Celebrating women who inspire: Christina from SingularityU
As an event ticketing platform partnering with all kinds of events across Australasia, we are lucky to work with inspiring and remarkable event organisers. Humanitix sat down with Co-CEO of SingularityU Australia, Christina Gerakiteys, to learn about her journey and the things she is most passionate about.
Christina also recently interviewed the Humanitix co-founders Joshua Ross & Adam McCurdie for the Inpsire For 5 podcast about 5 moments towards Humanitix. You can listen to the podcast here.
Tell us about yourself and SingularityU:
My Massive Transformative Purpose is to open hearts and minds, to inspire impossible to possible. I am an idealist and an optimist. I know we can reach Utopia by living according to the four pillars of compassion, kindness, love and respect for all sentient beings.
SingularityU Australia is on a mission to educate, inspire and empower leaders to use exponential technologies to solve humanity’s grand challenges. Technology is a resource and it is a human who decides how to use any particular technology. It allows us to scale solutions to global levels. Technology isn’t something to be feared. It can make our lives easier and release us from robotic and repetitive tasks. That would leave us free to spend more time elevating our conscioussness to everything around us.
How did you get to where you are now?
It’s been an exciting and labyrinth-like journey. I have had multiple interests and careers. I started in law but it didn’t take me long to conclude that it wasn’t for me. I studied classical music, played in a band, ran schools in music & the Creative Industries, worked in film and television, studied as a herbalist, facilitated retreats, delivered workshops and started an innovation business.
I have an insatiable curiosity to learn everything and anything — and everything I have accomplished has led me to where I am today.
Performing gave me the skills to keynote. Creating experiential learning opportunities gave me the skills to write and facilitate workshops. Every time you have a career pivot, it results in skills you can add to your portfolio.
Why are events at the heart of what you do?
Events let you speak to many people at once. There is an energy in the room that can be contagious.
The magic of bringing like-minded people together and encouraging them to connect, converse and collaborate is what we are all about. We curate experiences that inspire people to action.
It’s important that no matter how big an event is, there are smaller gatherings choreographed so delegates can empower each other with the confidence to connect and act.
The 2019 SingularityU Australia Summit also gave us the opportunity to connect people we believed would be great forces for positive change when their incredible knowledge and passions collided. We have several presenters working together on projects and exhibitors working on a remarkable new product that will help many. Watch this space!
What are your favorite ways to connect and engage with your audience?
I want to create experiences through events, keynotes and workshops, that allow the audience to know that everything is possible with the right team and a bucketful of obsession, resilience and persistence. It is a joy and a privilege to be able to share what you have learned, the experiences you have gathered, and an optimism for the future of our planet and humanity. I presented via Zoom not long ago to a conference in Melbourne from the tiny Greek island of Ithaca. It was really different not being able to feel the energy in the room and not being able to make eye contact with the audience.
We are sentient beings and we need connection.
Even at Googleplex in Mountain View, California, they ride bikes in between buildings to be in the same room as each other for meetings. They could easily go on Hangouts, yet they prefer to connect in person. There is a 10X factor here when it comes to connecting and engaging with your audience.
What are you most passionate about in the social impact space?
Education. I believe that education is the Global Grand Challenge that arches over all the others. Through education we can effectively address the other GGCs. Educate people about water and we can change how we use this precious resource. Educate a community on the environment and conversations happen that lead to change.
Education can raise communities out of poverty, empower people to make decisions with confidence, and create global movements.
And while we are aware that traditional models of education need to be reimagined, it is a resource that has extended far beyond what it has been. Knowledge is available through so many avenues thanks to technology and will become increasingly available as we move forward. Many of my SingularityU colleagues are making remarkable differences to the lives of many through their programs (look up Taddy Blecher and Jos Dirkx as examples).
Why is the Humanitix model important to you?
I have been a supporter of Humanitix ever since I met Josh at an innovation conference several years ago. I love the social impact Humanitix is having. To know that every time someone purchases a ticket from us, we are helping feed or educate a child is brilliant.
It is a win-win-win-win. We win selling tickets to our event, Humanitix wins as we support an Australian social enterprise, a child wins receiving education, and our delegates win attending a transformative event.
That’s gold. That’s humanity being totally better together.
SingularityU Australia Summit 2021
The next Summit will take place on 23–24 March 2021 in various locations around Australia. Early Adopter Summit tickets are now available here.
