Going from being a high-profile business leader to becoming a best-selling author and life coach, Stanley Yen is frequently invited to give inspirational lectures to students and corporate groups.

Yen had spent decades in the hospitality industry and was CEO of the Taipei Landis hotel when he had to have a kidney removed. Advised to change his lifestyle, Yen resigned from his position in 2009, and at the age of 62, he rechanneled his energies to pursue educational reform in the Haulien and Taitung countryside, forming The Alliance Cultural Foundation. One of the schools TACF has transformed is the JunYi School of Innovation, incorporating the Waldorf approach and providing scholarships for disadvantaged children. At the Physical Education High School, vocational skills in ecotourism help broaden job opportunities for athlete students. Yen has also been cultivating local talent, promoting indigenous crafts and culture, and sustainably developing the area’s natural tourism attractions.