Shalom Saada Saar
Visiting Professor of Leadership and Innovation at Duke Kunshan UniversityProfessor Shalom Saada Saar currently serves on the faculty at DKU. Dr. Saar boasts extensive global teaching experience at esteemed institutions such as Harvard University, MIT, SMU, the University of Vienna, CEIBS, SAIF in Shanghai, and LUISS University in Rome. He has previously been Director of Executive Education for major corporations, including Aetna and St. Paul Insurance Companies. His impressive client list features industry leaders like IBM, GE, Baidu, LVMH, Alibaba, Marriott, and Johnson & Johnson, among others. Dr. Saar’s expertise encompasses a variety of critical topics, including Leading Organizational Change, Leadership Agility, High-Performance Culture, Critical Thinking, and Conflict Management.
His dedication to fostering and maintaining a high-performance culture has established him as a trusted advisor to senior executives, HR leaders, and cohesive teams across diverse sectors. Dr. Saar holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Psychology from Swarthmore College and a Master’s and Doctoral degree in Organizational Behavior and Administration from Harvard University.
Christabel Lo
Founder of In-Inspiration Company, Former Chief People Officer at Yum China Holdings, Inc.Christabel enjoyed a tremendous career for 4 decades as a business executive. She is the former Chief People Officer with 21 years of service with Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: YUMC), a listed restaurant company that operates over 8,000 restaurants and employs over 400,000 employees in mainland China. Christabel joined the company as the Training & Development Director, then assumed oversight of the entire Human Resources function in 2000. As the business took on rapid growth, she was instrumental in building organizational capability, reinforcing company culture, integrating new brands, and in driving transformations. She is well versed in strategy formulation & implementation, as well as talent development through coaching and learning interventions. She also played an active role in facilitating the formation of the independently listed company after the company’s spin-off in late 2016 from its parent company.
Christabel's personal mission is to unleash the potential of those who share her passion to make the world a better place. After her retirement from corporate life in 2018, she founded the In-Inspiration Company (岭隽管理咨询) for this purpose. Today, she dedicates herself to support the development of professionals, entrepreneurs and enterprises through consultancy, coaching, learning and investment.
In her earlier career, Christabel held various leadership, consultancy and business development roles in companies including Dale Carnegie Training, Citibank N.A., and Cheoy Lee Shipyards in Hong Kong.
She holds an MBA from Cornell University and a dual Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Economics from Tufts University.
LV Lillian
Head of HR, Mainland China and Hongkong at Google Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.- CLOSING PANEL: ORGANIZATIONAL RESILIENCE & WORKFORCE TRANSFORMATION IN THE AI ERA
- CONFERENCE CLOSING
Lillian is Head of HR 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.
Guoxiong Zhang
Founder & Chief Economic Advisor, Vistrive Advisors; Senior Advisor of Deloitte ChinaDr Zhang Guoxiong is a senior advisor at Deloitte China‘s global office that connects Deloitte China firm with Deloitte global network. He provides economic and market advices to Deloitte China leadership team and Deloitte’ global key clients.
Previously Dr Zhang was the founder and Managing Director of Deloitte China’s Economic Advisory Service. Dr.Zhang provides macroeconomic and policy advice to senior executives of foreign and local companies, and helps multinational companies localize in the China market and Chinese companies expand their global business.
Before joining Deloitte, Dr Zhang was Shanghai Director and China Research Head of The Economist Corporate Network. Before joining The Economist Group, Dr Zhang was an Assistant Professor of Economics at Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and a Visiting Scholar at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. During his doctoral studies, Dr Zhang also worked as a summer intern economist at the Asian Development Bank. Dr Zhang has directed and led a number of national research projects, and his research papers have been presented at several international academic and policy conferences, and some of them have been published in top academic journals. Dr Zhang taught macroeconomics and finance at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Zhang Guoxiong graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a Ph.D. in Economics and a Master's degree in Statistics. Dr Zhang also holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Zhejiang University.
Nancy Wang
Head of LinkedIn Greater China at LinkedinNancy Wang is Head of LinkedIn Greater China. Joining LinkedIn in 2019, she now leads a talented team overseeing strategy, sales, marketing, business development, and customer success for LinkedIn in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Nancy Wang has over 20 years of experience and has held key management positions at companies such as Microsoft and Oracle. Prior to LinkedIn, she served as President of Trax Greater China, where she was responsible for developing and implementing the company’s market strategy. Nancy has a robust professional background and extensive experience enhancing market influence and building strong team leadership.
With her exceptional leadership and forward-thinking strategic vision, Nancy Wang has been honoured with two prestigious awards: "Fortune China's Most Influential Businesswomen" and "36Kr SHE POWER·2023 Influential Women". These accolades underscore her remarkable contributions to empowering Chinese enterprises to connect with global business opportunities and advancing women's empowerment. She consistently demonstrates vision, professionalism, and maturity, earning the respect of customers, partners, and colleagues.
Nancy Wang holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Economics and Trade from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Jiajun Zheng
Engineering Director of GoogleJJ is an Engineering Director with a 17-year career at Google. He leads the global team that builds the foundational indexing platform powering core products like Google Search, YouTube, and Shopping. His team is also at the forefront of Al, providing the large-scale, high-quality data essential for training Google's Gemini models. In addition to his global product responsibilities, JJ serves as the technology Site Lead for Google Shanghai.
Cici Li
VP, Human Resources at Shanghai Disney ResortCici Li joined Shanghai Disney Resort in March 2018 as Vice President, Human Resources. In this role, she provides the strategic Human Resources leadership to further resort’s business priorities and deliver on the vision of Disney Parks. Cici is also responsible for the planning, integration, and implementation of all human resources strategies to enable the business and the development of Shanghai Disney Resort. She supports all leaders across the organization to continue to develop a culture of Disney leadership in China.
Cici joined Shanghai Disney Resort from Intel, where she most recently served as GM, Intel China Online Sales Group, and she successfully expanded the business by accelerating their B2B online platform development and leveraging the latest internet technologies in Mobile app, social tools and AI-based Chatbot. Prior to sales, Cici led over 20 year career in Australia, China and the United States in variety of human resources roles including Executive Search, Recruitment, Leadership Development and overall HR leadership roles. Cici was executive sponsor for Intel China Board of Diversity and Inclusion.
Cici holds a Master of Commerce from the University of Sydney. She is also a certified Hudson coach.
Linda Zhang
Partner-in-charge at Heidrick & Struggles (Shanghai) Talent Consulting Co., LtdLinda Zhang is Partner in Charge of Heidrick & Struggles Shanghai office where she serves the recruitment needs of Global MNCs and local conglomerates for key management positions in the region. Linda leads our Consumer Practice and CEO & Board Practice in Greater China.
Linda first joined the search business in 2000 when she joined Heidrick & Struggles’ Shanghai office as an Associate. She worked on numerous assignments, successfully placed senior executives into country manager/CEO, National Marketing/sales Director, Chief Financial Officer and HR Director positions. She also worked on cross-border assignments, cooperating with partners in Hong Kong, Sydney and London offices.
Linda left the search business at the end of 2002 for MBA education at the University of Chicago. She then worked for Bain & Company, one of the global top tier management-consulting firms as a Management Consultant, advising Fortune 500 companies on market entry and growth strategy, organization and human resources issues, before rejoining Heidrick & Struggles at the end of 2005.
During her early years, Linda worked as an Associate for the World Economic Forum based in Geneva, Switzerland, managing the Forum’s relationship with the Chinese Government, business, academia and media. She also worked as a Business Analyst at the Investment Planning Department of China Eastern Airlines based in Shanghai.
Linda was born and raised in China. She earned her bachelor degree in international trade from University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and her MBA degree with honors (Beta Gamma Sigma) from the University of Chicago in US.
Michele Aboro
Co-Founder and Head Coach of Aboro AcademyAboro Co-Founder - Head Coach - Retired as undefeated world champion in Boxing
Boxing and strength and conditioning coach.
Zak Dychtwald
Founder & CEO of BridgeWorksZak Dychtwald is the founder and CEO of BridgeWorks, a cross-geography collaboration lab helping global organizations bridge cultural, organizational, and operational gaps between China and the world. With more than a decade of in-country experience, Zak is one of the rare experts based in China today, providing on-the-ground insights into the country’s evolving workforce dynamics, consumer behavior, and geopolitical landscape.
He is the author of Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World and a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review. Zak’s work is grounded in original, data-driven research and firsthand experience, equipping leaders with practical strategies for navigating the future of China and fostering collaboration across borders.
Zak has delivered keynotes and workshops on six continents for institutions such as Harvard University, the Wall Street Journal CEO Council, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and the Economist Intelligence Unit
Sharon Liu
Partner at Beijing Labours ConsultingMs. Liu has more than 25 years of experience, working for DHL, Total, UTC and other large foreign-funded enterprises in human resources management positions, once working as the UTC Business Unit General Manager, Source Photonics Sales Vice President and other business management positions.
Ms. Liu has strong project control skills, and her years of experience as a foreign manager have given her the ability to communicate and negotiate directly with foreign decision makers, as well as rapid and in-depth insight into different industries.
Ms. Liu holds a Master's degree in Management from Beijing Business University.
Joyce Gong
Senior Client Partner at Korn FerryJoyce Gong is a Senior Client Partner with Industrial & Consumer Practice of Korn Ferry International, based in Shanghai. She leads HR practice and is also a member of Board & CEO Services, family office services practice.
Dr. Gong has thirty years of experience in human resources consulting in China, with recent over twenty years focused on executive search. At Korn Ferry International, she has served more than 200 multinational and local enterprises and successfully completed more than 600 executive searches. She led the establishment of the China HR Center of Expertise, pioneered the inclusion of "onboarding coaching" in executive search process, and promoted a HR total solution to support business needs.
Prior to joining Korn Ferry, Dr. Gong was a Senior Consultant with another executive search firm for four years, concentrating on chemical, financial service, hi-tech, automotive, diversified manufacturing and consumer goods industries.
Her earlier experience includes six years at an HR consulting company as an Assistant Manager and Senior Consultant of its business consulting division, assisting multinational companies in entering the China market and recruiting top talent after setting up representative offices.
Dr. Gong holds a doctorate in education from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, a master's in business administration from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, and a bachelor's degree in scientific English from Shanghai University. She also completed a master's program in human resources management at the People's University of China.
Dr. Gong is a certified coach of International Coach Federation. She is also an advisor of American Universities’ China Association.
Jialiang Wang
Founder of Supermind AI Incubator, Dean of AI Incubator at SJTUJialiang Wang is a serial entrepreneur and an angel investor. He became the founder and the CEO of CooTek in 2008, and spent 10 years to lead the company to IPO in NYSE in 2018. CooTek is a leading mobile app developer in China and has over 200 million daily active users worldwide.
Mr.Wang joined WEF Global Shaper community in 2011 and became a fellow of Aspen China-Israel Innovation in 2015. In 2019, he participated in the Aspen fellow's action pledge in Sierra Leone, donating laptops to a local charity school and a social enterprise.
Mr.Wang is an angel investor in AI, gaming, education and oversea business. He invested in some AI startups. He is also a Certified Professional Co-active Coach (CPCC) helping entrepreneurs succeed.
Since 2022, Mr. Wang has incubated two social enterprises. One of the companies is committed to bringing gaming and education together, with a vision to become the Khan Academy of gamified education. Another social enterprise, Megamind AI Incubator, brings together a group of middle school students to use AI to start a business under the leadership of entrepreneurship mentors, aiming to replace the existing university education.
Mr. Wang graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in electronic engineering. After graduating, he worked in Microsoft's R&D China as a product manager.
Lanco Li
Director, Organizational Development and Talent Management of Shanghai Innovation Bank
Phil Guo
Visual Strategist and Global Board Member at IFVPPhil is an innovation specialist in the consulting industry, bringing creative approaches to human-centered design with nearly 15 years of consulting experience.
He is the pioneer of Deloitte’s “visual practice”. His approach is rooted in “human”, blended with multidisciplinary studies in anthropology, psychology, human factors, gamification, visual arts and interactive media on complex organization and innovation topics.
Phil serves as a Global Board of Directors of International Forum of Visual Practitioners, and is one of the 50 authors of the encyclopedia “The World of Visual Facilitation” and the only selected practitioner from China. Phil is passionate about travel photography and art creation, with cross-cultural working experience in China, the US, South East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.