Patrick Newell, 47, founder of Tokyo International School, calls himself a "learning activist," a zealot on the frontlines of learning. For the past 20 years, everything in his life and work has branched out from creativity: his work at the school, his efforts with TEDxTokyo and his latest venture with Impact Japan.

Newell even takes creativity to the streets, relying on the skateboard as his main mode of transportation in the city. Impishly calling himself "the chairman of the board," he skateboards nearly everyday, exploring the alleyways of Tokyo, where he's lived for the past two decades, or rolling through a new city, often armed with a Go Pro camera to record and share his discoveries. "I take what I do seriously, but I don't take myself too seriously," he says.

Two decades ago, Newell left a comfortable life in Malibu, California, when he suddenly realized that his existence "just wasn't real and enlightening enough for me."