Henry F. MAKEHAM / 孟秉融
Founder / ACYD Board Director
City of residence: Boston
henry.makeham@acyd.org.au; Henry’s LinkedIn Profile
+1 857 364 7032
Henry Makeham is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award and has been recognised as a Global Emerging Voices Fellow, a Pacific Forum CSIS Young Leader, and one of the Lowy Institute for International Policy’s 50 ‘New Voices’ on international leadership.
Henry is the founder of the Australia-China Youth Dialogue (ACYD). The ACYD is an annual, not-for-profit bilateral dialogue that develops high-level linkages between early-to-mid career future leaders in Australia-China relations. The network being developed around the dialogue will keep everyone in close touch as they work their way into top jobs in both countries. The ACYD is the only Australian organisation to have forged a working partnership with the All-China Youth Federation, the China Youth Daily (the official newspaper of the Communist Youth League) and the China University Media Union.
Henry’s publications on Australia-China affairs have appeared in the Chinese Journal of International Politics (Oxford University Press, forthcoming), Hong Kong Law Journal, China Daily, Canberra Times, East Asia Forum and Australia-China Business INSIGHT. Henry has also engaged in a number of public speaking and media events concerning Australia-China relations and Asia-literacy. These include Asialink’s Next Generation series, the Asia Education Foundation’s Leading 21st Century Schools Forum, ABC Radio National’s Australia Talks, Radio Australia’s Connect Asia and SBS World News.
Henry graduated from the Australian National University (ANU) with double first class honours degrees in Law and Asian Studies (Chinese). He is currently completing a Master of Laws at Harvard Law School.
Dominic MEAGHER / 胡东清
Executive Director / ACYD Board Director
City of residence: Beijing
dominic.meagher@acyd.org.au; Dominic’s LinkedIn Profile
+86 135 52575701
Dominic is an expert in the Chinese economy and the nexus of growth and sustainability. He has studied international development issues with a particular focus on China for over a decade and has researched China and East Asian energy issues for 6 years. Dominic has a multi-disciplinary background. He holds an Honours degree in Politics and International Relations with a major in History from UNSW as well as Graduate Diploma and Masters Degrees in International Development Economics from the ANU. He has submitted his PhD thesis in Economics at the ANU where he was a Rio Tinto China Scholar. Concurrent with his PhD studies Dominic was Project Manager of the China Economy Program at the Crawford School of Public Policy, a Project officer at the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research and a Consulting Editor with the East Asia Forum. He also interned with Citigroup in Hong Kong in 2007 where he advised against the prevailing belief that a repeat of the 1997 Asian financial crisis was impossible.
Dominic’s interest in China began in 2002 as an intern at the Asia-Australia Institute and his first trip to China was in 2003. He arrived without knowing a single word of Chinese and left after a year, having evaded SARS and becoming conversationally fluent in Mandarin. Since then, he has returned to China on an almost annual basis and has spent extended periods of time in a dozen different provinces.
Dominic’s recent research focuses on the impact of China’s economic transformation on the use of energy in the economy. His other research covers geopolitics, climate change, water management, international trade rules, rural poverty, Asian integration and financial regulatory systems. He has published short articles on US and Chinese politics, China-Japan relations, food crises, climate change, international trade, and China’s oil, coal and electricity industries.
Dominic was an advisor to the Australia-China Youth Dialogue in 2010 and participated as a Delegate in 2011 and was the lead author of the 2011 ACYD Delegates’ Submission to the Australian Government White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century. He misses living in Canberra and running ultra marathons and rogains with friends at Bruce Hall.
Natalie COPE / 南希
Operations and Logistics Manager / ACYD Board Director
City of residence: Sydney
natalie.cope@acyd.org.au; Natalie’s LinkedIn Profile
Natalie is “Manager of Partnerships and Development” at Asialink, Australia’s leading centre for the promotion of public understanding of, and engagement with the countries of Asia.
In her role as Manager of Partnerships and Development at Asialink, Natalie works closely with business, government, philanthropic and cultural partners to initiate and strengthen Australia-Asia engagement, and develop Australia’s Asia capabilities. Based in Sydney, Natalie is also working closely with the Asialink executive to develop Asialink’s new Sydney office.
Preceding her days with Asialink, Natalie practised as a litigation lawyer with international firm DLA Piper, prior to which she worked in Beijing as a trainee lawyer with one of China’s premier law firms assisting in advising Chinese clients with their investments in foreign jurisdictions, as well as assisting in advising international entities on their operations in China.
Natalie has completed Mandarin language studies at Tsinghua University, has worked as a program consultant for a Beijing-based Chinese language study abroad agency in the lead up to which Natalie interned with a magic circle law firm in Hong Kong.
While completing her BA/LLB (Honours), Natalie participated in a number of academic exchange opportunities including Mandarin studies at the Shanghai International Studies University, Asian Legal Studies at the Kuala Lumpur campus of Monash University in Malaysia, International Law at the William Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii, as well as business studies in Mexico.
Elizabeth RESIDE / 李思
Company Secretary
City of residence: Canberra
elizabeth.reside@acyd.org.au; Elizabeth’s LinkedIn Profile
Elizabeth Reside is currently completing her final year of a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Asia Pacific Studies (Chinese) at the ANU. She developed her interest in China while studying Mandarin at PLC Melbourne, where she received the 2008 International Baccalaureate Prize for Mandarin.
In 2009 she was awarded the National Undergraduate Scholarship to study at the ANU, where she became actively involved in student societies and programs. These included Vice President Outgoing Exchange (2009) and President (2010) of AIESEC ANU and a member of the Burton and Garran Hall Academic Team (2010). In 2011 she enjoyed roles as Logistics Director for the inaugural ANU Asia Pacific Week conference and a part time paralegal at the Aboriginal Legal Service Canberra before clerking at Jonathan Wong Lawyers Melbourne. In 2012 she was one of six Australian Interns at Herbert Smith Freehills London, while also keeping the trains running on time as Secretary for the Australia China Youth Association National Executive. At present she remains involved in the ACYA Group as Steering Committee Secretary. Elizabeth’s articles have been published in the ACYA Cultural Journal of Sino-Australia Affairs and 新金山Newspaper, Melbourne.
Elizabeth is a passionate supporter of the Essendon Football Club and when she has time, she likes to indulge in watching Chinese dramas, sabre fencing and baking.
Greg AINSWORTH / 安格力
Partnership Development Manager
City of residence: Boston
gregory.ainsworth@acyd.org.au; Gregory’s LinkedIn Profile
Greg is a graduate of the University of New South Wales in Economics and Chinese Studies. He completed an exchange at Shanghai’s Fudan University and also worked for a large construction company in Shanghai and a distribution company in Macau. He has enjoyed extensive travel in China across all points of the compass.
Currently based in Boston, Massachusetts, Greg works as a management consultant with a boutique firm that specializes in growth strategies for Global 1,000 firms but also takes on entrepreneurial projects with smaller firms and startups. In addition, Greg runs a medical device startup company with a team based in the Cambridge area and in hospitals around Boston. Prior to this, Greg worked for 2.5 years in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Canberra where he worked in international policy and economic policy before joining the Strategy and Delivery Division.
Simon MANETTI / 司马睿
Partnership Development Coordinator (International)
City of residence: London
simon.manetti@acyd.org.au; Simon’s LinkedIn Profile
Simon Manetti graduated from the University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and History) before moving to Beijing to study at the Beijing Language and Culture University. After attaining fluency in Mandarin, Simon moved to Ningbo to take a post as a Junior Manager at a trading and manufacturing company – managing production staff and sourcing luxury textiles in Zhejiang Province.
In 2008, Simon began working for Interbrand in Shanghai, helping foreign clients such as P&G, Toyota and Dow Chemical localise their brands for the China market while also supporting Chinese clients such as Huawei and Sany step onto the global stage, managing to name a Macau casino along the way.
In mid-2009 Simon set upon his current career path by joining China Solutions LLC as Project Manager, leading Chinese legal graduates in providing legal and operational solutions for foreign investors – focussed towards drafting manufacturing and employment contracts, WFOE formation and crisis management. During this time, he also co-wrote papers on ‘China’s New Foreign Partnership Structure’ and ‘Court Selection in Shanghai’ as well as leading a re-branding of China Solutions.
Simon will soon join Herbert Smith Freehills LLP in London.
Stevan TAO / 陶钧
Partnership Development Coordinator (China)
City of residence: Beijing
stevan.tao@acyd.org.au; Stevan’s LinkedIn Profile
Stevan is a graduate of the Australian National University with double degrees in Psychology and Commerce (Finance). Throughout university, he has been an active member of the Australia-China Youth Association, where he previously served as ACYA’s National Sponsorship Director.
Stevan is currently working for the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce in Beijing as the Northern China Manager (Membership).
Stevan is passionate about sports and in particular, basketball. He is a diehard fan of the Houston Rockets (NBA) and the Ningbo Bayi Rockets (CBA).
Hayley WARD / 嘿美丽
Public Affairs Manager / Arts and Creative Industries Panel Coordinator
City of residence: Melbourne
hayley.ward@acyd.org.au; Hayley’s LinkedIn Profile
Ms Hayley Ward currently works with the Asia Education Foundation and Asialink at the University of Melbourne. She was the National Communications Director for the Australia-China Youth Association in 2010, and has been actively involved in developing the Australia-China Youth Dialogue since its foundation.
In 2009, Hayley spent a year as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development at the Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge and Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, Kunming. In 2011, she was selected to attend the Republic of China (Taiwan) Centennial National Celebrations and International Peace Day celebration of peaceful Cross-Strait relations with Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou.
Hayley is currently co-authoring a book chapter with Henry Makeham on the role of young people in Australia-China relations for presentation at the Deakin University conference “Cross-cultural Literacy: China and Australia in the Asian Century”, at the Australian Studies Centre, Renmin University of China, Beijing in October 2012. Hayley continues to be inspired to develop her diverse interests in international relations, media and communications, creative industries and people-to-people exchange towards a career in cultural and public diplomacy, in pursuit of furthering meaningful and dynamic Sino-Australian engagement.
Joe MCCARTHY / 马洲屹
Website Manager
City of residence: Canberra
joe.mccarthy@acyd.org.au; Joe’s LinkedIn Profile
Joe McCarthy is a PhD Candidate in the School of Sociology at the Australian National University, and a member of the ANU China Institute. His PhD research explores sustainable energy in the Chinese power generation industry and is concerned with the institutional forces (domestic and international) that influence the operational decisions and strategies of China’s centrally-owned power companies. His research also charts the development of sustainability ideas in the Chinese power generation industry, and whether Ecological Modernisation theory can explain recent developments in China’s power generation industry.
Before commencing his PhD research in 2011, Joe graduated with First Class Honours in a Bachelor of Security Analysis (Asia-Pacific) from the ANU College of Asia Pacifc at the Australian National University. His honours thesis ‘Crude Oil Mercantilism? An Analysis of Chinese National Oil Companies investment in Kazakhstan and Sudan’ explored Chinese NOCs’ investment in developing nations, within the context of Western debates on Chinese ‘resource mercantilism’. A journal article from this research will be published in a special issue of the Pacific Affairs journal, entitled ‘Crude ‘Oil-Mercantilism’? Chinese Oil-Engagement in Kazakhstan’ in June 2013.
In 2009-2010, Joe was a ANU Summer Research Scholar in the Department of International Relations in the College of Asia Pacific. His research explored the geopolitics of Chinese engagement in Central Asia with specific reference to energy engagement.
Joe is currently living in Canberra after returning from Beijing where he was a Visiting Scholar at Peking University during 2012.
His role at ACYD is to manage the digital content for the website.
Michael TING / 陈际利
Treasurer
City of residence: Hong Kong
michael.ting@acyd.org.au
Michael Ting is a recent graduate of the University of Melbourne where he studied a Bachelor of Laws/Commerce concurrently with a Diploma of Modern Languages (Chinese).
He has travelled extensively and studied in Switzerland, Hong Kong and Beijing. In 2008, Michael took the opportunity to study Mandarin at Peking University. His most memorable experience was appearing on a talk show aired nationally on CCTV 1.
Michael has also worked in China and Hong Kong, most recently completing clerkships at two international law firms. In 2012, Michael will be starting with Mallesons Stephen Jaques in Hong Kong. Michael has a keen interest in Chinese law, and in particular, China’s activities in the World Trade Organization. His articles have been published in Australia and in Hong Kong, including in the Hong Kong Law Journal.
Tom WILLIAMS / 卫涛
Community Liaison Coordinator
City of residence: Perth
thomas.williams@acyd.org.au; Tom’s LinkedIn Profile
Thomas Williams is currently completing his Asian Studies Honours and Law degree for UWA on exchange at Peking University in China as part of the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award. He is the President of the Beijing Chapter of the Australia-China Youth Association. He is also in the process of establishing a 180Degrees Consulting Branch for NGOs in Beijing. Hopefully at the end of next year he will co-establish with university friends a study-volunteering-adventure tour programme for Australian secondary students in China.
Tom has long felt that young people need to actively engage themselves with their local and wider communities as they have the greatest potential to sustain positive change and the greatest vested interest in the future. The key aspect of this engagement is education as it is the most empowering process to affect real personal and social progress. To this end he has previously worked with the UNDP and Commonwealth Youth Programme to inaugurate the Wansolwara Youth Peace Building Conference which provides Pacific youth leaders with the necessary education materials, training, contacts and sources of funding to formulate and implement peace and conflict resolution strategies in their Pacific home islands. He has also led the UWA Fogarty Scholar’s Expedition North which endowed Scholars with a better understanding of the systemic socio-economic, legal, and health constraints facing Indigenous and rural Australia through touring prisons, work camps, hospitals, energy projects and Indigenous community centres and spending time with local school teachers and students.
Tom hopes over the next few years to complete a Masters in Asian Studies and then start an education orientated organisation in China.
Even though Tom is greatly enjoying living in the vivacious human vibrancy that is Beijing, he does occasionally long for the miracle of Australian beaches and sunshine.
ZHOU Kang / 周康
Logistics Coordinator (China)
City of residence: Beijing
zhou.kang@acyd.org.au ; Kang’s LinkedIn Profile
Zhou Kang is a graduate of Hunan Normal University with a degree in Human Resource Management. Based in Beijing, Zhou Kang is currently employed at China Policy working on an EU funded project that studies the use of voluntary labels in an effort to help European SMEs to better understand and access the Chinese market.
Prior to joining China Policy, Zhou Kang undertook a research internship at North Head Consulting, a Beijing based strategic communications and public affairs consultancy, working primarily on the researching and analysing the impact that China’s 12th Five Year Plan would have on foreign businesses in China.
Before moving to Beijing, Zhou Kang worked as a program officer for Hunan’s local government. His major responsibilities included policy advocacy and program support of rural development and farmland protection, and outreach and coordination among various stakeholders.
In his spare time, Zhou Kang has actively involved in volunteer and youth events. In addition to working as a member of the ACYA translation and marketing team, he is also actively involved with the Beijing Lifelight Blind Center volunteer program and was a delegate at the inaugural Australia-China Youth Dialogue in 2010.
Zhou Kang is due to commence a joint MBA program between Peking University and Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School this August.
Joel WING-LUN / 黄智雄
Governance and Law Panel Coordinator
City of residence: Sydney
joel.wing-lun@acyd.org.au; Joel’s LinkedIn Profile
Joel Wing-Lun 黄智雄 graduated from the University of Sydney in 2011 with First Class Honours and the University Medal in Chinese Studies. Born and raised in Sydney, Joel first visited China in 2007 where he has since spent nearly three years studying, working and traveling. In 2012, he worked as an analyst at China Policy, Beijing, and is now returning to Sydney to take up a position at the Lowy Institute for International Policy.
Christiana LIANG / 梁小艳
Communications Coordinator
City of residence: Shanghai
christiana.liang@acyd.org.au; Christiana’s LinkedIn Profile
LIANG Xiaoyan is a recent graduate of Shanghai International Studies University with a Master of Arts Degree in English and Intercultural Communication Studies. In addition to her role as the Protocol Director of 2012 ACYD, LIANG Xiaoyan is on the team of Media and Public Relations in China.
Her ties with ACYA started in 2010 when she participated in the Inaugural Australia China Youth Dialogue, the flagship youth event of ACYA, as one of the fifteen Chinese delegates. She benefitted immensely from the intercultural nature of this exciting event and later founded ACYA Shanghai Chapter which throughout the year 2011 organized various successful intercultural events aiming to promoto cross cultural understanding between Australian and Chinese youth.
Jacob TAYLOR / 李杰
Dialogue Design and Innovation Manager / Sports Panel Coordinator
City of residence: Nanjing
jacob.taylor@acyd.org.au; Jacob’s LinkedIn Profile
Jacob has been lucky enough to combine a career in professional sport with his interests in China and academia. Jacob was a member of the Australian Sevens Rugby Team from 2009-2012, during which time he completed an Arts Languages degree at Sydney University, receiving the University Medal for his honours thesis in social anthropology entitled “Tackling Rugby in China”. Jacob believes that cultural activities such as sport are crucial to improving cultural intelligence and inter-cultural transfer between Australia and China. In this same vein, in 2012 Jacob helped establish ACYA’s Engaging China Project – a national platform for promoting China-literacy in Australian high schools.
Within academia, Jacob is fascinated by how the human body and mind play a central role in cultural, social, and political interactions, and is bound for Oxford University to pursue these questions as the 2013 NSW Rhodes Scholar-elect. In the meantime, Jacob has taken up the role of Head Coach of the Chinese Youth Rugby Sevens Team.
Jacob’s focus on sport forms part of the ACYD’s 360° approach to the Australia-China relationship. In addition, Jacob is responsible for driving ACYD design and innovation.
HU Yuzhou / 胡羽舟
Human Resources Intern
City of Residence: Canberra
vincent.hu@acyd.org.au; Vincent’s LinkedIn Profile
HU, Yuzhou (Vincent) is an undergraduate student studying a degree in Finance at the Australian National University. He is in his third year of studies, and expects to finish in mid-2014 with Honours.
Vincent has demonstrated a strong academic record at ANU, as evidenced by the Terrell International Student Scholarships, which awards top two international students university wide. His fine performance in finance courses also enables him to receive the CFAI Student Scholarships.
Vincent has a genuine interest in financial markets and the financial services industry. He started his personal investment portfolio (equity) two years ago, and with the help of the equity research process, he managed to obtain a return of approximately 15% per annum thus far. He has also completed two internships in the first and second year of university, one at the China Construction Bank (Shanghai) and the other at a boutique financial consulting/accounting services firm.
Additionally, he is actively involved in student societies and clubs. He is the Event Partner at the ANU Management Consulting Association (AMCA), cooperating with other functional teams to arrange venues, catering and logistics; as well as reporting events in the newsletters. He leads a team in a pro-bono consulting engagement between AMCA and the Australian-Indonesian Youth Association (AIYA), with the aim to formulate a consolidation strategy facilitating perpetual growth. He also serves as a secretary at the Golden Key Honours Society, a mentor at the sign-Mentor program, and has volunteered at several primary schools.
His role at ACYD is to manage applications for the 2013 ACYD this September.
FENG Shenghao / 冯晟昊
Climate Change Panel Coordinator
City of residence: Canberra/Melbourne
feng.shenghao@acyd.org.au; Shenghao’s LinkedIn Profile
Feng Shenghao is a PhD (economics) candidate at the Crawford School of Public Policy of the Australian National University (ANU) and a visiting PhD student at the Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS) of the Monash University. He holds a Master in International and Development Economics and a Bachelor in Economics from the Crawford School and the London School of Economics, respectively.
Shenghao’s PhD thesis is titled “The economics modelling of China’s carbon dioxide mitigation policies – a computable general equilibrium analysis”. This modelling practice evaluates the economic impacts of mitigation policies including carbon tax, cap and trade, coal-efficiency improvement and the structural rebalancing towards a domestic and consumption oriented economy. Apart from experts from the ANU and the CoPS, Shenghao also collaborates closely with researchers from the State Information Centre, National Development and Research Commission, China.
Shenghao worked as a research assistant on the World Bank report “Climate Change and Fiscal Policy – a Report for APEC”. He worked in the capacity of analysing the pricing mechanisms for key energy products, namely coal, oil and gas in China. Shenghao is a tutor of the post-graduate level course “Mathematics for Economics” at the Crawford School. He also works as a self-employed translator who specializes in translating climate change related issues between English and Chinese.
Aside from academics, Shenghao is interested in history, politics, philosophy and sports. Shenghao was a delegate of ANU’s Asia Pacific Week in 2010. He was also a winner of Canberra Football Association’s 5-aside Indoor Soccer League, Division 4, 2009.
It is the passion that Shenghao felt as a 2012 ACYD delegate which is the biggest reason why he has joined the ACYD 2013 team.
Jakob MAYER / 梅雅各
Defence and International Affairs Panel Coordinator
City of residence: Canberra
jakob.mayer@acyd.org.au; Jakob’s LinkedIn Profile
Jakob Mayer is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award and has completed double first class honours degrees in International Studies and Laws and Legal Practice from the Flinders University of South Australia. As part of his Award, in 2011, Jakob studied at East China Normal University in Shanghai. His areas of research are Chinese constitutional law and Australian foreign policy as it relates to the US-China relationship.
In addition to working for the Australian government in Canberra, Jakob is an Asia Literacy Ambassador with the Asia Education Foundation, working with Australian schools to explain the benefits of ‘Asia Literacy’ to young Australians.
As Defence and International Affairs Coordinator , Jakob is responsible for those aspects of the ACYD that focus on defence, international relations and global politics.
Neil THOMAS / 牛犇
Logistics Coordinator (Australia)
City of residence: Perth
neil.thomas@acyd.org.au; Neil’s LinkedIn Profile
Neil Thomas is studying a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Arts (International Relations, Economics) double-degree at the University of Western Australia on a UWA Fogarty Scholarship. This year he will commence a three-semester BA Honours program in Chinese governance and international political economy, taking courses and writing a dissertation at UWA, Tsinghua University, and Sichuan University on a Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award.
Neil has previously spent 18 months studying Chinese on the CSC Chinese Government Scholarship at Zhejiang University and then the Renmin University of China, as well as having spent a year studying international development and economics at University College Maastricht in the Netherlands. In 2012, Neil was appointed the inaugural ACYA National Publications Director, and has been active in both the ACYA Beijing and ACYA UWA Chapters. As Publications Director, Neil serves as Executive Editor of the ACYA Journal of AustraliaChina Affairs, Editor of the monthly ChinaBites and AustraliaBites newsletters, and supervises the production of the brand-new ACYA Opportunities Guide.
On a personal level, Neil is extremely interested in journalism and mass communications, centre-periphery public policy distortions, and exploring how humans can strike a better balance between bureaucracy and adhocracy when organising ourselves to reach collective solutions to the problems we face. He is also very excited about bringing the ACYD to Perth for the first time, and is eager to boost the reputation of Western Australia with Chinese and Australian East-Coasters alike!
Fiona LAWRIE
ACYD Alumni Association National Coordinator (Australia)
City of Residence: Beijing / Melbourne
fiona.lawrie@acyd.org.au; Fiona’s LinkedIn Profile
Fiona Lawrie is Campaign Manager at Thirst, working alongside the CEO and the Thirst team to engage young people in water conservation initiatives in China. Thirst is an initiative of the World Economic Forum that is harnessing social media and technology to create a water-smart generation of 14-24 year olds who understand the impact of invisible water. Fiona serves as an advisor to the CEO on strategy, while managing and coordinating projects with the Thirst team. She has been based in Beijing China for 2 years and has just relocated to Melbourne to set up Thirst Australia.
Fiona speaks Mandarin fluently. She holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from the University of Melbourne and completed her Chinese studies at Liaoning University, Shenyang, and the Political University of Taiwan. She is currently undertaking a Masters of Sustainability at Monash University. In 2013 she was recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Global Shaper.
Fiona is the Beijing Director of the Australia China Young Professionals Initiative and the Australian National Coordinator of the Australia China Youth Dialogue Alumni Association.
Ann WANG / 王琛
ACYD Alumni Association National Coordinator (China)
City of Residence: Shanghai / Beijing
ann.wang@acyd.org.au; Ann’s LinkedIn Profile
Ann is a founder and director of “We Impact”. “We Impact”, the first of its kind in China, is a social enterprise based in Beijing, whose mission is to develop and promote opportunities to realize sustainable lifestyles through the dissemination of knowledge, cultural engagement, and business and to facilitate a transition for interested parties including businesses, cultural institutions, NGOs, and government bodies towards becoming sustainable.
Before founding “We Impact”, Ann was a Business Development Director of “P1.CN”, an invitation-only social network for urban affluent Chinese. Prior to which she worked as the Strategic Development Director for the Beijing-based non-profit organization Golden Bridges, a nonprofit organization pioneering in in social entrepreneurship and philanthropy between China and the US.
Ann sits on the board of a number of charity foundations in China, and in 2011 she represented Mr. Al Gore as a Chinese presenter for “The Climate Project”. And in 2009, Ann was instrumental in initiating China’s first Youth Delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
She has has undertaken studies at Cambridge University, Beijing Foreign Studies University as well as Beijing University. She is passionate about the environment, and “making the world a better place”.