2021 Future of Education Summit: Teaching for Global Understanding
VIEW EVENT DETAILSTeaching for Global Understanding for K-12 Grade Teachers
The Asia Society Future of Education Summit: Teaching for Global Understanding will take place over two days virtually on Thursday, July 29 - Friday, July 30 from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Pacific each day. The Education Summit gives K-12 teachers tools and resources from knowledgeable experts, institutions and businesses about global competency and the future of education. Uniquely qualified speakers will lead sessions on preparing the next generation of global leaders, new technological advances in education, understanding and navigating U.S.-Asia topics, and advancing racial justice in classrooms.
Teachers can opt to receive 1.2 Continuing Education Units (CEU) from San Francisco State University’s College of Extended Learning by attending the Education Summit.
Registration is complimentary and open to the global community. Attendees outside of the education community are welcome to attend the Summit. Registration will close at 5:00 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday, July 28.
AGENDA
Subject to change
Day 1: Thursday, July 29, 2021
9:00 a.m. – 9:05 a.m.
Welcome Remarks
Margaret Conley, Executive Director, Asia Society Northern California
9:05 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
The History of Anti-Asian Violence and its Connection to the Present
Gordon Chang, Professor of History at Stanford University and the Olive H. Palmer Professor of Humanities
Moderator: Anna Mok, President, Ascend
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
The U.S. and China Over Time: How to Build Respect and Understanding
Ken Wilcox, Honorary Chair, Asia Society Northern California
Moderator: Alistair Thornton, Co-Founder, Young China Watchers and Asia 21 Class of 2019
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
The Changes We Need: Education Post COVID-19
Yong Zhao, Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas and Professor in Educational Leadership at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education in Australia
Moderator: Milton Chen, Senior Fellow and Executive Director, Emeritus at The George Lucas Education Foundation (GLEF)
12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
LUNCH BREAK
12:30 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Asia Society Center for Global Education: Education for a Global Future
Neelam Chowdhary, Executive Director of Global Learning Programs
Heather Singmaster, Director for Career Technical Education and Global Cities Education Network
1:15 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
The Education to Employment Gap in Southeast Asia
Henry Motte-Muñoz, CEO and Founder of Edukasyon.ph and Asia 21 Class of 2015
Moderator: Karen Tay, Faculty, Singularity University and Asia 21 Class of 2019
2:00 – 2:15 p.m.
COFFEE BREAK
2:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Rural China’s Most Severe Epidemic: Depression, Anxiety and New Ways to Foster Resilience in Schools, Home and Community
Scott Rozelle, Senior Fellow at Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Manpreet Singh, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University
Discussants: Dr. Xinshu She and Huan Wang
Moderator: Xin Liu, Advisory Board Member, Stanford PACS
3:15 p.m. – 3:50 p.m.
Mindfulness Meditation
Elbert Ma, Mount Sinai Health System CALM
3:50 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Closing Remarks
Day 2: Friday, July 30, 2021
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Asia Society Future Global Leaders
Afghan Girls Robotics Team, Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2021
Mina Fedor, Founder of AAPI Youth Rising
Rahul Yates, Founder and Executive Director of HumSub GlobalTEEN
Moderator: Wenchi Yu, Head of Global Public Policy and Social Impact, VIPKid and Asia 21 Class of 2011
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Preparing Tomorrow’s Leaders for an Uncharted Future: SPICE’s East Asia Distance Learning Programs
Tanya Lee, Instructor, China Scholars Program, Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE)
11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
VIPTeach.org: Equitable Access to Quality Education Through Technology
Loretta Holmberg, Lecturer, Loyola University Maryland and Online ESL Teacher, VIPTeach
Susan Landaira, Global Online Teaching Fellow, VIPTeach
Jackie Robinson, Fellow, VIPTeach
Moderator: Wenchi Yu, Head of Global Public Policy and Social Impact, VIPKid and Asia 21 Class of 2011
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Chinosity: Engaging with Students on Chinese Language & Culture
Cleopatra Wise, Director, China Learning Initiatives, Asia Society Center for Global Education
Sarah Deng, Program Associate, China Learning Initiatives, Asia Society Center for Global Education
12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
LUNCH BREAK
12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Experiences from the AAPI Youth Rising Rally
Cooper Hong, Rising Freshman, Bishop O'Dowd High School
Shubh Doshi, Rising 8th Grader, Head-Royce
Maxwell Wong, Rising Freshman, Head-Royce
Harita Kalvai, Rising Junior, Marin School of Environmental Leadership and Teen Board Member, Beyond Differences
Moderator: Margaret Conley, Executive Director, Asia Society Northern California
1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Asian Kids Pride
Aries Wang, Co-Founder & Education Content Specialist, Polydott
Katie Lin, Education Content Specialist, Polydott and Mandarin Specialist, Bullis Charter School (BCS)
Moderator: Margaret Conley, Executive Director, Asia Society Northern California
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
TiE Silicon Valley: Building Entrepreneurial Mindsets
Reena Gupta, Founder & CEO of Mom Relaunch and TiE Leadership Circle
AGK Karunakaran, President of TiE Silicon Valley
Naeem Zafar, Co-Founder and CEO, TeleSense
Moderator: Andy Tsao, Managing Director, Silicon Valley Bank
2:30 – 2:45 p.m.
COFFEE BREAK
2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
How to Address Race in the Classroom and Advance Racial Justice in Education
Stewart Kwoh, Co-Executive Director of The Asian American Education Project and President Emeritus of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles
Kate Lee, Program Manager, The Asian American Education Project
Chris Aldana, KINETIC and Youth Organizer, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago
Moderator: Cat Shieh, Anti-Hate Training Coordinator, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago
3:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Closing Remarks
EVENT DETAILS
Date: Thursday, June 29, 2021 and Friday, July 30, 2021
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Pacific each day
Link to join virtually via Zoom will be emailed the day before and an hour before the program is scheduled to begin by Rexille Uy, Director of Programs ([email protected]). This will be a webinar program; attendees will not appear on camera and will participate via the Q&A box.
SUMMIT FORMAT
The Summit will take place virtually via Zoom and consist of two days of speaker presentations, Q&A opportunities, interactive opportunities for teachers, and sessions for developing ideas on how contemporary Asia, global competency, and technological advancement in education can be integrated into standard K-12 grade classrooms. Teachers will have the chance to network and exchange ideas with each other and speakers while online.
Watch videos from our 2020 Teachers Workshop: https://asiasociety.org/northern-california/2020-teachers-workshop-technology-humanity
CONTINUING EDUCATION UNITS (CEU)
Workshop attendees can opt to receive 1.2 Continuing Education Units (CEU) from San Francisco State University’s College of Extended Learning. If you would like to receive the CEU, please indicate your interest on your registration form and you will be given further instructions on the SFSU enrollment and payment process. The cost of the CEU is $200.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES E-PASS SWEEPSTAKES
Asia Society Northern California members in attendance will be automatically entered into a sweepstakes to receive Southwest Airlines flight e-passes, good for use until July 2022. Winners will be selected by a random drawing and will be announced live during the 2021 Education Summit. All winners will be emailed their unique e-pass codes after the Summit concludes.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO PARTICIPATE in the Southwest Airlines E-Pass Sweepstakes.
SPEAKER BIOS
Gordon H. Chang is a Professor of History at Stanford University and the Olive H. Palmer Professor of Humanities. He is currently serving the University as the Senior Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and is the Stanford Alumni Association Fellow in Undergraduate Education and Stanford faculty since 1991. In 2019, he published Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic History of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and, as co-editor, The Chinese and the Iron Road: Building the Transcontinental (Stanford University Press). These books draw from more than seven years of work conducted by the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford, which he has co-directed. His other books include Friends and Enemies: The United States, China, and the Soviet Union, 1948-1972; Morning Glory, Evening Shadow: Yamato Ichihashi and His Internment Writings, 1942-1945; and Fateful Ties: A History of America’s Preoccupation with China. He teaches courses in American history, trans-Pacific history, U.S-China relations, and Asian American history.
Anna Mok is the President & Co-Founder of Ascend, North America’s membership network of Pan-Asian business professionals and the co-founder of Ascend Pinnacle, North America’s network of Pan-Asian corporate directors. Known as a community builder and connector, Anna has a deep passion for creating economic and educational access and for diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and society. Her impact extends beyond the AAPI community with other boards she currently serves on including the 117-year-old Commonwealth Club of California, the nation’s largest and oldest public affairs forum where Anna was the first Chinese female chairman of and at the United Way Bay Area, where she recently served as their first chairperson of Asian descent. Anna is also currently the Nominating & Governance Chair of the Committee of 100 and a Senior Fellow with the American Leadership Forum. During her distinguished career at Deloitte, she has served in various leadership roles including ones focused on clients and market growth. She is currently the Asia Pacific Leader for the Advisory Practice and a Global Lead Client Services Partner at Deloitte. Anna was the first Chinese American woman admitted to partnership at Deloitte, selected as a member of Deloitte’s Board Council and the CEO Advisory Partner Council.
Ken Wilcox currently serves as Emeritus Chairman of Silicon Valley Bank. He is the former Chair of Asia Society Northern California, was Vice Chairman of SPD Silicon Valley Bank, and previously the CEO of SVB Financial Group. Mr. Wilcox was a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco from 2006 to 2012. He serves as Treasurer of the Asian Art Museum, and sits on the 21st Century China Center Advisory Board. Dr. Wilcox is an adjunct professor and member of the International Advisory Board at Fudan University in Shanghai. He earned a PhD in German Studies from Ohio State, after which he secured a tenure-track position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was the Assistant Chair of the Department and in charge of the undergraduate program in German before receiving his MBA from Harvard Business School and transitioning to a career in banking.
Alistair Thornton is co-founder of Young China Watchers, a dynamic global network of China-engaged young professionals. Through regular roundtables and talks with senior figures in the China academic, policy and business communities, YCW provides a chance for engaged individuals to interact and discuss the most pressing issues emerging from China today. Through these community events, as well as its prolific initiatives - a blog, podcasts series, annual China attitudes survey, annual leadership award and multi-chapter mentorship program - YCW seeks to foster the next generation of China thought-leaders. Alistair works at FACEBOOK, where he leads product strategy for the company's commerce efforts, including Facebook Shops and Instagram Shopping. Previously, he worked in investment management at Eachwin Capital, where he invested in technology companies. He lived in Beijing 2008-2013 and speaks Mandarin. He did his undergraduate studies in Philosophy at University of Edinburgh and has a MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Yong Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas and a professor in Educational Leadership at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education in Australia. He previously served as the Presidential Chair, Associate Dean, and Director of the Institute for Global and Online Education in the College of Education, University of Oregon, where he was also a Professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership. Prior to Oregon, Yong Zhao was University Distinguished Professor at the College of Education, Michigan State University, where he also served as the founding director of the Center for Teaching and Technology, executive director of the Confucius Institute, as well as the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the International Academy of Education.
Dr. Milton Chen is senior fellow and executive director, emeritus at The George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF), producers of the Edutopia.org website on innovative K-12 learning. Dr. Chen has been the founding director of the KQED Center for Education (PBS) in San Francisco; director of research at Sesame Workshop in New York; and an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is a member of the board of trustees for Sesame Workshop and the Kellogg Foundation.
Neelam Chowdhary is the Executive Director of Global Learning Programs at the Center for Global Education, Asia Society. She works to lead curriculum and professional development initiatives that strive to graduate students both college-ready and globally competent. Most recently, Neelam has spearheaded Education for Equity. The primary focus of this initiative is the design of materials for teachers, parents and youth themselves that enable all students to understand and act on issues of global significance. Neelam has an MA in Educational Leadership from Pepperdine University and a Doctorate Degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, in Curriculum Studies. She is also a National Board Certified Teacher.
Heather Singmaster is Director for Career Technical Education (CTE) and Global Cities Education Network (GCEN) at the Center for Global Education, Asia Society where her work focuses on international benchmarking and integrating global competence into Career Technical Education programs as well as state and national policy. Heather leads the Global Cities Education Network, a network of international cities focused on best practice sharing in education. She speaks and writes regularly on global education, including as the former host of Education Week’s Global Learning blog. Heather holds a Masters degree focused in Anthropology from New York University and a Bachelors degree in International Affairs from George Washington University.
As a pioneer in the Philippine edtech space, Henry Motte-Muñoz founded Edukasyon.ph with the goal of improving the education-to-employment outcomes for millions of young Filipinos. Over the past five years, he has built a platform with access to schools, scholarships, online courses, and other learning resources that empower the youth to make better-informed decisions about their education, career and life, visited by more than 10 million students each year. Henry graduated from the London School of Economics and completed his MBA with distinction at the Harvard Business School. Prior to Edukasyon.ph, he co-founded Bantay.ph and served as a Senior Associate at Bain Capital. He was recognized as part of the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2016 and the Asia 21 Young Leaders Class of 2015.
Karen Tay is passionate about building equitable systems that are conducive for high performance and human flourishing. Most recently, she held a dual portfolio as Smart Nation Director in the Prime Ministers' Office and Regional Vice President in the Singapore Global Network. Before remote working was cool, she led a remote global team across San Francisco, Singapore, London and New York which brought top tech talent to Singapore and designed new policies, programs and organisations to enhance talent retention. She previously held leadership roles in the Singapore public service with a focus on making education more equitable: her teams designed and implemented $2B in preschool reforms, enhanced financial aid for parents of children with special needs, and built a new strategic communications and engagement team to make education policy-making more responsive. She is concurrently faculty at Singularity University, Editorial Board member of the Women's Forum and a certified executive coach. She has been recognized as a Womens' Forum Rising Talent, Business Times Top Women in STEM, and Asia21 Young Leader.
Scott Rozelle is the Helen F. Farnsworth Senior Fellow and the co-director of Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research at Stanford University. He received his BS from the University of California, Berkeley, and his MS and PhD from Cornell University. Previously, Rozelle was a professor at the University of California, Davis and an assistant professor in Stanford’s Food Research Institute and department of economics. He currently is a member of several organizations, including the American Economics Association, the International Association for Agricultural Economists, and the Association for Asian Studies. Rozelle also serves on the editorial boards of Economic Development and Cultural Change, Agricultural Economics, the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, and the China Economic Review.
Dr. Manpreet Singh is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine and leads a multidisciplinary team that aims to test and innovate novel diagnostic and treatment approaches in youth with a spectrum of mood disorders along a developmental continuum. Her research focuses on investigating the origins and pathways for developing mood disorders during childhood, as well as methods to protect and preserve function before and after the onset of early mood problems. Dr. Singh’s research team in the Pediatric Emotion And Resilience Lab conducts research examining the neural, cognitive, and genetic underpinnings of pediatric mood disorders. She has extensive experience with multi-level investigations involving children and families, as well as clinical, neuroimaging, and dimensionally-based behavioral research assessments.
Dr. Xinshu She is a Global Health pediatrician with over 13 years of experience working in low-resource settings globally, promoting equity in Health and Education. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital and has published on urban-rural health disparities in Chinese youth, quality improvement using participatory art and elevated lead levels in Haitian Children. She has presented nationally and internationally on Social Medicine and Global Health, youth mental health, early childhood development, Wellness and professional development. She is the PI of an international collaboration trial assessing the impact of mindfulness and mentoring on migrant youth resilience (MCHRI CE award, 2020). She has mentored more than 100 youth globally, ranging from left-behind rural Chinese children, high school students in Baltimore/Bronx/California, to medical trainees in Haiti, Harvard medical students and Stanford Diversity scholars.
Huan Wang is a Social Science Research Scholar at Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions. Her research focuses on assessing educational quality and identifying effective educational programs and policies to improve student outcomes in rural China. By conducting large-scale randomized controlled trials, she evaluates the impact of social emotional learning on reducing dropouts in rural junior high schools, the impact of independent reading on student performance, and the effect of vision care programs on learning and schooling path. She also currently runs a social enterprise that works with local communities to establish sustainable, high quality vision care services for children in rural China.
Xin Liu is the co-founder and president of the Enlight Foundation, as well as director and co-founder of Xinhe Foundation (previously Xinping Foundation) in China. Her philanthropy work focuses on creating equal educational opportunities for children in developing countries, grooming social entrepreneurs and change makers among youth, and supporting action driven research projects to advance education. Educated in China and the United States, Xin is an award-winning photojournalist on both continents. Xin Liu worked as a writer and photojournalist for China Youth Daily, documenting women and children’s educational conditions throughout the mainland, before she was invited to work at Baltimore Sun in Maryland in 1993, then subsequently worked at the Miami Herald, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Palm Beach Post. Xin later freelanced in China for Time Magazine, Newsweek, Fortune Magazine, among others. With her background working in the field as a journalist for a dozen years in both countries, Xin has experienced education inequality in China and the U.S.. She strongly believes that it’s important to engage youth for social changes, while strengthen rural communities through early education initiatives to alleviate rural poverty.
Elbert Ma is a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher at Mount Sinai Health System CALM in New York City and is an Instructional Assistant at Teachers College, Columbia University. In addition to having studied meditation for over thirteen years with a specialization in Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness, Elbert is a certified 500+ hr Yoga Instructor, Personal Trainer, and graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. Using his unique set of skills, Elbert is passionate about bringing a holistic approach to health and wellness, helping individuals discover greater self-awareness, and leading communities towards collective well-being. He regularly conducts stress reduction workshops with various organizations nationwide, including New York City Law Department, Mission Veterinary Partners, Success Academy Charter Schools, and Unilever.
The Afghan Girls Robotics Team, formed with help from New York-based nonprofit Digital Citizen Fund in 2017, was recently named Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2021. In 2020, they developed a low-cost, lightweight ventilator to help treat patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Afghanistan. After final testing, its release is expected to offset a shortage of ventilators in the country. The Afghan Girls Robotics Team was honored by Asia Society Northern California at its inaugural 2019 Asia Game Changer West Awards Gala.
Mina Fedor is a rising 8th grader attending Black Pine Circle School in Berkeley, CA and Stanford Online High School. Mina is the Founder of AAPI Youth Rising, an organization composed primarily of middle-schoolers that is fighting for positive change for our communities. In March 2021, AYR organized a 1,200+ person rally to show solidarity against AAPI Hate and bring awareness to violence and racism against Asians in America. Since then, AYR has registered voters throughout the Bay Area, was awarded a Proclamation from the City of Berkeley, and launched the ONE/180 Campaign pushing for Asian American history to be taught on at least one day during the school year. In the coming months, AYR will be focused on organizing for the passage of AB101, a bill that would mandate the teaching of ethnic studies in public high schools throughout California. AYR is also planning art activist events throughout the Bay Area.
Rahul Yates is a rising junior at Brentwood School in Los Angeles, California. In 2020, Rahul founded HumSub GlobalTEEN, an organization to raise awareness and build a community for multiracial and multicultural teenagers and young adults. With his platform, Rahul hopes to increase conversations about race and ethnicity with regard to the experiences of individuals who identify as mixed-race in a society that has largely embraced a binary concept towards racial/ethnic identity. In light of recent movements such as Black Lives Matter and #StopAAPIHate, Rahul is focusing on using his platform to address how multiracial people fit into these campaigns and how they can use their unique experience to be advocates for their communities. HumSub GlobalTEEN has over 1,200 followers on Instagram, and people can learn more at humsubglobalteen.com and @humsubglobalteen on all social media platforms. In addition, Rahul has spoken on two Asia Society New York panels about his experience being a multiracial South Asian and colorism within the South Asian community.
Wenchi Yu is the Head of Global Public Policy and Social Impact at VIPKid, the world’s leading education technology platform company. She leads VIPKid’s public policy and social impact initiative, including co-founding VIPTeach.org, a non-profit organization seed funded and incubated by VIPKid to promote equitable access to quality education through technology. Prior to joining VIPKid, Wenchi was the Head of Corporate Engagement for Goldman Sachs in Asia, where she led strategic philanthropy for stakeholder engagement and social impact in Asia. Wenchi is also an investor and advisor for EdTech and Future of Work companies. Before joining the private sector, she was a senior advisor on global women’s issues in the U.S. Department of State, and worked on the rule of law and civil society development in China in the U.S. Congress. Early on, she worked on women’s rights, human trafficking, and immigrant issues at various non-profit organizations. Wenchi is currently a Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, and recently published a report on Chinese Technology Companies in the United States. She’s a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations, and an Asia 21 Fellow of Asia Society. Her writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Council on Foreign Relations blogs, Caixin, and the Forbes. She has an M.A. in international relations from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in political science from National Taiwan University.
Tanya Lee designed and launched the online China Scholars Program (CSP) for the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) in 2017, basing it on SPICE’s long-running Reischauer Scholars Program on Japan, and has taught it over 8 sessions now. CSP is a distance learning program for U.S. 10th, 11th, and 12th graders with a passionate interest in China and/or international studies. Students explore key issues in contemporary China, spanning politics, economics, social issues, culture, and the arts, and with an emphasis on its relationship with the United States. In real-time sessions with leading scholars, experts, and former government officials from Stanford University and other institutions, they engage with cutting-edge research, culminating in an independent research project of their own. She completed her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology in 2011 from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with specializations in American folk music and East Asian music. She earned an M.A. in ethnomusicology from the University of Washington, a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies from Oberlin College, and a Bachelor of Music in Music History from Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Loretta Holmberg-Masden is a former attorney from Singapore turned current full time Lecturer at the School of Education in Loyola University Maryland and a PhD candidate at University of Maryland College Park whose research focus is in vocabulary instruction. She is a certified reading specialist for K-12 students. She is also the owner and dog trainer at Polite Pups Academy LLC and is very active in the dog rescue world. Additionally, Loretta teaches English to students in China on the VIPKID online platform and was a VIPTeach Global Online Teaching Fellow this past academic year. As a Fellow, she taught English to students in rural China, and also founded the Books4Baltimore (currently being incorporated as a 501c(3) non profit) organization where students in K-2 receive free books for the summer in order to prevent summer reading loss. Each book that is being distributed has an accompanied recorded read aloud for students to access via a QR code if they need a read aloud to follow along while reading.
Susan M. Landaira is a Special Education and ESL Teacher and a VIPTeach Global Online Teaching Fellow. Susan considers education a right and believes that all students should be given a fair educational opportunity. Susan has dedicated many years to underserved students. Through her work with the Vello and BookNook programs, she volunteers to assist struggling readers who may get lost in the world of public education. In addition to teaching, Susan has performed many roles within VIPKid, such as being a member of the Curriculum Advisory Team, Teacher Advisory Council and a Community Ambassador. The Rural Education and Qiangbang Projects are programs that Susan holds near and dear to her heart. By providing students across the globe with an English education, Susan believes she is providing them with access to limitless possibilities. She is inspired by the idea of a global classroom and educational equity. Susan holds a BA in Philosophy and Cultural Education and a MA in Education. Susan will be pursuing an EdD in Reading and Literacy.
Jackie Robinson is a Fellow with VIPTeach, a non-profit dedicated to educational equity. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees with teaching certifications in K-12 Music and K-12 School Counseling. Jackie has held music and counseling positions in rural schools in America and has also taught at the university level where she helped develop a leadership certificate program. She has been a 1:1 online ESL teacher with VIPKid teaching more than 8,000 individual lessons, and has taught around 800 full classroom classes with the Rural Education Project teaching students in rural China. Jackie is currently working on her doctorate to better understand leadership strategies that support change related to technology adoption in rural schools. In her spare time, Jackie enjoys non-profit work and has also worked extensively with Habitat for Humanity by leading teams to six continents to build houses in rural areas.
Cleopatra Wise is the Director for Asia Society's Center for Global Education, China Learning Initiatives (CLI). She is responsible for managing the CLI team and executing programs that promote Chinese language learning among young people in the United States. Before joining Asia Society, Cleopatra served as an International Program Manager at Peking University for seven years. During her time there, she spearheaded the school's global outreach and special initiatives. Cleopatra holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Southern California. She also earned an MBA from the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. Cleopatra is a Florida native and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and Krio.
DENG (Sarah) Minghui is the Program Associate for China Learning Initiatives at Asia Society's Center for Global Education. She leads Chinosity, a multi-media platform connecting people with viral news on Chinese entertainment, internet phenomenon, and trending East vs. West stories. She also manages #WhySpeakChinese, a global Chinese language contest on social media. DENG graduated from Fordham University with a BA degree in International Studies and Communications. DENG is passionate about bridging Asian Gen Z culture with the world.
Cooper Hong was born and raised in Oakland. In June 2021, he graduated from 8th grade at The Academy. He is 14 years old and will be a freshman at Bishop O'Dowd this coming fall. He is of European, Chinese, Native American, and Polynesian descent and has always loved learning languages and programming technology. Cooper joined AAPI Youth Rising in light of the struggles the Asian community at large is facing in these trying times. As an Asian American, he feels a particular responsibility to stand up against the violent hate crimes directed towards elders and women. By advocating and participating in protests and marches, he hopes to be a part of the nationwide movement to educate others about our rich history, and show them that Asian Americans belong in America just as much as anyone else.
Shubh Doshi lives in Piedmont, California and attends Head-Royce. He is a member of the Class of 2026 and enjoys playing basketball and programming. Shubh is Indian-American and aims to spread awareness of societal issues by speaking out against xenophobia and racism towards AAPI people through his work with AAPI Youth Rising.
Maxwell Wong is of Chinese and Pacific Islander descent. He was born in San Francisco and raised in Oakland, California. Maxwell is a rising 9th grader at Head-Royce and loves learning about his rich Asian heritage. He believes the AAPI community needs stronger representation to help address the racism it is currently facing. By advocating and standing up for the most vulnerable, he hopes that young people, along with the broader AAPI community and AAPI allies, can contribute to stopping AAPI hate. Maxwell is working towards building a more just and fair world.
Harita Kalvai is an incoming junior at the Marin School of Environmental Leadership in Marin County, California. She has been involved with social justice issues in her community since she was in middle school, and she is currently part of the anti-isolation organization, Beyond Differences. As a first generation Asian-American, Harita believes it is important to speak up about issues that affect the AAPI community, especially because AAPI voices have been historically marginalized.
Aries Wang has been successively engaged in Chinese-English bilingual education in Rochester, Boston, and the San Francisco Bay Area, developing high-quality online and offline courses and educational content for Mandarin and English learners of all ages. Her bilingual online course - Ms. Aries’ 50 Classic English Nursery Rhymes has exceeded 3 million downloads on China’s leading podcast platform, Ximalaya, in less than 6 months. For the past three years, she partnered with local libraries and developed a storytime community that has become the largest of its kind around the Silicon Valley. More than 2,000 families have joined as permanent members. Aries graduated from Fudan University with a B.A. in Chinese Language and Literature and got her Masters’ degree later in TESOL at University of Rochester. Aries was also admitted to the Eastman School of Music and joined the Boston Choral Ensemble as a soprano when she was in Boston. Prior to that, she was one of the founding members of the acclaimed Shanghai Rainbow Chamber Singers.
Katie Lin is a Mandarin Specialist who teaches Kindergarten through eighth grade at Bullis Charter School (BCS). BCS is acclaimed as one of the leading charter schools in the US which has received California Distinguished School Award and WASC accreditation (Western Association of Schools and Colleges is a world-renowned accrediting association. It demonstrates that schools provide high-quality learning and model continual self-improvement.). Before working at Bullis, Katie worked at The Nueva School as a Mandarin teacher and advisor. The Nueva School is a three-time winner of the US Department of Education National Blue Ribbon Award and recognized as an Apple Distinguished Program. In addition to teaching and tutoring Mandarin, Katie shared her expertise in teaching and presented in various conferences. She has been invited as a guest speaker at the National Chinese Language Conference and California Association for Bilingual Education Conference. Katie holds a BA in English Language and Literature from the Soochow University in Taiwan. She earned a Masters’ Degree in Chinese from San Francisco State University.
Reena Gupta, a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist, interestingly dove into entrepreneurship when most women take a career break, after her first child was born. Her first foray into entrepreneurship started with a staffing company, Avankia, following which she established a technology company, TargetRecruit. At TargetRecruit, she innovatively achieved many milestones in the Salesforce Ecosystem, including being the first to be incubated by Salesforce and developing the first ATS and WMS on Salesforce platform. She successfully exited from TargetRecruit in early 2018. As a leader in the technology SMB space, Reena’s passion has always been to give back to community. Recognizing the gap in job opportunities for stay at home moms, she started Mom Relaunch – an organization that empowers women on a career break to get back into the workforce, with a focus on IT and HR. She finds fulfillment in transforming the lives of women and enabling them to be financially independent.
AGK Karunakaran, CEO of MulticoreWare, Inc., and President of TiE Silicon Valley, has 25 years of experience in general management, engineering and marketing for the computing, semi-conductor and embedded markets. The Indian American executive was the founding president and CEO of GDA Technologies Inc., a leading intellectual property licensing and electronics design services company. GDA was purchased by L&T Infotech, India, in March 2007.
Naeem Zafar is a serial entrepreneur and currently the co-founder and CEO of TeleSense, a company creating solution in the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) space. Previously he co-founded and served as the CEO of Bitzer Mobile, an enterprise security and mobility company that was acquired by Oracle in November 2013. Naeem has taught at the University of California, Berkeley since 2005. He is a lecturer and Industry Fellow at The Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology. He is also the Professor of the Practice at Brown University. He teaches courses in Entrepreneurship, Technology Strategy, Innovation and New Venture Finance at Brown and UC Berkeley.
Andy Tsao is a Managing Director and leads SVB’s Global Gateway, which assists innovation companies in the emerging markets with their US and international market expansion. He brings more than 20 years of experience banking dynamic companies in technology industries worldwide. In his roles, Tsao manages SVB’s relationships with venture capital and private equity firms outside the U.S., and also helps emerging market companies as they seek U.S. market entry and U.S. companies as they seek to expand abroad. In both capacities, Tsao provides these firms with strategic advice and banking services, including debt financing, based on a deep understanding of their needs. He sits on the Asia Society Northern California board and is a TiE Silicon Valley Charter Member.
Stewart Kwoh is the President Emeritus, founder, past president, and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles (Advancing Justice-LA). He is also a Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of The Asian American Education Project and the Project Executive of the PBS Asian Americans docuseries. Kwoh is a nationally recognized leader and expert in race relations, Asian American studies, nonprofit organizations and philanthropies, civil rights, and legal services. He was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 1998, becoming the first Asian American attorney and human rights activist to receive this highly prestigious recognition, often referred to as the “genius grant.” Kwoh earned his bachelor’s degree from University of California, Los Angeles and his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law. He teaches at the university’s Asian American Studies Department, and has been an instructor at UCLA School of Law. In 1983, Kwoh co-founded Advancing Justice-LA, the nation’s largest Asian American legal and civil rights organization that serves more than 15,000 individuals and organizations every year. View full bio here.
Kate Lee is the program manager for the Asian American Education Project. An advocate for inclusive curriculum in K-12 schools, Kate co-organized the campaign to include AAPI studies in the K-8 model curriculum for the state of Connecticut and also serves on the board of directors for the Immigrant History Initiative. In addition to ten years of teaching experience, Kate was a curriculum editor for the PBS Asian Americans docuseries. Kate holds an MA from Middlebury College and a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese and economics from the University of California, Davis.
Chris Aldana is the KINETIC and Youth Organizer, and is responsible for developing and implementing leadership and organizing programs for a diverse community of immigrant and refugee high school students in Chicago Public Schools. Chris brings over six years of experience in curriculum design and workshop facilitation in high school, college, and community settings. She has worked with young people across the Midwest and South East Asia to develop their leadership skills, and equip them with the tools to create change in their communities. She has been volunteering with Advancing Justice since 2017, and currently organizes with the immigrant rights working group of A Just Chi. Chris is the founder of Luya Poetry, a local organization that uses poetry to bring together communities of color, to build solidarity around issues important to us, and to reclaim our cultures and histories. Chris received her BA in Political Science and French from the Ohio State University. She is passionate about using art and cultural work as tools for popular education, and likes her adobo with turmeric and coconut milk.
Cat Shieh is the Anti-Hate Training Coordinator at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago. Prior to the role, the majority of her 5-year high school teaching career was in teaching Ethnic Studies, emphasizing intersectionality and student-centered learning. Her anti-bias & anti-racism (ABAR) curricula have been piloted in the Los Angeles Unified School District as well as multiple charter schools across California. With this, her educational, organizing, and social policy journeys are rooted in proximity to youth and communities. Before working as a teacher, Cat worked in non-profit, public, higher education, and corporate consulting sectors all dedicated to social impact. During her time working in the US House of Representatives, she opened 2 Congressional Caucuses. Cat received her BA in Political Science and Urban Planning from the University of Southern California, and she received her MA in Urban Education, Administration, and Policy from Loyola Marymount University. Cat is an alum of Teach for America, Teach Plus, Association of Raza Educators, and Coro.
Margaret Conley is the Executive Director of Asia Society Northern California. She was based in Asia for several years as a television news correspondent with ABC News in Jakarta and Tokyo, and with Bloomberg Television in Shanghai. She was part of the global ABC team that won a News and Documentary Emmy Award for presidential inauguration coverage. Margaret has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a master’s in journalism from the University of Hong Kong, which specializes in coverage of Asia. Margaret was selected as one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times in 2019. She is a member of the International Women's Forum.
THE CENTER FOR GLOBAL EDUCATION (CGE) AT ASIA SOCIETY
The Center for Global Education (CGE) at Asia Society partners with leaders and institutions from around the world to tackle one of the most critical education challenges today: how to educate all students for employability and citizenship in a global era. We are working to achieve UN SDG target 4.7 on Global Citizenship Education, and published Teaching for Global Competence in a Rapidly Changing World with OECD in 2018. For more information, visit https://asiasociety.org/education