Kevin Felix Chan, better known as KFC in MUN community graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) an completed certificates from Cornell University and Fudan University in China. He’s the co-founder of the education organization ‘Best Delegate’.
Q. How would you describe yourself?
Kevin: Professionally, I would describe myself as a hard worker who gets things done, as someone who has high standards and wants to bring out the best in others, and as someone who’s passionate about my work. Personally, I’d describe myself as adventurous and ambitious, yet easy-going.
Q. How and when did you start your MUN journey?
Kevin: I started during my freshman year of high school in Los Angeles.
Q. Share us your first ever MUN experience? How you felt?what did you learn from it?
Kevin: I was a shy kid! I’d be nervous to speak in front of class and my hands would visibly shake! Since I wrote my entire speech and tried to read off it, holding that piece of paper up only made my hand-shaking even more visible! Looking back, I now realize the power of Model UN to help students who are shy become confident as public speakers.
Q. How many MUNs have you attended as a delegate and as a trainer?
Kevin: I’ve lost count at this point. I’ve taught Model UN in twenty countries, and I’ve attended over 100 conferences.
Q. What do you enjoy the most about being a MUNner?
Kevin: I really enjoy meeting the global community of MUNners, and I’ve met friends in so many different countries and have since visited them in their home countries too! I don’t think any other activity allows students to get plugged into such a global network. It’s my dream that we will all change the world together in the future.
Q. How has MUN helped you?
Kevin: Model UN has helped me grow from being a shy and nervous student to a confident global leader who has introduced Ban Ki-moon in front of the United Nations General Assembly Hall. It has given me the skills and knowledge to start my own company and train the next set of leaders all over the world.
Q. How did the ‘Best Delegate’ come about?
Kevin: Ryan Villanueva, the other co-founder of Best Delegate, actually started BestDelegate.com as a blog from his dorm room at Yale — the blog is named after the award in MUN “Best Delegate”. Ryan and I knew each other from our high school Model UN days and kept in touch during our college Model UN careers, so I was the second writer on the website. Eventually, we both decided to quit our jobs and do Best Delegate as our full-time jobs.
Q. What is the main motive behind the project of Best Delegate?
Kevin: Our mission is to train today’s students to become tomorrow’s leaders. And we believe Model United Nations is the best way to do that, because we benefited so much from it. So our goal is to bring Model UN to every student in the world who wants to become a leader in the global community.
Q. Where would you say Best Delegate stand is right now?
Kevin: We’re just getting started. There is so much more Model UN can do to prepare today’s students for global leadership, and there are so many more people this activity can impact. We’re working on building what Model UN should be and needs to be in the future.
Q. How far do you think BD and the MUN has created that impact to the youth?
Kevin: I know we work with thousands of students every year directly, and our website is read by over 750,000 readers each year. I’d like to think that we’ve been a big reason why Model UN is so popular and easy to start and be led by student-leaders — it’s because we created the resources that lowered the knowledge barrier to entry.
Q. Have there been any incident where you encountered change in the outlook of a youth towards UN through the MUN?
Kevin: Yes, at Northeast India International MUN! One of the students was representing Pakistan. His own relative was killed in the Kargil Conflict between India and Pakistan, so he had some personal bias against Pakistan. But after representing Pakistan in Model UN, he felt like he could understand their perspective. I think this is powerful. This story may not have changed his perspective of the actual UN necessarily, but it nevertheless was part of the spirit of the UN — to understand different perspectives and come together to try to resolve our issues.
Q. You have travelled across the globe training million of youth, what difference do you find between the Indian MUNners and other? (wink)
Kevin: India has several circuits and styles so I cannot capture all the differences. But in general, I think most foreigners who’ve interacted with Indian delegates before would say that they tend to be more aggressive. When I observe differences in debating styles across countries, I tend to hypothesize it may be partly cultural or partly modeling their home country’s politicians. But I also think it’s partly driven by debate-oriented MUN rules of procedure used in India and the way certain aggressive and antagonistic actions are rewarded by Indian chairs.
Q. Apart from MUN, what other activities do you enjoy?
Kevin: I enjoy traveling and have been to over sixty countries. I also love food and exploring all types of cuisines. I’m also a fan of watching sports and scuba diving.
Q. A word of advice to the first hand MUNners?
Kevin: Model UN is a journey. The first step to that journey is raising your placard and making your first speech. The longer you wait, the scarier it becomes. After your first speech, everything becomes easier and more fun, and you’ll realize there’s a whole world of skills and topics for you to learn about!
Bonus: I always find your skin really great! What skin care regime do you follow? (ultimate necessity)
Kevin: LOL I’m actually not great at this. But then again, I hear this routine is not common among American men. I use use a simple cleanser, toner, and moisturizer plus the occasional facial mask.
The Personage 