Our Team

Bob Holden

Gov. Bob Holden

Chairman and President

Gov. Bob Holden

Bob Holden served as Missouri’s 53rd Governor, 2001-2005. Prior to being elected Governor, Holden served two terms as Missouri State Treasurer and three terms as a Missouri State Representative.

Bob Holden has been in public service his entire adult life. In addition to holding elective office, Holden worked for State Treasurers James I. Spainhower and Mel Carnahan, United States Senator Thomas F. Eagleton, and Congressman Richard A. Gephardt.

During Governor Holden's term in office, he chaired the Midwest Governors Association; opened Missouri’s first trade office in China; created Missouri’s first Hispanic Outreach Committee; moved Missouri from 41st to 5th in terms of women in leadership positions; appointed over 200 African Americans to prominent leadership roles; established the state's first Youth Cabinet; and built the first LEED certified state office building in Missouri.

Bob Holden is currently the Missouri Co-Chair for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and is an Executive Board member of the Missouri State NAACP Chapter. After leaving office in 2005, Holden founded the Holden Public Policy Forum and was a professor at Webster University for ten years. While at Webster University, he helped bring the first Confucius Institute to Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri.

For over 40 years, Bob Holden has been an active participant in the American Legion Missouri Boys and Girls State Program. He led efforts to bring the first delegations of Chinese students to be participants in this historic program. Since that first delegation to Missouri Boys and Girls State, he has lead the efforts to continue these student delegations of Chinese students to Missouri and Missouri students to China with plans to initiate delegations from other states.

Bob Holden believes that long term economic success for the United States and China must be built on mutual respect, clear understandings and honest dialogue. This can be achieved by expanding our cultural ties, creating more educational partnerships, and creating bridges of opportunities for successful business in both countries.

Gov. Holden was recently inducted to the Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame. Watch his honoree video here.

About Gov. Holden
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Min Fan

Executive Director

Min Fan

Min Fan was born in China and studied at Peking University before immigrating to the United States. Continuing her education at the University of North Carolina she earned a B.A. in Art followed by an M.B.A. at the Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Min went on to a successful career in the corporate world culminating in her role as the leader of the Ideation and Innovation Practice at Hewlett Packard (HP) Global Corporate Services. Upon leaving HP she joined the startup ecosystem as an entrepreneur and mentor at two Colorado incubators.

From 2018-2019, Min brought her entrepreneur experience and passion for US and China collaboration to the nonprofit sector as the Executive Director/COO of US China Innovation Alliance (UCIA). Over 100 US companies visited China on sponsored trips as a result of her team’s efforts.

Prior to joining the US Heartland China Association, Min launched US China Now, a not-for-profit endeavor, which partnered with a broad spectrum of organizations to build a bridge of understanding across the cultural divide between US and China.

About Min
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Jason Conley

Program Associate

Jason Conley

Originally from the Heartland, Jason Conley is a graduate of the Ohio State University and has a Master's degree in Advanced Chinese Language and Culture, specializing in the Belt and Road Initiative and foreign investment. 

His research background focused on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the ROI of Chinese-backed infrastructure development in western Pakistan.

Before his time at USHCA, Jason spent several years teaching English as a Second Language and Education. He now spends his time working to continue education and engagement of local Heartland communities.

About Jason
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Katherine Newton

Program Associate

Katherine Newton

Born and raised in a small Texas farming and ranching town, Katherine Newton is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in International Political Economies and Chinese Culture and Language. She is currently a student at American University pursuing her MS in International Business. She has published research works analyzing international political and economic organization across East and Southeast Asia. Katherine has worked with a number of nonprofits focused on U.S.-China relations, and is very excited to now be focusing on the Heartland region.

About Katherine
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Ellen Wright

Program Associate

Ellen Wright

Brought up in the Midwest and descended from Iowan farmers, Ellen Wright is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College with a degree in Sociology and minors in International Studies and Chinese, and has earned a Master’s degree in China Studies from Zhejiang University. During her graduate program, her thesis work concentrated on China’s national innovation system. Ellen has previous experience working for international nonprofits based out of Beijing and D.C., and is eager to return to her roots and help cultivate the Sino-American relationship in the Heartland region.

About Ellen
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Sophia Sun

Special Projects Advisor

Sophia

Born in China, Sophia Sun came to the United States to pursue her master’s degree in Public Relations at the University of Georgia. She also earned an M.B.A. degree from the University of North Carolina. 

Sophia spent over 15 years as a sales and marketing professional in the financial, high tech, and CPG industries, specializing in digital marketing, market research, and PR/event management. She led HSBC North America key growth initiatives for customer engagement by building award winning websites and first-class online customer services.  She drove record volume of new customer acquisition with breakout technology and innovative campaigns. At Discover Card Services, she developed enterprise level adtech capabilities to grow incremental sales while orchestrating relevant cardmember experiences across digital touch points.

In recent years, Sophia has been devoting her time to community and volunteering activities including culture exchange, child and youth education, and international affairs. 

About Sophia
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Yuehan Yin

Intern (Irvine, CA)

Yuehan Yin

Yuehan Yin is an undergraduate computer science student at the University of California, Irvine. He has a strong passion for Web Development and UI/UX design. Yuehan had an opportunity to take a road trip through the American Heartland stopping in Tennessee, Kentucky, and many other states along the way. That experience made him become aware of the need for more connections between the Heartland States and China. He will use his computer science skills to help enhance the performance and design of USHCA’s website.

About Yuehan
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Yiliu Cao

Volunteer, WeChat Support (Evanston, IL)

Yiliu Cao

Born and raised in China, Yiliu Cao graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a degree in Movement Science. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Doctor of Physical Therapy and Public Health at Northwestern University.

During her undergraduate years, Yiliu had previous experience serving in a leadership role in a student organization focusing on intercultural communication. Thus, she realized the importance of promoting understanding between China and the United States in the globally competitive future. Yiliu is very much looking forward to investigating the Sino-U.S. relationship in the Heartland Region under the scope of healthcare and technology.

About Yiliu
Victoria Sheung

Victoria Sheung

Intern, Third Space Program (New York, NY)

Victoria Sheung

Victoria Sheung is a junior from New York, NY, studying Comparative Literature and Chinese Studies, with a minor in Global Studies. Since she was three, she was homeschooled by her mother in learning the Chinese language, while attending Canadian and American grade school. These ongoing lessons, now replaced by university coursework, have exposed her to the wondrous universe of Chinese thought, philosophy, religion, and literature, showing the endless possibility of human wisdom and creation. Through exploration of Chinese culture, especially Confucianism, Buddhism, and classical poetry, Victoria has unearthed the endless joy in learning and sharing across both cultural and lingual borders, in addition to the ways such practices can bridge human understanding and deeply personalized cross-cultural appreciation. Victoria hopes to further her humanities exploration through Third Space and bring more eye-opening experiences for curious students like herself.

About Victoria
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Chang Liu

Volunteer (Guangzhou, CN)

Chang Liu

Chang Liu is a recent graduate with a master's degree in sports management from the University of Michigan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public affairs management from Sun Yat-sen University. Chang Liu had been a student-athlete in synchronized swimming and swimming for 10+ years, through which she realized the power of sports in empowering and connecting people from all around the world. During her study at the University of Michigan, Chang Liu has become enthusiastic about bridging the cultural gaps between the United States and China and fostering mutual understanding from the perspective of civil diplomacy.

About Chang
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Nadya Al-Shawi

Intern, Third Space Program (Mishawaka, IN)

Nadya Al-Shawi

Nadya Al-Shawi is a first-generation Russian-Iraqi American based in Northern Indiana. She is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in International Economics and Politics, as well as Chinese and Japanese Studies at Valparaiso University. Growing up in a culturally diverse environment, Nadya developed an incredible desire to learn more about her own identity, discover unknown cultures, and master foreign languages. She began studying both Mandarin and Japanese in high school, further cultivating her passion for cross-cultural communication and international relations. With much enthusiasm for research, education, and scholarship, she plans to attain a Master's and PhD in the near future as she continues down a path of economic and political diplomacy.
About Nadya
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