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Gina M. Raimondo
U.S. Secretary of CommerceGina M. Raimondo serves as the 40th U.S. Secretary of Commerce and was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on March 3, 2021. As Secretary of Commerce, she is focused on a simple but vital mission — to spur good-paying jobs, empower entrepreneurs to innovate and grow, and help American workers and businesses compete.
Secretary Raimondo was formerly the 75th Governor of Rhode Island and its first woman governor. She grew up in Smithfield in a tight-knit Italian-American family, the youngest of Joseph and Josephine Raimondo's three children. Her family history and her childhood experiences shaped her core beliefs in hard work, opportunity for all, and the importance of financial security.
After arriving from Italy at age 14, Secretary Raimondo’s grandfather learned English studying in the Providence Public Library and later lived with her family. Her mother was a homemaker, who dedicated her life to teaching her children about the importance of hard work and determination. Her father was a World War II Navy veteran from a family of butchers and became the first in his family to attend college thanks to the GI Bill. After working for 26 years in manufacturing, Joseph lost his job along with hundreds of others when the factory moved overseas, and the Raimondo family lost their sense of financial security.
As a teenager, Secretary Raimondo rode a public bus to LaSalle Academy in Providence, where she was valedictorian of her graduating class. She went on to graduate with honors from Harvard, where she was recognized as the top economics student in her class. She won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University where she earned a doctorate and met her future husband Andy Moffit. She later graduated from Yale Law School. Secretary Raimondo clerked for US District Judge Kimba Wood and served as founding employee and senior vice president at Village Ventures.
Wanting to start her own business and be close to family, she returned home to Rhode Island and founded Point Judith Capital, a venture capital firm. In November 2010, Secretary Raimondo was elected to serve as General Treasurer of Rhode Island, receiving the largest number of votes of any statewide candidate. When she took office as General Treasurer, she tackled the state's $7 billion unfunded pension liability. Secretary Raimondo was sworn into office as Governor in January 2015 and won a second term in 2018. She also served as chair of the Democratic Governors’ Association in 2019.
During her time as Governor, Secretary Raimondo kick-started the state’s economy and made record investments in infrastructure, education, and job training. She focused tirelessly on creating economic opportunities and good-paying jobs for all Rhode Islanders. Early in her administration, she launched an innovative workforce development program that develops business-led partnerships to address unique workforce challenges.
Secretary Raimondo is married to Andy Moffit and they have two children, Ceci and Tommy, and a rescue dog, Sparky.
Christine Lam
CEO of Citibank ChinaChristine Lam is Chief Executive Officer of Citi in the People’s Republic of China. She is responsible for all of Citi’s businesses and franchise operations in China and is based in Shanghai. Ms. Lam is also President of Citibank (China) Co., Ltd. (“Citi China”), Citi's locally incorporated entity in China.
Previously, Ms. Lam was Head of Operations and Technology for Citi in Asia Pacific responsible for Operations, Technology and Shared Services functions that support Citi's businesses across 16 markets in Asia. She also provided oversight for the Global Citi Service Centers in China, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
During her career with Citi, Ms. Lam has held a wide range of management positions in Hong Kong, Canada and Asia Pacific regional roles. In the 1990s, she spearheaded Citi's securities services business ventures in B-Shares, an early innovation in the opening up of Chinese financial markets, before moving on to run the Citi Transaction Services business in Hong Kong.
She then spent 10 years in the regional management office running CitiService and Quality for the Corporate and Investment Bank in Asia Pacific. She subsequently became the Chief of Staff to the regional CEO of the Corporate and Investment Bank and was Chief Operating Officer for Asia Pacific Corporate Banking and Commercial Banking for five years.
Ms. Lam went on to head Citi’s consumer banking business in Hong Kong and Macau. She was responsible for the growth and development of that business covering retail banking, wealth management, mortgage, insurance, credit cards and consumer lending.
In 2019, Fortune China named Ms. Lam one of the 25 most influential female business leaders in China, while Forbes China listed her as one of the most outstanding women in business in China in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Ms. Lam holds an LL.B. (Hons) degree from the University of Leeds.
Xiaomei Lee
Regional Managing Principal at Gensler Greater ChinaAs the Regional Managing Principal for Greater China, Xiaomei leads Gensler’s growth and development in the region, spearheading the best in design excellence strategies across its diverse practice areas.
With close to 25 years of architectural and design experience, she has directed a significant list of projects, often on a complex scale, spanning urban design and master planning, tall building architecture, renewal and repositioning, mixed-use, retail, hospitality, education, health and wellness, art and culture and most recently airports and sports. Her portfolio is a reflection of the transformation of the region itself. Notable in this portfolio is Xiaomei’s leadership in delivering China’s tallest building, the renowned and highly awarded 632-meter-high Shanghai Tower, a landmark on the city’s skyline today.
Recognized by Fast Company as one of “The World’s Most Innovative Companies” Xiaomei also serves as a key contributor in Gensler in what is acknowledged as the most admired and largest architecture firm in the world. Under her stewardship in Greater China, she has shaped Gensler’s Greater China region into a thriving center for design innovation.
In recognition of her innovation and business leadership, Xiaomei served on the Gensler Board of Directors and serves on Global Management Committee. Xiaomei is a Global Governing Trustee for the Urban Land Institute (ULI). She is an active member of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and was a juror at their CTBUH 2019 Tall + Urban Innovation Global Awards. Xiaomei is the Vice Chairwoman of the Council on International Exchange Affairs of Tall Buildings of the Architectural Society of China.
Cherry Zhu
President at Dow Chemical (China) Investment Co., Ltd.Cherry Zhu is currently president of Dow Greater China. She leads the strategic business growth, market development and financial performance for the region. She also plays a key role enhancing company’s employee experience in Greater China and advancing a culture of inclusion and diversity.
Previously, Cherry was global product director for Dow Consumer Solutions responsible for leading Engineered Materials and Elastomers growth and managing business Profit & Loss.
Zhu joined Dow in 2001 as technical service & development engineer for Engineering Plastics in China. Since 2004, she had taken on various leadership roles, including product manager for glass bonding adhesives in Europe, Asia Pacific commercial director for Dow Automotive Systems, and Asia Pacific product director for Dow Elastomers.
Cherry earned her master’s degree in Polymer Science & Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2000 and her MBA from Northwood University, USA in 2010. She stays with her family in Shanghai.
Shirley Yu
Senior Vice President and Group General Manager at Visa Greater ChinaShirley Yu is the Senior Vice President and Group General Manager for Visa Greater China. In this role, she is responsible for the full business operations, strategy development and management of Visa’s business in the Greater China region.
Shirley has worked in North America, Asia Pacific and Greater China. With more than 30 years of experience in leadership roles, she has led Visa to achieve long-term growth in China. She brings a deep understanding of the partnership ecosystem relevant to China and has well developed relationships with clients in the financial services sector.
During her career, she has also built a reputation for operational excellence and innovative strategic thinking. She was named Top 10 Women Professional Management leader in China in 2004, and the Person of the Year for IT Services in China in 2005.
Shirley graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with Bachelor of Science in Mathematics Computer Science.
Mattie Bekink
China Director of Economist Intelligence Corporate NetworkMattie Bekink is responsible for the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network’s China strategy, including programme development and client engagement across China.
Ms Bekink has extensive experience in the public, private and policy sectors. Prior to joining The Economist Group, she was the Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission in the Netherlands. She also ran an eponymous consulting business, advising businesses, universities and non-profit organisations on China policy, strategy, public affairs, and CSR. Ms Bekink practiced law at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, has worked with the US-Asia Law Initiative at NYU Law School and the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative China Program, and served in the legal department at General Motors China.
Ms Bekink has a BA in International Relations from Stanford University and a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Echo Li
Global CCO at Dentsu Sports InternationalEcho leads global sports and entertainment sales and consulting offerings at Dentsu Sports International, a subsidiary of Dentsu Group, one of the largest advertising agency networks in the world, as Global Chief Commercial Officer. She sits on the global executive team and spearheads the team growth and market expansion in Americas, EMEA, APAC and Africa.
Named “40 under 40 Business Elites” by Fortune China, Echo is renowned for her leadership vision, business acumen, strategic planning and commercialization capabilities in global sports industry. Echo endeavors to practice “think global and act local” philosophy in Dentsu Sports International’s business activities and strives to integrate the sports and entertainment consulting capability into Dentsu Group’s holistic offerings to global brands via service lines and Dentsu’s subsidiaries such as Carat, dentsu X, iProspect, Dentsu Creative, and Merkle.
Her marquee projects include facilitating the ground-breaking partnership for OPPO and UEFA Champions League, marking OPPO as the first Chinese brand to step onto premium club football competition in history; leading Hisense’s FIFA World Cup global creative activations in 2018 and 2022 which won Hisense numerous awards in ESG and business for good; designing and bringing to life commercial programs for premium sports properties including F1, Boston Marathon, Asian Football Confederations, Manchester United, Paris Saint Germain, Inter Milan, Singapore Sports Hub and WTA Finals in Asia; leading sports and esports marketing strategies and activations for EA Sports, Subway, TCL, Volkswagen, Tiktok and Oakley etc.
Prior to joining Dentsu Sports International, Echo was the Managing Director of Greater China and SVP of Global Partnerships at SPORTFIVE, a global leading sports marketing agency, and was the youngest member to sit on SPORTFIVE’s global leadership team.
Jessica Gleeson
CEO of Experiential RetailCEO of BrighterBeauty and founder of Experiential Retail is an experienced international executive with a passion for building and scaling purpose driven brands. She is a 20-year veteran of Starbucks, and held a variety of leadership roles as the company grew from 50 stores in the US to 55 countries globally. Driven by her fascination with the rapidly changing retail landscape, Jessica relocated to China and helped grow three iconic brands – Starbucks, The Walt Disney Company and Claire’s Accessories. She served as International COO for Zambero. She currently serves on the Board of Flave, GloCoach and as an advisor to Planting Hope. Recently recognized by IPWS with their Lifetime Achievement Award, Jessica works actively to advocate for placing women on executive boards, because the data shows it is just good business.
Eric Zheng
President at AmCham ShanghaiEric Zheng became the President of AmCham Shanghai in 2022. He has been involved in the Chamber for over 15 years as a member, committee leader, Board member, Board treasurer, Board secretary, and Board vice chair, and Board chair (2018 and 2019).
Eric brings a unique combination of private and public sector experiences to the presidency. He worked in management consulting with PwC in the U.S. and later served for the U.S. Department of Commerce as the principal commercial officer at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. Eric had a long career with AIG in Greater China and held a series of positions that culminated in his service as CEO of AIG China. He then chaired the board of Heng An Standard Life Insurance Company.
In volunteer roles, Eric serves as the Greater China regional chair of the Committee of 100 and as a board director of Shanghai Make-A-Wish Charity Foundation. The Shanghai municipal government has granted Eric its Magnolia Gold Award in recognition of his significant contributions to the city. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Fudan University and an MBA from Georgetown University.
Gebi Liang
Vice President, SharePoint_STCA SZ Global at Microsoft (China) Co., Ltd. Suzhou BranchMs. Gebi Liang is the GM of Teams & SharePoint China. She is currently leading a world-class engineering organization to help develop one of the world’s fastest-growing collaboration platforms, Teams. She is also responsible for enhancing SharePoint Online, one of the largest SaaS in the world, in addition to being accountable for the SharePoint Server business.
During her time in Microsoft before her current role, she worked for many years in Microsoft public cloud Azure area including launching a couple of Azure services starting from an idea. She established the China Cloud Innovation Center (CCIC), which played a key technical role in addressing the unique needs of China local customers as they embrace the journey of the cloud.
Ms. Liang has always been a passionate advocate for Diversity & Inclusion. She is leading multiple efforts in this space focusing on driving female employee population increase and their career development to advance Microsoft's D&I commitment in the workplace. She is also actively participating in a broad set of STEM efforts outside Microsoft inspiring more females to pursue their careers in the technology space. Ms. Liang was featured on Forbes China's 50 Top Women in Tech and the Fortune China’s Most Powerful Women to watch in 2020.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Gebi was a 15-year veteran of Intel and held several key technical and leadership roles in the US & China.
Gebi holds a master's degree in Computer Science from the College of William & Mary and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Beijing Normal University.
Michelle Lu
Vice President at Aptar Asia Innovation HubMichelle Lu, Vice President of Aptar Asia Innovation Hub, is leading the team to develop open innovation and cross-segment upstream innovation in Asia for Aptar in the fields of Pharma, Digital health, Beauty,Home care, Food, Beverage & Nutrition supplements. She has served as Johnson & Johnson's Global Director of Babycare Product Development, Johnson & Johnson Asia Pacific Beauty Product Development Director, Chief Scientist & R&D General Manager of Jala Group Co., and Product Development Director of Avon China R&D Center. Since 2019, she has served as IFSCC (The International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists ) China Liaison Officer to promote IFSCC technology exchanges in China.
Carol Zhou
SVP at Shiseido China Business, Innovation & Investment Representative OfficeAs SVP of China Business Innovation & Investment office for Shiseido created in Jan 2019 , Carol is helping to shape the next phase of transformation for the company. By leveraging the dynamic ecosystem and entrepreneurial talents in China, Carol will help to accelerate the implementations of innovations and new business models, to create new beauty business as the next growth driver of the Shiseido group on a global level. Previously, she has held a number of management positions at multinational firms such as Unilever, Burberry, L’Oréal, and Marriott where she has led global strategy & innovation functions across regions and categories.
Carol received her undergraduate degree from New York University's Stern Business School and her MBA from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Ian Driscoll
Director of Publications and Communications at AmCham ShanghaiIan Driscoll is the publications and communications director at AmCham Shanghai. Previously, Ian worked as a freelance journalist and at Reuters. His writing appeared in the Financial Times, Weekend Financial Times, Euromoney publications, the BBC website, and elsewhere.
Born in Singapore, Ian has lived and worked in Beijing, Hong Kong, London, New York, Shanghai and Sydney.
Claire CHEN
Co-Founder & COO of Clobotics Co., Ltd.Claire Chen is the Co-Founder and COO of Clobotics, a global leader in intelligent computer vision solutions for the wind power and retail industries. Clobotics is dual-headquartered in both Seattle and Shanghai, has global entities in Singapore, Esbjerg, and Sao Paulo. Claire oversees overall marketing strategy, business operations and people related activities for the company.
Prior to Clobotics, Claire served as the VP of Business Development of EHang. And at the same time, responsible for the overall business of North America region.
Claire spent her most important ten years of career with Microsoft Corporations. She worked as the director of business operations at Cloud and Enterprises Division, and was accountable for landing Windows Azure and Office 365 business in China. Before that, Claire was the business manager of Global Foundation Services, accountable for the global cloud infrastructure build out, including but not limited to, Data Centers, Networking Infrastructure and CDN services, which makes Microsoft as one of the top technical leaders in the cloud industry.
Claire graduated from Shanghai International Studies University, majored in International Accounting.
Norah Yang
Founder of Spicy ComedyBorn and raised in China, Norah is a stand-up comedian who performs in both English and Mandarin Chinese. She has performed over 350 shows in over 10 cities across China, the US, Japan, and Thailand, and has opened for several international headliners, including Mark Normand and Kate Willett. She brought laughter to the 2018 San Francisco Comedy Competition and went viral after performing at renowned comedy shows Rock and Roast and QI PA SHUO. Before discovering her hidden talent in stand-up comedy, the Fudan University graduate with a Master’s degree from Duke University was a former strategic consultant at PwC.
Kent Kedl
Partner and Head of Greater China and North Asia at Control RisksKent D. Kedl is a Partner and head of Control Risks’ Greater China and North Asia practice. He is responsible for all of Control Risks’ work across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the Koreas and Mongolia. Kent has been living and working in China for more than 35 years.
Kent has consulted with multinational and Asia-based corporations on a range of risk and strategy issues, such as M&A and organic growth strategy, crisis management, compliance, and strategic and organisational development programmes.
Before joining Control Risks, Kent was a partner of Technomic Asia, a market strategy and M&A consulting firm.
Kent has worked as a journalist and is a frequent contributor to Asia-based media outlets. Kent has a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in East Asian studies from the University of Minnesota. He also completed graduate studies in journalism and mass communication at the China Times Centre for Mass Media and Social Studies.
Sophie Li
Vice President of Design at Volvo Car Asia PacificMs. Sophie Li is a senior automotive designer with over a decade of automotive design experience in premium European OEMs.
In December 2011, Ms. Li joined Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Co., Ltd. as an interior designer; In January 2018, served as the Chief Designer for Jaguar Land Rover, responsible for setting up first satellite studio and all design projects in China; Sophie joined Volvo Cars in April 2021. As the Vice President of Design APAC, she is responsible for the design projects in Volvo Car Asia Pacific and has led may important next-generation vehicle projects for the company.
Lillian LV
Market HR Lead, Mainland China and Hongkong at Google Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.Lillian is Market HR Lead for Mainland China and Hongkong for Google. She’s had extensive experience on working with the engineering and cross functional teams in Google in the past 9 years and expertise in organization culture, team effectiveness, and coaching for career development. She held an executive MBA degree from Hongkong University and before Google she was with Microsoft in different functions. In spare time, Lillian is a professional coach(ICF PCC) and has had extensive coaching experience across different industries.
JANE LEE
TrainerA corporate trainer, executive coach and keynote speaker since 2018.
• Specialized in bridging the communications between the East and West.
• Successfully delivered over 1000 hours of group trainings in Communications, Sales, Management and Women Leadership.
• Provided individual coaching for 100+ executives and mid-level managers from multinational and state-owned companies.
• Bi-lingual and bi-cultural in Chinese and English, with over 20 years of working experience across US, China and Asia-Pacific countries.
Corporate Experience
In her corporate life, Jane held various leadership roles in Executive Communications and Sales Enablement Functions at Cisco Systems. She established 10 Innovation Centers across major cities like Bangalore, Beijing, Hongkong, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo, and supervised the operations. Prior to her endeavor in Asia, Jane managed the external communications for Cisco’s top executives at the Silicon Valley headquarter, promoting mutual trust with strategic global customers and a positive relationship with influential medias.
Irene Hu
CEO of Shanghai Ningzhi Management ConsultingIrene currently serves as the CEO of Shanghai Ningzhi Management Consulting Co., Ltd. She is a certified instructor of the American Training House's Management Talent Development System and is also a Personal Fitness Trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise (ACE).
Karin Tan
Co-founder of Inner Mindfulness CenterKarin has more than 15 years of senior management experience in the hospitality and wellness industry. In her previous corporate position, she was not only involved in general and project management, but also the development of a wellness business unit. This was when she had the opportunity to work with many local and international wellness practitioners and experts to develop a holistic wellness model for modern-day living.
She believes that true vitality and inner power comes from a mindful heart. It is about an appropriate amount of mind, body, and soul, integrating into a harmonious balance. 8 months after joining a silent meditation retreat, Karin left her work and started to integrate all her learnings to support more people towards living a healthy holistic lifestyle, starting with a mindful heart.
Areas of Expertise
• Life Coach
• Mindfulness-based Corp leadership Training (Effectiveness and productivity, creativity and energy, balance and resilience)
• Mindfulness for K12 / Mindfulness Teacher Training
• Emotion Intelligence Mindfulness
• 15+ years general management and project management background