Fellow Gs…. greetings from Shanghai!!
Having lived in the States my whole life, I’ve just made the big move to China and am incredibly excited to be here!
I just started with EF Education, an MNC specializing in English training and study travel. They have a fantastic local + expat team, and are apparently the world’s largest private education company. I’m working on internal strategy with their China CEO and management team – assessing new product lines and sales strategies, turning around less profitable business units, and launching their global CSR strategy. I’m also planning to stay active in the social enterprise community, as I’m hoping the managerial experience I gain at EF will help me figure out how to run and scale my own (or someone else’s) social enterprise a couple years from now.
Prior to Shanghai, I spent my summer in Beijing half job searching and half spending time with family who also came out to visit. I met with a bunch of MBA alums and friends-of-friends to learn as much as I could about the social enterprise, healthcare, and education sectors in China. My conclusions? There are loads of exciting opportunities here, but they are largely industry-dependent. The business must be a priority area for the govt (ie. clean tech is booming), and the govt must also be open to private sector players (ie. healthcare remains limited while China undergoes a major overhaul).
Because I interned in China last summer, I'm not experiencing culture shock per se, but still adjusting to things. I’m not thrilled by throngs of people pushing into the subway as I try to get off, or the ever-present construction that is racing to modernize the city (at the expense of poor residents), but I *am* deeply moved when I see someone practicing calligraphy in the park or have a conversation with locals about life here (KFC is the most successful restaurant chain because Chinese people can't get enough fried chicken!)
I’ve happily seen a bunch of CBS friends out here (including 5 cluster G’s) and would LOVE to add you to that list. If you need target dates, Shanghai is hosting the Expo (world’s fair) May 1st – Oct 31st next year. Please reach out if you ever visit this side of the world!
So excited to hear your updates in the coming months.
Much love and hope all is well,
Bev
p.s. Some pictures:
My dad & me at Tiananmen (Beijing)
The Summer Palace (Beijing)
View of The Bund (Shanghai)
G's in SH: David (Yexi), me, Harry, Chuey, and Kelly :)
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