The Importance of Developing Future Leaders

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About This Webinar

In this webinar replay, co-hosted with USHCA’s partner International Student Conferences, Inc., you’ll hear from a panel of former and current diplomats, government officials, and international education exchange experts as they explore the importance and urgency of developing future global leaders. Our panelists share their narratives and how their experiences have led them on their career paths. Additionally, they’ll discuss how world politics can influence people’s lives and the roles they come into, and how everyone, regardless of age or background, can have a stake in global affairs and become a leader.

This event is part of USHCA’s ongoing series, The Way Forward, where we discuss different ideas and initiatives used by the US and China and how they can be applied to the Heartland region.

Co-Organizer

Outreach Partner

Panelists

Ambassador Kurt Tong

Partner at the Asia Group

1984 - 1985 Japan America Student Conference Alumnus

Kurt Tong

Ambassador Kurt Tong is a Partner at The Asia Group, where he leads the firm’s work in Japan and the broader East Asia region. A leading expert in diplomacy and economic affairs in East Asia, Ambassador Tong brings thirty years of experience in the Department of State as a career Foreign Service Officer and member of the Senior Foreign Service.

Prior to joining The Asia Group, Ambassador Tong served as Consul General and Chief of Mission in Hong Kong and Macau, leading U.S. political and economic engagement with that important free trade hub. Prior to that role, he served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs at the State Department from 2014 to 2016, guiding the Department’s institutional strengthening efforts as its most senior career diplomat handling economic affairs. He also served as the Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo from 2011 to 2014, where he played a key role in setting the stage for Japan’s entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership and supporting Japan’s recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake. In 2013, he received the Cordell Hull Award for Economic Achievement by Senior Officers for his outstanding success in advancing U.S. economic interests by reducing trade barriers, increasing market access for American products, and enhancing international cooperation across the Asia Pacific region.

Prior to these positions, Ambassador Tong served as Ambassador for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 2011, leading the U.S. chairmanship of the organization during one of the most productive periods for APEC. As Director of Korean Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, he played a leadership role in negotiations with North Korea as part of the Six-Party Talks and in securing the release of captive Americans held there. He was one of the original architects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement during the Bush and Obama administrations, including while serving as Director for Asian Economic Affairs at the White House National Security Council from 2006 to 2008.

Earlier in his career, Ambassador Tong served as Economic Minister-Counselor in Seoul, Counselor for Environment, Science and Health at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, Deputy Treasury Attaché in Tokyo, and as an economic officer in Manila. He published research on Japanese macroeconomic trends and U.S.-Japan economic diplomacy as a Visiting Scholar with Tokyo University’s Faculty of Economics, and before joining the Foreign Service, was an Associate with the Boston Consulting Group in Tokyo.

Ambassador Tong holds a B.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and studied economics at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute. He has also studied at the Beijing Institute of Education, Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies in Taipei, Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Tokyo, and International Christian University in Tokyo.

Ambassador Tong is a Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an Advisor at the Hinrich Foundation, and serves on the board of directors of several non-profit organizations including the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, International Student Conferences Inc., the National Association of Japan-America Societies, and the Japan-America Society of Washington DC.

Ambassador Tong speaks and reads both Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. He was born in Ohio and raised in New England. The son of a collegiate athletic coach, Ambassador Tong enjoys tennis, golf and other sports. He is married to Dr. Mika Marumoto. They have three grown children.

Kurt Tong Bio

Yang Xinyu

Minister Counsellor of Education of the Chinese Embassy in U.S.

Yang Xinyu

Yang Xinyu was appointed as Minister Counsellor of Education of the Chinese Embassy in USA in September 2018. Ms. Yang began her career as a program officer for student mobility programs with Chinese Ministry of Education in 1986. She was appointed Second Secretary for Education in the Chinese Embassy in Canada in 1995. She joined the newly founded China Scholarship Council, a national organization to provide funding for students and faculty mobility in 1998 and served as the Deputy Secretary-General of CSC from 2003 to 2014. After that, she took the position as Minister Counsellor for Education of the Chinese Embassy in Canada.

Ms. Yang holds a Bachelor of English Language and Literature from Heilongjiang University(1986), China and a Master of Education from the University of Nottingham (1989),UK. She is a graduate of National University of Singapore's Senior Management Program(2011). While serving as the Deputy Secretary of CSC, Ms. Yang led the CSC team to initiate many study abroad programs. In 2016, Ms. Yang worked with University of Alberta to initiate “Canada Learning Initiate In China(CLIC)” , which attracted many Canadian U15 students to study in China for credits. Ms. Yang received a Certificate of Recognition from Global Affairs Canada for her invaluable and lasting contribution to advancing Canada-China international education initiatives and programs.

She is married and has one daughter.

 

杨新育于2018年9月被任命为中国驻美国大使馆教育处公使衔参赞。杨女士于1986年开始在中国教育部担任负责学生交流的项目官员。她从1995年至1998年担任中国驻加拿大使馆教育处二秘，随后加入了新成立的国家留学基金管理委员会，于2003年至2014年担任该委员会副秘书长。2014年至2018年她被任命为中国驻加拿大使馆教育处公使衔参赞。杨女士于1986年获得中国黑龙江大学英语语言文学学士学位，于1989年获得英国诺丁汉大学教育学硕士学位，于2011年参加新加坡国立大学高级管理项目。

Yang Xinyu Bio

Reta Jo Lewis, Esq.

Senior Fellow and Director of Congressional Affairs - The German Marshall Fund of the United States

Reta Jo Lewis

Reta Jo Lewis is GMF’s director of congressional affairs.  Lewis draws on her immense experience and GMF’s resources and European networks to connect Congress and GMF. She joined GMF in January 2015 as a senior fellow with Leadership Programs, where she focuses on leadership development, outreach, programming, and thought pieces on global engagement strategies to strengthen the next generation of transatlantic leaders. Since beginning her tenure, GMF has been very active in engaging Congress through its Transatlantic Congressional Staff Salon Series, briefings on Capitol Hill, study tours, testimony from GMF experts, and engagement with European parliamentarians. Lewis has also worked with TLI to develop the Transatlantic Subnational Diplomacy Initiative (TSDI) to enhance diplomacy at the state and local levels.

Previously, she served as the State Department’s first-ever special representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs, under secretaries of state Hillary Clinton and John Kerry from 2010-13. Lewis led the office charged with building strategic peer-to-peer relationships between the U.S. Department of State, U.S. state and local officials, and their foreign counterparts. In her post, she served as the State Department’s lead interlocutor in negotiating and executing the first historic agreements to solidify subnational cooperation and engagement efforts with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries and with targeted countries in the European Union. She was the principal architect that led the global engagement of U.S. state and local government leaders’ integration into and strategy regarding sustainability and climate change to RIO+20, COP-16, COP-17 and COP-18. In 2013, she was awarded the Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award.

Prior to the State Department, Lewis served in senior positions in the public and private sectors, including political appointments in the Clinton administration. She was the director for business outreach for the Obama-Biden Transition Team. She served as the vice president and counselor at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and director of the Chamber’s effort focused on small business and outreach to women and minority-owned businesses. Lewis was the special assistant to the president for political affairs in the Clinton White House from 1993-95 and the director of the Northeast and Southern Regions. During her career, Lewis was the administration’s key point person in organizing the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 1996 Olympics and Paralympic games in Atlanta, and the 1998 African Leaders Summit and G-8 Summit in Denver. Lewis also organized Nelson Mandela’s 8-city U.S. Tour in 1990. She was of counsel at Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP prior to joining the Obama Administration, and a 2014 mayoral candidate in Washington, DC.

Lewis holds a bachelor’s in political science from University of Georgia, a master’s from American University, and a JD from Emory University School of Law.

Reta Jo Lewis Bio

Megumi Muto, Ph.D

Deputy Director of Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development - Japan International Cooperation Agency

1985 - 1986 Japan - America Student Conference Alumna

Megumi Muto

Megumi Muto has worked in the field of international development in development finance institutions of the Japanese government (OECF, JBIC and JICA). In JICA she has led the cooperation with the Philippines and the Pacific islands, and promoted environment and climate change initiatives. Currently she leads research activities in pursuit of how to build back better for SDGs. Dr. Muto is also an Alumna of the 37th and 38th Japan-America Student Conference held in 1985 and 1986.
Megumi Muto Bio

Laurie Dennis

Assistant Director - Center for East Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Laurie Dennis

Laurie has a background in journalism and Chinese studies. She has a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree in Chinese and Political Science from UW-Madison. Prior to returning to her alma mater to work with CEAS and the Wisconsin China Initiative, Laurie worked as an editor for a newspaper in Minnesota and helped start an on-line community newspaper in Davidson, N.C. She has also lived and worked in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, and in Beijing.

Laurie Dennis Bio

Special Guest

Lister Chen

1st China-America Student Conference Executive Committee Member

University of California - Berkeley

2019 Japan-America Student Conference Alumna

Lister Chen

Lister Chen is a rising junior attending the University of California, Berkeley studying astrophysics and applied mathematics as majors and music minor. Currently, Lister is researching gravitational lensing simulation in the field of cosmology.

Lister participated in the 71st Japan-American Student Conference as an American delegate, and she is currently a member of the Associated Student of the University of California, one of the largest student governments in the country. Lister is one of the significant advocates on campus regarding the healthy development of Japan and China's relationship. She also advocates for cooperation in the field of space exploration projects between the U.S. and China.

Lister is a traveler, runner, singer, and pianist. Until today, Lister has been to more than 15 countries all over the globe. One of her proudest achievements is her recent completion of a marathon in Havana, Cuba. In her spare time, Lister enjoys playing the piano, especially the pieces composed by Frédéric Chopin.

Lister Chen Bio

Moderators

Min Fan

Executive Director U.S. Heartland China Association

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.

Min Fan Bio

Linda Butcher

Executive Director - International Student Conferences

Linda Butcher

Linda Butcher is the Executive Director at the International Student Conferences (ISC). Prior to this role, Linda was the Director of Media Relations and Public Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI) and a Legislative Researcher for the Congressional Section at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Washington, D.C. She has written and spoken on topics related to technology, security, gender and environmental issues.

During her time at KEI, Linda was responsible for the organization’s communication strategy, public outreach and related external affairs. In addition, she consulted with organizations interested in the Asia-Pacific region, co-managed the Korea-Japan Study Group and handled numerous delegations under the Ambassadors’ Dialogue, Future of Korea and the US-ROK Professional Exchange Program.

While at the Embassy, Linda handled critical issues pertaining to the Asia region while also enhancing relations between the Embassy and the United States Congress. Furthermore, she was the coordinator for Congressional delegations between the United States and the Republic of Korea. Before this position, Linda worked on several state and national campaigns and interned with the Office of the Honorable John Kerry where she focused on foreign policy and environmental issues while also assisting the Senator on a side project related to the increasing role of the Asian American Community in the United States.

Linda earned her Bachelor's degrees from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University and her Master's degrees from Johns Hopkins University. In November 2014, she was selected as think tank participant for the Kakehashi Project and in the summer of 2001, completed a program at the Korea Language Institute of Yonsei University.

You can follow Linda on Twitter at @Linda_Kim or email her at lbutcher@iscdc.org

Linda Butcher Bio

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