Honorary Chairs | Board | Advisory Council

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HONORARY CHAIRS

Chair Emeritus

Chong-Moon Lee
Founder & Chair, Ambex Ventures
Asia Society Trustee

Lee founded Diamond Multimedia Systems in 1982, which later achieved the No. 1 ranking in market share for PC graphics accelerator products in America. Lee served on the Board of Trustees at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC. Currently, he serves as a trustee and commissioner of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, which is also known as Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Arts and Culture. He served as Consulting Professor at Stanford University’s Asia Pacific Research Center, and currently serves as Chaired Professor Emeritus at Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST). He holds honorary doctoral degrees from several leading universities including Seton Hall University and KAIST, a master’s degree from Vanderbilt University and a law degree from Chung-Ang University in Seoul.

Honorary Chair

John S. Wadsworth, Jr.
Advisory Director, Morgan Stanley
Asia Society Trustee Emeritus

John “Jack” Wadsworth is the Honorary Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and an Advisory Director of Morgan Stanley, globally based in San Francisco. In 1987, he moved to Japan as President of Morgan Stanley Japan, Chairman of its Executive and Operating Committees, and as Head of the Firm’s investment banking business in Asia. In 1991, Mr. Wadsworth moved to Hong Kong as Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia. In 2001, he moved from Hong Kong to San Francisco. Mr. Wadsworth earned a BA from Williams College in 1961, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 1963.

Honorary Chair 

Kenneth P. Wilcox
Chairman Emeritus, Silicon Valley Bank

Ken Wilcox currently serves as Emeritus Chairman of Silicon Valley Bank and was both President and Vice Chairman of SPD Silicon Valley Bank, Silicon Valley Bank’s joint-venture bank in Shanghai. Mr. Wilcox was previously the CEO of SVB Financial Group. In that role, he successfully pursued a strategy of expansion and diversification, while remaining focused on the group’s core niches of technology, life sciences, venture capital and premium wineries.

Mr. Wilcox was (until July of 2021) Chairman of the Board of the Asia Society of Northern California, Treasurer of the Asian Art Museum, and a member of the Advisory Board of the 21st Century China Center Advisory Board. Also, he is the Chief Credit Officer of Columbia Lake Venture Debt Fund. He is also an adjunct professor and member of International Advisory Board at Fudan University in Shanghai, and an advisor to a number of startups. Earlier in his career, Mr. Wilcox was a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco from 2006 to 2012.

Mr. Wilcox earned a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School, as well as a PhD in German studies Ohio State University. In January of 2020 he published “Leading Through Culture:  How Real Leaders Create Cultures that Motivate People to Achieve Great Things.”

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BOARD

Gary Rieschel - Chair
Founding Managing Partner, Qiming, Asia Society Trustee

Gary has over 30 years of successful operating and investing experience as a senior executive, entrepreneur, investor, and global business strategist. He held executive positions at Intel, Sequent, and Cisco, and was the Founder of the Softbank Venture Capital group.   He is Founding Managing Partner of Qiming, a firm with over $8B USD under management focused on early stage investments in China and one of China’s premier VC firms. Mr. Rieschel’s investment areas are Healthcare and Cleantech. He advised the China Greentech Initiative, and the Rocky Mountain Institute in its introduction to China. He actively supports the US China Clean Energy Forum, PERC (Property and Environmental Research), The Nature Conservancy, the Climate Leadership Council, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Atlantic Council, and the U.S. Olympic Foundation where he and his wife Yucca serve as Sports Ambassadors for mental health for the U.S. Olympic team.  He served on the joint venture boards of Blackrock/Bank of China and Silicon Valley Bank/Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. Gary holds a BA in Biology from Reed College in Portland, OR, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He lived in Japan for five years in the late 1980s and lived in Shanghai from 2005 through 2016. He now lives in Seattle, WA. He is the Chairman of the Asia Society Northern California Advisory Board and a Global Trustee.

Yitz Applbaum
Principal & Founding Partner
MizMaa Ventures, Asia Society Trustee

Isaac “Yitz” Applbaum is Co-founder and General Partner at   MizMaa Ventures, a $200M venture fund which invests in Israeli startup companies in the Mobility, Fintech, Cyber Security, Cloud and Digital Healthcare space. Applbaum is a senior  advisor to EIGHT VC Partners a $5.5BN Venture Fund which invests in Enterprise Software and Healthcare Technologies and 7Wire Ventures a Digital Healthcare Venture Group. Isaac is a Senior Advisor to HE Khalid Al-Falih the Minister of Investment for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (MISA)

Isaac is a Co-Founder of Secure Senior Connections a Social Determinant of Health platform which helps to solve for loneliness in the elderly community and is the President of Health Connect Acquisitions Corporation  (SNRHU). Isaac is also the CFO of Logistics Innovation Technology Corporation (LITTU) a public  company focused on advanced logistics, last mile delivery and shop floor automation. Isaac sits on the Global Board of Directors for the Asia Society, and is a Trustee of the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Applbaum is on the Board of Directors of Republican Jewish Coalition and the Board of the American Action Network. He is also a founding board member of Him for Her for Him (HHH) which assists in the placement of women onto corporate boards of directors. Applbaum is a member of the Young Presidents Organization.

Nicole Belytschko
Chief Investment Officer
C.M. Capital

Ms. Belytschko serves as the Chief Investment Officer. Prior to joining C.M. Capital, she was an investment manager with Comprehensive Financial Management, a large West Coast multi-family office. Previously, Ms. Belytschko worked with Scient in developing the firm’s corporate venture arm and leading direct investments in technology companies and was a member of Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette’s Private Fund Group, where she marketed and distributed alternative investment products. Ms. Belytschko holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA, and a BA, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Buck Gee
Regional Chair and Board Member
Committee of 100

Mr. Gee is Regional Chair of the Committee of 100 (C100), a national organization of prominent Chinese Americans working to provide leadership in promoting the full participation of Chinese Americans in American society.  He serves on the C100 board and chairs the audit committee.  He also serves on the board of the Chinatown Media and Arts Collaborative, a coalition of leading San Francisco-based API nonprofit organizations working to revitalize the San Francisco Chinatown neighborhood.  He is co-founder of the Asian American Leadership executive education program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and has served as co-chair of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation Advisory Board.

Vinita Gupta
Co-founder, Former Chairperson and CEO,
Digital Link Corporation

Vinita Gupta is a retired Silicon Valley CEO/Entrepreneur, Writer /Journalist, and Bridge Champion. She co-founded Digital Link Corporation and was the Chairperson and CEO for almost 20 years — from inception to retirement. Silicon India magazine credited Vinita for being the first woman of Indian origin to take her company public in the US. She is a Bridge Champion with three National Titles.

Vinita received her Bachelor of Engineering in Electronic and Communications from IIT Roorkee, India 1973 and her Masters in Electrical Engineering from University of California, Los Angeles 1974. She was awarded two US Patents in the field of telecommunications.

Vinita is a board member of Palo Alto Medical Foundation Community Board; Board Member of Mathematical Sciences Research Institute.  She serves on The Advisory Board member of The Stanford Center for Asian Health Research and Education (Stanford CARE), and on Council of Trustee of TiE Silicon Valley. Born in India in 1950, Vinita resides in Woodside, California.

C. Richard Kramlich
Chairman & Co-Founder
New Enterprise Associates

Mr. C. Richard “Dick” Kramlich serves as Co-Founder and Co-Managing Director and Partner at Green Bay Ventures. Mr. Kramlich co-founded New Enterprise Associates in 1978 and serves as its Chairman Emeritus. He has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National Venture Capital Association, the University of California, Haas School of Business, the Silicon Valley Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Program and the Red Herring Magazine Award. He received an Innovation Catalyst Award from the VC Taskforce for outstanding contribution, dedication and leadership in the venture community in 2010 and was honored with a Special Achievement Award at the International Business Forum (IBF) 2010 Venture Capital Investing Conference. Mr. Kramlich received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in History from Northwestern University.

Frank Lavin
Former Ambassador to Singapore
Chair of Export Now

Frank Lavin has 30 years of experience helping companies succeed in Asia, through leadership roles in banking, marketing, and diplomacy. In government, Frank served as Ambassador to Singapore and Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade. In the latter role, he was lead trade negotiator for both China and India and was the senior policy official, responsible for commercial policy, export promotion and trade negotiations.
 
Frank currently serves as Chairman of Export Now, a company that supports U.S. brands in China e-commerce. Frank previously served in senior finance and management positions in Hong Kong and Singapore with Citibank, Bank of America, and Edelman. Frank is the co-author of “Export Now” (Wiley).
 
Frank earned a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; an M.S. in Chinese Language from Georgetown University; an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University; and an M.B.A. in Finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
 
Frank is a contributor to Forbes, writing on topics from U.S.-Asia relations to international business practices.

Eric Loeb
EVP, Government Affairs
Salesforce

Eric Loeb joined Salesforce in 2018 to lead global government affairs and public policy.  Salesforce is the #1 CRM, bringing companies closer to their customers in the digital age. Salesforce enables companies of every size and industry to take advantage of powerful technologies—cloud, mobile, social, blockchain, voice and artificial intelligence—to connect to their customers in a whole new way. Eric graduated with honors from Georgetown University Law Center, and Bowdoin College. He started his career as a communications law associate at what is now Hogan Lovells. He served as U.S. regulatory counsel for British Telecommunications plc. and as global regulatory counsel for Concert Communications plc.  In 2002, Eric joined AT&T, where he held several positions including as Senior Vice President, International External Affairs, with responsibility for advocacy to international departments of the U.S. government and all branches of government outside the U.S.

Melissa Ma
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Asia Alternatives LLC

Melissa J. Ma is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Asia Alternatives. She splits her time between Asia Alternatives' Hong Kong and San Francisco offices. Melissa is on the Firm's Investment Committee and co-leads Asia Alternatives' investments in buyout, direct co-investments and special situations. In addition, she oversees investor relations, asset allocation and investment strategy and process. Melissa received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and holds an A.B. in Economics and East Asian Studies, magna cum laude, from Harvard College. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English.

Jack McCauley
Co-Founder and former Chief Engineer
Oculus VR

Jack McCauley currently serves as an Innovator in Residence at Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation at UC Berkeley. Jack is pursuing new projects such as automotive technology and building cars at his private R&D facility and hardware incubator in Livermore, California. He also served as Oculus VR co-founder and former Chief Engineer. At Oculus, McCauley designed and built the Oculus DK1 and DK2 virtual reality headsets, prior to the acquisition of the company in 2014 by Facebook for $2 billion. He holds numerous U.S. patents for inventions in software, audio effects, virtual reality, motion control, computer peripherals, and video game hardware and controllers. Jack was awarded a full scholarship to attend University of California, Berkeley where he earned a BSc., EECS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1986.

Tom Robertson
Corporate Vice President of Microsoft

Robertson is Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Microsoft Corporation, leading the Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs team supporting the Experiences and Devices organization, which includes Windows, Office, Surface devices, Microsoft 365, Teams, Bing, Edge, Microsoft Advertising, and their AI-integrated functionality.  He sits on the boards of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the National Bureau of Asian Research, and Town Hall Seattle.  Among other things, he has in the past led Microsoft’s Legal and Corporate Affairs team for North Asia, based in Tokyo, served as an Associate General Counsel in the Office of the US Trade Representative, been an attorney at Covington & Burling in DC and London, and served as a law clerk in the Eastern District of Virginia.  He is a Life Member of the Council of Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the U.S. Japan Leadership Program.

Susan (Susie) Roos
Partner and CAO 
Geodesic Capital

Susan (Susie) Roos is a partner and CAO of Geodesic Capital. Prior to Geodesic, Susie was an employment and labor attorney with substantial experience advising and counseling employers in all areas of employment law and labor relations. As wife of the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Susie lived in Tokyo, Japan from August 2009 to August 2013. While in Tokyo, Susie was an active voice supporting efforts to empower women in the workplace in Japan, and played an active role in the U.S. response to March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Susie is one of the founders of The TOMODACHI Initiative, a public-private partnership, and a member of USJC’s Board of Counselors. Susie received her A.B. from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of Southern California. She enjoys snow skiing, golf, gardening and politics. She is an avid fan of all Stanford athletic teams, as well as the San Francisco Bay Area professional teams…. Giants, 49ers and the Golden State Warriors.

Andy Tsao
Managing Director, Global Gateway
Silicon Valley Bank

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. In addition, Tsao leads SVB Global Private Equity Services, working with SVB’s international private equity and venture capital clients, particularly those in the emerging markets. Tsao earned a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University and an MBA from Boston University.

Magdalen Yum
Senior Vice President, Investment
UBS International San Francisco

Magdalen Yum is an international investment advisor by profession. She was born in Hong Kong. She attended schools in both Hong Kong and the Philippines. Upon graduation from the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines she returned to Hong Kong and began her banking career. She immigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1991 and has since developed her career in investment management for global family clients.

Her interests in the Asia’s future led her to join Asia Society Northern California since its inception. She has also been a ground breaker member and an active participant of Asia Society Northern California in recent years.

She is also a founding director of the Dui Hua Foundation that focuses on advocacy of rights through dialogue.

Margaret Conley - Secretary & Treasurer
Executive Director
Asia Society Northern California 

Margaret Conley, a Bay Area native, is the Executive Director of Asia Society Northern California. She is Chair of Asia Society's global Asian Americans Building America task force. Margaret was previously 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. Her interviews include Howard Schultz, Richard Branson, Ban Ki-Moon, LeBron James and Beyoncé.

Her non-profit experience includes the Berggruen Institute, where she built and launched a Philosophy + Culture Institute with a focus on the US and China. She 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 on the Advisory Committee of TiE, and is a member of the board of the International Women's Forum.   

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ADVISORY COUNCIL

Ajay Anand
Partner/Principal
Ernst & Young

Ajay has 25 years of experience leading the development of strategies for revenue growth, managing complex transformations and enabling innovation for large global companies. He was previously the founder and leader of EY’s Performance Improvement Program Management services for the West Region where he led the development of the Program Performance Center (PPC) solution, served as the Global Service Offering Leader and formed a go-to-market alliance with Microsoft. Ajay currently serves on EY’s Global Diversity and Inclusiveness Steering Committee and is responsible for leading the strategy and efforts to enhance EY’s inclusive culture across the globe. He is also the partner sponsor for the Aspiring Directors workshop, which aims to increase the representation of Asians on public company boards.

David Arnold
President Emeritus
The Asia Foundation

David D. Arnold is the former President and CEO of The Asia Foundation, a nonprofit development organization operating in 20 developing countries across Asia and the Pacific, where he pioneered two major strategic planning exercises for the organization, spearheaded Change Starts Here, and oversaw the re-establishment of an Asia Foundation office in Myanmar. From 2003 to 2010, Arnold served as president of the American University in Cairo (AUC) where he oversaw the construction of a new, state-of-the-art $400 million campus, and spearheaded AUC’s $125 million fundraising campaign. Prior to that he served for six years as executive vice president of the Institute of International Education, the world’s largest educational exchange organization. From 1984 to 1997, he worked for the Ford Foundation, serving as its first program officer in the field of governance and then for seven years as the organization’s representative in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Arnold serves on the boards of Give2Asia, a philanthropic intermediary established by The Asia Foundation, and the World Affairs Council of Northern California. He is also a member of World Learning’s Global Advisory Council, the Board of Advisors for the New York Legal Aid Society, and the International Advisory Council of the American University of Beirut. 

Stephen Beal
President
California College of the Arts

Stephen Beal is the president of the California College of Art, where he also serves as a professor of painting and drawing. Beal came to CCA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was vice president of academic planning and associate vice president of academic affairs. He is on the board of trustees at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, the Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, and the San Francisco Asian Contemporary Art and Design Consortium.

Sumir Chadha
Co-Founder & Managing Director
WestBridge Capital Partners

Sumir Chadha, a co-founder and Managing Director of WestBridge Capital, is based out of Silicon Valley.  Sumir has been investing in India for over two decades across private and public companies. He serves on many boards including Star Health, Aptus and Innovaccer.  Earlier in his career, Sumir also co-founded and was Managing Director of Sequoia Capital India, and worked at Goldman Sachs and at McKinsey & Co.

Sumir serves on the Boards of Princeton University, the Harvard Business School Alumni Association, Crystal Springs Uplands School and the American India Foundation.

Sumir received an MBA from Harvard Business School with Distinction, and a BSE in Computer Science from Princeton University. While at Princeton, he served as President of his class.

Daniel K. H. Chao
President & Chair
The 1990 Institute

Daniel K. H. Chao is currently the Board Chair of the 1990 Institute and a member of the Committee of 100, where he was a past Vice Chairman and member of the Board. He is also currently a Board and Executive Committee member of Asian Health Services in Oakland, an Advisory Board member of the Asia Society of Northern California and a member of the FF Fraternity.  Dan was the Senior Vice President of Business and Finance for TerraPower LLC from 2010 to 2017, where Bill Gates was Chairman. Prior to that, he was the President and CEO of Bechtel China and a partner (SVP) of the Bechtel Group. Dan worked at Bechtel for 20 years and before that he spent 8 years in banking, working in project and corporate finance and investment banking for Chemical Bank (now JP Morgan Chase) and Citibank.

Hope Chen
Former Managing Director & Head of DFJ China
Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Hope Chen is a Managing Director with Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Head of DFJ China, leading investments in the TMT, Energy and Consumer retail sectors in China. Hope was Founder and co-CEO of Billpoint, Inc., which pioneered the concept of online person-to-person payments. Billpoint became the leader in its industry and was acquired in 1999 by eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) as a payment solution for their online auction marketplace. Prior to Billpoint, Ms. Chen was Chief Information Officer of GE Nuclear Energy where she managed IT strategy and software and hardware infrastructure. Ms. Chen received her MBA from the Harvard Business School. She received her BA in both Computer Science and Philosophy from Wellesley College.

Michael Chui
Partner
McKinsey & Company, McKinsey Global Institute

Michael Chui is a Principal of the McKinsey Global Institute. He is based in San Francisco, CA, where he directs research on the impact of information technologies, such as Big Data, social media, and the Internet of Things, on business and the economy. Michael is a frequent speaker at major global conferences and his research has been cited in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Fast Company, Forbes, The Economist, The Times of London, WIRED, and Les Echos. Michael holds a B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University and earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Cognitive Science, and a M.S. in Computer Science, from Indiana University.

Chris Cooper
Managing Director
Clearlake Capital Group

Chris Cooper is the Managing Director of Clearlake Capital Group with over 30 years of experience in international business, risk management, cost reduction, financial reporting, governance, auditing, Mergers and Acquisition (M&A), and business development.

Chris spent over twenty-seven years in public accounting where he managed large-scale accounting and finance projects in a wide range of industries including manufacturing, automotive, and energy.

David A. Coulter
Managing Director & Senior Advisor
Warburg Pincus LLC

David Alan Coulter serves as a Special Limited Partner at Warburg Pincus, LLC. Mr. Coulter co-founded the financial services team at Warburg Pincus and served as Senior Advisor of Warburg Pincus LLC/RRE Ventures LLC. Mr. Coulter held a series of positions at J.P. Morgan Chase and was a member of its Office of the Chairman. He also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BankAmerica Corporation. Mr. Coulter is a Director of Santander Asset Management, Triton Container International, and Varo Money, Inc. Mr. Coulter also serves as a Board Member of Lincoln Center, Carnegie Mellon University, and Third Way. He holds an M.S. degree, a Master's degree in Industrial Administration and a B.S. degree in Economics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Robert E. Cox
International Lawyer and Economist

Rob Cox has served as an international lawyer and economist over 40 years, in both the public and private sectors, resident in offices in Asia for more than 10 years.   Mr. Cox held positions on the US delegations to the World Bank in Washington, DC and the Asian Development Bank in Manila, Philippines.  Private law practice over 16 years in San Francisco, Shanghai, Taipei, and Palo Alto encompassed cross border matters for multinational clients in M&A, intellectual property rights, securities, governance, and litigation.  Most recently, Mr. Cox served as corporate general counsel for PepsiCo in New York and James Hardie Industries plc in Amsterdam and Dublin.  Mr. Cox earned degrees from the University of California, Berkeley (JD); John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (MA); and Wesleyan University (BA).

Jaleh Daie
Managing Partner
Aurora Equity

Women in Tech Hall of Famer, Jaleh Daie is a multifaceted global thought leader w/ exceptional depth & breadth of experience in private & public sectors. She is an investor, board director and strategic advisor, has served administrations of three Presidents, served on many boards, worked in 8 countries, given keynotes & has been featured in major media. She is Partner at Aurora Equity & Founder/Chair of AgFood Tech, Band of Angels. Previously, she was head of STEM at David & Lucile Packard Foundation & managed a broad portfolio ($120M/yr). Jaleh started her career at Rutgers Univ. & UW-Madison, where she was professor (achieved rank of full professor in 6 years); senior science adviser; Dept. Chair; Chief Executive of a multidisciplinary unit and founder of university-wide graduate program and authored over 100 scholarly papers. Simultaneous to a well-funded research program, she managed 3 independent operations. Her honors include: LSQ Ambassador, Congressional Citation, Honorary Naval Aviator, Teksia Lifetime Achievement; honorary doctorate; Fellow (AAAS & AWIS); “25 Smartest”, Scientist’s Leaders of Science.

Karl Eikenberry
Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan

Ambassador Eikenberry’s served thirty-five years in the United States Army, retiring in April 2009 with the rank of Lieutenant General before assuming the position of U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from April 2009 to July 2011. Most recently, he was the Director of the U.S. Asia Security Initiative at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, he earned master’s degrees from Harvard University in East Asian Studies and Stanford University in Political Science, and was a National Security Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Ambassador Eikenberry earned an Interpreter’s Certificate in Mandarin Chinese from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office while studying at the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence Chinese Language School in Hong Kong and has an advanced degree in Chinese History from Nanjing University in the People’s Republic of China.

William P. Fuller
President Emeritus
Asia Foundation

William P. Fuller served as President and CEO of The Asia Foundation from 1989 until 2004 and is currently President Emeritus. From 2004 to 2008 he was Vice Chairman and Senior Adviser of ChinaVest, a merchant bank with offices in Shanghai, Beijing and San Francisco. From 1971 to 1981, Bill served with the Ford Foundation in Asia, first as an advisor to the National Education Commission and Ministry of Education in Thailand, and later as head of the Foundation’s office in Bangladesh which supported programs to develop micro-finance, agriculture, and health. In earlier years, he worked with the World Bank in Paris, and with UNICEF in Beirut, Cairo, and New York. Bill holds B.A., and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.

Thomas B. Gold
Former Professor of Sociology
University of California, Berkeley 

Tom Gold taught in the Sociology Department at the University of California, Berkeley from 1981-2018. He also served as Associate Dean of International and Area Studies and Chair of the Center for Chinese Studies at Berkeley. His research covers societies on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of Asia Society of Northern California.

James Green
Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy
Google

James Green is a Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google, where he covers international policy for the company’s hardware business. He has worked for over two decades on U.S.-Asia relations for the U.S. Government and in the private sector. From 2013-2018, he served as the Minister Counselor for Trade Affairs (USTR) at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing where he addressed market access barriers, technology policy, and investment restrictions. In addition to his government service on the National Security Council and on the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff, James ran the government relations department at the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and was a senior vice president at an international consultancy in Washington, DC. A graduate of Brown University and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), James speaks proficient Mandarin and passable Italian. After his most recent government service, James started a podcast at Georgetown University, speaking with former officials on how to handle a rising China – former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s episode may be the most charming.

Bakul Joshi
President
Multiple Access CA Corporation

Bakul Joshi is the founder and President of Multiple Access California Corporation. Prior to Multiple Access, Bakul Joshi held Senior Level Management positions in Sales, Product Marketing and Branch Management at Unisys (formerly Burroughs Corp.) He has also held Director and Officer level positions at a number of Silicon Valley start-up companies. Bakul Joshi is a founding Charter Member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Silicon Valley where he served as Chairperson of Monthly Events from 1996 to 2000 and becoming the organization’s first Executive Director until 2000. Bakul Joshi was born and raised in Mombasa, Kenya. He holds a Masters Degree in Business from University of Baroda in India.

Holly Kernan
Chief Content Officer
KQED

Holly Kernan is KQED’s Chief Content Officer. Kernan’s multimedia and multi-platform content portfolio include news, arts, science, television and radio programming, and education. Holly re-joined KQED as Executive Editor, News in 2014 after more than a decade as KALW’s news and public affairs director. During that time she was the architect of the award-winning Public Interest Reporting Project. She built the KALW newsroom from scratch into a thriving and nimble team of 20 professional editors, producers and reporters as well as dozens of community reporters and trainees. She previously worked as a producer for KQED’s Forum and as a director and producer for The California Report. She has received numerous accolades for her work, including the 2009 “Journalist of the Year” award from the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists.

Mark D. Levine
Founding Director
U.S. China Clean Energy Research Center – Building Energy Efficiency, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Mark Levine was director of the Environmental Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) from 1996-2006. The Division is a leader in research on building energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and clean energy technologies. It also played a leadership role in the analysis of energy efficiency issues, an area that Dr. Levine built up during his leadership of the Energy Analysis Program from 1983-1996. Dr. Levine graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University, earned a PhD from the University of California, and has been the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, and National Institute of Health doctoral awards.

Yabo Lin
Partner
Sidley Austin LLP

Yabo Lin is a partner in Sidley Austin’s Palo Alto office. He counsels both U.S. and international clients on corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions. His experience covers a wide range of industries, including information technology, e-commerce, mobile payments, biotech, and manufacturing. Mr. Lin also counsels foreign-based clients on transactions involving U.S. national security issues in connection with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (“CFIUS”). Mr. Lin serves on the Board of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley; as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Stanford Program in Law, Science, and Technology; and a member of the International Advisory Committee for Stanford University’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance. In 2006, Mr. Lin received the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s (NAPABA) highest honor, the Trailblazer Award, for “making substantial and lasting contributions to the Asian Pacific American Community.”

Simon Ma
Chairman, CEO, & Co-Founder
Camelot Information Systems

Mr. Simon Yiming Ma co-founded Camelot Information Systems in November 2000 and has been its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since November 2000. Mr. Ma is a 20-year software and IT service industry veteran, is widely recognized as one of the preeminent thinkers in information technology. He develops the blueprints and strategic plans for Camelot’s business growth. Prior to creating Camelot, he served 8 years at IBM in Silicon Valley as Chief Architect, where he was responsible for the execution, implementation and delivery of software solutions to IBM customers.  Mr. Ma has a PhD in Mathematics from University of California, Santa Barbara, an MS degree in Mathematics and second MS degree in Computer Science both from University of California, Santa Barbara and a Bachelor's Degree from East China Normal University.

Ambassador Scot Marciel
Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar

Scot Marciel is the Oksenberg-Rohlen Fellow at Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research and a Senior Advisor at BowerGroupAsia.  He retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2022 after a 37-year career that included assignments as Ambassador to Myanmar, Ambassador to Indonesia, and Ambassador for ASEAN Affairs.  He also served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and in U.S. Missions in the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Turkey, and Brazil.  Scot is the author of the new book, Imperfect Partners:  The United States and Southeast Asia.

Danny Marti
Head of Global Public Policy
Tencent

Danny Marti oversees the global public affairs function at Tencent.Tencent Americas is headquartered in Palo Alto, with U.S. offices in Los Angeles, Irvine, Seattle, New York, and Washington, DC. At Tencent, Mr. Marti serves as a member of the Tencent Americas Management Committee and as the Executive Sponsor of the DEI Council. Mr. Marti also serves on various boards, including Tequila Works (Madrid), Funcom (Oslo), and the Emory Law Alumni Board.

Mr. Marti has enjoyed a long career in both public and private service dedicated to IP and innovation law and policy. Mr. Marti served at the White House as President Obama’s U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator and was sworn into office by then-Vice President Biden. Earlier, Mr. Marti served as Head of Global Government Affairs at London-based RELX Group; Vice Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Center; and as Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton. Mr. Marti is a graduate of Emory University School of Law (JD) and Georgetown University (BA).

Sheila Melvin
Writer-Author

Sheila Melvin has been writing about arts and culture in China for more than 15 years. She contributes regularly to The International Herald Tribune and is a culture columnist for Caixin Media Group.  Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Wilson Quarterly, and other publications.

Jeff Rittener
Chief Trade Officer
Intel Corporation

Jeff Rittener is the Chief Trade Officer, Vice President and General Manager of the International Trade Group (ITG) at Intel. As Intel’s top Trade representative, he is the key decision maker on trade matters, as well as the lead advisor to the CEO, board, and General Counsel on the implications for Intel’s business.

Jeff leads a global team of over 100 employees that represent Intel’s more than 70 sites around the world, shaping the trade environment to advance business strategy, open new market opportunities, ensure compliance, and accelerate growth. He is responsible for directing a unified strategy on a range of priorities that are critical to Intel, its customers, and the industry, across international trade policy, laws, regulations & compliance. He has spent over 30 years at Intel and is a recognized change agent and industry thought leader on global trade.

Andy Rothman
Investment Strategist
Matthews Asia

Andy is an Investment Strategist at Matthews Asia. He is principally responsible for developing research focused on China’s ongoing economic and political developments while also complementing the broader investment team with in-depth analysis on Asia. In addition, Andy plays a key role in communicating to clients and the media the firm’s perspectives and latest insights into China and the greater Asia region. Prior to joining Matthews Asia in 2014, Andy spent 14 years as CLSA’s China macroeconomic strategist where he conducted analysis into China and delivered his insights to their clients. Previously, Andy spent 17 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, with a diplomatic career focused on China, including as head of the macroeconomics and domestic policy office of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. He earned an M.A. in public administration from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and a B.A. from Colgate University. He is a proficient Mandarin speaker.

Orville Schell
Arthur Ross Director
Asia Society Center on US-China Relations

Orville Schell is a former professor and Dean at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and is the author of fifteen books, ten of them about China, and a contributor to numerous edited volumes. His most recent books are: Wealth and Power, China’s Long March to the 21st Century; Virtual Tibet; The China Reader: The Reform Years; and Mandate of Heaven: The Legacy of Tiananmen Square and the Next Generation of China’s Leaders. Schell was born in New York City, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University in Far Eastern History, was an exchange student at National Taiwan University in the 1960s, and earned a Ph.D. (Abd) at University of California, Berkeley in Chinese History.  Schell is also the recipient of many prizes and fellowships, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Overseas Press Club Award, and the Harvard-Stanford Shorenstein Prize in Asian Journalism.

Peter Schwartz
Senior VP for Global Government Relations & Strategic Planning
Salesforce

Peter Schwartz is Senior Vice President for Global Government Relations and Strategic Planning for Salesforce, where he directs policy throughout the world and manages the organization’s ongoing strategic conversation. An internationally renowned futurist and business strategist, Peter specializes in scenario planning, working with corporations, governments, and institutions to create alternative perspectives of the future and develop robust strategies for a changing, uncertain world. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the World Affairs Council and, in Singapore, the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council, Peter also sits on the boards of The Long Now Foundation, The Center for New American Security and the Center for Strategic Studies in Singapore. He publishes and lectures widely and served as a script consultant on the films "The Minority Report," "Deep Impact," "Sneakers," and "War Games." Peter received a B.S. in aeronautical engineering and astronautics as well as an honorary Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Barry Taylor
Partner
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Barry is a partner in the Palo Alto office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati with 35 years of experience as a corporate and securities attorney and investment professional. From 2000 to 2010, Barry was a managing director in the technology, media, and telecom group of Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm. He served as the head of the firm's Silicon Valley office from 2000 to 2008. While at Warburg, Barry worked on investments in the United States, India, and China, and represented the firm on the boards of six portfolio companies. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, Barry was a senior corporate and securities partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for more than 16 years. During this time, he worked on numerous public financings as both issuers' and underwriters' counsel, and served as public securities counsel on disclosure, reporting, and proxy matters.

Chris van den Hooven
Senior Vice President, Americas
Cathay Pacific Airways

Chris van den Hooven is a seasoned aviation executive with a proven track record of driving commercial success and enhancing customer experience. As Senior Vice President, Americas at Cathay Pacific, Chris oversees all aspects of the airline's operations and commercial performance in the region. Throughout his career at Cathay Pacific, Chris has held several senior management positions overseas, including Country Manager for Vietnam, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Scandinavia. He has been instrumental in implementing commercial strategies that have led to revenue growth and long-term sustainability for the airline. In addition to his role at Cathay Pacific, Chris has served on numerous boards as executive director, including the Hong Kong Canada Business Association and the Hong Kong Vietnam Business Association. He holds a degree in Marketing and Business Management from the University of Calgary.

Jay Xu
Director
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

Dr. Jay Xu has served as director and CEO of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco since 2008, and he is the first Chinese American director at a major American art museum. Xu earned his MA and PhD in early Chinese art and archaeology at Princeton University, and has had thirty-five years of international museum experience as a research scholar, curator, and museum director. He previously served as assistant to the museum director at the Shanghai Museum; research fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; curator of Chinese art at the Seattle Art Museum. He also served as head of the Asian art department and chairman of the department of Asian and Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago. Aside from his work at the Asian Art Museum, Xu serves in a variety of civic responsibilities. He is a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors; a member of the Advisory Council of the Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University; a member of the Visiting Committee of the Harvard Art Museums; and a member of the governing board of the Terra Foundation for American Art. He is also a member of the Committee of 100, a national nonpartisan organization composed of American citizens of Chinese descent who have achieved positions of leadership in the United States in a broad range of professions. In 2015, Dr. Xu became the first Asian American museum director elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dien Yuen

Assistant Professor of Philanthropy
The American College of Financial Services

Dien Yuen is Assistant Professor of Philanthropy at The American College of Financial Services. She is a recognized leader in the philanthropic sector and is especially known for her work with Asian American donors and donors with philanthropic interests in Asia. Dien is featured in many media outlets including Forbes Asia, The New York Times, Family Office Review, San Francisco Business Times and Economist Intelligence Unit reports. Prior to joining The College, Dien served as Managing Director and Fiduciary Advisor for Evercore Wealth Management, LLC. Earlier she served as Managing Director of Kordant Philanthropy Advisors; as Chief Philanthropy Officer at Give2Asia; and as Vice President and Senior Trust Officer at U.S. Trust. She has also worked at IIT Bombay Heritage Fund, Asian Pacific Fund, and the American Cancer Society. Dien now serves on the boards of The 1990 Institute and Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. She is also on the advisory board of Philanthropic Ventures Foundation.