First-of-its-Kind Event Series Brings Together UChicago Chinese Community for Candid Conversations, Networking, and Career Growth

Chinese Storytelling Week, held April 8-14, brought together more than 300 current and prospective students with accomplished Chinese UChicago alumni for candid, casual, off-the-record conversations about their careers and how to successfully navigate personal and professional transitions.  

With the growing Chinese community at Harris Public Policy and across the University in mind, the event was the brainchild of Shilin Liu, director of international partnerships and executive education at Harris. Entitled “Surfing the Wave of Change,” the week-long series featured dialogues with leaders from all sectors of the Chinese economy and received rave reviews.  

“I greatly enjoyed the discussions with my fellow alumni and with students from China,” said Gloria Hong Zhou, MBA ’04, head of strategy and business portfolio for British Petroleum China. “I see tremendous value in continuing to develop and nurture a support network of students and alumni, across all schools and departments of the University of Chicago – this is especially important now as more students are returning to China after they graduate to pursue their careers.”

Zhou was one of 26 participating alumni, whose current professional homes range from Google to Blue Cross Blue Shield, from Goldman Sachs to Uber. Leaders from major nonprofits and the Chinese government participated too, as did entrepreneurs from IFX Academy and KitcheNet, an enterprise forged by the University’s many programs that nurture start-up social and policy ventures.

Leo Yonghong Liang, MPP’ 00, who is vice president of Cloud and AI for JD.com, China’s largest retailer, appreciated the opportunity to participate. “I believe the event was helpful for Chinese students facing academic and career development challenges, offering them advice and helping them build their early career network,” he said. “I enjoyed the chance to share my career experiences and thoughts in the session, and I got to make a lot of young friends.”

By connecting Chinese leaders at different career and life stages, Chinese Storytelling Week underscored the strength of UChicago’s Chinese community and alumni network, as well as the scale, breadth, and depth of the university’s programs and activities focused on China and the region. 

“Our aim was to bring together alumni, students, and friends and partners from across campus to stimulate positive change and community building,” said Liu. “With the pandemic hopefully nearing an end, many people are rethinking their career paths and looking to turn challenges into opportunities in ways that help make a greater impact as China’s role in the inter-connected global economy and on the world stage continue to evolve and unfold.”

More than 300 Chinese students participated, on average attending nearly three events during the course of the week. Participants self-selected into one of six tracks, depending on their career field of interest: finance and investment; social innovation and enterprise; consulting and strategy; data analytics and technology; policy analysis and research; executive and leadership. The program was kicked-off by James Li, MPP ’99, a long-time leader in the alumni community and supporter of Harris, whose opening remarks set the tone perfectly for the rest of the week’s events.

Reviews have been very positive, with an average 8.5 out of 10 ranking from participants for how insightful and helpful it was. Nearly 80 percent, in fact, said they would volunteer to be involved next year.

“It’s thrilling to see how strong and vivid our Chinese community still is, especially after all the gloomy days during the pandemic,” said Tianming “Timmy” Yang, MPP ‘21. “I learned so much from everyone, and sincerely hope that we can hold more of these kinds of events to unite the Harris and broader UChicago Chinese communities in the future. From the student perspective, huge shout out to the alumni for participating and the staff and student leaders who organized it.”

The effort was a true campus-wide endeavor. Harris’ alumni relations and development team and career development office, alongside Liu, and a team of student volunteers, were instrumental in bringing together stakeholders from across campus to help plan, shape, and execute the week’s activities. Staff from Global Engagement, UChicago Global & Center in Beijing, Center for East Asian Studies, College Career Advancement, UChicago GRAD, and the alumni relations team at the Booth School of Business all partnered to make the week a reality. 

“It was a great pleasure to participate in the event with my fellow Harris alumni,” said Ivy Mengxin Sun, MPP‘16 and vice president on the Harris Alumni Council. “I very much enjoyed the interaction with the students and was impressed by their thoughtful questions and eagerness to grow. As an alumnae, I truly appreciate the invitation and the opportunity to pay it forward!”

If you would like to attend next year’s UChicago Chinese Community Career Storytelling Week as a panelist, please contact Shilin Liu.