Our Story
Teddy Bear Community kicked off in 2020 as "Teddy Bear Talk," a program by Angelina Ren to help young students with leadership and public speaking skills. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when Angelina was feeling bored and missing her friends, she decided to host Zoom sessions to chat about trending news with them. That's when it clicked for her – she wanted to reach out to more people feeling the same way. So, she opened up her sessions to students worldwide, and slowly but surely, more and more people joined in. Every Friday night, there'd be an hour-long session where participants did public speaking activities, games, and had friendly debates. They even started having guest speakers – students who shared their stories and journeys. But Angelina felt a bigger calling. She wanted to do more for her community. That's when Teddy Bear Community expanded beyond just public speaking to cover all kinds of subjects. It became a place not just for improving communication skills but for learning all types of topics, and pivoting towards a path for achieving equal education for all.