters—dive into the research around the rise of female breadwinners, and how it affects families, businesses, and society
Big Flip Design & Innovation Opportunities—key pain points for big flip families, and explore how they present opportunities for new products and services
All Mixed Up: Life As A Foulmouthed Chinese Immigrant Woman Who Grew Up In A French Catholic Convent School in the Last British Colony
Post-Screening Q&A with the director
WORKSHOPS
Documentary 101 for strategic planners and researchers: practical filmmaking and interview techniques for ethno-documentary research projects
Design Hackathon for A More Inclusive World: cross-discipline ideation workshop for designing products, services, and environments that promote inclusion, equity and diversity
Thriving In The Big Flip—facilitated forum for female breadwinners to connect and share their experiences, and to brainstorm ideas for businesses and employers to better support them
THE KATIE SHOW
Journalist Katie Couric dedicated an entire episode of her TV show on ABC on the topic of breadwinner wives, titled Alpha Women. She loved The Big Flip so much that she flew director Izzy Chan and one of our Big Flip families, Bonnie and Chip (and their newborn daughter Mabel Mei!) to New York for an interview.
BARE ESCENTUALS
Director Izzy Chan (far right) and The Big Flip's Design & Innovation Lead, Jessica Gates (far left) with the CEO and Chairwoman of Bare Escentuals, Simon Cowell and Leslie Blodgett.
WHERE IZZY HAS SPOKEN
WHY CHOOSE IZZY FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT?
With her cross-cultural background and long career as a creative strategist whose job is to fuel people to do their best work, Izzy will light up the room and inspire your audience to look at the world with fresh eyes and dream of possibilities they didn’t see before.
TEAM ONE
Brand agency Team One leveraged their core strength—creating beautiful work that is head-turning and intelligent—in promoting The Big Flip talk to employees.
TESTIMONIALS
“In The Big Flip, Izzy thoughtfully portrays the experiences of families with breadwinner moms and caregiver dads. The film depicts both the glory and the hardship of this changing household dynamic. A recommended film.”
- Paget Maccoll, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs, NY
IZZY IN ACTION
WHAT DRIVES IZZY
FROM STRONG WOMEN
I come from a long line of strong women, but always with a keen awareness that we live in a man’s world. My paternal grandmother fled the Communists on foot, walking 600 miles from northern China to Hong Kong—pregnant and on bound feet. One of my sharpest childhood memories was this constant hunt for children’s shoes for my grandmother—shoes that looked respectable, that wouldn’t look comical and childish on my grandmother’s “lotus” feet. From the time my grandmother was a small child, her feet were cut, broken, and tightly bound, again and again, until they stopped growing. Such was the man’s world she lived in—his definition of beauty is her everlasting misery. But my grandmother never let her bound feet stop her from walking, however slowly and painfully, towards her goals and dreams, towards a better life. On my mother’s side, my grandmother was a fearless smuggler. She kept her family alive in WWII by smuggling rice, soy sauce, and contraband between China and Hong Kong. She evaded enemy soldiers, fed resistance fighters, and outwitted rival smugglers. Because of my grandmothers, I have the life I have—and a fierce belief that I can do anything.
PUBLIC SPEAKING YOUTH CHAMPION
My love for public speaking started when I was a teen in Hong Kong. In my last year of high school, I won the public speaking championship and was the representative of Hong Kong in the Pacific Rim International Public Speaking Contest in Australia. I was also in the Model United Nations—another youth event centered on public speaking.
“I don’t want to be a passive passenger, and let our collective future be driven by a few experts and authority figures. I want to be upfront, see the big picture, and help drive the conversation.”
INSPIRED
“OUR POST-SCREENING DISCUSSION WAS THE HIGH POINT OF THE EVENING WITH [DIRECTOR] IZZY AND [BIG FLIP MOM] BONNIE SHARING THEIR OWN STORIES AND INSIGHTS THEY’VE GLEANED. THEIR WORDS WERE HONEST, THOUGHTFUL, VULNERABLE, AND INSPIRING TO US ALL, AND OPENED UP A DIALOGUE AROUND HOW WE CAN SUPPORT EACH OTHER.”
- ELIZABETH SPAULDING, SENIOR PARTNER, BAIN & CO.