April Swando Hu

COO & Co-founder, VRWorkout

Born and bred in America and Taiwan, April is bicultural and bilingual in Western and Chinese environments. With 30 years of experience in Asia, April draws on her science and corporate background to democratize access to education, exercise, energy, water, etc..

As an impact entrepreneur, April pioneers new markets with technology including: AI personal health assistant and e-commerce platform (www.hihealth.com.tw) and leading full-body fitness app VRWorkout (www.vrworkout.co).

Resource-conservation, planet positive projects include: Ammonia-based hydrogen fuel cell ‘Say No to Diesel’ (www.gencellengery.com), no-chemicals low-energy treatment of contaminated industrial water (www.blueboson.eu), activated agricultural water (www.kairospacetechnologies.com).

Also in the reset year of 2021, April co-founded NINEby9 (www.NINEby9.com) to conduct research and publications including the new white paper “The Imperative of Inclusion and The Green Economy”.

April holds a Yale BSc Electrical Engineering and Stanford MBA. Raising 4 children, based in Singapore, she spends her spare time ocean paddling and coaching Stanford Women Circles.

 

Sub Stage 1:

Day 2 (August 31), 4:05 PM-4:30 PM

Leveraging Gender inclusion & AI/XR to Shift ‘Unconscious Bias’ for Sustainable Net Zero

Reflecting on her own story to bridge East and West, people and tech, family and career, April Hu is an XR Asian Barbie to catalyse (versus trailblaze) the new Green Economy. She is excited with the unique Asia (Global South) opportunity in Asia to create an equitable, prosperous, and sustainable economy in response to inevitable global transition, driven by climate change and technology innovation.

Research-wise, April will present “The Imperative of Inclusion in The Green Economy” (www.nineby9.com) – with data from LinkedIn, Yale-NUS, and industry experts – on how women can leapfrog into industries and management to which they have been traditionally barred. She will point out deep-rooted cultural ‘unconscious bias’ which blocks women, and men, from entering diverse talent pipelines to fill new, fluid positions at all levels in the workforce.

Work-wise, April will share insights based on her international experience ranging from corporate and start-up ventures VRWorkout ( www.xrworkout.io ) and Hi-Health. She will talk about the impact of XR fitness programs and AI Health Buddies for healthcare and workplace interventions. She will call for XR- AI- assisted optimization of healthcare and spending in money and time to enable more women to enter the workforce.