Board of Directors
Jade LITTLE / 李瑶华
Chair
Jade’s career has been focused in the resources industries. She is currently chief advisor to the COO of Newmont corporation in the US. Her previous work experience in Australia has included working for BHP across technical, production and strategic roles, at UBS Investment Bank as a director of Mining Research, and as a consultant for McKinsey & Company. In China she has worked as a Project Manager assisting in technical reviews used for mining related Initial Public Offerings for RungePincockMinarco based in Beijing.
Jade holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Mining Engineering), a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) and a Bachelor of Arts (Chinese) from the University of Queensland (UQ). She also has a Master of Science in Global Finance jointly awarded by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and New York University’s (NYU) Stern Business School. She is a member of the UQ’s School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering Industry Advisory Board. She was awarded The Australian Financial Review BOSS Young Executive of the Year in 2017.
James Tang / 唐轩皓
Executive Director
James has been passionate about bridging the language and cultural differences between Australia and China through people to people exchanges since his university studies in Hangzhou in 2007 and Taipei in 2009. His interests in understanding China have taken him to work as a consultant in Beijing from 2013-2017 for RPM Global in mining advisory.
James's professional career in Australia has been diverse, ranging from a FIFO engineer in the Pilbara for Rio Tinto, a senior management consultant at Deloitte Consulting and corporate developer at Fortescue Metals Group. His latest endeavour has been building and launching a fast-growing startup called Ready Team One, a social Virtual Reality (VR) gaming company that has sold its product internationally.
As an Australian born Chinese raised in Perth, James completed studies in Engineering (Mechanical), Arts (Chinese) and MBA from the University of Western Australia. He has been a proud member of the ACYD management team since 2016.
MATHEW BENJAMIN / 贝馬玉
Non-Executive Director
Mathew Benjamin was elected Executive Director of the Australia-China Youth Dialogue in 2019, having been a delegate in 2018, and speaker in 2017.
Mathew holds a Master of International Business and Law from the University of Sydney. Mathew has also undertaken coursework at East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai, and was awarded the Taiwan Ministry of Education MTC Scholarship to undertake Chinese studies at the National Taiwan National University, Taipei.
Michael TING / 陈际利
Non-Executive Director
Michael Ting is a senior legal counsel at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, primarily looking after the group's M&A legal function. Prior to settling back in Australia, he worked at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York for several years as a senior lawyer.
Born in Malaysia to Chinese parents, Michael immigrated to Australia at a young age. Michael is passionate about promoting understanding of Chinese culture and the diversity of the Chinese diaspora. He has helped to establish a number of organisations that promote people-to-people connections between China and the world, incoulding the Australia-China Youth Association, the Engaging China Project and the Australia-China Youth Dialogue.
Michael graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons), Bachelor of Commerce and a Diploma of Modern Languages (Chinese).
MANELLE ISSA / 易美欣
Non-Executive Director
Manelle is a marketing and analytics expert currently working as the Senior Advisor Digital Capability at Suncorp Group, one of Australia's largest insurance companies. Her remit is working within the digital distribution channel to advise on the skills, training and capability uplift for the team, aligned to strategy. Within this she manages strategic research partnerships to facilitate and deliver business intelligence and insights to influence data-driven decision making. She held previous roles within marketing, planning and governance working in strategic investment planning and performance reporting for the portfolio of brands.
Prior to this, Manelle held previous roles in the Chamber of Commerce network within Australia and China, working on international trade projects and with delegations, with a particular focus on export growth for Queensland business in China. She was project manager of a Queensland Government initiative providing education and advisory services to help SMEs across Queensland improve their environmental sustainability and productivity. She has also managed corporate partnerships with Deloitte, BDO and Shell providing key relationship management to digital and strategic campaigns. Having worked in education and training managing state and federally funded initiatives across Australia around digital enterprise, she is passionate about big data, technology and strategic marketing.
Manelle holds a Graduate Certificate in Data Analytics (GPA 6.25) to complement her Bachelor of Business / Creative Industries (with distinction) majoring in Marketing and Media Communications from the Queensland University of Technology.
Manelle was appointed to the board in 2018, after her contributions to the management team since 2016. Her connection to China stemmed from being immersed in the language and culture while growing up in the Asian-centric suburb of Sunnybank, Brisbane and she is constantly brushing up on her basic Mandarin skills.
She has been a Mentor through the Queensland University of Technology Career Mentor Scheme since 2014 and is passionate about contributing to the community. She has a regular segment on local ABC Radio Brisbane and runs a trivia company in her spare time.
PATRICIA SAW / 苏丽燕
Non-Executive Director
Trish is the Lead Counsel managing the Land Acquisition, Planning and Environment team in the Victorian Government Solicitor's Office (VGSO).
She has a long-standing interest in China sparked by her first visit to China on a school trip in year 9. While at university she completed a major in Mandarin Chinese as part of an Arts degree, a Diploma in Languages (Mandarin Chinese), and two study trips to China including a year at South East University in Nanjing on a Chinese government scholarship, while concurrently studying Law at Monash University. Trish graduated with first class honours in her Bachelor of Laws, with an honours thesis analysing the then-proposed carbon tax and pilot emission trading schemes in China within the framework of international environmental law.
Before commencing her current role at the VGSO, Trish worked at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and then subsequently at Allens. During that time, she combined her interests in China and environmental law in sectors with higher flows of foreign investment from China, particularly in renewable energy, agribusiness and urban development. Trish is passionate about the potential for greater connection and growth in Australian and Chinese carbon markets, and investment in renewable energy and green technologies.