BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Paul joined GCC in 2008 as a founding member of the George Washington University chapter, where he served as Chapter President from 2010 – 2012. Upon graduating from GWU, Paul moved to Tianjin to work in an education-focused startup with several other GCC alumni, and later moved to Beijing, where he worked as Marketing Director for a Beijing-based architecture firm. In 2014, Paul moved to New York to pursue a Master’s in Chinese-English Translation at NYU, where he chaired the NYU Translation Society while working at the Asia Society’s Center on US–China Relations. Upon graduating in early 2015, Paul co-founded Transwords, a language services company, and has worked as freelance translator for China National Geographic Magazine since 2013. In addition to his love of translation, Paul worked as a Senior Consultant at Navigant Inc.’s Global Investigations and Compliance segment, and now works as a Manager at the StoneTurn Group, where he oversees international due diligence investigations as well as anti–money laundering, FCPA, and OFAC-related projects. Paul is originally from Buffalo, New York.

Yihao Li is a doctoral candidate at Harvard University. His research focuses on China’s emerging role in shaping urban development in Southeast Asia through industrial parks, special economic zones and large infrastructure projects. Yihao is also a research associate at Harvard Business School where he co-authored HBS cases on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese investment in US high-tech sectors, and China’s political economy of development. Previously, Yihao was a land policy consultant at the World Bank in DC. His work appeared in several World Bank flagship reports, including one commissioned by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang: “Urban China: Toward Efficient, Inclusive and Sustainable Urbanization”. In 2015, Yihao was named among “25 under 25 rising stars in US-China relations” by Yale University China Hands Magazine. Yihao holds a Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and a B.A. in international relations and economics (magna cum laude) from Tufts University. Yihao has been with GCC since 2010, first as co-founder and co-president of GCC Tufts Chapter, then as a trustee. Originally from Beijing, he has travelled widely around the world. Yihao is passionate about sustainable development and bridging divides between nations and cultures.

Jung Won is a senior associate at Capital One’s leveraged finance division in New York City. Growing up in Seoul, Jung became interested in East Asian politics and the relationship to the West. He joined GCC in his freshman year at Cornell University. He went on to serve as Cornell chapter president, then as GCC President in the 2017-2018 academic year.

Doris Xu is the Resident Director for the Chinese Overseas Flagship Program at American Councils for International Education. She is currently based in Nanjing, China. Doris and her family moved to the United States when she was 13 years old. She graduated from the George Washington University with a double major in International Affairs and English & Creative Writing. Doris became involved with GCC since her Sophomore year of college, and she served as the President for GCC Central Management 2018-2019. She is deeply interested in US-China policy and building bridges between the two countries through people-to-people exchange.

Kathryn (Kate) Latona joined Drexel University’s GCC chapter in 2017 after studying abroad at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China. From 2018-2019 she served as Drexel University’s GCC chapter president, then she served on the Global Team as the VP of Technology from 2019 – 2020. As the VP of Technology, Kate led several major initiatives, including GCC IT transformation and GCC Academy. Kate is an exceptional leader both at the chapter and central level, and she was the inaugural recipient of the GCC Frank Anderson Leadership Award. Currently, she is a Technology Risk Consultant at EY in New York City. She attended Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland prior to earning her bachelor’s in management information systems from Drexel University.

Vesper is a strategy consultant at Putnam in London, specializing in the life sciences industry. He graduated from Boston University with B.A. in Psychology (Summa Cum Laude), and subsequently, the University of Cambridge with a master’s in Management. He joined the GCC Boston University chapter as a freshman in 2016 and served as the chapter president from 2018-2019. He later joined GCC Global Team as the President from 2019-2020. Born and raised in Hangzhou, China, he has lived in 4 different countries, including Singapore, the US, and the UK. His rich international experience allowed him to pursue the passion of fostering cross-border cultural and business conversations.

Willa Chen is an investment banking analyst in UBS’ Financial Institutions Group in New York City. Originally from New York, Willa spent her childhood summers in China, later pursuing summer internships across different business sectors in Shanghai during her high school and college years. Willa majored in finance at Cornell University’s Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management, completing her undergraduate degree early in May 2021 and starting her full-time career in February 2022. Willa joined GCC in her freshman fall semester at Cornell, going on to serve as VP of Finance and Director of Professional Development during her sophomore and junior years.