Our Team

Bob Holden

Gov. Bob Holden

Chairman and CEO

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.

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

Jason Conley is a graduate of the Ohio State University and has pursued his Master's degree in Advanced Chinese Language and Culture, focusing on the Belt and Road Initiative and foreign investment. 

Before working as a a Program Associate for USHCA, Jason spent several years in teaching English as a Second Language and Education.

About Jason
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Frank M. Dolce, PhD

Third Space - Program Director

Frank M. Dolce, PhD

Frank Dolce was born in Buffalo, New York, where he grew up immersed in the languages and cultures of the many tourists that come to visit Niagara Falls. Studying advanced Mandarin at Carleton College, Frank became interested in designing events and ecosystems that integrate meaningful second language use and intercultural exchange into language learning programs.

Frank has taught Mandarin across a range of contexts, from middle school to college levels supplementing this in-class teaching experience with a PhD in Second Language Acquisition from Carnegie Mellon University. Frank’s research explores the way intercultural interactions between diverse Chinese and Americans support them in developing second language skills, cultural knowledge and intercultural rapport.

Trained as a sociocultural practitioner and conversation analyst, after earning his doctorate Frank took a role at Asia Society in New York City as Director of Networks and Engagement. In this position he designed, piloted, implemented and assessed US-China events and ecosystems that supported Chinese and American college students in cultivating intercultural competence
and second language skills. This work centered on tailoring a UNESCO methodology, “Story Circles”, into a foundational activity for a growing college community, where diverse Chinese and American students come together to build intercultural skills and bonds of rapport.

Frank is excited to bring his expertise to US Heartland China Association, where he will design programs to support Chinese and Americans in cultivating intercultural skills, knowledge and friendships. The “Third Space” initiative, centered on bilingual US-China story-sharing, is a core focus of Frank’s work at USHCA, though he also consults on an array of educational initiatives
offered by Heartland.

About Frank
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Sophia Sun

Special Project 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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Haolin Li

Intern (Madison, WI)

Haolin Li

Haolin is an undergraduate student majoring in computer engineering at University of Wisconsin Madison. He is an international student from Xi’an China and very interested in the US-China relationship. He is managing Chinese social networks of USHCA.

About Haolin
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Ana C. Vergara Gonzalez

Intern (Montgomery, TX)

Ana Vergara

Ana C. Vergara Gonzalez is a hard working student at The Honors College at Lone Star College- Montgomery. She plans to pursue a career in the Medical field, as a Neonatal nurse. Ana is also the Student Development Coordinator for The Honors College. She enjoys helping honors students to improve in the academic and professional fields, and wants to make a positive impact in their lives. She is motivated to learn new perspectives and information. She believes that cultural competency and research are a great way to improve communication and expand personal knowledge.

About Ana
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Kumali Schoen

Intern (Montgomery, TX)

Kumali Schoen

Kumali is an undergraduate student earning her Honors Associate of Arts at Lone Star College Montgomery in Texas with a focus on international studies. Her international family, love of learning languages, and experiences exploring other cultures through her research at the honors college, fuels her interest in supporting positive U.S.- China relations.

About Kumali
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Marshall Summar

Intern (Knoxville, TN)

Marshall Summar

Marshall Summar is an undergraduate student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville earning his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He is pursuing a major in Economics and a minor in International Business. He has a curiosity and passion for other cultures that he discovered through his study abroad experiences in France and England. Driven by his passion, Marshall strives to discover new ways to bridge the cultural gaps between the U.S. and other nations. 

About Marshall
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Caroline Brown

Intern (Nashville, TN)

Caroline brown

Caroline Brown is an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in International Business with a Chinese minor at Belmont University. She was adopted from China to America at twelve years old. Through her adoption experience, she developed a passion for global connection, and she seeks to help people from all over the world connect. 

About Caroline
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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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Roxanne Cen

Intern, Third Space Program (Iowa City, IA)

Roxanne Cen

Roxanne is completing her Museum Studies certificate at the University of Iowa, she is a recent graduate with double degrees in Art and Statistics. As a part of the Third Space team, she communicates with students that are interested in intercultural communication and invites those students to be part of the community. As an international student in the US for six years, she notices that there are many domestic and international college students who are willing to communicate with each other, not only about the school, but also about their own story. 

About Roxanne
Gabriela

Gabriela Perez

Volunteer (Chicago, IL)

Gabriela Perez

Gabriela is a Mexican-American citizen, a first-generation college graduate of Denison University with a B.A. in Global Commerce and East Asian Studies. During her time at Denison, she researched in France, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. She also interned in Singapore at a public relations agency. 
 
Gabriela began studying Mandarin in high school and continued it throughout college. In 2016, she first traveled to China for her senior year class trip. From that time, she decided to continue her language skills to help create and foster strong relationships between the United States and China, through business, art, and cultural exchange. She is eager to use her Mandarin and Spanish speaking skills to help individuals communicate in an inclusive and culturally sensitive way.
About Gabriela
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Lindsay Acker

Intern, Third Space Program (Buffalo, NY)

Lindsay Acker

Lindsay is in her final semester of a Master’s degree program in Conflict Transformation at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University. As a part of the Third Space team, she uses her skills in facilitation and circle keeping rooted in Indigenous practices to create an equitable and empathetic space, undermining conventional power dynamics and advancing the practice of intercultural engagement. Lindsay also works at the Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition, encouraging and supporting accountability and healing in communities in Buffalo, NY through community circles and restorative conferencing. Her enthusiasm for the transformative power of stories includes a passion for theater, and in non-Covid times you can find her attending, teaching, acting, or working on and off stage.

About Lindsay
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