Hefner Fellows from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

Chunlin, Hefner Fellow
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 2009

Li Chunlin presently works at the Center for Consular Assistance and Protection at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As Third Secretary, Chunlin coordinates the ministry’s embassies and consulates abroad to provide assistance to overseas Chinese nationals in distress. He holds a Master’s of Public Administration from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Law Diplomacy from the China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing, and a Bachelor’s degree in English from the Inner Mongolia University of Technology, China. Li Chunlin has worked for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Section Chief, Third Secretary and Attache in the Consular Department, Beijing, and as Attache, Third Secretary and Vice Consul for the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines.

As Section Chief and Third Secretary for the Personnel Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he trained consular officers and was responsible for drafting consular policies for Chinese embassies around the world. In 2005 he was honored with the “Outstanding Young People” award by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China.

Willow Darsie, Hefner Fellow
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 2008

Willow Darsie is presently the Program Director of Peace X Peace in Washington, DC. She holds a Master’s of Public Administration from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in International Relations and Latin American Studies from Brown University in Providence, RI. She has attended courses at John Hopkins University, Universidad de Chile, and Universidad Catolica de Chile.

Willow served as an Associate Director of the Aspen Strategy Group at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC. She fostered bipartisan dialogue and analysis on U.S. foreign policy and national security issues. She has collaborated with officials around the world, and managed a Track II diplomacy initiative between the U.S. and India. Willow was Senior Research Manager of The Marketing Leadership Council, leading a research unit at an executive education firm. Earlier, Willow managed a bilingual research team covering the financial services industry. She designed and produced studies for senior executives in Latin America and Iberian Peninsula.

Liu Yubin, Hefner Fellow
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 2007

Liu Yubin presently works at the Science and Technology Bureau in Suzhou, overseeing venture capital and Research & Development activities. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Master of Arts in World History from Soochow University, Suzhou, China. Yubin also attended the graduate-level program at the Hopkins University–Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies as a recipient of the 2004-2005 Nanjing University Scholarship for American Studies. The Hopkins-Nanjing Center is the largest educational joint venture between the United States and China. In 2007, Liu graduated from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy with a MPA degree.

Yubin’s first job was on the Administrative Committee of the Suzhou New & Hi-tech District in the Policy Research Center, conducting policy studies and writing speeches. Then he was appointed Assistant Director of Fengqiao Town.

Yubin’s goal is to study more theoretical knowledge and practical skills in Public Administration and make new friends who are strongly interested in policy studies.

Xu Zhanguo, Hefner Fellow
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 2007

Xu Zhanguo is presently the Assistant Director of the Coordination and Promotion Office in the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, where he is responsible for drafting and implementing Shanghai’s Three-year Environmental Action Plan.

Zhanguo earned his Master of Science degree in Environmental Science and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Monitoring and a secondary degree in computer software from the East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai. In 2007, Zhanguo earned his MPA degree at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Zhanguo’s objective is to obtain professional and systematic training in public administration and governance and integrate these skills into his knowledge of Environmental Science to achieve his long-term career goal as a senior decision maker.

Yin Shuming, Hefner Fellow
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 2008

Yin Shuming is presently the Director of Government  Affairs and Public Relations for Steyr Motors based in Beijing, China. Prior to this he was the Director of Government Relations for Fiat based in Shanghai. He holds a Master’s of Public Administration from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language from Shanghai International Studies University. He held the position of First Secretary, Deputy Chief of Division for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People’s Republic of China based in Beijing. Prior to this he was Deputy Chief of Division, in the Office of Foreign Affairs Tibet, China. For the last 16 years, Shuming has demonstrated strong capability in handling China’s protocol affairs, and successfully executed many multilateral diplomatic events. Shuming participated in preparing the ASEAN-China Summit in 1999, and the APEC meeting in Shanghai in 2001. He has been awarded the Excellent Individual of U.S.-China Joint Recovery Team Award in 2002 and the Top Civil Servant of the Year Award in 1994 and 2003. Shuming was recognized as the Best Civil Service Official of the Year in 1994 and 2004.

Hou Yongsen, Hefner Fellow
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 2006

Hou Yongsen is presently Attache for the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

In 2001, he was a staff interpreter for the “Globalization and Sino-US Relations at the Turn of the Century” Conference and has traveled as liaison with Chinese officials to many countries, including the United States. Yongsen graduated from Northeastern University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China with a Bachelor of Arts in English (Business), where he was honored with academic awards for excellence.

In 2006, Yongsen graduated from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy with a Master in Public Policy degree.

Huang Bingliang, Hefner Fellow Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 2006

Huang Bingliang is presently a staff member with the Protocol Division acting as an interpreter and planner for incoming foreign delegations, and has worked in many capacities with the Xinjiang Foreign Affairs Office.

Bingliang has worked as Attaché with the Chinese Embassy in Papua, New Guinea, focusing on educational and cultural affairs and received the Exemplary Public Servant Award for his outstanding excellence in foreign service. Bingliang holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Language from the University of Xinjiang, China.

Bingliang graduated from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy’s Masters Program, in 2006. He hopes to expand into the cultural exchange front, both domestic and international, and provide the necessary leadership and administration to various public institutes extending from governmental departments to NGO’s and many other non-profit agencies in China.

Hefner Fellows from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in Massachusetts

Li Zhang, Hefner Fellow
Harvard University, Kennedy School of GOovernment 2007

Li Zhang is presently the First Secretary in the Department for External Cultural Relations, American Affairs desk at the Ministry of Culture, Beijing. Prior to this he was working in London under the same capacity for the Ministry and also worked as an adviser to the department in Brussels. Before this he was on the Consul for Cultural Affairs in the Chinese Consulate in New York (1998-2002). There he was in charge of organizing several cultural exchange events, including the Festival of China, a month long event held in Washington, DC in October 2005.

After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from Shanghai International Studies University, Zhang earned his Masters in Management and Administration from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. In July, 2007 he obtained a Master in Public Administration degree from Kennedy School of Government, Harvard.

Zhang is interested in working with NGO’s and contributing his time and energy to China’s poverty-stricken areas and helping people to have more civic engagement.

Lin Yang, Hefner Fellow
Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government 2007

Lin Yang is presently the Founder and President of Innovation Ideas Institute. Lin was a TV News anchor and reporter for China Central Television, where she anchored numerous news events in China’s broadcasting history from 2002-2005: the live coverage of 2003 Iraq war, SARS epidemic, the launch of China’s first manned spacecraft, etc., and interviewed numerous world political and business leaders. In 2006, she was with CNN Washington bureau. Yang holds a MPA degree from Harvard University and was the chair for China caucus and co-chair for Asia Business Conference at Harvard. Yang also was a delegate for the Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit.

Chen Chunmei, Hefner Fellow Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government 2006

Chen Chunmei is presently Director of the American and Oceanian Division at the Ministry of Culture, Beijing, China. She holds a Master in Public Administration degree from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard; a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from the University of International Relations, China; and a Bachelor of Law Degree from Peking University, Department of International Politics. Chunmei spent four years in San Francisco as Cultural Consul to the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China.

Chunmei is dedicated to promoting cultural exchange between China and the world, and she enjoys traveling and meeting people from different cultural backgrounds. She truly believes that cultural exchange could enhance mutual understanding between different peoples and make the world a better place to live.