Management Team
Mathew Benjamin / 贝馬玉
Executive Director
mathew.benjamin@acyd.org.au ; Mathew's LinkedIn Profile
Mathew Benjamin was elected Executive Director of the Australia-China Youth Dialogue in 2019, having been a delegate in 2018, and speaker in 2017.
In 2014, Mathew founded a social enterprise set up to accelerate the connectivity of people, ideas and capital between Australia and Asia across the areas of science, technology and entrepreneurship. Since its inception AsiaRecon has identified, built and maintained long lasting strategic relationships that have led to over AU$600 million of foreign direct investments being made into Australia’s leading technology backed startups that today employ thousands of Australians.
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.
Liam Tay Kearney
Partnerships Manager
Liam is a macroeconomics research student at the University of Western Australia under the Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours) programme, specialising in foreign direct investment.
Liam was previously the New Colombo Plan China Fellow (2017) and Westpac Bicentennial Foundation Asian Exchange Scholar (2018) – and completed placements at the Australian Embassy, Beijing, and United Nations Capital Development Fund in Yangon, Myanmar.
Liam curated the Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit (ACELS) in Beijing (2018) and Shanghai (2019) and served as China Manager of the Australia-China Youth Association in 2018. Liam lived in China for three years with stints in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou and comes from a Singapore-Irish background.
Danielle Haratsis-Ji
Communications Manager
Danielle holds a Master of Marketing and a Bachelor of International Studies majoring in Chinese Mandarin from the University of Adelaide. During her time as a student she was a member of the Australia China Youth Association and undertook an internship with the Australia China Business Council. She also spent 2 summers undertaking intensive language programs at Shandong University in China.
After graduating, she gained a role in the Westpac Graduate Program. While working in the finance sector for 2 years across departments including Strategic Alliances, Change and Knowledge, Marketing and Small and Medium Enterprises, she was also a chair on the Cultural Diversity in Leadership Employee Action Group and a mentor for the AEWEN international student work experience program. In 2019 she returned to the University of Adelaide’s School of Social Sciences, within the Faculty of Arts, as an Office Manager. In 2020 she was selected as a delegate for the Australia Chinese Emerging Leader Summit in Guangzhou and it was here she saw the importance of an open dialogue around the key issues which affect our bilateral relationship. It was this that led her to join the ACYD team, so as to be involved in facilitating such vital conversations.
In her spare time she enjoys travelling, brushing up on her Mandarin skills, learning new dance choreography and running on the beach with her dog.
Ted ZHOU Tianyu / 周天羽
IT Manager
ted.zhou@acyd.org.au ; Ted's LinkedIn Profile
Ted currently works at BioBAY, the leading incubator focused on biotech start-ups in China as a specialist in business development.
Holding a Master degree in Structural Biology and Biophysics from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH) and a Bachelor degree in Biological Sciences from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), he has been immersed in biomedical and life science research for half a decade. With the belief that realizing scientific discoveries into everyone's life is as vital as tackling the unknowns in the laboratories, Ted decided to take a different path to contribute to the life science technologies, by helping scientists find the right commercial environment.
During his undergraduate studies Ted spent one semester in Australia as an exchange student in University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). Having lived in China, Singapore, Australia and Switzerland, as well as having been to more than a dozen of countries, Ted has been convinced with his own experience the importance of cross-cultural exchange and how such communications could have contributed to the benefits of both the individuals and the society in a broader context.
Ted joined ACYD management team in October 2013, being in charge of the website operation and general IT support.
Ted is an enthusiast in technological development, photography and hiking. He is now based in Suzhou.
HU Yuzhou / 胡羽舟
Delegate Selection Manager
vincent.hu@acyd.org.au ; Vincent's LinkedIn Profile
HU, Yuzhou (Vincent) graduated from Australian National University with a honours degree in Finance. He is now working at the Ford Motor Company Asia Pacific Production Development Centre in Melbourne as a Finance Graduate Analyst.
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. He has a genuine interest in financial markets. He started his personal investment portfolio (equity) two years ago. 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 accounting 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 and a mentor at the sign-Mentor program.
His role at ACYD is to manage delegate applications.
William ZHAO
Treasury Manager
william.zhao@acyd.org.au ; William’s LinkedIn Profile
William Zhao is a Transactional Risk professional with the Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions Services team of Marsh, a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC). Prior to joining Marsh, William worked as a M&A Analyst at Yatsen Associates, a boutique corporate advisory firm focused on cross-border M&A transactions between Australia and China.
William’s passion for Sino-Australian relations was fostered through his work at Australia China Business Council, China Australia Millennial Project, University of Sydney’s China Studies Centre, and through his leadership roles at ACYA national board and ACYPI Sydney chapter.
William holds a Master’s degree in Banking from University of Sydney, where he served on Chancellor's Committee and was elected as National Vice-President of Council of International Students Australia, the national peak body representing all international students in Australia including circa 200,000 students from Greater China. He is proud to be the first Chinese student elected to the Council since its inception.
In addition to studying in Australia and China, William had also completed international exchange programs at University of Nottingham in UK and State University of New York in US.
William was an ACYD delegate in 2016 and joined ACYD management team as the Treasurer since 2017.
James Tang
Media Manager
James Tang completed studies in Engineering (Mechanical), Arts (Chinese) and MBA from the University of Western Australia. He is currently a senior consultant at Deloitte in the Strategy and Operations team where he helps clients realise value for technology and automation projects. He is also a director of a start-up Readyteamone that focuses on designing virtual reality (VR) experiences and industry applications.
The Australia-China relationship has always played an integral part of his personal and professional working life. He spent 4 years working in Beijing as an engineering consultant for Asian clients seeking to raise capital or invest in large mining projects around Asia and Australia. Prior to this, he was a site based mechanical engineer for Rio Tinto Iron Ore in the Pilbara, working on improving the reliability of Chinese procured train wagons. In his spare time, he enjoys practicing photography and video production.