White text reading %22ISB ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD%22 is centered on a dark blue, vertically striped background.

What is the Alumni Achievement Award?

The ISB Alumni Association launched this award in 2021 to foster pride, loyalty, and engagement with ISB's Mission.

Pride and Loyalty – Honoring those who embody ISB values
Positive Impact – Improving society through leadership
Mentorship – Winners partner with students for careers, internships, and the annual Career Fair (Grades 9 - 10)

Celebrating former student's achievement, service, and global impact.

Alumni Achievement Award Winner 2025-2026

A certificate for the 2026 Alumni Achievement Award for Amélie Wen Zhao is displayed with her portrait and a smaller image of her in the background, alongside a quote and her accomplishments.

The ISB Alumni Association is proud to announce Amélie Wen Zhao (ISB Class of 2010) – an alumni who has built an impressive career in global finance while also becoming a New York Times and internationally bestselling fantasy author – as the recipient of the 2026 ISB Alumni Achievement Award. Now serving as Senior Vice President in Citibank’s Treasury and Trade Solutions group, Amélie has also earned worldwide recognition through her fiction, which has reached millions of readers across 18 languages. Her unique combination of professional achievement, creative success, and cultural influence made her this year’s standout honoree.

[Amélie] has made a distinctive global cultural impact through bestselling fiction that brings Chinese history and heritage to international audiences. Her work reflects a strong cultural identity and educational value for the community.

Amelie’s imaginative and creative storytelling inspired a generation of young readers.

Amélie is a very worthy candidate with international impact, an authentic cultural mission, and a strong ISB connection. Her work reaches millions of readers across 18 languages and carries a clear mission of empowering the global diaspora. .

Timeline

The nomination period opens June 2026 and closes February 28 at 4:00 pm CST. Following the nomination period a selection committee will convene in March, with a winner announce in April.

Winners will receive coverage across the ISB Alumni Achievement Award webpage, social media channels, and newsletter highlighting their achievements as well as a winner's package with a trophy and gift. All nominees will receive a certificate.

How to Nominate (including self-nomination)

You must be a current or former faculty, staff, parent, student or alumni to nominate an alumni for the award. Alumni may nominate themselves.

Submit using the form
Nominees stay in the pool for the current cycle and the next cycle. Strong candidates are never overlooked due to timing or competition.
Selection committee of alumni, parents, students, faculty and leadership reviews against six core criteria.

Full Selection Criteria

The complete six core criteria, aligned with the ISB Mission and Vision, are available in the PDF guide below. Please review before submitting a nomination.

Download selection criteria (PDF)

Complete nomination form

Alumni Achievement Award Nominees 2025-2026

Jessica Chang | Class of 2002

Jessica Chang is the CEO and Co-Founder of Upwards. A committed early childhood education advocate and mom of two, Jessica is a business and finance maven determined to solve the childcare crisis. As a tech CEO of the largest childcare network in America, she is disrupting the childcare industry and making a lasting impact on the lives of countless families. Prior to co-founding Upwards, Jessica was COO of Affinity China, a principal investor at Macquarie Capital, and VP of Marketplace at Radpad. Her work has been featured in EdSurge, Forbes, Fortune, LA Times, NPR, PBS, TechCrunch, The Wall Street Journal, TIME Magazine, USA TODAY, and the Washington Post. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Jessica is a preschool owner herself and resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two kids. Jessica has given back by mentoring and sharing advice with younger students participating in ISB’s career fair. 

Hansen Bi | Class of 2004

Hansen Bi is an entrepreneur and operator focused on building sustainable consumer and FMCG businesses in China and international markets. As Founder and CEO of a growing premium packaged-goods company, he has led the business from early concept through commercialization and scaling, overseeing strategy, finance, operations, and team development. Hansen was named to Fortune China 40 Under 40 list.

His work emphasizes environmentally responsible products, disciplined execution, and long-term value creation in highly competitive markets. Operating at the intersection of sustainability, supply-chain complexity, and consumer branding, he has built cross-border partnerships and high-performing teams under constrained resources. Hansen credits ISB with shaping his global outlook, analytical rigor, and leadership philosophy. He remains committed to mentorship, continuous learning, and building organizations that create both economic and societal value.

Kevin Yang| Class of 2010

Kevin is currently a Director of Product Management at Duolingo leading user growth. Kevin has been instrumental in Duolingo's growth in China and around the world by making the app more fun and engaging to use via features such as the Duolingo streak, leaderboards, and other gamified systems. Previously, Kevin was a core member of product teams at Bytedance and Didi, helping their products expand globally. Beyond his day job, he has given back by mentoring and sharing practical advice with younger students and alumni, including participating in ISB’s alumni Pathways mentoring program.

Kenneth Lin | Class of 2011

A smiling man in glasses stands in the foreground of a grand rotunda with a domed ceiling and artwork. — Kenneth Lin
Class of 2011
Engineering Chief of Staff, Liftoff Mobile

Kenneth Lin currently serves at Liftoff Mobile as Engineering Chief of Staff. Liftoff is an AI-first ad tech company that leverages machine learning to help advertisers find and acquire the right users for their mobile apps. In this role, his focus is to help the company's 200+ engineering organization do its best work. He serves as the operating hand of the SVP of Engineering, supporting leaders by aligning teams, clarifying goals, setting policy, and stepping in as a machine learning engineer or manager when work needs hands-on ownership. Among the key initiatives he leads are engineering-wide efforts to improve system reliability, the shaping of their Gen AI infrastructure strategy, and the redefinition of their leveling and compensation framework. At its core, his role is one of service. He is grateful to have had the opportunity to lead his team through the last few turbulent years, and to see their collective efforts culminate in the company's recent S-1 filing.

Prior to his current role, Lin was the founder of a programming education startup in Beijing called Domi Coding, where he taught and inspired students in the beauty and joy of computer science. He has also been a software engineer at Google / YouTube, where he was a core member of the team that launched YouTube Community (a suite of features on every creator’s channel page). On the side, he hosts community events such as Infinity Game Night and offers pro bono startup consulting for friends and other ISB alumni.

Billy Lau | Class of 2015

Billy Lau is the Founder and CEO of ByeCode, an AI-powered no-code platform enabling businesses to build intelligent applications without writing code. After experience at OKX and in venture capital, he saw how growing companies were constrained by rigid software and manual workflows, and founded ByeCode to democratize software creation. Today, ByeCode has served over 520k users and powered more than 13k projects across retail, local services, and e-commerce. In 2025, Billy was named to the Forbes China Under 30 list for advancing AI-driven entrepreneurship.

Tommy Ma | Class of 2016

Wendy Qiu — Tommy Ma
Class of 2016
Co-Founder & Former CEO of iDeal Technology LLC, an Innovative B2B & B2C E- Commerce Platform, MBA Candidate, Chicago Booth

Tommy Ma is the Co-founder and former CEO of iDeal Technology LLC, an innovative B2B and B2C e-commerce platform that achieved over $5.3 million in gross merchandise value (GMV). After a successful exit, Tommy transitioned into various venture capital roles, where he continues to support and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs. Currently, he is pursuing his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tommy has a deep connection with the ISB community, spanning students, faculty, and alumni. Having attended ISB from grade 6 through graduation, he has remained actively engaged in alumni events across the United States in recent years.

Recently, Tommy was honored to become the ISB Ambassador for Chicago, further strengthening his commitment to the school and its global network. His connection with ISB runs deep, and he is committed to contributing to its future growth and success. Leveraging his entrepreneurial experience, Tommy aims to build a robust ISB alumni network across China and the USA, fostering stronger ties within the community. His goal is to support current students and aspiring founders in their journey to realize their dreams, providing mentorship, opportunities, and a global network of resources. Together, he believes the community can continue to uphold the Dragon Spirit and create a lasting impact on the ISB community and beyond. Tommy has given back by funding alumni events and supporting younger students participating in ISB's career fair.

For questions, please contact the alumni association at alumni@isb.cn or +86 (10) 81492345 Ext. 1013