Who We Are
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April Swando Hu
FOUNDER & PROGRAM DIRECTOR
I am a global educator, entrepreneur, and leverage technology and neurological science to unveil human potential. My current initiatives include ACE (Aspiring Changemakers’ Exchange) for young leaders and CAT (Chinese Awesome Tool).
Passionate about community development, I founded Zigen Hong Kong (www.zigenfund.org) focusing on rural China and NINEby9 (www.NINEby9.com) supporting women in business in Asia.
I hold a Yale BSc Electrical Engineering and Stanford MBA. Born and bred in America and Taiwan, I am bicultural and bilingual in Western and Chinese environments. I am mother of 4, ocean paddle, and coach Women & Asian Circles. -
Joesph Jeong
HEAD OF PROGRAM CONTENT
Co-Founder, www.ZingyLabs.com Crypto VC and Web3 Marketing
Instructor of MIT Entrepreneurship LeadershipI am a 30-year Wall Street veteran, 3-exit serial entrepreneur, early Bitcoin investor, and raised $100M+ in startup funding. I am now co-founder of Cyprto VC/Web3 Marketing (www.zingylabs.com). My passion is delivering entrepreneurship programs around the world over the past decade.
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Wen Mei
HEAD OF PARTNERSHIPS
With over 20 years as a tech entrepreneur and investor, I am the Founder of Chinapreneurs and UKIIC, connecting East with West. As Founder/CEO of Startup Sweden, co-organiser of the largest tech event in Scandinavia, and creator of one of the initial startup accelerators and co-working spaces in the Nordics, I have contributed to Stockholm's reputation as a city with the highest number of unicorns per capita. I currently advise various governments on innovation and technology.
I read MEng in Engineering Science at Oxford University, 2003, pursued graduate studies at Harvard Business School in 2015, and attended Singularity University in 2016. A certified skydiver, rescue diver, and expedition medic, I have successfully summited 7 peaks and skied to both the North and South Poles.
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Joshua Bloom
HEAD OF EVENTS VIDEO
I hold degrees in Microbiology, Neuroscience, and Psychology. I began my career helping people through addiction recovery. I have since spent 12 years in the Fintech world, working with top banks in Zurich in roles like developer, IT architect, and production support.Outside of work, I’m passionate about creativity, sustainability, and adventure. I’m into nature photography, podcasting, music, and ultra-marathons. I also support environmental charities and became fascinated by cryptocurrency while working with the SWIFT messaging network.
I love organizing events—everything from lectures to concerts—and volunteer as a life coach, mentoring young refugees to help them build new, meaningful lives.
LinkedIn
Advisors
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Zhang Lu
Founder and Managing Partner of Fusion Fund, Lu is a renowned Silicon Valley-based investor, a serial entrepreneur, and a Stanford Engineering alumna. With a strong technical background, she has extensive experience bringing a broad range of technologies to commercialization and deep domain expertise in AI in healthcare, Enterprise AI/Networks, Edge Computing, and Data Privacy.
As a first-generation immigrant from Inner Mongolia, she built a medical device company at age 21 and then founded Fusion Fund in 2021 in CalifornIa. She is a Young Global Leader by World Economic Forum (Davos), Silicon Valley Women of Influence, Best 25 Female early-stage investor by Business Insider, Featured Honoree of VC of Forbes 30 under 30 ,and Town & Country 50 Modern Swans - Entrepreneurship Influencer; high-profile tech speaker and a guest lecturer at Stanford University. She serves on Boards and as Chairwomen of the Youth Council of Future Science, Jury Board of the Cartier Women Initiative and Young Leader Award. She holds an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
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Virginia Cha
Professor Virginia CHA is a leading educator of Innovation & Entrepreneurship with multiple appointments at Singapore’s leading tertiary education institutions. She is an Adjunct Professor at NUS Business School in addition to teaching for other faculties and schools at NUS. Notably, she is a faculty lead for Lean Launchpad@Singapore, a program managed and spearheaded by NUS Enterprise.
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Ai Cheng
Gloria Ai（AI CHENG) is a media entrepreneur (iAsk Leaders), an anchorwoman (China Central Television Business Channel in New York), an author (“Common Sense of Entrepreneurship”), and a frequent bilingual host at financial and economic events in China and abroad, such as the Boao Forum for Asia.
As the founder of iAsk, Gloria has interviewed nearly 2,000 Chinese founders to share with the world.Gloria is an alumnus of Harvard Kennedy School, Peking University, Communication University of China and a member of the Youth Presidents' Organization, "Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia" (2016), Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum (2012), goodwill ambassador of her hometown Huangshan, which is on the List of World Heritage Sites. as well as being awarded the National Woman Pace-setter for her female leadership and charity in helping the underprivileged (2021).
Gloria Ai | LinkedIn
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Von Leong
Winner of the Advocate of the Year at Women in IT Awards Asia 2021, Von is the Co-Founder and General Partner at Purpose Venture Capital, investing and building sustainable tech businesses to deliver on profit with purpose. She is also a Partner at Artificial Intelligence International Institute and co-chair the SME Committee at American Chamber of Commerce Singapore. Former leadership roles included Worldwide Leader, Sales Strategy at Amazon Web Services, Singapore Government’s Chief Digital Health Marketplace, AI Digital Transformation Leader APAC at IBM and Chief Marketing Officer, Greater China at AON.
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Sangye Yanling Duan (段妍玲)
Duan is visionary leader, educator, and a key figure in global movements focused on cross-cultural collaboration, eco-conscious leadership, and healing space design. With over two decades of experience as a role model embracing interconnected futures and holistic innovation within business frameworks, her initiatives inspire a transformative global network of social artists, conscious designers, and investors to pave the way for a paradigm shift through dynamic collaboration and resource-sharing in service of nature and cultural care.
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Claudia Zingg
With over four decades of personal and entrepreneurial intercultural experience, and fluent in written and spoken Mandarin, Claudia has been dedicated to building bridges between East and West. She is passionate about coaching young people to discover their purpose and teaching neuroscience-based communication techniques to strengthen both professional and personal relationships.
Claudia holds an MA in linguistics, history, and education from the University of Zurich, an MA in Sinology from the University of Paris VII, and a MAS in International Commercial Negotiation from the University of Paris Sorbonne, specializing in China.