Alumni Achievement Awards

Amélie Wen Zhao is the New York Times, Sunday Times, and internationally bestselling author of the Song of the Last Kingdom duology and the Blood Heir trilogy. Amélie was born in Paris and grew up in Beijing, where she spent her days reenacting tales of legendary heroes, ancient kingdoms, and lost magic at her grandmother’s courtyard house. She attended college in the United States and now resides in New York City, working as a finance professional by day and fantasy author by night. In her spare time, she loves to travel with her family in China, where she’s determined to walk the rivers and lakes of old just like the characters in her novels do. The Scorpion and the Night Blossom is coming January 2025.

David Su is at the forefront of game audio and interactive music technology, working on award-winning games with innovative audio-driven mechanics as well as publishing research papers, speaking at conferences, and contributing to the open source community.  

David was invited to contribute two chapters to the fourth volume of the book Game Audio Programming: Principles and Practices, which was published this in December 2023. His work has also been featured in outlets such as NPR, Rolling Stone, and the Los Angeles Times.  

Beyond innovation, David strives to work on projects that have a positive impact on audiences. To that end, Brass Lion Entertainment, where David is currently the Lead Audio Programmer, is a studio focused on creating original fictional universes that center on Black, Brown, and other traditionally marginalized characters, cultures, and stories. Similarly, One Hand Clapping, a singing-based game which David worked on prior to joining Brass Lion, has helped many players gain confidence in their singing voices. That positive impact also extends to his role as an adjunct assistant professor at USC, where David teaches students the fundamentals of sound design and implementation for games.  

David is actively involved in the local game audio community in Los Angeles. As one of the co-organizers of the Game Audio LA group, he helps put on monthly meetups as well as special events such as a microtalk series. David also mentors students interested in game audio, both through one-on-one mentorships as well as volunteering at a local high school. 

Appointed by President Prabowo Subianto on October 20, 2024, Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri (Esti) serves as Indonesia's Vice Minister of Trade. She holds a B.A. in Economics and Sociology from the University of Manchester (2013), a Postgraduate Diploma in Social Change (2014), and an M.Sc. in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London (2015), funded by an LPDP Scholarship. Esti also completed courses at Harvard University in 2013 on Globalisation and Emerging Markets and earned a certificate in Parliamentary Governance from McGill University in 2024. 

Before her appointment, Esti was a Member of the Indonesian House of
Representatives (2019–2024) representing East Java's X district. She served on Commission VII, focusing on energy, technology, and industry, and held the position of Deputy Treasurer in the Golkar Party's Central Leadership Council. Esti also chaired the Indonesia-Peru Bilateral Cooperation Group, aiming to boost trade relations between Indonesia and Latin America. 

After completing her studies, Esti co-founded the Indonesian Energy and
Environmental Institute (IE2I) with her brother, focusing on climate change awareness. She served as IE2I's executive director from 2016 to 2019. 
Esti has represented Indonesia in various international organizations, including the Young Parliamentarians Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the World Bank Young MPs Steering Committee (2022–2024). 

A committed early childhood education advocate, Jessica Chang is a business and finance maven determined to solve the childcare crisis. She is the CEO and co-founder of Upwards. As a tech CEO of this 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, the LA Times, NPR, PBS, TechCrunch, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, USA Today, and The Washington Post. 

A graduate of UC Berkeley, Jessica is a former preschool owner and resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two kids. 

In 2023, Law Chen finished his first feature, Starring Jerry as Himself, a genre-bending film whose protagonist is an immigrant dad retired in Florida. It’s part documentary, part spy film, and is ultimately about an immigrant’s search for the American Dream.  

Starring Jerry as Himself  premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival, where Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite), and the Russo Brothers (Avengers) all had their first films. Dozens from the ISB community came to show their support and Starring Jerry as Himself ended up winning the Grand Jury, Audience, and Best Actor awards.  

The film continued its festival run at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and Thessaloniki Doc Film Festival, both Academy Award-qualifying festivals, and will be traveling to several others around the world. 

Tommy Ma is the co-founder and former CEO of iDeal Technology LLC, an innovative B2B and B2C e-commerce platform that achieved over $US5.3 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.