The Bold Dreamers and Brave Solutions — Citi Presents IdeaPOP! 2026

The most powerful room we've been in this year wasn't a boardroom. It was a stage full of secondary school students who refused to accept the world as it is.

Citi Presents IdeaPOP! 2026 has officially wrapped last week. What these young changemakers delivered this year went far beyond what any of us anticipated. Across four of Hong Kong's most pressing social issues, namely disability inclusion, education, elderly care, and mental wellness and resilience, 10 finalist teams brought forward solutions rooted in real research, genuine empathy, and an unwavering belief that change is possible.

What made this year's cohort remarkable wasn't just their ideas. It was their ownership of them. These students interrogated problems, challenged assumptions, rebuilt prototypes from scratch, and walked onto that stage with the kind of clarity and conviction that most professionals spend years developing.

St. Paul's Convent School's team "SENsational Mind" captured it best: "Our reason for joining this competition was always to help society. That's why I never saw the other teams as competitors. If anything, we were all working together to make a difference for Hong Kong's social issues."

That spirit of collective purpose, putting impact above competition, defined every team on that stage this year.

Real innovation isn't about having all the answers. It's about asking better questions, staying curious, and having the courage to act.
To every student who was part of IdeaPOP! 2026: you didn't just compete. You showed up, spoke up, and stood for something. That matters far beyond any award.

🎥 Hear directly from the students who made it all happen: https://youtu.be/jSdhAp0pMa8